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Observations of flexure and the geological evolution of the Pacific Ocean basin

Abstract

The response of the Pacific plate to oceanic island and seamount loads has been used to estimate the distribution of ridge crest and off-ridge volcanism on the plate since the late Jurassic. The most extensive event, forming the Hess rise, Line Islands ridge, Necker ridge, and Robbie ridge, occurred on the Pacific/Farallon and Pacific/Phoenix ridge crests during the interval 90–120 Myr BP (Barremian to Turonian). This event, which extended over a much larger area than comparable volcanism on the continents, is one of the largest to be documented in the geological record.

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Watts, A., Bodine, J. & Ribe, N. Observations of flexure and the geological evolution of the Pacific Ocean basin. Nature 283, 532–537 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283532a0

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