The Conway Reef Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) located in the south Pacific west of Fiji.[4] The western boundary is with the New Hebrides Plate while the eastern is with the Australian Plate. A short transform boundary also exists with the Balmoral Reef Plate. Much of the plate underlies the south central portion of the North Fiji Basin.
![Map](https://maps.wikimedia.org/img/osm-intl,5,-16,172.3,380x400.png?lang=en&domain=en.wikipedia.org&title=Conway_Reef_Plate&revid=1207687093&groups=_501f6ea0fb127ccfaa116d28223bc43c5757e54e)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Balmoral_Reef_and_Conway_Reef_Plates_map-fr.png/359px-Balmoral_Reef_and_Conway_Reef_Plates_map-fr.png)
Within the North Fiji Basin it lies between the spreading centers of the Central Spreading Ridge on the west and the West Fiji Ridge on the east.[4] The plate is rotating counterclockwise with respect to all of its neighbours.[4]
The plate's existence was first modelled in 2003 by Bird.[4] Its boundaries and angular momentum were further defined in 2011 and 2018 with refinement of tectonic plate deformation and strain rate.[5][6]
The region is complex and may well have several other microplates or blocks.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Argus, Gordon & DeMets 2011, Table S2.
- ^ Covellone, Savage & Shen 2015, Fig 5 (a),(b).
- ^ a b Szitkar et al. 2022, 2. Regional geological context.
- ^ a b c d Bird 2003, 5.12. New Hebrides (NH), Conway Reef (CR), Balmoral Reef (BR), and Futuna (FT) Plates(?) in the New Hebrides-Fiji Orogen.
- ^ Argus, Gordon & DeMets 2011, P2, Tables 1-3, Table S2.
- ^ Wang et al. 2018, Table 1.
Sources
edit- Bird, Peter (2003). "An updated digital model of plate boundaries". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 4 (3): 1027. Bibcode:2003GGG.....4.1027B. doi:10.1029/2001GC000252.
- Argus, D. F.; Gordon, R. G.; DeMets, C. (2011). "Geologically current motion of 56 plates relative to the no‐net‐rotation reference frame". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 12 (11): 1–13. Bibcode:2011GGG....1211001A. doi:10.1029/2011GC003751. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- Wang, S; Yu, H; Zhang, Q; Zhao, Y (15 May 2018). "Absolute plate motions relative to deep mantle plumes". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 490: 88–99. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.03.021.
- Covellone, BM; Savage, B; Shen, Y (15 June 2015). "Seismic wave speed structure of the Ontong Java Plateau". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 420: 140–50. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.03.033.
- Szitkar, F; Dyment, J; Pelleter, E; Thomas, Y; Marsset, B; Ker, S; Fouquet, Y (2022). "Effusive and explosive volcanism on the northern Futuna Ridge, Lau Basin: A combined bathymetric, magnetic and seismic investigation". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 431 (107646). doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107646.