Tectonic Types of the Pacific Abyssal Basins

摘要

This paper continues a series of publications on tectonics, structural evolution, and formation mechanism of abyssal basins. The Pacific abyssal basins of the Western thalassogen are subdivided into three types: intermontane, interfault, and syneclise-type. The new term thalassosyneclise is proposed for the third type. Basins of the first, second, and third types are developed in the western, northeastern, and southern Pacific, respectively. The main mechanism responsible for the formation of basins belonging to the first two types is a stepwise subsidence of the oceanic bottom. The formation of a thalassosyneclise abyssal basin is probably related to energy flux of the South Pacific plume.