Part 2. Younger Pacifics arcs and the eastern marginal seas: Arc reversals, and a tectonic model for the North Fiji Basin

Abstract

The North Fiji Basin (or "Plateau") is a morphologically complex marginal basin lying between the New Hebrides arc and Fiji. According to the normally accepted view of basin-island arc polarity, it is a reversed marginal basin. The North Fiji Basin is a part of the Pacific plate which overrides the India plate along the New Hebrides arc. Conversely, the adjacent South Fiji Basin (Packham, this volume) is part of the India (Australia) plate which overrides the Pacific plate along the Tonga-Kermadec arc.