Back Arc Basin Opening and Closing (IMAGE)

University of Texas at Austin

Back Arc Basin Opening and Closing

Caption

The opening and closing of the Rocas Verdes Basin, a back-arc basin in Patagonia, as described by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin in a study published in Geology. Panels B and C illustrate the basin-closure process, in which an underlying portion of the oceanic crust is thrust into a magma chamber (B) and breaks off ahead of continental crust (C). The last two panels (C and D) show the oceanic plate and continental plate colliding together – squeezing the basin together into the Andes Mountains of Patagonia that we see today. 

Credit

Fernando Rey et al

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