EA40CH20-Baldwin ARI 1 April 2012 8:37 Tectonics of the New Guinea Region Suzanne L. Baldwin,1 Paul G. Fitzgerald,1 and Laura E. Webb2 1Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244; email:
[email protected], pgfi
[email protected] 2Department of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405; email:
[email protected] Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 2012. 40:495–520 Keywords First published online as a Review in Advance on microplates, blueschists, eclogites, ophiolites, collisional orogenesis, plate March 8, 2012 boundaries The Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences is online at earth.annualreviews.org Abstract This article’s doi: The New Guinea region evolved within the obliquely and rapidly converg- 10.1146/annurev-earth-040809-152540 ing Australian and Pacific plate boundary zone. It is arguably one of the most by University of Vermont Libraries on 05/10/12. For personal use only. Copyright c 2012 by Annual Reviews. tectonically complex regions of the world, and its geodynamic evolution in- All rights reserved volved microplate formation and rotation, lithospheric rupture to form ocean 0084-6597/12/0530-0495$20.00 Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 2012.40:495-520. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org basins, arc-continent collision, subduction polarity reversal, collisional oro- genesis, ophiolite obduction, and exhumation of (ultra)high-pressure meta- morphic rocks. We describe the major onshore and offshore tectonic and geologic components, including plate boundaries, seismicity, faults, and magmatism, and we integrate these with emerging ideas about mantle dy- namics to evaluate the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of New Guinea. Future research opportunities to resolve the mantle structure beneath New Guinea will enable mantle dynamics to be linked to lithospheric and surface pro- cesses.