Abstract
Plate tectonic theory is based on the idea of the conservation of displacement at the ends of major faults1: ridges, trenches and triple junctions are linked by transform faults so that a plate boundary may not end except by joining two others at a triple junction. This is a consequence of the motion of torsionally rigid plates in which large permanent strains are restricted to narrow boundary zones. Although brittle intraplate deformation occurs2, excellent fits between rifted continental margins3 and between pairs of magnetic anomaly isochrons4 show that plates do not generally suffer significant torsional strains.
Provided that the zones in which large, permanent deformations occur are narrow relative to the plates they surround, plate tectonics is a useful theory. The behaviour of wide zones of interplate deformation may be approximated either by ‘soft’ regions such as the Himalayas and Tibet5 or by complex microplate systems such as the present Mediterranean6.
It is important to understand to what extent relative plate displacements can be registered as strain in a zone too wide and diffuse to be realistically termed a plate boundary. We describe here a wide zone of strain that developed in Africa during the Cretaceous, recognition of which leads us to the view that Africa, from about 125 Myr ago to about 80 Myr ago, was not behaving as a single rigid plate.
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Burk, K., Dewey, J. Two plates in Africa during the Cretaceous?. Nature 249, 313–316 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/249313a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/249313a0
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