Abstract
The Mariana Trough on the eastern part of the Philippine plate is a product of backare extension. Fine-grained bathymetry shows the trough to have a diffuse spreading center and to be spreading obliquely, thus refuting several previous theories. Unzipping of the trough from south to north has occurred for the past 6 m.y. This is reflected in spreading lineations perpendicular to the tectonic spreading fabric. The growth history of the trough is shown since 48 m.y. BP including speculation as to its continued eastward extension.
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Smoot, N.C. Mariana Trough by multi-beam sonar. Geo-Marine Letters 10, 137–144 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02085928
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02085928