Talk:Back-arc basin

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Merge

Merge is self explanatory.Rolinator 10:40, 29 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Done :-) Vsmith 14:37, 29 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please give cause and effect in lay-language

I'm an educated person of above-average intelligence, but I couldn't see clearly the cause of back-arc basins. They seem to be a trench formed by sea-floor spreading near a major subduction zone. But I don't see the cause and effect. It seems to me that the opening section could explain this for lay-people, with details in geologic jargon in following sections.JWorkman 15:50, 18 November 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by James K. Workman (talk • contribs)

As I understand it, the cause isn't so clear. Plate tectonics are slow movements, they creep (deformation), no crystal clear physics. You have to remember that the seafloor at the subduction zone is old, thick and heavy; at the mid-ocean ridge time it had a higher bouyancy. The subducting slab pulls the seafloor downwards, modifying its apparent density, the ocean is closing. The Eurasian, the Antarctic and the African tectonic plate are quite static in comparison with other plates. --Chris.urs-o (talk) 19:55, 18 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that. I'm just asking whether the opening section could be written for lay-people with following sections in geologic jargon. Your point that the cause of back-arc basins is not clear would be a good point for the opening. JWorkman 14:21, 19 November 2012 (UTC) JWorkman 14:19, 19 November 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by James K. Workman (talk • contribs)

You're welcome. More: rocks cope with compression much better than with tension. Microplates have faults and a heterogenity. The sinking slab pulls somehow on the microplate. The microplate under extension (geology) undergoes a rifting process. As most things on plate tectonics, you get a fact: there is extension, and then u try to explain it. --Chris.urs-o (talk) 08:20, 23 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, now I see it. Plus I see the meaning of "tension" in a new way. "Tension" must be a technical geological term for "pulling," as opposed to compressing. I think you need to put some of the language above into the opening section. Suggestion from a lay-person: The sinking continental slab-edge pulls somehow on the microplate. The microplate under extension (geology) undergoes a rifting process. I also, think the clause--"the ocean is closing"--is unclear. Thanks for humoring an interested reader.JWorkman 15:06, 23 November 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by James K. Workman (talk • contribs)