TECTONIC CHARACTERISTICS AND EVOLUTION OF THE NORTH FIJI BASIN

The North Fiji Basin is a matured marginal basin located at the southwest border of the Pacific. Geological and geophysical characteristics of the basin are well studied through surveys and researches during the past half century. The modern active tectonic belts mainly including the sinistral North Fiji Fracture Zone and the three groups of spreading centres remain instable. The North Fiji Basin formed during the past 10 Ma was mainly controlled by the clockwise rotation of the Vanuatu Arc in early stage,and the NS and EW direction spreading in late stage. The complex structural and magnetic textures observed in the basin are the results of the migration of spreading centres and the superposition of multiphase tectonic movements. Further studies and discussions should be made on the deep geodynamic mechanisms of the spreading activities of the basin.