Cenozoic Tectonics in California

Cenozoic tectonics in California is largely controlled by the evolving plate geometry characterized by the northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ). North to the MTJ, oceanic plates (the Farallon plate and presently, the Gorda plate) subduct beneath the North American plate; to the south of the MTJ, the convergent plate boundary is replaced by the transform San Andreas fault. I have been investigating thermal perturbations in the crust and upper mantle associated with the migrating MTJ and their implications for volcanism and crustal tectonics. This work is a collaboration with Kevin Furlong at Penn State and George Zandt at U. Arizona.

Recent Publications

Liu, M., and G. Zandt, Convective thermal instabilities in the wake of the migrating Mendocino Triple Junction, California, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23, 1573-1576, 1996. see abstract and figures

Liu, M., and K.P. Furlong, Cenozoic volcanism in the California Coast Ranges: Numerical solutions, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 4941-4957, 1992.

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