Cretaceous termination of subduction at the Zealandia margin of Gondwana: The view from the paleo-trench

During the Permian to Cretaceous, Zealandia occupied a position on the proto-Pacific-facing, convergent margin of Gondwana. Subduction on this margin ceased somewhere between ~105 Ma and perhaps 70 Ma, but the timing of this tectonic transition remains controversial. Resolution of this uncertainty is important for tectonic reconstructions of the southwest Pacific and for global plate-tectonic models. Here, we revisit the problem by reference to...