TECTONIC ACTIVITY AND PLATE BOUNDARIES ALONG THE NORTHERN FLANK OF THE FIJI PLATFORM

Recent volcanic activity along the northern flank of the Fiji Platform , revealed for the first time from new GLORIA imagery, suggests that t he loci of interplate motion in this region have migrated rapidly sinc e the switch from Vitiaz to New Hebridean subduction at 5-8 Ma. At pre sent the plate boundaries along the northern flank of the Fiji Platfor m consist of two major strike-slip faults of opposing sense: the sinis tral Fiji Transform Fault along the northwest flank of the platform, a nd at least one (or possibly two) zones of dextral strike slip (includ ing Peggy Ridge) along the northeast flank. The tectonic relationships of these two fault systems lies north of Fiji and is not determined.