Interpreting the tectonic evolution of Pacific Rim margins using plate kinematics and slab window volcanism

The possibility that slab windows might form in the wake of ridge subduction was first conceptualized in the late 1970s as earth scientists explored the implications of plate tectonic theory in three dimensions. Acceptance of slab-window occurrence, however, has been a long time coming (McCrory and Wilson, this issue). With records of both current and past slab-window transients now firmly established through detailed studies of volcanism and tectonism tied to kinematic plate reconstructions, we are able to exploit these spatially and temporally restricted events as paleogeographic markers. Slab-window research encompasses and integrates a broad range of disciplines including earthquake seismology, plate kinematics, volcanic geochemistry, lithospheric dynamics, seismic tomography, and structural geology. In this special issue we use this powerful new tool to constrain and interpret the Cenozoic evolution of Pacific Rim subduction margins from Alaska, to Patagonia, to Antarctica, to Tonga.