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1. Geodynamic Evolution of the Lau Basin

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110127  

   Peng, Diandian; Stegman, Dave R. (August 2024, Geophysical Research Letters)

   Abstract The formation of Lau Basin records an extreme event of plate tectonics, with the associated Tonga trench exhibiting the fastest retreat in the world (16 cm/yr). Yet paleogeographic reconstructions suggest that seafloor spreading in the Lau Basin only initiated around 6 Ma. This kinematics is difficult to reconcile with our present understanding of how subduction drives plate motions. Using numerical models, we propose that eastward migration of the Lau Ridge concurrent with trench retreat explains both the narrow width and thickened crust of the Lau Basin. To match the slab geometry and basin width along the Tonga‐Kermadec trench, our models suggest that fast trench retreat rate of 16 cm/yr might start ~15 Ma. Tonga slab rollback induced vigorous mantle flow underneath the South Fiji Basin which is driving the extension and thinning of the basin and contributing to its observed deeper bathymetry compared to neighboring basins. 

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2. Orbital dynamics of the solar basin

   https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2024)007  

   Giovanetti, Cara; Lasenby, Robert; Van_Tilburg, Ken (December 2024, Journal of High Energy Physics)

   We study the dynamics of the solar basin— the accumulated population of weakly-interacting particles on bound orbits in the Solar System. We focus on particles starting off on Sun-crossing orbits, corresponding to initial conditions of production inside the Sun, and investigate their evolution over the age of the Solar System. A combination of analytic methods, secular perturbation theory, and direct numerical integration of orbits sheds light on the long- and short-term evolution of a population of test particles orbiting the Sun and perturbed by the planets. Our main results are that the effective lifetime of a solar basin at Earth’s location is 1.20 ± 0.09 Gyr, and that there is annual (semi-annual) modulation of the basin density with known phase and amplitude at the fractional level of 6.5% (2.2%). These results have important implications for direct detection searches of solar basin particles, and the strong temporal modulation signature yields a robust discovery channel. Our simulations can also be interpreted in the context of gravitational capture of dark matter in the Solar System, with consequences for any dark-matter phenomenon that may occur below the local escape velocity. 

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3. LATE PALEOZOIC BASIN EVOLUTION OF THE ANADARKO BASIN: IMPLICATIONS FOR LAURENTIAN TECTONICS AND THE ASSEMBLY OF PANGEA

   https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2020AM-356693  

   Hobbs, Noah; Axen, Gary; van Wijk, Jolante; Leary, Ryan J. (January 2020, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs)

   null (Ed.)
4. Basin architecture controls on the chemical evolution and 4He distribution of groundwater in the Paradox Basin

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117580  

   Tyne, R.L.; Barry, P.H.; Cheng, A.; Hillegonds, D.J.; Kim, J.-H.; McIntosh, J.C.; Ballentine, C.J. (July 2022, Earth and Planetary Science Letters)
5. Orographic enhancement of rainfall over the Congo Basin

   https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.1079  

   Raghavendra, Ajay; Xia, Geng; Zhou, Liming; Jiang, Yan (April 2022, Atmospheric Science Letters)