Wilson Cycle: The Cyclical Opening and Closing of Ocean Basins

The cycle of opening and closing ocean basins is known as the Wilson Cycle. The term Wilson Cycle named after J. Tuzo Wilson who first described it in 1966.

A Wilson Cycle begins with rifting and seafloor spreading followed by the opening of an ocean basin with passive continental margins on both sides, then closing the basin via subduction and collision, creating a supercontinent.
When the new oceanic lithosphere becomes negatively buoyant, subduction begins on one or both margins and the ocean basin begins to close (3 and 4). Complete closure of the basin results in a continent-continent collision (5), followed by formation of mountains.

Wilson cycle model (Modified after Kent C. Condie)

1 thought on “Wilson Cycle: The Cyclical Opening and Closing of Ocean Basins”

Comments are closed.