Driving term: void suction and acceleration

Driving term: void suction and acceleration — The standard picture is “mantle convection pushes plates from behind.” This model makes a different emphasis (LOCK → Derive → Gate). Continents may be pulled into an opening more than they are pushed.

The standard picture is “mantle convection pushes plates from behind.” This model makes a different emphasis (LOCK → Derive → Gate).

Intuition

The standard picture is “mantle convection pushes plates from behind.” This model makes a different emphasis:

Continents may be pulled into an opening more than they are pushed.

That is, a front-pulling suction can be a dominant term.

Force decomposition: a net-force equation

Write the net force on a plate as

Figure.

Mechanism schematics. (a) Force balance where Atlantic-side suction F_suction can dominate. (b) As fluid pressure P_f approaches the normal stress σₙ, effective stress σ' drops and μ_eff can collapse (hydraulic jacking / hydroplaning regime). This is a schematic, not a numerical model.}

Interpretation. The core test variables are plausible ranges of Δ P and A_cross. If the mechanism requires extreme Δ P values, it must STOP under Ω-NoGo.

Observable signature (example): “why are there few major subduction margins around the Atlantic?”

This mechanism treats the Atlantic not as a long-lived “plate-consuming” boundary, but as a space-filling outcome produced as plates are pulled apart into an opening. Therefore, it predicts:

• along Atlantic margins, signatures of passive margins + ridges dominate over sustained subduction, and
• deformation concentrates near rupture/opening edges.

These map to P1 and P2.