Quote Originally Posted by Charerg View Post
It's not really plausible for a single plate to be subducted in multiple directions, you'd have to break it apart into at least two separate plates. You could also make E2 more-or-less surrounded by divergent boundaries like Antarctica, maybe something like this:

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Thanks, yeah, I thought so - hence my previous question about oceanic plates splitting. Would it seem reasonable in this case? I.e. an oceanic plate splitting in two, spreading in the centre and subducting on either side? Are there (or have there been) any examples of this?

Alternatively, I could change the movement of E2 to follow the subduction more directly, in which case it looks like it is heading for an India-Style collision. As a continent moves towards a subduction zone, would there be island arcs? For example, imagine India had not yet collided with Eurasia, in the ocean 'gap' north of India, does anything happen, or is India just pulled into the subduction like a kind of conveyor-belt motion? (Wow, questions lead to more questions.)