Fig. 4: Comparison to data.

Comparison of models and observations of back-arc spreading with and without back-arc spreading jumps. Timing in the natural data comprises the entire rifting and spreading duration. a The largest distance between trench and back-arc spreading centre. b Spreading duration of back-arcs. For models without spreading centre jumps (non-filled red circles), we measure the spreading period of the first back-arc. Models with back-arc spreading jumps form a linear trend, while the ones without spreading jumps plot below this trend. Observational data of back-arc spreading jumps plot close to the regression line, while all other active or recently inactive basins plot below it.