Global deep‐time plate motion models have traditionally followed a classical rigid plate approach, even though plate deformation is known to be significant. Here we present a global Mesozoic–Cenozoic deforming plate motion model that captures the progressive extension of all continental margins since the initiation of rifting within Pangea at ~240 Ma. The model also includes major failed continental rifts and compressional deformation along collision zones. The outlines and timing of regional deformation episodes are reconstructed from a wealth of published regional tectonic models and associated geological and geophysical data. We reconstruct absolute plate motions in a mantle reference frame with a joint global inversion using hot spot tracks for the last 80 million years and minimizing global trench migration velocities and net lithospheric rotation. In our optimized model, net rotation is consistently below 0.2°/Myr, and trench migration scatter is substantially reduced. Distributed plate deformation reaches a Mesozoic peak of 30 × 10⁶ km² in the Late Jurassic (~160–155 Ma), driven by a vast network of rift systems. After a mid‐Cretaceous drop in deformation, it reaches a high of 48 x 10⁶ km² in the Late Eocene (~35 Ma), driven by the progressive growth of plate collisions and the formation of new rift systems. About a third of the continental crustal area has been deformed since 240 Ma, partitioned roughly into 65% extension and 35% compression. This community plate model provides a framework for building detailed regional deforming plate networks and form a constraint for models of basin evolution and the plate‐mantle system.

A branch of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean once separated the north China plate from the south China plate. However, the mode of closure of the northeastern Paleo‐Tethys Ocean during the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic has been debated. One reason for this debate is that the collisional suture zone was later buried by large‐scale thrust faults in the southern Qinling‐Dabieshan orogen, which made it difficult to reconstruct the amalgamation of the supercontinent in central China. New regional geologic mapping provides stratigraphic and structural constraints on the mechanism of this ocean closure. Our results indicate that dextral transpressional suturing in the southern Qinling‐Dabieshan foreland fold‐thrust belt resulted in the formation of the northern Yangtze foreland basin, where the stratigraphy precisely shows the time‐transgressive closure of the ocean, and the orogenic sediments shed over 1000 km westward from eastern China to the closing Paleo‐Tethys. Therefore, we propose an oblique subduction model to describe the closure of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean. Our findings suggest that prolonged slab pull during the oblique subduction of the oceanic plate continued to drive deep continental subduction, thereby forming high‐ and ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic rocks and leading to sustained ocean closure.

The present‐day architecture of subducted slabs in the mantle as inferred from seismic tomography is a record of plate tectonics through geological time. The unusually large slab that lies nearly horizontally above the 660‐km mantle discontinuity beneath East Asia is presumably from subduction of the Pacific plate. Numerical models have been used to explore the mechanical and geophysical factors that contribute to slab stagnation, but the evolution of this horizontal structure is not fully understood because of uncertainties in the plate‐tectonic history and mantle heterogeneity. Here we show that forward mantle‐flow models constrained by updated tectonic reconstructions can essentially fit major features in the seismic tomography beneath East Asia. Specifically, significant tearing propagated through the subducted western Pacific slab as the Philippine Sea plate rotated clockwise during the Miocene, leading to internal slab segmentation. We believe this tearing associated with Philippine Sea plate rotation also affects the horizontal configuration of slabs.

The mechanisms underlying the deformation and eventual destruction of Earth’s cratons remain enigmatic, despite proposed links to subduction and deep mantle plume processes. Here we study the deformation of the North China Craton using four-dimensional mantle flow models of the plate–mantle system since the late Mesozoic, integrating constraints from lithospheric deformation, mantle seismic tomography and the evolution of surface topography. We find that flat-slab subduction induced landward shortening and lithospheric thickening, while subsequent flat-slab rollback caused seaward extension and lithospheric thinning. Both subduction phases resulted in substantial topographic changes in basin sediments. Rapid flat-slab rollback, coupled with a viscosity jump and phase change across the 660 km mantle discontinuity, was a key ingredient in shaping a large mantle wedge. We argue that craton deformation through lithospheric extension and thinning was triggered by the subduction of a flat slab and its subsequent rollback. The integration of data into mechanical models provides insights into the four-dimensional dynamic interplay involving subduction, mantle processes, craton deformation and topography.