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1.
Seismic refraction surveys conducted in 1976 and 1979 over the broken ice surface of the Arctic Ocean, reveal distinctly different crustal structures for the Fram, Makarov and Canada basins. The Canada Basin, characterized by a 2–4 km thick sedimentary layer and a distinct oceanic layer 3B of 7.5 km/s velocity has the thickest crust and is undoubtedly the oldest of the three. The crust of the Makarov Basin has a thin sedimentary layer of less than 1 km and is about 9 km in total thickness. The Fram Basin has a similarly thin sedimentary layer but is 3–4 km thicker than the Makarov as it approaches the Lomonosov Ridge near the North Pole. The ridge itself is cored by material with a velocity of 6.6 km/s and may be a metagabbro similar to oceanic layer 3A. This ridge root material extends to a depth of about 27 km, where a change occurs to upper-mantle material with a velocity of 8.3 km/s. The core is overlain by up to 6 km of material with a velocity of about 4.7 km/s which could be oceanic layer 2A basalts or continental crystalline rocks with some sedimentary material.The Fram Basin probably began to open contemporaneously with the North Atlantic about 70 m.y. ago, by spreading along the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge. Although not yet dated, the Makarov Basin is probably no older than the initiation of the Fram Basin and may be much younger. The Alpha Ridge may once have been part of the Lomonosov Ridge, splitting off to form the Makarov Basin between 70 and 25 m.y. ago and possibly contributing to the Eurekan Orogeny of 25 m.y. ago, evident on Ellesmere Island. In contrast, the likely age of the Canada Basin lies in the 125–190 m.y. range and may have been formed by the counter-clockwise rotation of Alaska and the Northwind Ridge away from the Canadian Arctic Islands. The Lomonosov Ridge emerges from this scenario as a block resulting from a strike-slip shear zone on the European continental shelf, related to the opening of the Canada basin (180-120 my) and then becomes an entity broken from this shelf by the opening of the Eurasia Basin (70-0 m.y.).  相似文献   

2.
The geologic history of the passive continental margin off the east coast of North America from New England to Newfoundland is described using all available geological and geophysical information. “Rift” and “drift” phases of the margin's evolution are recognized, with rifting initiated in Late Triassic and completed by Early Jurassic. The plate decoupling process created a complex block-faulted terrain as a result of uplift and tensional fracturing. The approximate plane of continental separation is marked by a “hinge zone” characterized by a pronounced steepening of basement gradients. Since the Early Jurassic, the margin has undergone continual subsidence in response to cooling and sediment loading. This “drift” sequence attains its maximum thickness in the vicinity of the continental slope and thins both landward and seaward. On the shelf, this unit consists of Mesozoic evaporites, carbonates, and deltaic deposits. Overlying these sediments is a prograding wedge of Cenozoic elastics. On the rise, the Mesozoic sediments are evaporites, hemipelagic limestones and shales and carbonaceous clays. The Cenozoic is dominantly terrigenous material. Separating these two sedimentary provinces is the continental slope, a site of major facies changes and a Mesozoic reef complex.  相似文献   

3.
Multichannel seismic reflection data acquired by Marine Arctic Geological Expedition (MAGE) of Murmansk, Russia in 1990 provide the first view of the geological structure of the Arctic region between 77–80°N and 115–133°E, where the Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean adjoins the passive-transform continental margin of the Laptev Sea. South of 80°N, the oceanic basement of the Eurasia Basin and continental basement of the Laptev Sea outer margin are covered by 1.5 to 8 km of sediments. Two structural sequences are distinguished in the sedimentary cover within the Laptev Sea outer margin and at the continent/ocean crust transition: the lower rift sequence, including mostly Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleocene deposits, and the upper post-rift sequence, consisting of Cenozoic sediments. In the adjoining Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean, the Cenozoic post-rift sequence consists of a few sedimentary successions deposited by several submarine fans. Based on the multichannel seismic reflection data, the structural pattern was determined and an isopach map of the sedimentary cover and tectonic zoning map were constructed. A location of the continent/ocean crust transition is tentatively defined. A buried continuation of the mid-ocean Gakkel Ridge is also detected. This study suggests that south of 78.5°N there was the cessation in the tectonic activity of the Gakkel Ridge Rift from 33–30 until 3–1 Ma and there was no sea-floor spreading in the southernmost part of the Eurasia Basin during the last 30–33 m.y. South of 78.5°N all oceanic crust of the Eurasia Basin near the continental margin of the Laptev Sea was formed from 56 to 33–30 Ma.  相似文献   

4.
New mid Miocene to present plate tectonic reconstructions of the southern Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA) reveal that the inception of Cocos Ridge subduction began no earlier than 3 Ma, and possibly as late as 2 Ma. The Cocos Ridge has been displaced from the Malpelo Ridge to the southeast since 9 Ma along the Panama Fracture Zone (PFZ) system. Ambiguous PFZ and Coiba Fracture Zone (CFZ) interaction since 9 Ma precludes conclusively establishing the age of initial Cocos Ridge subduction. Detailed reconstructions based on magnetic anomalies offshore reveal several other variations in subduction parameters beneath southern Central America that preceded subduction of the Cocos Ridge, including southeastward migration of the Nazca–Cocos–Caribbean triple junction along the Middle America Trench (MAT) from 12 Ma to present, and subduction of ≤2 km high scarps both parallel and perpendicular to the trench from 6 to 1 Ma.The timing of changes in subduction processes has commonly been determined by (and correlated with) geologic changes in the upper plate. However, reliable 40Ar/39Ar dating of these events has become available only recently [Abstr. Programs-Geol. Soc. Am. (2002)]. These new dates better constrain the magmatic and structural history of southern Costa Rica. Observations from this data set include: a gap in the volcanic record from 11 to 6 Ma, which coincides temporally with emplacement of most plutons in southern Costa Rica, normal arc volcanism ceased after 3.5 Ma in southern Costa Rica, and Pliocene (mostly 1.5 Ma) adakite volcanism was widely distributed from central Panama to southern Costa Rica (though volumetrically insignificant).This new data reveals that many geologic phenomena, commonly attributed to subduction and underplating of the buoyant Cocos Ridge, in fact precede inception of Cocos Ridge subduction and seem to correlate more favorably in time with earlier tectonic events. Adakite volcanic activity corresponds in space and time with the subduction of a large scarp associated with a tectonic boundary off southern Panama. Regional unconformities and an 11–6 Ma gap in arc volcanism match temporally with oblique subduction of the Nazca plate beneath central and southern Costa Rica. Cessation of volcanic activity, low-temperature cooling of plutons in the Cordillera de Talamanca (CT), and rapid increases in sedimentation in the fore-arc and back-arc basins coincide with passage of the Nazca–Cocos–Caribbean triple junction and initiation of subduction of “rough” crust associated with Cocos–Nazca rifting 3.5 Ma, closely followed by initial subduction of the Cocos Ridge 2–3 Ma. None of the aforementioned geologic events occurred at a time that would allow for underplating by the Cocos Ridge. Rather they are probably related to complex interactions with subduction of complicated plates offshore. All of the aforementioned events indicate that the southern Central American subduction system has been in flux since at least 12 Ma.  相似文献   

5.
The tectonotype of nonvolcanic passive margins is discussed on the basis of data on the conjugate margins of West Iberia and Newfoundland. Magmatic, structural, and historical aspects are considered. The Late Mesozoic structural elements related to rifting and transition to spreading are considered, as well as the Early Mesozoic sedimentary basins that begin the history of oceanic opening. The problem is set to determine the tectonic conditions of the early opening of the ocean in the framework of the chosen tectonoptype. These conditions are compared with the setting at the volcanic margins. The formation of the conjugate Iberia-Newfoundland margins is reconstructed as an asymmetric rift system developing in an almost amagmatic regime. All three segments of the margins on both sides of the ocean reveal similar features of transverse zoning with zones of the tectonized continental, transitional, and oceanic crust oriented nearly parallel to the margin. Special attention is called to the old age of the continental crust and subcontinental mantle and the absence of newly formed crystalline crust; the stadial tectonic and rheological evolution of the crust and lithospheric mantle; the specific features of the transitional zone; the serpentinization and exhumation of mantle peridotites and their role in the development of detachment at the crust-mantle interface, related listric faults and the Peridotite Ridge, attenuation of the medium, further localization of continental breakup, and the eventual development of asymmetric conjugate margins. Two papers characterizing the tectonotypes of volcanic and nonvolcanic passive margins ([2] and this paper) determine the line of further comparative analysis necessary for insights into the geodynamics of ocean opening.  相似文献   

6.
Modelling the extension of heterogeneous hot lithosphere   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  
The consequences of weak heterogeneities in the extension of soft and hot lithosphere without significant previous crustal thickening has been analysed in a series of centrifuge models. The experiments examined the effects of i) the location of heterogeneities in the ductile crust and/or in the lithospheric mantle, and ii) their orientation, perpendicular or oblique to the direction of bulk extension. The observed deformation patterns are all relevant to the so-called “wide rifting” mode of extension. Weak zones located in the ductile crust exert a more pronounced influence on localisation of deformation in the brittle layer than those located in the lithospheric mantle: the former localise faulting in the brittle crust whereas the latter tend to distribute faulting over a wider area. This latter behaviour depends in turn upon the decoupling provided by the ductile crust. Localised thinning in the brittle crust is accompanied by ductile doming of both crust and mantle. Domains of maximum thinning in the brittle crust and ductile crust and mantle are in opposition. Lateral differences in brittle crust thinning are accommodated by lateral flow in the ductile crust and mantle. This contrasts with “cold and strong” lithospheres whose high strength sub-Moho mantle triggers a necking instability at the lithosphere-scale. This also differs from the extension of thickened hot and soft lithospheres whose ductile crust is thick enough to give birth to metamorphic core complexes. Thus, for the given lithospheric rheology, the models have relevance to backarc type extensional systems, such as the Aegean and the Tyrrhenian domains.  相似文献   

7.
Numerous ge ological and geophysical investigations within the past decades have shown that the Rhinegraben is the most pronounced segment of an extended continental rift system in Europe. The structure of the upper and lower crust is significantly different from the structure of the adjacent “normal” continental crust.

Two crustal cross-sections across the central and southern part of the Rhinegraben have been constructed based on a new evaluation of seismic refraction and reflection measurements. The most striking features of the structure derived are the existence of a well-developed velocity reversal in the upper crust and of a characteristic cushion-like layer with a compressional velocity of 7.6–7.7 km/sec in the lower crust above a normal mantle with 8.2 km/sec. Immediately below the sialic low-velocity zone in the middle part of the crust, an intermediate layer with lamellar structure and of presumably basic composition could be mapped.

It is interesting to note that the asymmetry of the sedimentary fill in the central Rhinegraben seems to extend down deeper into the upper crust as indicated by the focal depths of earthquakes. The top of the rift “cushion” shows a marked relief which has no obvious relation to the crustal structure above it or the visible rift at the surface.  相似文献   


8.
A three-dimensional (3D) density model, approximated by two regional layers—the sedimentary cover and the crystalline crust (offshore, a sea-water layer was added), has been constructed in 1° averaging for the whole European continent. The crustal model is based on simplified velocity model represented by structure maps for main seismic horizons—the “seismic” basement and the Moho boundary. Laterally varying average density is assumed inside the model layers. Residual gravity anomalies, obtained by subtraction of the crustal gravity effect from the observed field, characterize the density heterogeneities in the upper mantle. Mantle anomalies are shown to correlate with the upper mantle velocity inhomogeneities revealed from seismic tomography data and geothermal data. Considering the type of mantle anomaly, specific features of the evolution and type of isostatic compensation, the sedimentary basins in Europe may be related into some groups: deep sedimentary basins located in the East European Platform and its northern and eastern margins (Peri-Caspian, Dnieper–Donets, Barents Sea Basins, Fore–Ural Trough) with no significant mantle anomalies; basins located on the activated thin crust of Variscan Western Europe and Mediterranean area with negative mantle anomalies of −150 to −200×10−5 ms−2 amplitude and the basins associated with suture zones at the western and southern margins of the East European Platform (Polish Trough, South Caspian Basin) characterized by positive mantle anomalies of 50–150×10−5 ms−2 magnitude. An analysis of the main features of the lithosphere structure of the basins in Europe and type of the compensation has been carried out.  相似文献   

9.
Igneous and sedimentary rocks recently dredged and cored from the steep western slope of the Beata Ridge provide important data on the composition, age and details of crustal evolution of the rock-types responsible for recorded compressional wave velocities. The sedimentary rock samples also provide new data concerning the age and depositional environment of overlying sedimentary reflectors.

The deepest (4,100 m) dredge haul contains deeply weathered coarsegrained igneous rocks. Nine other hauls, distributed between 4,000–2,300 m, contain holocrystalline basalts and diabases. The compressional wave velocity of air-dried samples of two holocrystalline basalts and a diabase at atmospheric pressure ranges from 5.0–5.6 km/sec. Sampling in depths less than 2,300 m shows that the crest of the Beata Ridge is capped by Quaternary deposits underlain by consolidated carbonate sediment of at least Middle Eocene age. The faunal assemblages of the Mid-Eocene samples are the product of normal accumulation in a shallow shelf environment.

The dredging results coupled with previously published seismic reflection and refraction data, suggest that the 5.4–5.7 km/sec crust is composed of a layer of basalt and diabase which outcrops below 2,300 m, on a fault-generated escarpment that was produced in the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary. The shallow shelf samples of Eocene age indicate that the Beata Ridge was higher in the Early Tertiary and has subsided subsequently to its present depth.  相似文献   


10.
The nature and origin of the sediments and crust of the Murray Ridge System and northern Indus Fan are discussed. The uppermost unit consists of Middle Miocene to recent channel–levee complexes typical of submarine fans. This unit is underlain by a second unit composed of hemipelagic to pelagic sediments deposited during the drift phase after the break-up of India–Seychelles–Africa. A predrift sequence of assumed Mesozoic age occurring only as observed above basement ridges is composed of highly consolidated rocks. Different types of the acoustic basement were detected, which reflection seismic pattern, magnetic anomalies and gravity field modeling indicate to be of continental character. The continental crust is extremely thinned in the northern Indus Fan, lacking a typical block-faulted structure. The Indian continent–ocean transition is marked on single MCS profiles by sequences of seaward-dipping reflectors (SDR). In the northwestern Arabian Sea, the Indian plate margin is characterized by several phases of volcanism and deformation revealed from interpretation of multichannel seismic profiles and magnetic anomalies. From this study, thinned continental crust spreads between the northern Murray Ridge System and India underneath the northern Indus Fan.  相似文献   

11.
Thermal and petrologic models of the crust and upper mantle are used for calculating effective viscosities on the basis of constant creep rates. Viscosity—depth models together with pressure—depth models are calculated for continental and oceanic blocks facing each other at continental margins. It is found from these “static models” that the overburden pressure in the lower crust and uppermost mantle causes a stress which is directed from the ocean to the continent. The generally low viscosity of 1020–1023 poise in this region should permit a creep process which could finally lead to a “silent” subduction. In the upper crust static stresses act in the opposite direction, i.e. from the continent to the ocean, favouring tension which could produce normal faulting in the continent. Differences between observations and the results obtained from the static models are attributed to dynamical forces.  相似文献   

12.
The Andaman arc in the northeastern Indian Ocean defines nearly 1100 km long active plate margin between the India and Burma plates where an oblique Benioff zone develops down to 200 km depth. Several east-trending seismologic sections taken across the Andaman Benioff Zone (ABZ) are presented here to detail the subduction zone geometry in a 3-D perspective. The slab gravity anomaly, computed from the 3-D ABZ configuration, is a smooth, long-wavelength and symmetric gravity high of 85 mGal amplitude centering to the immediate east of the Nicobar Island, where, a prominent gravity “high” follows the Nicobar Deep. The Slab-Residual Gravity Anomaly (SRGA) and Mantle Bouguer Anomaly (MBA) maps prepared for the Andaman plate margin bring out a double-peaked SRGA “low” in the range of − 150 to − 240 mGal and a wider-cum-larger MBA “low” having the amplitude of − 280 to − 315 mGal demarcating the Andaman arc–trench system. The gravity models provide evidences for structural control in propagating the rupture within the lithosphere. The plate margin configuration below the Andaman arc is sliced by the West Andaman Fault (WAF) as well as by a set of sympathetic faults of various proportions, often cutting across the fore-arc sediment package. Some of these fore-arc thrust faults clearly give rise to considerably high post-seismic activity, but the seismic incidence along the WAF further east is comparatively much less particularly in the north, although, the lack of depth resolution for many of the events prohibits tracing the downward continuity of these faults. Tectonic correlation of the gravity-derived models presented here tends to favour the presence of oceanic crust below the Andaman–Nicobar Outer Arc Ridge.  相似文献   

13.
The evolution of oceanic crust on the Kolbeinsey Ridge, north of Iceland, is discussed on the basis of a crustal transect obtained by seismic experiment from the Kolbeinsey Ridge to the Jan Mayen Basin. The crustal model indicates a relatively uniform structure; no significant lateral velocity variations are observed, especially in the lower crust. The uniform velocity structure suggests that the postulated extinct axis does not exist over the oceanic crust formed at the Kolbeinsey Ridge, but supports a model of continuous spreading along the ridge after oceanic spreading started west of the Jan Mayen Basin. The oceanic crust formed at Kolbeinsey Ridge is 1–2.5 km thicker than normal oceanic crust due to hotter-than-normal mantle from the Iceland Mantle Plume. The observed generally uniform thickness throughout the transect might also indicate that the temperatures of the astheno-spheric mantle ascending along the Kolbeinsey Ridge have not changed significantly since the age of magnetic anomaly 6B.  相似文献   

14.
A.G. Rodnikov 《Tectonophysics》1973,20(1-4):105-114
Results of seismic investigations in the transition zone from the Asian Continent to the Pacific Ocean are reported in detail. At the bottom of the sedimentary sequence presumably Cretaceous rocks are found in depressions of the sea floor. The “granitic” layer in the transition zone consists of igneous-sedimentary rocks in different stages of granitization. The “basaltic” layer is developed irregularly in thickness and seismic velocities; its origin is obscure. Apparently the earth's crust in the transition zone is still under formation.  相似文献   

15.
In recent years the northwestern Black Sea has been investigated by a great number of geophysical methods. Charts of the M discontinuity and (isopachous) charts of the “granitic”, the “basaltic”, the Paleozoic, the Jurassic-Triassic, the Upper and Lower Cretaceous and the Eocene layers were plotted based on the results of the combined data of these investigations together with associated drilling data. The data for different velocity levels confirms the concept of layered-block structure of the crust, where large blocks are divided by deep faults penetrating to the upper mantle. Sedimentation within each block is continuous while reverse fault zones, dividing the East European Platform with a crustal thickness of more than 40 km and the Scythian Platform with a crust of about 30 km thick, and the latter from the Black Sea depression with crust of about 20 km, are discontinuous. Therefore, one can speak of a continuous-discontinuous nature of the sedimentation.

An inverse relationship in thicknesses of the “granitic” and sedimentary layers has been established. In places of intensive sedimentation the thickness of the “granitic” layer is less than that within the stable unsagging blocks. On the whole the greater the thickness of “basaltic” layer, the greater is the crustal thickness.

The relationship between the main geological structures of the area should be sought in the nature of structure of these “granitic” and “basaltic” layers.  相似文献   


16.
Possibilities for the fate of oceanic plateaus at subduction zones range from complete subduction of the plateau beneath the arc to complete plateau–arc accretion and resulting collisional orogenesis. Deep penetration, multi-channel seismic reflection (MCS) data from the northern flank of the Solomon Islands reveal the sequence stratigraphy, structural style, and age of deformation of an accretionary prism formed during late Neogene (5–0 Ma) convergence between the 33-km-thick crust of the Ontong Java oceanic plateau and the 15-km-thick Solomon island arc. Correlation of MCS data with the satellite-derived, free-air gravity field defines the tectonic boundaries and internal structure of the 800-km-long, 140-km-wide accretionary prism. We name this prism the “Malaita accretionary prism” or “MAP” after Malaita, the largest and best-studied island exposure of the accretionary prism in the Solomon Islands. MCS data, gravity data, and stratigraphic correlations to islands and ODP sites on the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) reveal that the offshore MAP is composed of folded and thrust faulted sedimentary rocks and upper crystalline crust offscraped from the Solomon the subducting Ontong Java Plateau (Pacific plate) and transferred to the Solomon arc. With the exception of an upper, sequence of Quaternary? island-derived terrigenous sediments, the deformed stratigraphy of the MAP is identical to that of the incoming Ontong Java Plateau in the North Solomon trench.We divide the MAP into four distinct, folded and thrust fault-bounded structural domains interpreted to have formed by diachronous, southeast-to-northwest, and highly oblique entry of the Ontong Java Plateau into a former trench now marked by the Kia–Kaipito–Korigole (KKK) left-lateral strike-slip fault zone along the suture between the Solomon arc and the MAP. The structural style within each of the four structural domains consists of a parallel series of three to four fault propagation folds formed by the seaward propagation of thrust faults roughly parallel to sub-horizontal layering in the upper crystalline part of the OJP. Thrust fault offsets, spacing between thrusts, and the amplitude of related fault propagation folds progressively decrease to the west in the youngest zone of active MAP accretion (Choiseul structural domain). Surficial faulting and folding in the most recently deformed, northwestern domain show active accretion of greater than 1 km of sedimentary rock and 6 km, or about 20%, of the upper crystalline part of the OJP. The eastern MAP (Malaita and Ulawa domains) underwent an earlier, similar style of partial plateau accretion. A pre-late Pliocene age of accretion (3.4 Ma) is constrained by an onshore and offshore major angular unconformity separating Pliocene reefal limestone and conglomerate from folded and faulted pelagic limestone of Cretaceous to Miocene age. The lower 80% of the Ontong Java Plateau crust beneath the MAP thrust decollement appears unfaulted and unfolded and is continuous with a southwestward-dipping subducted slab of presumably denser plateau material beneath most of the MAP, and is traceable to depths >200 km in the mantle beneath the Solomon Islands.  相似文献   

17.
The crustal structure of the central Eromanga Basin in the northern part of the Australian Tasman Geosyncline, revealed by coincident seismic reflection and refraction shooting, contrasts with some neighbouring regions of the continent. The depth to the crust-mantle boundary (Moho) of 36–41 km is much less than that under the North Australian Craton to the northwest (50–55 km) and the Lachlan Fold Belt to the southeast (43–51 km) but is similar to that under the Drummond and Bowen Basins to the east.The seismic velocity boundaries within the crust are sharp compared with the transitional nature of the boundaries under the North Australian and Lachlan provinces. In particular, there is a sharp velocity increase at mid-crustal depths (21–24 km) which has not been observed with such clarity elsewhere in Australia (the Conrad discontinuity?).In the lower crust, the many discontinuous sub-horizontal reflections are in marked contrast to lack of reflecting horizons in the upper crust, further emphasising the differences between the upper and lower crust. The crust-mantle boundary (Moho) is characterised by an increase in velocity from 7.1–7.7 km/s to a value of 8.15 + 0.04 km/s. The depth to the Moho under the Canaway Ridge, a prominent basement high, is shallower by about 5 km than the regional Moho depth; there is also no mid-crustal horizon under the Canaway Ridge but there is a very sharp velocity increase at the Moho depth of 34 km. The Ridge could be interpreted as a horst structure extending to at least Moho depths but it could also have a different intra-crustal structure from the surrounding area.The sub-crustal lithosphere has features which have been interpreted, from limited data, as being caused by a velocity gradient at 56–57 km depth with a low velocity zone above it.Because of the contrasting crustal thicknesses and velocity gradients, the lithosphere of the central Eromanga Basin cannot be considered as an extension of the exposed Lachlan Fold Belt or the North Australian Craton. The lack of seismic reflections from the upper crust indicates no coherent accoustic impedance pattern at wavelengths greater than 100 m, consistent with an upper crustal basement of tightly folded meta-sedimentary and meta-volcanic rocks. The crustal structure is consistent with a pericratonic or arc/back-arc basin being cratonised in an episode of convergent tectonics in the Early Palaeozoic. The seismic reflections from the lower crust indicate that it could have developed in a different tectonic environment.  相似文献   

18.
The continental margin orogenic systems of the western Americas are enormous features that formed along the Pacific margins of the North and South American plates during late Mesozoic through Cenozoic time. There has been considerable debate concerning their origin, and they are often compared with intra-oceanic fringing arc-trench systems more typical of the Australasian margins of the Pacific Ocean, in that both involve the subduction of oceanic lithosphere, often with similar convergent relative motion vectors. The onset of orogenesis in the two Cordilleras, as shown in reversal of sedimentary polarity from sources generally on the continent to sources along the Pacific margin, seems to date from shortly after emplacement of the oldest oceanic crust in that part of the Atlantic Ocaen east of each continent — i.e., about 170 Ma, or Middle Jurassic, in the case of the Central Atlantic, and about 135 to 100 Ma, or Early to mid-Cretaceous, in the case of the South Atlantic. These ages also seem to mark the onset of westward motion of the two continents over the Pacific Ocean basin and subsequent crustal thickening and uplift, with development of thrust belts, foreland basins, and foredeeps. Prior to this prolonged westward drift, both margins had been convergent for at least several hundred million years, but no massive mountain building had taken place. Instead, the margins were tectonically “neutral”, with typically submarine fringing arc-trench systems or shallow marine to continental margin arcs which stood “outboard” of shallow marine platformal shelves or basins whose main sedimentary polarity was from the continent. Although accretion of “suspect” terranes, high rates of convergence, and age of subducting lithosphere all may have influenced particularly local tectonic response and/or phases of orogenic activity in the two chains, the absolute motion of the two continental margins over the Pacific Ocean basin is considered to have been the dominant factor in Cordilleran tectonic evolution.  相似文献   

19.
We consider the general and specific features of the evolution of the composition of fine-grained terrigenous rocks in the Riphean sedimentary megasequences of the Southern Urals, Uchur-Maya region, and Yenisei Ridge. It has been established that the crust on the southwestern (in the modern frame of references) periphery of the Siberian craton was geochemically the most mature segment of the Riphean continental crust. For example, the fine-grained clastic rocks and metapelites of all Riphean lithostratigraphic units of the Yenisei Ridge have higher median contents of Th than the most mature Paleoproterozoic crust, and in median contents of Y and Cr/Th values they are the most similar to it. In the Southern Urals and Uchur-Maya region, some units of the Riphean sedimentary sequences show median contents of Y and Th and Cr/Th values close to those of primitive Archean crust. Analysis of Cr/Th variations in the fine-grained terrigenous rocks of all three megasequences shows that the minimum Cr/Th values, evidencing a predominance or the abundance of felsic rocks in provenances, are typical of the Riphean argillaceous shales and metapelites of the Yenisei Ridge. The distinct Cr/Th and Cr/Sc increase in the fine-grained clastic rocks of the Chingasan Group of the ridge reflects the large-scale destruction of continental crust during the formation of rift troughs as a result of the Rodinia breakup in the second half of the Late Riphean. The Cr/Th variations in the Lower and Middle Riphean argillaceous shales and mudstones of the Bashkirian mega-anticlinorium and Uchur-Maya region are in agreement, which evidences the subglobal occurrence of rifting in the early Middle Riphean (so-called “Mashak rifting”).  相似文献   

20.
The tectonostratigraphic zones of Newfoundland have been traced to the continental margin northeast of Newfoundland on the basis of detailed geophysical surveys of the area. The structures of the Avalon zone veer eastward offshore, whereas the western platform and marginal zones trend northerly for approximately 400 k tendency to veer eastward. Using reasonable pre-drift reconstructions on North America and Europe, good correlations are found between the Avalonian units of Newfoundland and Iberia, with the European landfall of the Charlie Fracture zone representing the northern limit of Avalon equivalent basement. Despite the good correlation of the eastern units, the geological elements of western and central Newfoundland, northern Ireland and Scotland, between which geological correlation is “classical”, were separated laterally by approximately 900 km prior to opening of the present Atlantic. This offset of western units but continuity of eastern units is compatible with the existence of an eastward bend in the Appalachian system similar to but larger than the bends of the Appalachian system within the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the eastern United States.  相似文献   

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