Sample records for overriding continental plate

  1. A thermo-mechanical model of horizontal subduction below an overriding plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Hunen, Jeroen; van den Berg, Arie P.; Vlaar, Nico J.

    2000-10-01

    Subduction of young oceanic lithosphere cannot be explained by the gravitational driving mechanisms of slab pull and ridge push. This deficiency of driving forces can be overcome by obduction of an actively overriding plate, which forces the young plate either to subduct or to collide. This mechanism leads to shallow flattening of the slab as observed today under parts of the west coast of North and South America. Here this process is examined by means of numerical modeling. The convergence velocity between oceanic and continental lithospheric plates is computed from the modeling results, and the ratio of the subduction velocity over the overriding velocity is used as a diagnostic of the efficiency of the ongoing subduction process. We have investigated several factors influencing the mechanical resistance working against the subduction process. In particular, we have studied the effect of a preexisting lithospheric fault with a depth dependent shear resistance, partly decoupling the oceanic lithosphere from the overriding continent. We also investigated the lubricating effect of a 7 km thick basaltic crustal layer on the efficiency of the subduction process and found a log-linear relation between convergence rate and viscosity prefactor characterizing the strength of the oceanic crust, for a range of parameter values including values for basaltic rocks, derived from empirical data. A strong mantle fixes the subducting slab while being overridden and prevents the slab from further subduction in a Benioff style. Viscous heating lowers the coupling strength of the crustal interface between the converging plates with about half an order of magnitude and therefore contributes significantly to the subduction process. Finally, when varying the overriding velocity from 2.5 to 10 cm yr -1, we found a non-linear increase of the subduction velocity due to the presence of non-linear mantle rheology. These results indicate that active obduction of oceanic lithosphere by an

  2. Coupling intensity and isostatic competition between subducting slab and overriding plate control trench motions and tectonics of the overriding plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, G.; Moresi, L. N.

    2017-12-01

    Trench motions not only reflect tectonic regimes on the overriding plate but also shed light on the competition between subducting slab and overriding plate, however, major controls over trench advance or retreat and their consequences are still illusive. We use 2D thermo-mechanical experiments to study the problem. We find that the coupling intensity particularly in the uppermost 200 km and the isostatic competition between subducting slab and overriding plate largely determine trench motion and tectonics of in the overriding plate. Coupling intensity is the result of many contributing factors, including frictional coefficient of brittle part of the subducting interface and the viscosity of the ductile part, thermal regime and rheology of the overriding plate, and water contents and magmatic activity in the subducting slab and overriding plate. In this study, we are not concerned with the dynamic evolution of individual controlling parameter but simply use effective media. For instance, we impose simple model parameters such as frictional coefficient and vary the temperature and strain-rate dependent viscosity of the weak layer between the subducting slab and overriding plate. In the coupled end-member case, strong coupling leads to strong corner flow, depth-dependent compression/extension, and mantle return flow on the overriding plate side. It results in fast trench retreat, broad overriding plate extension, and even slab breakoff. In the decoupled end-member case, weak coupling causes much weaker response on the overriding plate side compared with the coupled end-member case, and the subducting slab can be largely viewed as a conveyer belt. We find that the isostatic competition between the subducting slab and overriding plate also has a major control over trench motion, and may better be viewed in 3D models. This is consistent with the findings in previous 3D studies that trench motion is most pronounced close to the slab edge. Here we propose that the

  3. Active Deformation in the Overriding Plate Associated with Temporal Changes of the Philippine Sea Plate Motion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ishiyama, T.; Sato, H.; Van Horne, A.

    2015-12-01

    We present detailed geologic evidence linking changes over time in Philippine Sea plate (PHS) motion and intracontinental deformation in central and southwest (SW) Japan during the Pliocene and after. In the early Pliocene, subduction of the PHS plate under SW Japan restarted in a northerly direction after period of deceleration or cessation. Later, motion changed to a more westerly direction. Corresponding geological changes found in the overriding plate include unconformities in the forearc basins, changes in slip sense on faults, depocenter migration, re-organization of drainage systems and volcanism. Quaternary intraplate deformation is prominent north of the Median Tectonic Line (MTL) inactive segment, above a shallow flat slab. In contrast, less Quaternary tectonic activity is found north of the MTL active segment which lies over a steadily-slipping portion of the subducting slab that behaves as a less-deformed rigid block. Depocenters and active thrusting have migrated north/northwestward over the past 5 My above the shallow flat slab segment of the PHS. We reconstructed the Plio-Pleistocene migration history using Neogene stratigraphy and shallow seismic reflection profiles. We see shallow PHS slab contact with the lower continental crust in our deep seismic reflection profiles, which may explain its enhanced downward drag of the overriding plate and synchronous strong compression in the crust. We find evidence of more westerly PHS plate subduction since the middle Pleistocene in (1) unconformities in the Kumano forearc basin deposits in SW Japan, (2) drastic stream captures in Shikoku, and (3) concordant changes in fault slip sense from thrust to dextral slip along the MTL. Oblique subduction could have induced stronger horizontal stress in the overriding plate above the shallow flat slab which could account for the increasing geologic slip rate observed on active structures. During four repetitions of megathrust earthquake sequences since the 17th century

  4. Seismic evidence for deep fluid circulation in the overriding plate of subduction zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tauzin, B.; Reynard, B.; Bodin, T.; Perrillat, J. P.; Debayle, E.

    2015-12-01

    In subduction zones, non-volcanic tremors are associated with fluid circulations (Obara, 2002). Their sources are often located on the interplate boundary (Rogers and Dragert, 2003; Shelly et al, 2006; La Rocca, 2009), consistent with fluids released by the dehydration of subducted plates (Hacker et al., 2003). Reports of tremors in the overriding continental crust of several subduction zones in the world (Kao et al., 2005; Payero et al., 2008; Ide, 2012) suggest fluid circulation at shallower depths but potential fluid paths are poorly documented. Here we obtained seismic observations from receiver functions that evidence the close association between the shallow tremor zone, electrical conductivity, and tectonic features of the Cascadia overriding plate. A seismic discontinuity near 15 km depth in the crust of the overriding North American plate is attributed to the Conrad discontinuity. This interface is segmented, and its interruption is spatially correlated with conductive regions and shallow swarms of seismicity and non-volcanic tremors. These observations suggest that shallow fluid circulation, tremors and seismicity are controlled by fault zones limiting blocks of accreted terranes in the overriding plate (Brudzinski and Allen, 2007). These zones constitute fluid "escape" routes that may contribute unloading fluid pressure on the megathrust. Obara, K. (2002). Science, 296, 1679-1681. Rogers, G., & Dragert, H. (2003). Science, 300, 1942-1943. Shelly, D. R., et al. (2006). Nature, 442, 188-191. La Rocca, M., et al. (2009). Science, 323, 620-623. Kao, H., et al. (2005). Nature, 436, 841-844. Payero, J. S., et al. (2008). Geophysical Research Letters, 35. Ide, S. (2012). Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 117. Brudzinski, M. R., & Allen, R. M. (2007). Geology, 35, 907-910.

  5. Continental underplating after slab break-off

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Magni, V.; Allen, M. B.; van Hunen, J.; Bouilhol, P.

    2017-09-01

    We present three-dimensional numerical models to investigate the dynamics of continental collision, and in particular what happens to the subducted continental lithosphere after oceanic slab break-off. We find that in some scenarios the subducting continental lithosphere underthrusts the overriding plate not immediately after it enters the trench, but after oceanic slab break-off. In this case, the continental plate first subducts with a steep angle and then, after the slab breaks off at depth, it rises back towards the surface and flattens below the overriding plate, forming a thick horizontal layer of continental crust that extends for about 200 km beyond the suture. This type of behaviour depends on the width of the oceanic plate marginal to the collision zone: wide oceanic margins promote continental underplating and marginal back-arc basins; narrow margins do not show such underplating unless a far field force is applied. Our models show that, as the subducted continental lithosphere rises, the mantle wedge progressively migrates away from the suture and the continental crust heats up, reaching temperatures >900 °C. This heating might lead to crustal melting, and resultant magmatism. We observe a sharp peak in the overriding plate rock uplift right after the occurrence of slab break-off. Afterwards, during underplating, the maximum rock uplift is smaller, but the affected area is much wider (up to 350 km). These results can be used to explain the dynamics that led to the present-day crustal configuration of the India-Eurasia collision zone and its consequences for the regional tectonic and magmatic evolution.

  6. Continental tectonics in the aftermath of plate tectonics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Molnar, Peter

    1988-01-01

    It is shown that the basic tenet of plate tectonics, rigid-body movements of large plates of lithosphere, fails to apply to continental interiors. There, buoyant continental crust can detach from the underlying mantle to form mountain ranges and broad zones of diffuse tectonic activity. The role of crustal blocks and of the detachment of crustal fragments in this process is discussed. Future areas of investigation are addressed.

  7. Geodynamic models of terrane accretion: Testing the fate of island arcs, oceanic plateaus, and continental fragments in subduction zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tetreault, J. L.; Buiter, S. J. H.

    2012-08-01

    Crustal growth at convergent margins can occur by the accretion of future allochthonous terranes (FATs), such as island arcs, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, and continental fragments. Using geodynamic numerical experiments, we demonstrate how crustal properties of FATs impact the amount of FAT crust that is accreted or subducted, the type of accretionary process, and the style of deformation on the overriding plate. Our results show that (1) accretion of crustal units occurs when there is a weak detachment layer within the FAT, (2) the depth of detachment controls the amount of crust accreted onto the overriding plate, and (3) lithospheric buoyancy does not prevent FAT subduction during constant convergence. Island arcs, oceanic plateaus, and continental fragments will completely subduct, despite having buoyant lithospheric densities, if they have rheologically strong crusts. Weak basal layers, representing pre-existing weaknesses or detachment layers, will either lead to underplating of faulted blocks of FAT crust to the overriding plate or collision and suturing of an unbroken FAT crust. Our experiments show that the weak, ultramafic layer found at the base of island arcs and oceanic plateaus plays a significant role in terrane accretion. The different types of accretionary processes also affect deformation and uplift patterns in the overriding plate, trench migration and jumping, and the dip of the plate interface. The resulting accreted terranes produced from our numerical experiments resemble observed accreted terranes, such as the Wrangellia Terrane and Klamath Mountain terranes in the North American Cordilleran Belt.

  8. Plate boundary and major fault system in the overriding plate within the Shumagin gap at the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Becel, A.; Shillington, D. J.; Nedimovic, M. R.; Keranen, K. M.; Li, J.; Webb, S. C.; Kuehn, H.

    2013-12-01

    Structure in the overriding plate is one of the parameters that may increase the tsunamigenic potential of a subduction zone but also influence the seismogenic behavior and segmentation of great earthquake rupture. The Alaska-Aleutian margin is characterized by along-strike changes in plate interface coupling over relatively small distances. Here, we present trench normal multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles acquired across the Shumagin gap that has not broken in many decades and appears to be weakly coupled. The high fold, deep penetration (636 channel, 8-km long streamer, 6600 cu.in airgun source) MCS data were acquired as part of the ALEUT project. This dataset gives us critical new constraints on the interplate boundary that can be traced over ~100 km distance beneath the forearc with high variation in its reflection response with depth. These profiles also reveal the detailed upper plate fault structure and forearc morphology. Clear reflections in the overriding plate appear to delineate one or more large faults that cross the shelf and the upper slope. These faults are observed 75 km back from the trench and seem to branch at depth and connect to the plate interface within this gap at ~11 s twtt. We compare the reflective structure of these faults to that of the plate boundary and examine where it intersects the megathrust with respect of the expected downdip limit of coupling. We also compare this major structure with the seismicity recorded in this sector. The imaged fault system is associated with a large deep basin (~6s twt) that is an inherited structure formed during the pre-Aleutian period. Basins faults appear to have accommodated primarily normal motion, although folding of sediments near the fault and complicated fault geometries in the shallow section may indicate that this fault has accommodated other types of motion during its history that may reflect the stress-state at the megathrust over time. The deformation within the youngest sediment also

  9. From Plate Tectonic to Continental Dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Molnar, P. H.

    2017-12-01

    By the early 1970s, the basics of plate tectonics were known. Although much understanding remained to be gained, as a topic of research, plate tectonics no longer defined the forefront of earth science. Not only had it become a foundation on which to build, but also the methods used to reveal it became tools to take in new directions. For me as a seismologist studying earthquakes and active processes, the deformation of continents offered an obvious topic to pursue. Obviously examining the deformation of continents and ignoring the widespread geologic evidence of both ongoing and finite deformation of crust would be stupid. I was blessed with the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with two of the best, Paul Tapponnier and Clark Burchfiel. Continental deformation differed from plate tectonics both because deformation was widespread but more importantly because crust shortens (extends) horizontally and thickens (thins), processes that can be ignored where plate tectonics - the relative motion of rigid plates - occurs. Where a plate boundary passes into a continent, not only must the forces that move plates do work against friction or other dissipative processes, but where high terrain is created, they must also do work against gravity, to create gravitational potential energy in high terrain. Peter Bird and Kenneth Piper and Philip England and Dan McKenzie showed that a two-dimensional thin viscous sheet with vertically averaged properties enabled both sources of resistance to be included without introducing excessive complexity and to be scaled by one dimensionless number, what the latter pair called the Argand number. Increasingly over the past thirty years, emphasis has shifted toward the role played by the mantle lithosphere, because of both its likely strength and its negative buoyancy, which makes it gravitationally unstable. Despite progress since realizing that rigid plates (the essence of plate tectonics) provides a poor description of continental

  10. Diapir versus along-channel ascent of crustal material during plate convergence: constrained by the thermal structure of subduction zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, M. Q.; Li, Z. H.

    2017-12-01

    Crustal rocks can be subducted to mantle depths, interact with the mantle wedge, and then exhume to the crustal depth again, which is generally considered as the mechanism for the formation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks in nature. The crustal rocks undergo dehydration and melting at subarc depths, giving rise to fluids that metasomatize and weaken the overlying mantle wedge. There are generally two ways for the material ascent from subarc depths: one is along subduction channel; the other is through the mantle wedge by diapir. In order to study the conditions and dynamics of these contrasting material ascent modes, systematic petrological-thermo-mechanical numerical models are constructed with variable thicknesses of the overriding and subducting continental plates, ages of the subducting oceanic plate, as well as the plate convergence rates. The model results suggest that the thermal structures of subduction zones control the thermal condition and fluid/melt activity at the slab-mantle interface in subcontinental subduction channels, which further strongly affect the material transportation and ascent mode. Thick overriding continental plate and low-angle subduction style induced by young subducting oceanic plate both contribute to the formation of relatively cold subduction channels with strong overriding mantle wedge, where the along-channel exhumation occurs exclusively to result in the exhumation of HP-UHP metamorphic rocks. In contrast, thin overriding lithosphere and steep subduction style induced by old subducting oceanic plate are the favorable conditions for hot subduction channels, which lead to significant hydration and metasomatism, melting and weakening of the overriding mantle wedge and thus cause the ascent of mantle wedge-derived melts by diapir through the mantle wedge. This may corresponds to the origination of continental arc volcanism from mafic to ultramafic metasomatites in the bottom of the mantle wedge. In addition, the plate

  11. Topography of the overriding plate during progressive subduction: A dynamic model to explain forearc subsidence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Z.; Schellart, W. P.; Duarte, J. C.; Strak, V.

    2017-12-01

    Topography that forms at the free top surface of the lithosphere contains important information about the dynamics of the tectonic plates and the sub-lithospheric mantle. Investigating topography around subduction zones can provide quantitative and conceptual insights into the interaction between the plates, the slabs, mantle flow, and the associated stresses. To achieve this, geodynamic modelling can be an effective tool. In this study, we used techniques of stereoscopic photogrammetry and Particle Image Velocimetry to monitor simultaneously the topography of the overriding plate and the velocity field of the subduction-induced mantle flow occurring in the mantle wedge. Model results show that the overriding plate topography is characterized by an area of forearc topographic subsidence, with a magnitude scaling to 1.44-3.97 km in nature, and a transient local topographic high located between the forearc depression and the trench. These topographic features rapidly develop during the slab sinking phase and gradually decrease during the slab rollback phase. We propose that these topographic transient features predominantly result from the variation of the vertical component of the trench suction along the subduction zone interface, which is minimum near the trench and maximum near the tip of the mantle wedge and is caused by the gradual slab steepening during the initial transient slab sinking phase. The downward mantle flow in the nose of the mantle wedge plays a minor role in the formation of the forearc subsidence. Our findings provide a new mechanism for the formation of forearc topographic subsidence, which has been commonly observed at natural subduction zones.

  12. Trench-parallel spreading ridge subduction and its consequences for the geological evolution of the overriding plate: Insights from analogue models and comparison with the Neogene subduction beneath Patagonia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salze, Méline; Martinod, Joseph; Guillaume, Benjamin; Kermarrec, Jean-Jacques; Ghiglione, Matias C.; Sue, Christian

    2018-07-01

    A series of 3-D asthenospheric-scale analogue models have been conducted in the laboratory in order to simulate the arrival of a spreading ridge at the trench and understand its effect on plate kinematics, slab geometry, and on the deformation of the overriding plate. These models are made of a two-layered linearly viscous system simulating the lithosphere and asthenosphere. We reproduce the progressive decrease in thickness of the oceanic lithosphere at the trench. We measure plate kinematics, slab geometry and upper plate deformation. Our experiments reveal that the subduction of a thinning plate beneath a freely moving overriding continent favors a decrease of the subduction velocity and an increase of the oceanic slab dip. When the upper plate motion is imposed by lateral boundary conditions, the evolution of the subducting plate geometry largely differs depending on the velocity of the overriding plate: the larger its trenchward velocity, the smaller the superficial dip of the oceanic slab. A slab flattening episode may occur resulting from the combined effect of the subduction of an increasingly thinner plate and the trenchward motion of a fast overriding plate. Slab flattening would be marked by an increase of the distance between the trench and the volcanic arc in nature. This phenomenon may explain the reported Neogene eastward motion of the volcanic arc in the Southern Patagonia that occurred prior to the subduction of the Chile Ridge.

  13. The Continental Plates are Getting Thicker.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kerr, Richard A.

    1986-01-01

    Reviews seismological studies that provide evidence of the existence of continental roots beneath the continents. Suggests, that through the collisions of plate tectonics, continents stabilized part of the mobile mantle rock beneath them to form deep roots. (ML)

  14. Diapir versus along-channel ascent of crustal material during plate convergence: Constrained by the thermal structure of subduction zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Ming-Qi; Li, Zhong-Hai; Yang, Shao-Hua

    2017-09-01

    Subduction channel processes are crucial for understanding the material and energy exchange between the Earth's crust and mantle. Crustal rocks can be subducted to mantle depths, interact with the mantle wedge, and then exhume to the crustal depth again, which is generally considered as the mechanism for the formation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks in nature. In addition, the crustal rocks generally undergo dehydration and melting at subarc depths, giving rise to fluids that metasomatize and weaken the overlying mantle wedge. There are generally two ways for the material ascent from subarc depths: one is along subduction channels; the other is through the mantle wedge by diapir. In order to study the conditions and dynamics of these contrasting material ascent modes, systematic petrological-thermo-mechanical numerical models are constructed with variable thicknesses of the overriding and subducting continental plates, ages of the subducting oceanic plate, as well as the plate convergence rates. The model results suggest that the thermal structures of subduction zones control the thermal condition and fluid/melt activity at the slab-mantle interface in subcontinental subduction channels, which further strongly affect the material transportation and ascent mode. The thick overriding continental plate and the low-angle subduction style induced by young subducting oceanic plate both contribute to the formation of relatively cold subduction channels with strong overriding mantle wedge, where the along-channel exhumation occurs exclusively to result in the exhumation of HP-UHP metamorphic rocks. In contrast, the thin overriding lithosphere and the steep subduction style induced by old subducting oceanic plate are the favorable conditions for hot subduction channels, which lead to significant hydration and metasomatism, melting and weakening of the overriding mantle wedge and thus cause the ascent of mantle wedge-derived melts by diapir through the mantle wedge

  15. 30 CFR 281.31 - Overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Overriding royalties. 281.31 Section 281.31 Mineral Resources MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE LEASING OF MINERALS OTHER THAN OIL, GAS, AND SULPHUR IN THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF Financial Considerations § 281.31...

  16. Rollback of an intraoceanic subduction system and termination against a continental margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Campbell, S. M.; Simmons, N. A.; Moucha, R.

    2017-12-01

    The Southeast Indian Slab (SEIS) seismic anomaly has been suggested to represent a Tethyan intraoceanic subduction system which operated during the Jurassic until its termination at or near the margin of East Gondwana (Simmons et al., 2015). As plate reconstructions suggest the downgoing plate remained coupled to the continental margin, this long-lived system likely experienced a significant amount of slab rollback and trench migration (up to 6000 km). Using a 2D thermomechanical numerical code that includes the effects of phase transitions, we test this interpretation by modeling the long-term subduction, transition zone stagnation, and rollback of an intraoceanic subduction system in which the downgoing plate remains coupled to a continental margin. In addition, we also investigate the termination style of such a system, with a particular focus on the potential for some continental subduction beneath an overriding oceanic plate. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-735738

  17. The Lord Howe Rise continental ribbon: a fragment of eastern Gondwana that reveals the drivers of continental rifting and plate tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saito, S.; Hackney, R. I.; Bryan, S. E.; Kimura, J. I.; Müller, D.; Arculus, R. J.; Mortimer, N. N.; Collot, J.; Tamura, Y.; Yamada, Y.

    2016-12-01

    Plate tectonics and resulting changes in crustal architecture profoundly influence global climate, oceanic circulation, and the origin, distribution and sustainability of life. Ribbons of continental crust rifted from continental margins are one product of plate tectonics that can influence the Earth system. Yet we have been unable to fully resolve the tectonic setting and evolution of huge, thinned, submerged, and relatively inaccessible continental ribbons like the Lord Howe Rise (LHR), which formed during Cretaceous fragmentation of eastern Gondwana. Thinned continental ribbons like the LHR are not easily explained or predicted by plate-tectonic theory. However, because Cretaceous rift basins on the LHR preserve the stratigraphy of an un-accreted and intact continental ribbon, they can help to determine whether plate motion is self-organised—passively driven by the pull of negatively-buoyant subducting slabs—or actively driven by convective flow in the mantle. In a self-organising scenario, the LHR formed in response to ocean-ward retreat of the long-lived eastern Gondwana subduction zone and linked upper-plate extension. In the mantle-driven scenario, the LHR resulted from rifting near the eastern edge of Gondwana that was triggered by processes linked to emplacement of a silicic Large Igneous Province. These scenarios can be distinguished using the ribbon's extensional history and the composition and tectonic affinity of igneous rocks within rift basins. However, current knowledge of LHR rift basins is based on widely-distributed marine and satellite geophysical data, limited dredge samples, and sparse shallow drilling (<600 m below-seafloor). This limits our ability to understand the evolution of extended continental ribbons, but a recent deep crustal seismic survey across the LHR and a proposed IODP deep stratigraphic well through a LHR rift basin provide new opportunities to explore the drivers behind rifting, continental ribboning and plate tectonics.

  18. Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift: Classroom Ideas.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stout, Prentice K.

    1983-01-01

    Suggests various classroom studies related to plate tectonics and continental drift, including comments on and sources of resource materials useful in teaching the topics. A complete list of magazine articles on the topics from the Sawyer Marine Resource Collection may be obtained by contacting the author. (JN)

  19. Insight into collision zone dynamics from topography: numerical modelling results and observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bottrill, A. D.; van Hunen, J.; Allen, M. B.

    2012-11-01

    Dynamic models of subduction and continental collision are used to predict dynamic topography changes on the overriding plate. The modelling results show a distinct evolution of topography on the overriding plate, during subduction, continental collision and slab break-off. A prominent topographic feature is a temporary (few Myrs) basin on the overriding plate after initial collision. This "collisional mantle dynamic basin" (CMDB) is caused by slab steepening drawing, material away from the base of the overriding plate. Also, during this initial collision phase, surface uplift is predicted on the overriding plate between the suture zone and the CMDB, due to the subduction of buoyant continental material and its isostatic compensation. After slab detachment, redistribution of stresses and underplating of the overriding plate cause the uplift to spread further into the overriding plate. This topographic evolution fits the stratigraphy found on the overriding plate of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone in Iran and south east Turkey. The sedimentary record from the overriding plate contains Upper Oligocene-Lower Miocene marine carbonates deposited between terrestrial clastic sedimentary rocks, in units such as the Qom Formation and its lateral equivalents. This stratigraphy shows that during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene the surface of the overriding plate sank below sea level before rising back above sea level, without major compressional deformation recorded in the same area. Our modelled topography changes fit well with this observed uplift and subsidence.

  20. Insight into collision zone dynamics from topography: numerical modelling results and observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bottrill, A. D.; van Hunen, J.; Allen, M. B.

    2012-07-01

    Dynamic models of subduction and continental collision are used to predict dynamic topography changes on the overriding plate. The modelling results show a distinct evolution of topography on the overriding plate, during subduction, continental collision and slab break-off. A prominent topographic feature is a temporary (few Myrs) deepening in the area of the back arc-basin after initial collision. This collisional mantle dynamic basin (CMDB) is caused by slab steepening drawing material away from the base of the overriding plate. Also during this initial collision phase, surface uplift is predicted on the overriding plate between the suture zone and the CMDB, due to the subduction of buoyant continental material and its isostatic compensation. After slab detachment, redistribution of stresses and underplating of the overriding plate causes the uplift to spread further into the overriding plate. This topographic evolution fits the stratigraphy found on the overriding plate of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone in Iran and south east Turkey. The sedimentary record from the overriding plate contains Upper Oligocene-Lower Miocene marine carbonates deposited between terrestrial clastic sedimentary rocks, in units such as the Qom Formation and its lateral equivalents. This stratigraphy shows that during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene the surface of the overriding plate sank below sea level before rising back above sea level, without major compressional deformation recorded in the same area. This uplift and subsidence pattern correlates well with our modelled topography changes.

  1. Accretion of a Small Continental Fragment to a Larger Continental Plate: Mesozoic Ecuador as a Case-Study Area

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Massonne, H.

    2013-05-01

    Only a few regions on Earth are appropriate to study processes that have happened in deeper crustal levels during the accretion of a microplate to a larger continental plate. Ecuador is one of these regions where in middle Mesozoic times a small continental fragment collided with the South-American plate. Along the suture between both plates, which occurs close to the present volcanic belt of Ecuador, high-pressure (HP) metamorphic rocks developed. These rocks, which are metapelites, metabasites, and metagranitoids, record processes during the microcontinent-continent collision (Massonne and Toulkeridis, 2012, Int. Geol. Rev. 54). The pressures, determined for the HP rocks, were as high as 14 kbar at temperatures somewhat above 500°C. The HP stage was followed by slight heating at the early exhumation. Peak temperatures up to 560°C were reached at pressures ≥10 kbar. This HP metamorphism was caused by the collision of the microplate with the South-American plate resulting in crustal thickening. The ascent of the HP rocks occurred in an exhumation channel. Before the collision, an oceanic basin existed between these plates. Probably, it was narrow as eclogite bodies are lacking in the N-S trending HP belt of Ecuador. Such bodies, especially if the eclogites had experienced pressures in excess of 20 kbar, are markers of a collision of major continental plates in Phanerozoic times with originally extended oceanic basins between these plates. In a more global context, the narrow ocean between the microplate and the South American continent is assumed to have been the westernmost portion of the Neo-Tethys which had extended to completely separate the two major fragments of former Pangaea before the opening of the southern Atlantic Ocean. This opening caused the closure of the narrow Neo-Tethys segment between the colliding microplate and the South American plate. This segment was bordered by E-W trending transform faults. A fault system (La Palma - El Guayabo fault

  2. Kinematics of a former oceanic plate of the Neotethys revealed by deformation in the Ulukışla basin (Turkey)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gürer, Derya; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.; Matenco, Liviu; Corfu, Fernando; Cascella, Antonio

    2016-10-01

    Kinematic reconstruction of modern ocean basins shows that since Pangea breakup a vast area in the Neotethyan realm was lost to subduction. Here we develop a first-order methodology to reconstruct the kinematic history of the lost plates of the Neotethys, using records of subducted plates accreted to (former) overriding plates, combined with the kinematic analysis of overriding plate extension and shortening. In Cretaceous-Paleogene times, most of Anatolia formed a separate tectonic plate—here termed "Anadolu Plate"—that floored part of the Neotethyan oceanic realm, separated from Eurasia and Africa by subduction zones. We study the sedimentary and structural history of the Ulukışla basin (Turkey); overlying relics of this plate to reconstruct the tectonic history of the oceanic plate and its surrounding trenches, relative to Africa and Eurasia. Our results show that Upper Cretaceous-Oligocene sediments were deposited on the newly dated suprasubduction zone ophiolites ( 92 Ma), which are underlain by mélanges, metamorphosed and nonmetamorphosed oceanic and continental rocks derived from the African Plate. The Ulukışla basin underwent latest Cretaceous-Paleocene N-S and E-W extension until 56 Ma. Following a short period of tectonic quiescence, Eo-Oligocene N-S contraction formed the folded structure of the Bolkar Mountains, as well as subordinate contractional structures within the basin. We conceptually explain the transition from extension, to quiescence, to shortening as slowdown of the Anadolu Plate relative to the northward advancing Africa-Anadolu trench resulting from collision of continental rocks accreted to Anadolu with Eurasia, until the gradual demise of the Anadolu-Eurasia subduction zone.

  3. Topography of the Overriding Plate During Progressive Subduction: A Dynamic Model to Explain Forearc Subsidence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Zhihao; Schellart, Wouter P.; Duarte, João. C.; Strak, Vincent

    2017-10-01

    Overriding plate topography provides constraints on subduction zone geodynamics. We investigate its evolution using fully dynamic laboratory models of subduction with techniques of stereoscopic photogrammetry and particle image velocimetry. Model results show that the topography is characterized by an area of forearc dynamic subsidence, with a magnitude scaling to 1.44-3.97 km in nature, and a local topographic high between the forearc subsided region and the trench. These topographic features rapidly develop during the slab free-sinking phase and gradually decrease during the steady state slab rollback phase. We propose that they result from the variation of the vertical component of the trench suction force along the subduction zone interface, which gradually increases with depth and results from the gradual slab steepening during the initial transient slab sinking phase. The downward mantle flow in the nose of the mantle wedge plays a minor role in driving forearc subsidence.

  4. The Continental Margin of East Asia: a collage of multiple plates formed by convergence and extension from multiple directions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mao, J.; Wang, T.; Ludington, S.; Qiu, Z.; Li, Z.

    2017-12-01

    East Asia is one of the most complex regions in the world. Its margin was divided into 4 parts: Northeast Asia, North China, South China and Southeast Asia. During the Phanerozoic, continental plates of East Asia have interacted successively with a) the Paleo Tethyan Ocean, b) the Tethyan and Paleo Pacific Oceans and c) the Pacific and Indian. In the Early Mesozoic, the Indosinian orogeny is characterized by the convergence and extension within multiple continental plates, whereas the Late Mesozoic Yanshanian orogeny is characterized by both convergence and compression due to oceanic subduction and by widespread extension. We propose this combination as "East Asia Continental Margin type." Except in Northeast Asia, where Jurassic and Cretaeous accretionary complexes are common, most magmatic rocks are the result of reworking of ancient margins of small continental plates; and oceanic island arc basalts and continental margin arc andesites are largely absent. Because South China is adjacent to the western margin of the Pacific Plate, some effects of its westward subduction must be unavoidable, but juvenile arc-related crust has not been identified. The East Asian Continental Margin is characterized by magmatic rocks that are the result of post-convergent tectonics, which differs markedly from the active continental margins of both South and North America. In summary, the chief characteristics of the East Asian Continental Margin are: 1) In Mesozoic, the periphery of multiple blocks experienced magmatism caused by lithospheric delamination and thinning in response to extension punctuated by shorter periods of convergence. 2) The main mechanism of magma generation was the partial melting of crustal rocks, due to underplating by upwelling mafic magma associated with the collapse of orogenic belts and both extension and compression between small continental blocks. 3) During orogeny, mostly high Sr/Y arc-related granitoids formed, whereas during post-orogenic times, A

  5. The life cycle of continental rifts: Numerical models of plate tectonics and mantle convection.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ulvrova, Martina; Brune, Sascha; Williams, Simon

    2017-04-01

    Plate tectonic processes and mantle convection form a self-organized system whose surface expression is characterized by repeated Wilson cycles. Conventional numerical models often capture only specific aspects of plate-mantle interaction, due to imposed lateral boundary conditions or simplified rheologies. Here we study continental rift evolution using a 2D spherical annulus geometry that does not require lateral boundary conditions. Instead, continental extension is driven self-consistently by slab pull, basal drag and trench suction forces. We use the numerical code StagYY to solve equations of conservation of mass, momentum and energy and transport of material properties. This code is capable of computing mantle convection with self-consistently generated Earth-like plate tectonics using a pseudo-plastic rheology. Our models involve an incompressible mantle under the Boussinesq approximation with internal heat sources and basal heating. Due to the 2D setup, our models allow for a comparably high resolution of 10 km at the mantle surface and 15 km at the core mantle boundary. Viscosity variations range over 7 orders of magnitude. We find that the causes for rift initiation are often related to subduction dynamics. Some rifts initiate due to increasing slab pull, others because of developing trench suction force, for instance by closure of an intra-oceanic back-arc basin. In agreement with natural settings, our models reproduce rifts forming in both young and old collision zones. Our experiments show that rift dynamics follow a characteristic evolution, which is independent of the specific setting: (1) continental rifts initiate during tens of million of years at low extension rates (few millimetres per year) (2) the extension velocity increases during less than 10 million years up to several tens of millimetres per year. This speed-up takes place before lithospheric break-up and affects the structural architecture of rifted margins. (3) high divergence rates

  6. Lithospheric Structure and Isostasy of Central Andes: Implication for plate Coupling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahatsente, R.; Rutledge, S.

    2017-12-01

    A significant section of the Peru-Chile convergent zone is building up stresses. The interseismic coupling in northern and southern Peru is significantly high indicating, elastic energy accumulation since the 1746 and 1868 earthquakes of magnitude 8.6 and 8.8 , respectively. Similar seismic patterns have also been observed in Central Chile. The plate interface beneath Central Chile is highly coupled, and the narrow zones of low coupling separate seismic gaps. The reasons for the seismic gaps and plate coupling are yet unknown, but the configuration of the slab is thought to be the main factor. Here, we assessed the locking mechanism and isostatic state of the Central Andes based on gravity models of the crust and upper mantle structure. The density models are based on satellite gravity data and are constrained by velocity models and earthquake hypocenters. The gravity models indicate a high-density batholithic structure in the fore-arc, overlying the subducting Nazca plate. This high-density body pushes downward on the slab, causing the slab to lock with the overlying continental plate. The increased compressive stress closer to the trench, due to the increased contact area between the subducting and overriding plates, may have increased the plate coupling in the Central Andes. Thus, trench parallel crustal thickness and density variations along the Central Andes and buoyancy force on the subducting Nazca plate may control plate coupling and asperity generation. The western part of the Central Andes may be undercompensated. There is a residual topography of 800 m in the western part of the Central Andes that cannot be explained by the observed crustal thicknesses. Thus, part of the observed topography in the western part of the Central Andes may be dynamically supported by mantle wedge flow below the overriding plate.

  7. Plate Speed-up and Deceleration during Continental Rifting: Insights from Global 2D Mantle Convection Models.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brune, S.; Ulvrova, M.; Williams, S.

    2017-12-01

    The surface of the Earth is divided into a jigsaw of tectonic plates, some carrrying continents that disperse and aggregate through time, forming transient supercontinents like Pangea and Rodinia. Here, we study continental rifting using large-scale numerical simulations with self-consistent evolution of plate boundaries, where continental break-up emerges spontaneously due to slab pull, basal drag and trench suction forces.We use the StagYY convection code employing a visco-plastic rheology in a spherical annulus geometry. We consider an incompressible mantle under the Boussinesq approximation that is basally and internally heated.We show that continental separation follows a characteristic evolution with three distinctive phases: (1) A pre-rift phase that typically lasts for several hundreds of millions of years with tectonic quiescence in the suture and extensional stresses that are slowly building up. (2) A rift phase that further divides into a slow rift period of several tens of millions of years where stresses continuously increase followed by a rift acceleration period featuring an abrupt stress drop within several millions of years. The speed-up takes place before lithospheric break-up and therefore affects the structural architecture of the rifted margins. (3) The drifting phase with initially high divergence rates persists over tens of millions of years until the system adjust to new conditions and the spreading typically slows down.By illustrating the geodynamic connection between subduction dynamics and rift evolution, our results allow new interpretations of plate tectonic reconstructions. Rift acceleration within the second phase of rifting is compensated by enhanced convergence rates at subduction zones. This model outcome predicts enhanced subduction velocities, e.g. between North America and the Farallon plate during Central Atlantic rifting 200 My ago, or closure of potential back-arc basins such as in the proto-Andean ranges of South America

  8. Misconceptions and Conceptual Changes Concerning Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics among Portuguese Students Aged 16-17.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marques, Luis; Thompson, David

    1997-01-01

    This study investigates student misconceptions in the areas of continent, ocean, permanence of ocean basins, continental drift, Earth's magnetic field, and plates and plate motions. A teaching-learning model was designed based on a constructivist approach. Results show that students held a substantial number of misconceptions. (Author/DKM)

  9. Controls on continental strain partitioning above an oblique subduction zone, Northern Andes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schütt, Jorina M.; Whipp, David M., Jr.

    2016-04-01

    Strain partitioning is a common process at obliquely convergent plate margins dividing oblique convergence into margin-normal slip on the plate-bounding fault and horizontal shearing on a strike-slip system parallel to the subduction margin. In subduction zones, strain partitioning in the upper continental plate is mainly controlled by the shear forces acting on the plate interface and the strength of the continental crust. The plate interface forces are influenced by the subducting plate dip angle and the obliquity angle between the normal to the plate margin and the convergence velocity vector, and the crustal strength of the continent is strongly affected by the presence or absence of a volcanic arc, with the presence of the volcanic arcs being common at steep subduction zones. Along the ˜7000 km western margin of South America the convergence obliquity, subduction dip angles and presence of a volcanic arc all vary, but strain partitioning is only observed along parts of it. This raises the questions, to what extent do subduction zone characteristics control strain partitioning in the overriding continental plate, and which factors have the largest influence? We address these questions using lithospheric-scale 3D numerical geodynamic experiments to investigate the influence of subduction dip angle, convergence obliquity, and weaknesses in the crust owing to the volcanic arc on strain partitioning behavior. We base the model design on the Northern Volcanic Zone of the Andes (5° N - 2° S), characterized by steep subduction (˜ 35°), a convergence obliquity between 31° -45° and extensive arc volcanism, and where strain partitioning is observed. The numerical modelling software (DOUAR) solves the Stokes flow and heat transfer equations for a viscous-plastic creeping flow to calculate velocity fields, thermal evolution, rock uplift and strain rates in a 1600 km x 1600 km box with depth 160 km. Subduction geometry and material properties are based on a

  10. Modeling the influence of plate motions on subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hillebrand, Bram; Thieulot, Cedric; van den Berg, Arie; Spakman, Wim

    2014-05-01

    Subduction zones are widely studied complex geodynamical systems. Their evolution is influenced by a broad range of parameters such as the age of the plates (both subducting and overriding) as well as their rheology, their nature (oceanic or continental), the presence of a crust and the involved plate motions to name a few. To investigate the importance of these different parameters on the evolution of subduction we have created a series of 2D numerical thermomechanical subduction models. These subduction models are multi-material flow models containing continental and oceanic crusts, a lithosphere and a mantle. We use the sticky air approach to allow for topography build up in the model. In order to model multi-material flow in our Eulerian finite element code of SEPRAN (Segal and Praagman, 2000) we use the well benchmarked level set method (Osher and Sethian, 1988) to track the different materials and their mode of deformation through the model domain. To our knowledge the presented results are the first subduction model results with the level set method. We will present preliminary results of our parametric study focusing mainly on the influence of plate motions on the evolution of subduction. S. Osher and J.A. Sethian. Fronts propagating with curvature-dependent speed: Algorithms based on hamilton-jacobi formulations. JCP 1988 A. Segal and N.P. Praagman. The SEPRAN package. Technical report, 2000 This research is funded by The Netherlands Research Centre for Integrated Solid Earth Science (ISES)

  11. Numerical modeling of Farallon Plate flat-slab subduction: Influence of lithosphere structure and rheology on slab dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, X.; Currie, C. A.

    2017-12-01

    ) compared to 120 km depth for strong ( dry) mantle lithosphere because the flat slab removes the lowermost weak lithosphere. Moreover, an even deeper slab ( 130 km) can be found underneath the weakest but thicker continental lithosphere (180 km). Future models will focus on how the flat slab may induce hydration and deformation for the overriding continental plate.

  12. Abbot Ice Shelf, the Amundsen Sea Continental Margin and the Southern Boundary of the Bellingshausen Plate Seaward of West Antarctica

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cochran, J. R.; Tinto, K. J.; Bell, R. E.

    2014-12-01

    The Abbot Ice Shelf extends 450 km along the coast of West Antarctica between 103°W and 89°W and straddles the boundary between the Bellingshausen Sea continental margin, which overlies a former subduction zone, and Amundsen Sea rifted continental margin. Inversion of NASA Operation IceBridge airborne gravity data for sub-ice bathymetry shows that the western part of the ice shelf, as well as Cosgrove Ice Shelf to the south, are underlain by a series of east-west trending rift basins. The eastern boundary of the rifted terrain coincides with the eastern boundary of rifting between Antarctica and Zealandia and the rifts formed during the early stages of this rifting. Extension in these rifts is minor as rifting quickly jumped north of Thurston Island. The southern boundary of the Cosgrove Rift is aligned with the southern boundary of a sedimentary basin under the Amundsen Embayment continental shelf to the west, also formed by Antarctica-Zealandia rifting. The shelf basin has an extension factor, β, of 1.5 - 1.7 with 80 -100 km of extension occurring in an area now ~250 km wide. Following this extension early in the rifting process, rifting centered to the north of the present shelf edge and proceeded to continental rupture. Since then, the Amundsen Embayment continental shelf has been tectonically quiescent and has primarily been shaped though subsidence, sedimentation and the passage of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet back and forth across it. The former Bellingshausen Plate was located seaward of the Amundsen Sea margin prior to its incorporation into the Antarctic Plate at ~62 Ma. During the latter part of its existence, Bellingshausen plate motion had a clockwise rotational component relative to Antarctica producing convergence between the Bellingshausen and Antarctic plates east of 102°W. Seismic reflection and gravity data show that this convergence is expressed by an area of intensely deformed sediments beneath the continental slope from 102°W to 95°W and

  13. Numerical models of the magmatic processes induced by slab breakoff

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Freeburn, Rebecca; Bouilhol, Pierre; Maunder, Ben; Magni, Valentina; van Hunen, Jeroen

    2017-11-01

    After the onset of continental collision, magmatism often persists for tens of millions of years, albeit with a different composition, in reduced volumes, and with a more episodic nature and more widespread spatial distribution, compared to normal arc magmatism. Kinematic modelling studies have suggested that slab breakoff can account for this post-collisional magmatism through the formation of a slab window and subsequent heating of the overriding plate and decompression melting of upwelling asthenosphere, particularly if breakoff occurs at depths shallower than the overriding plate. To constrain the nature of any melting and the geodynamic conditions required, we numerically model the collision of two continental plates following a period of oceanic subduction. A thermodynamic database is used to determine the (de)hydration reactions and occurrence of melt throughout this process. We investigate melting conditions within a parameter space designed to generate a wide range of breakoff depths, timings and collisional styles. Under most circumstances, slab breakoff occurs deeper than the depth extent of the overriding plate; too deep to generate any decompressional melting of dry upwelling asthenosphere or thermal perturbation within the overriding plate. Even if slab breakoff is very shallow, the hot mantle inflow into the slab window is not sustained long enough to sufficiently heat the hydrated overriding plate to cause significant magmatism. Instead, for relatively fast, shallow breakoff we observe melting of asthenosphere above the detached slab through the release of water from the tip of the heating detached slab. Melting of the subducted continental crust during necking and breakoff is a more common feature and may be a more reliable indicator of the occurrence of breakoff. We suggest that magmatism from slab breakoff alone is unable to explain several of the characteristics of post-collisional magmatism, and that additional geodynamical processes need to be

  14. EAG Eminent Speaker: Two types of Archean continental crust: plume and plate tectonics on early Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Kranendonk, M. J.

    2012-04-01

    Over 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved from a molten ball to a cooler planet with large continental plates, but how and when continents grew and plate tectonics started remain poorly understood. In this paper, I review the evidence that 3.5-3.2 Ga continental nuclei of the Pilbara (Australia) and Kaapvaal (southern Africa) cratons formed as thick volcanic plateaux over hot, upwelling mantle and survived due to contemporaneous development of highly depleted, buoyant, unsubductable mantle roots. This type of crust is distinct from, but complimentary to, high-grade gneiss terranes, as exemplified by the North Atlantic Craton of West Greenland, which formed through subduction-accretion tectonics on what is envisaged as a vigorously convecting early Earth with small plates. Thus, it is proposed that two types of crust formed on early Earth, in much the same way as in modern Earth, but with distinct differences resulting from a hotter Archean mantle. Volcanic plateaux provided a variety of stable habitats for early life, including chemical nutrient rich, shallow-water hydrothermal systems and shallow marine carbonate platforms.

  15. Viscoelastic Postseismic Rebound to Strike-Slip Earthquakes in Regions of Oblique Plate Convergence

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cohen, Steven C.

    1999-01-01

    According to the slip partitioning concept, the trench parallel component of relative plate motion in regions of oblique convergence is accommodated by strike-slip faulting in the overriding continental lithosphere. The pattern of postseismic surface deformation due to viscoelastic flow in the lower crust and asthenosphere following a major earthquake on such a fault is modified from that predicted from the conventual elastic layer over viscoelastic halfspace model by the presence of the subducting slab. The predicted effects, such as a partial suppression of the postseismic velocities by 1 cm/yr or more immediately following a moderate to great earthquake, are potentially detectable using contemporary geodetic techniques.

  16. Intra-continental subduction and contemporaneous lateral extrusion of the upper plate: insights into Alps-Adria interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Gelder, Inge; Willingshofer, Ernst; Sokoutis, Dimitrios; Cloetingh, Sierd

    2017-04-01

    A series of physical analogue experiments were performed to simulate intra-continental subduction contemporaneous with lateral extrusion of the upper plate to study the interferences between these two processes at crustal levels and in the lithospheric mantle. The lithospheric-scale models are specifically designed to represent the collision of the Adriatic microplate with the Eastern Alps, simulated by an intra-continental weak zone to initiate subduction and a weak confined margin perpendicular to the direction of convergence in order to allow for extrusion of the lithosphere. The weak confined margin is the analog for the opening of the Pannonian back-arc basin adjacent to the Eastern Alps with the direction of extension perpendicular to the strike of the orogen. The models show that intra-continental subduction and coeval lateral extrusion of the upper plate are compatible processes. The obtained deformation structures within the extruding region are similar compared to the classical setup where lateral extrusion is provoked by lithosphere-scale indentation. In the models a strong coupling across the subduction boundary allows for the transfer of abundant stresses to the upper plate, leading to laterally varying strain regimes that are characterized by crustal thickening near a confined margin and dominated by lateral displacement of material near a weak lateral confinement. During ongoing convergence the strain regimes propagate laterally, thereby creating an area of overlap characterized by transpression. In models with oblique subduction, with respect to the convergence direction, less deformation of the upper plate is observed and as a consequence the amount of lateral extrusion decreases. Additionally, strain is partitioned along the oblique plate boundary leading to less subduction in expense of right lateral displacement close to the weak lateral confinement. Both oblique and orthogonal subduction models have a strong resemblance to lateral extrusion

  17. A possible model for evaluating the topographic and mechanical effects of subducted oceanic plate with irregular surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kodama, K.

    1987-02-01

    A simple model is proposed to evaluate the possible mechanical and topographic effects that might be caused when an oceanic plate with irregular surface is subducted beneath a continental plate. The model focuses on the effects of such features as oceanic ridges, seamounts, plateaus and other bathymetric highs. The model approximates a continental plate as a two-dimensional incompressible Newtonian viscous fluid with uniform thickness, and a subducting oceanic plate as a rigid basement slipping beneath the viscous fluid with a constant velocity. In this model, bathymetric highs on the oceanic plate are approximated by topographic irregularities of the rigid basement. Based on the fundamental solutions given by Budd (1970) which were applied originally to the analysis of glacial movements, the shear stress near the basement and surface profile of the overriding medium are calculated, for instance, for a model whose basement profile is represented simply as exp( -ax 2) where a is the geometrical constant representing the degree of regional slope, and x the horizontal distance from the axis of the ridge. Assuming reasonable values for viscosity (10 23 poise), density (3 g/cm 3), thickness of the viscous medium (30 km), elevation of the top of the ridge from the surroundings (1 km), geometrical constant of the ridge shape (10 -2 km -2), and slip velocity (10 cm/a), the resultant surface profile was inferred to be asymmetrical shape with its highest elevation of 1360 m and the lowest of -620 m, while the magnitude of the shear stress near the base showed a symmetrical distribution with the maximum of 12.7 kbar. The results from these calculations do not only allow us to make quantitative estimates of the geological consequences of the subduction of bathymetric highs beneath continental plates but also give possible explanation for some of the uneven seismic activities found around present subduction zones.

  18. Subduction Drive of Plate Tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamilton, W. B.

    2003-12-01

    shrinking oceans, forcing rapid Pacific spreading. Slabs suck forward overriding arcs and continental lithosphere, plus most subjacent mantle above the transition zone. Changes in sizes of oceans result primarily from transfer of oceanic lithosphere, so backarcs and expanding oceans spread only slowly. Lithosphere parked in, or displaced from, the transition zone, or mixed into mid-upper mantle, is ultimately recycled, and regional variations in age of that submerged lithosphere may account for some regional contrasts in MORB. Plate motions make no kinematic sense in either the "hotspot" reference frame (HS; the notion of fixed plumes is easily disproved) or the no-net-rotation frame (NNR) In both, for example, many hinges roll forward, impossible with gravity drive. Subduction-drive predictions are fulfilled, and paleomagnetic data are satisfied (as they are not in HS and NNR), in the alternative framework of propulsionless Antarctica fixed relative to sluggish lower mantle. Passive ridges migrate away from Antarctica on all sides, and migration of these and other ridges permits tapping fresh asthenosphere. (HS and NNR tend to fix ridges). Ridge migration and spreading rates accord with subduction drive. All trenches roll back when allowance is made for back-arc spreading and intracontinental deformation. Africa rotates slowly toward subduction systems in the NE, instead of moving rapidly E as in HS and NNR. Stable NW Eurasia is nearly stationary, instead of also moving rapidly, and S and E Eurasian deformation relates to subduction and rollback. The Americas move Pacificward at almost the full spreading rates of passive ridges behind them. Lithosphere has a slow net westward drift. Reference: W.B. Hamilton, An alternative Earth, GSA Today, in press.

  19. Sea Level Change due to Time-Dependent Long-Wavelength Dynamic Topography Inferred from Plate Tectonic Reconstructions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Conrad, Clinton P.; Steinberger, Bernhard; Torsvik, Trond H.

    2017-04-01

    Earth's surface is deflected vertically by stresses associated with convective mantle flow. Although dynamic topography is important for both sea level change and continental uplift and subsidence, the time history of dynamic topography is difficult to constrain because the time-dependence of mantle flow is not known. However, the motions of the tectonic plates contain information about the mantle flow patterns that drive them. In particular, we show that the longest wavelengths of mantle flow are tightly linked to the dipole and quadrupole moments (harmonic degrees 1 and 2) of plate motions. This coupling allows us to infer patterns of long-wavelength mantle flow, and the associated dynamic topography, from tectonic plate motions. After calibrating this linkage using models of present-day mantle flow, we can use reconstructions of global plate motions to infer the basic patterns of long-wavelength dynamic topography back to 250 Ma. We find relatively stable dynamic uplift persists above large-scale mantle upwelling beneath Africa and the Central Pacific. Regions of major downwelling encircled the periphery of these stable upwellings, alternating between primarily east-west and north-south orientations. The amplitude of long-wavelength dynamic topography was likely largest in the Cretaceous, when global plate motions were fastest. Continental motions over this time-evolving dynamic topography predict patterns of continental uplift and subsidence that are confirmed by geological observations of continental surfaces relative to sea level. Net uplift or subsidence of the global seafloor can also induce eustatic sea level changes. We infer that dispersal of the Pangean supercontinent away from stable upwelling beneath Africa may have exposed the seafloor to an increasingly larger area of growing positive dynamic topography during the Mesozoic. This net uplift of the seafloor caused 60 m of sea level rise during the Triassic and Jurassic, ceasing in the Cenozoic once

  20. Accretionary orogens through Earth history

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cawood, Peter A.; Kroner, A.; Collins, W.J.; Kusky, T.M.; Mooney, W.D.; Windley, B.F.

    2009-01-01

    Accretionary orogens form at intraoceanic and continental margin convergent plate boundaries. They include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and back-arc components. Accretionary orogens can be grouped into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character. Retreating orogens (e.g. modern western Pacific) are undergoing long-term extension in response to the site of subduction of the lower plate retreating with respect to the overriding plate and are characterized by back-arc basins. Advancing orogens (e.g. Andes) develop in an environment in which the overriding plate is advancing towards the downgoing plate, resulting in the development of foreland fold and thrust belts and crustal thickening. Cratonization of accretionary orogens occurs during continuing plate convergence and requires transient coupling across the plate boundary with strain concentrated in zones of mechanical and thermal weakening such as the magmatic arc and back-arc region. Potential driving mechanisms for coupling include accretion of buoyant lithosphere (terrane accretion), flat-slab subduction, and rapid absolute upper plate motion overriding the downgoing plate. Accretionary orogens have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and potentially earlier, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. They have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere through the addition of juvenile magmatic products but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time, through sediment subduction and subduction erosion. It is probable that the rates of crustal growth and destruction are roughly equal, implying that net growth since the Archaean is effectively zero. ?? The Geological Society of London 2009.

  1. Abbot Ice Shelf, structure of the Amundsen Sea continental margin and the southern boundary of the Bellingshausen Plate seaward of West Antarctica.

    PubMed

    Cochran, James R; Tinto, Kirsty J; Bell, Robin E

    2015-05-01

    Inversion of NASA Operation IceBridge airborne gravity over the Abbot Ice Shelf in West Antarctica for subice bathymetry defines an extensional terrain made up of east-west trending rift basins formed during the early stages of Antarctica/Zealandia rifting. Extension is minor, as rifting jumped north of Thurston Island early in the rifting process. The Amundsen Sea Embayment continental shelf west of the rifted terrain is underlain by a deeper, more extensive sedimentary basin also formed during rifting between Antarctica and Zealandia. A well-defined boundary zone separates the mildly extended Abbot extensional terrain from the deeper Amundsen Embayment shelf basin. The shelf basin has an extension factor, β , of 1.5-1.7 with 80-100 km of extension occurring across an area now 250 km wide. Following this extension, rifting centered north of the present shelf edge and proceeded to continental rupture. Since then, the Amundsen Embayment continental shelf appears to have been tectonically quiescent and shaped by subsidence, sedimentation, and the advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Bellingshausen Plate was located seaward of the Amundsen Sea margin prior to incorporation into the Antarctic Plate at about 62 Ma. During the latter part of its independent existence, Bellingshausen plate motion had a clockwise rotational component relative to Antarctica producing convergence across the north-south trending Bellingshausen Gravity Anomaly structure at 94°W and compressive deformation on the continental slope between 94°W and 102°W. Farther west, the relative motion was extensional along an east-west trending zone occupied by the Marie Byrd Seamounts. Abbot Ice Shelf is underlain by E-W rift basins created at ∼90 Ma Amundsen shelf shaped by subsidence, sedimentation, and passage of the ice sheet Bellingshausen plate boundary is located near the base of continental slope and rise.

  2. Abbot Ice Shelf, structure of the Amundsen Sea continental margin and the southern boundary of the Bellingshausen Plate seaward of West Antarctica

    PubMed Central

    Cochran, James R; Tinto, Kirsty J; Bell, Robin E

    2015-01-01

    Inversion of NASA Operation IceBridge airborne gravity over the Abbot Ice Shelf in West Antarctica for subice bathymetry defines an extensional terrain made up of east-west trending rift basins formed during the early stages of Antarctica/Zealandia rifting. Extension is minor, as rifting jumped north of Thurston Island early in the rifting process. The Amundsen Sea Embayment continental shelf west of the rifted terrain is underlain by a deeper, more extensive sedimentary basin also formed during rifting between Antarctica and Zealandia. A well-defined boundary zone separates the mildly extended Abbot extensional terrain from the deeper Amundsen Embayment shelf basin. The shelf basin has an extension factor, β, of 1.5–1.7 with 80–100 km of extension occurring across an area now 250 km wide. Following this extension, rifting centered north of the present shelf edge and proceeded to continental rupture. Since then, the Amundsen Embayment continental shelf appears to have been tectonically quiescent and shaped by subsidence, sedimentation, and the advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Bellingshausen Plate was located seaward of the Amundsen Sea margin prior to incorporation into the Antarctic Plate at about 62 Ma. During the latter part of its independent existence, Bellingshausen plate motion had a clockwise rotational component relative to Antarctica producing convergence across the north-south trending Bellingshausen Gravity Anomaly structure at 94°W and compressive deformation on the continental slope between 94°W and 102°W. Farther west, the relative motion was extensional along an east-west trending zone occupied by the Marie Byrd Seamounts. Key Points: Abbot Ice Shelf is underlain by E-W rift basins created at ∼90 Ma Amundsen shelf shaped by subsidence, sedimentation, and passage of the ice sheet Bellingshausen plate boundary is located near the base of continental slope and rise PMID:26709352

  3. Linking plate reconstructions with deforming lithosphere to geodynamic models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Müller, R. D.; Gurnis, M.; Flament, N.; Seton, M.; Spasojevic, S.; Williams, S.; Zahirovic, S.

    2011-12-01

    While global computational models are rapidly advancing in terms of their capabilities, there is an increasing need for assimilating observations into these models and/or ground-truthing model outputs. The open-source and platform independent GPlates software fills this gap. It was originally conceived as a tool to interactively visualize and manipulate classical rigid plate reconstructions and represent them as time-dependent topological networks of editable plate boundaries. The user can export time-dependent plate velocity meshes that can be used either to define initial surface boundary conditions for geodynamic models or alternatively impose plate motions throughout a geodynamic model run. However, tectonic plates are not rigid, and neglecting plate deformation, especially that of the edges of overriding plates, can result in significant misplacing of plate boundaries through time. A new, substantially re-engineered version of GPlates is now being developed that allows an embedding of deforming plates into topological plate boundary networks. We use geophysical and geological data to define the limit between rigid and deforming areas, and the deformation history of non-rigid blocks. The velocity field predicted by these reconstructions can then be used as a time-dependent surface boundary condition in regional or global 3-D geodynamic models, or alternatively as an initial boundary condition for a particular plate configuration at a given time. For time-dependent models with imposed plate motions (e.g. using CitcomS) we incorporate the continental lithosphere by embedding compositionally distinct crust and continental lithosphere within the thermal lithosphere. We define three isostatic columns of different thickness and buoyancy based on the tectonothermal age of the continents: Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. In the fourth isostatic column, the oceans, the thickness of the thermal lithosphere is assimilated using a half-space cooling model. We also

  4. Plate Motion and Crustal Deformation Estimated with Geodetic Data from the Global Positioning System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Argus, Donald F.; Heflin, Michael B.

    1995-01-01

    We use geodetic data taken over four years with the Global Positioning System (GPS) to estimate: (1) motion between six major plates and (2) motion relative to these plates of ten sites in plate boundary zones. The degree of consistency between geodetic velocities and rigid plates requires the (one-dimensional) standard errors in horizontal velocities to be approx. 2 mm/yr. Each of the 15 angular velocities describing motion between plate pairs that we estimate with GPS differs insignificantly from the corresponding angular velocity in global plate motion model NUVEL-1A, which averages motion over the past 3 m.y. The motion of the Pacific plate relative to both the Eurasian and North American plates is observed to be faster than predicted by NUVEL-1A, supporting the inference from Very Long B ase- line Interferometry (VLBI) that motion of the Pacific plate has speed up over the past few m.y. The Eurasia-North America pole of rotation is estimated to be north of NUVEL-1A, consistent with the independent hypothesis that the pole has recently migrated northward across northeast Asia to near the Lena River delta. Victoria, which lies above the main thrust at the Cascadia subduction zone, moves relative to the interior of the overriding plate at 30% of the velocity of the subducting plate, reinforcing the conclusion that the thrust there is locked beneath the continental shelf and slope.

  5. 30 CFR 1202.250 - Overriding royalty interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... INTERIOR Natural Resources Revenue ROYALTIES Coal § 1202.250 Overriding royalty interest. The regulations governing overriding royalty interests, production payments, or similar interests created under Federal coal...

  6. Absolute Plate Motion Control Since the Triassic from the Cocos Slab and its Associated Subduction Record in Mexico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boschman, L.; Van Hinsbergen, D. J. J.; Langereis, C. G.; Molina-Garza, R. S.; Kimbrough, D. L.; Spakman, W.

    2017-12-01

    A positive wave speed anomaly interpreted as the Cocos slab stretches from the uppermost mantle at the Middle America trench in the west, to the lowermost mantle below the Atlantic in the east. The length and continuity of this slab indicates long-lived, uninterrupted eastward subduction of the attached Cocos Plate and its predecessor, the Farallon Plate. The geological record of Mexico contains Triassic to present day evidence of subduction, of which the post-Late Cretaceous phase is of continental margin-style. Interpretations of the pre-Upper Cretaceous subduction-related rock assemblages are under debate, and vary from far-travelled exotic intra-oceanic island arc character to in-situ extended continental margin origin. We present new paleomagnetic data that show that Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous subduction-related rocks from the Vizcaíno Peninsula and the Guerrero terrane have a paleolatitudinal plate motion history that is equal to that of the North American continent. This suggests that these rock assemblages were part of the overriding plate and were perhaps only separated from the North American continent by temporal fore- or back-arc spreading. The entire Triassic-present day subduction record, and hence, reconstructed trench location, can therefore be linked to the Cocos slab, which provides control on longitudinal plate motion of North America since the time of Pangea. Compared to the latest state of the art mantle frames, in which longitudes are essentially unconstrained for pre-Cretaceous times, our reconstructed absolute position of North America requires a significant westward longitudinal shift for Mesozoic times.

  7. 30 CFR 202.250 - Overriding royalty interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... MANAGEMENT ROYALTIES Coal § 202.250 Overriding royalty interest. The regulations governing overriding royalty interests, production payments, or similar interests created under Federal coal leases are in 43 CFR group...

  8. 3D dynamics of crustal deformation driven by oblique subduction: Northern and Central Andes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schütt, Jorina M.; Whipp, David M., Jr.

    2017-04-01

    The geometry and relative motion of colliding plates will affect how and where they deform. In oblique subduction systems, factors such as the dip angle of the subducting plate and the convergence obliquity, as well as the presence of weak zones in the overriding plate, all influence how oblique convergence is partitioned onto various fault systems in the overriding plate. The partitioning of strain into margin-normal slip on the plate-bounding fault and horizontal shearing on a strike-slip system parallel to the margin is mainly controlled by the margin-parallel shear forces acting on the plate interface and the strength of the continental crust. While these plate interface forces are influenced by the dip angle of the subducting plate (i.e., the length of plate interface in the frictional domain) and the obliquity angle between the normal to the plate margin and the plate convergence vector, the strength of the continental crust in the upper plate is strongly affected by the presence or absence of weak zones such as regions of arc volcanism, pre-existing fault systems, or boundaries of stronger crustal blocks. In order to investigate which of these factors are most important in controlling how the overriding continental plate deforms, we compare results of lithospheric-scale 3D numerical geodynamic experiments from two regions in the north-central Andes: the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ; 5°N - 3°S) and adjacent Peruvian Flat Slab Segment (PFSS; 3°S -14°S). The NVZ is characterized by a 35° subduction dip angle with an obliquity angle of about 40°, extensive volcanism and significant strain partitioning in the continental crust. In contrast, the PFSS is characterized by flat subduction (the slab flattens beneath the continent at around 100 km depth for several hundred kilometers), an obliquity angle of about 20°, no volcanism and minimal strain partitioning. The plate geometry and convergence obliquity for these regions are incorporated in 3D (1600 x 1600 x

  9. Medication-related clinical decision support alert overrides in inpatients.

    PubMed

    Nanji, Karen C; Seger, Diane L; Slight, Sarah P; Amato, Mary G; Beeler, Patrick E; Her, Qoua L; Dalleur, Olivia; Eguale, Tewodros; Wong, Adrian; Silvers, Elizabeth R; Swerdloff, Michael; Hussain, Salman T; Maniam, Nivethietha; Fiskio, Julie M; Dykes, Patricia C; Bates, David W

    2018-05-01

    To define the types and numbers of inpatient clinical decision support alerts, measure the frequency with which they are overridden, and describe providers' reasons for overriding them and the appropriateness of those reasons. We conducted a cross-sectional study of medication-related clinical decision support alerts over a 3-year period at a 793-bed tertiary-care teaching institution. We measured the rate of alert overrides, the rate of overrides by alert type, the reasons cited for overrides, and the appropriateness of those reasons. Overall, 73.3% of patient allergy, drug-drug interaction, and duplicate drug alerts were overridden, though the rate of overrides varied by alert type (P < .0001). About 60% of overrides were appropriate, and that proportion also varied by alert type (P < .0001). Few overrides of renal- (2.2%) or age-based (26.4%) medication substitutions were appropriate, while most duplicate drug (98%), patient allergy (96.5%), and formulary substitution (82.5%) alerts were appropriate. Despite warnings of potential significant harm, certain categories of alert overrides were inappropriate >75% of the time. The vast majority of duplicate drug, patient allergy, and formulary substitution alerts were appropriate, suggesting that these categories of alerts might be good targets for refinement to reduce alert fatigue. Almost three-quarters of alerts were overridden, and 40% of the overrides were not appropriate. Future research should optimize alert types and frequencies to increase their clinical relevance, reducing alert fatigue so that important alerts are not inappropriately overridden.

  10. Continental lithosphere of the Arabian Plate: A geologic, petrologic, and geophysical synthesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stern, Robert J.; Johnson, Peter

    2010-07-01

    The Arabian Plate originated ˜ 25 Ma ago by rifting of NE Africa to form the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. It is one of the smaller and younger of the Earth's lithospheric plates. The upper part of its crust consists of crystalline Precambrian basement, Phanerozoic sedimentary cover as much as 10 km thick, and Cenozoic flood basalt (harrat). The distribution of these rocks and variations in elevation across the Plate cause a pronounced geologic and topographic asymmetry, with extensive basement exposures (the Arabian Shield) and elevations of as much as 3000 m in the west, and a Phanerozoic succession (Arabian Platform) that thickens, and a surface that descends to sea level, eastward between the Shield and the northeastern margin of the Plate. This tilt in the Plate is partly the result of marginal uplift during rifting in the south and west, and loading during collision with, and subduction beneath, the Eurasian Plate in the northeast. But a variety of evidence suggests that the asymmetry also reflects a fundamental crustal and mantle heterogeneity in the Plate that dates from Neoproterozoic time when the crust formed. The bulk of the Plate's upper crystalline crust is Neoproterozoic in age (1000-540 Ma) reflecting, in the west, a 300-million year process of continental crustal growth between ˜ 850 and 550 Ma represented by amalgamated juvenile magmatic arcs, post-amalgamation sedimentary and volcanic basins, and granitoid intrusions that make up as much as 50% of the Shield's surface. Locally, Archean and Paleoproterozoic rocks are structurally intercalated with the juvenile Neoproterozoic rocks in the southern and eastern parts of the Shield. The geologic dataset for the age, composition, and origin of the upper crust of the Plate in the east is smaller than the database for the Shield, and conclusions made about the crust in the east are correspondingly less definitive. In the absence of exposures, furthermore, nothing is known by direct observation about the

  11. Subduction-driven recycling of continental margin lithosphere.

    PubMed

    Levander, A; Bezada, M J; Niu, F; Humphreys, E D; Palomeras, I; Thurner, S M; Masy, J; Schmitz, M; Gallart, J; Carbonell, R; Miller, M S

    2014-11-13

    Whereas subduction recycling of oceanic lithosphere is one of the central themes of plate tectonics, the recycling of continental lithosphere appears to be far more complicated and less well understood. Delamination and convective downwelling are two widely recognized processes invoked to explain the removal of lithospheric mantle under or adjacent to orogenic belts. Here we relate oceanic plate subduction to removal of adjacent continental lithosphere in certain plate tectonic settings. We have developed teleseismic body wave images from dense broadband seismic experiments that show higher than expected volumes of anomalously fast mantle associated with the subducted Atlantic slab under northeastern South America and the Alboran slab beneath the Gibraltar arc region; the anomalies are under, and are aligned with, the continental margins at depths greater than 200 kilometres. Rayleigh wave analysis finds that the lithospheric mantle under the continental margins is significantly thinner than expected, and that thin lithosphere extends from the orogens adjacent to the subduction zones inland to the edges of nearby cratonic cores. Taking these data together, here we describe a process that can lead to the loss of continental lithosphere adjacent to a subduction zone. Subducting oceanic plates can viscously entrain and remove the bottom of the continental thermal boundary layer lithosphere from adjacent continental margins. This drives surface tectonics and pre-conditions the margins for further deformation by creating topography along the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. This can lead to development of secondary downwellings under the continental interior, probably under both South America and the Gibraltar arc, and to delamination of the entire lithospheric mantle, as around the Gibraltar arc. This process reconciles numerous, sometimes mutually exclusive, geodynamic models proposed to explain the complex oceanic-continental tectonics of these subduction zones.

  12. 30 CFR 1202.250 - Overriding royalty interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Overriding royalty interest. 1202.250 Section 1202.250 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE ROYALTIES Coal § 1202.250 Overriding royalty interest. The regulations governing...

  13. 30 CFR 1202.250 - Overriding royalty interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Overriding royalty interest. 1202.250 Section 1202.250 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE ROYALTIES Coal § 1202.250 Overriding royalty interest. The regulations governing...

  14. 30 CFR 1202.250 - Overriding royalty interest.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Overriding royalty interest. 1202.250 Section 1202.250 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE ROYALTIES Coal § 1202.250 Overriding royalty interest. The regulations governing...

  15. Mechanical obstacles to the movement of continent-bearing plates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lowman, P. D., Jr.

    1985-01-01

    Selected geophysical problems associated with the concept of continental drift as an incidental corollary of plate movement are discussed. The problems include the absence of a suitable plate-driving mechanism for plates with continental leading edges, the absence of the low-velocity zone under shields, and continental roots of 400 to 700 km depths. It is shown that if continental drift occurs, it must use mechanisms not now understood, or that it may not occur at all, plate movement being confined to ocean basins.

  16. A survey on table tolerances and couch overrides in radiotherapy

    PubMed Central

    Chinsky, Bonnie; Patel, Rakesh; Panfil, Joshua; Surucu, Murat

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to survey current departmental policies on treatment couch overrides and the values of table tolerances used clinically. A 25‐question electronic survey on couch overrides and tolerances was sent to full members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). The first part of the survey asked participants if table overrides were allowed at their institution, who was allowed to perform these overrides, and if imaging was required with overrides. The second part of the survey asked individuals to provide table tolerance data for the following treatment sites: brain/head and neck (H&N), lung, breast, abdomen/pelvis and prostate. Each site was further divided into IMRT/VMAT and 3D conformal techniques. Spaces for free‐text were provided, allowing respondents to enter any table tolerance data they were unable to specify under the treatment sites listed. A total of 361 individuals responded, of which approximately half participated in the couch tolerances portion of the survey. Overall, 86% of respondents’ institutions allow couch tolerance overrides at treatment. Therapists were the most common staff members permitted to perform overrides, followed by physicists, dosimetrists, and physicians, respectively. Of the institutions allowing overrides, 34% reported overriding daily. More than half of the centers document the override and/or require a setup image to radiographically verify the treatment site. With respect to table tolerances, SRS/SBRT table tolerances were the tightest, while clinical setup table tolerances were the largest. There were minimal statistically significant differences between IMRT/VMAT and 3D conformal table tolerances. Our results demonstrated that table overrides are relatively common in radiotherapy despite being a potential safety concern. Institutions should review their override policy and table tolerance values in light of the practices of other institutions. Careful attention to these

  17. Uplift along passive continental margins, changes in plate motion and mantle convection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Japsen, Peter; Green, Paul F.; Chalmers, James A.; Bonow, Johan M.

    2014-05-01

    The origin of the forces that produce elevated, passive continental margins (EPCMs) is a hot topic in geoscience. It is, however, a new aspect in the debate that episodes of uplift coincide with changes in plate motion. This has been revealed, primarily, by studies of the burial, uplift and exhumation history of EPCMs based on integration on stratigraphic landscape analysis, low-temperature thermochronology and evidence from the geological record (Green et al., 2013). In the Campanian, Eocene and Miocene, uplift and erosion affected the margins of Brazil and Africa (Japsen et al., 2012b). The uplift phases in Brazil coincided with main phases of Andean orogeny which were periods of relatively rapid convergence at the Andean margin of South America (Cobbold et al., 2001). Because Campanian uplift in Brazil coincides, not only with rapid convergence at the Andean margin of South America, but also with a decline in Atlantic spreading rate, Japsen et al. (2012b) suggested that all these uplift events have a common cause, which is lateral resistance to plate motion. Because the uplift phases are common to margins of diverging plates, it was also suggested that the driving forces can transmit across the spreading axis; probably at great depth, e.g. in the asthenosphere. Late Eocene, Late Miocene and Pliocene uplift and erosion shaped the elevated margin of southern East Greenland (Bonow et al., in review; Japsen et al., in review). These regional uplift phases are synchronous with phases in West Greenland, overlap in time with similar events in North America and Europe and also correlate with changes in plate motion. The much higher elevation of East Greenland compared to West Greenland suggests dynamic support in the east from the Iceland plume. Japsen et al. (2012a) pointed out that EPCMs are typically located above thick crust/lithosphere that is closely juxtaposed to thinner crust/lithosphere. The presence of mountains along the Atlantic margin of Brazil and in East

  18. New Geodetic Results from the Hauraki Rift: Slow Continental Rifting Oblique to Subduction, North Island, New Zealand

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pickle, R. C.; Eccles, J. D.; Hreinsdottir, S.; Palmer, N.; Rowland, J. V.

    2016-12-01

    The Hauraki Rift, an active but slow-deforming narrow intra-continental rift in northern New Zealand paradoxically strikes nearly normal to the Pacific-Australian oblique subduction boundary 300+ km to the southeast. Both the driving mechanism and quantitative details of the rift's current activity are unknown. Past GPS/GNSS geodetic surveying in the area has been coarse and erratic (e.g. single 8-hour surveys in 1995). In 2015 and again in 2016 a 37 station network of existing benchmarks around the rift was measured with the aim of gaining better insight into deformation in the region. We find that it is primarily extensional ( 0.9 mm/yr) with a small portion of right-lateral shearing ( 0.1 mm/yr) relative to a fixed Australian plate in ITRF2008. Closer to the plate boundary, the oblique westward subduction of the Pacific plate generates a strong clockwise angular strain signature in the over-riding plate; this same angular stress field is the simplest explanation for the Hauraki Rift's axis-perpendicular strain and in consistent with previous geophysical observations. Additionally, several short wavelength dislocations between our velocity solutions hint at the existence of undocumented active faults which will have implications to the seismic hazard to Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located just 50km west of the rift.

  19. Does slab-window opening cause uplift of the overriding plate? A case study from the Gulf of California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mark, Chris; Chew, David; Gupta, Sanjeev

    2017-11-01

    Complete subduction of an oceanic plate results in slab-window opening. A key uncertainty in this process is whether the higher heat flux and asthenospheric upwelling conventionally associated with slab-window opening generate a detectable topographic signature in the overriding plate. We focus on the Baja California Peninsula, which incorporates the western margin of the Gulf of California rift. The topography and tectonics of the rift flank along the peninsula are strongly bimodal. North of the Puertecitos accommodation zone, the primary drainage divide attains a mean elevation of ca. 1600 m above sea level (asl), above an asthenospheric slab-window opened by Pacific-Farallon spreading ridge subduction along this section of the trench at ca. 17-15 Ma. To the south, mean topography decreases abruptly to ca. 800 m asl (excluding the structurally distinct Los Cabos block at the southern tip of the peninsula), above fragments of the oceanic Farallon slab which stalled following slab tear-off at ca. 15-14 Ma. Along the peninsula, a low-relief surface established atop Miocene subduction-related volcaniclastic units has been incised by a west-draining canyon network in response to uplift. These canyons exhibit cut-and-fill relationships with widespread post-subduction lavas. Here, we utilise LANDSAT and digital elevation model (DEM) data, integrated with previously published K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar lava crystallisation ages, to constrain the onset of rift flank uplift to ca. 9-5 Ma later than slab-window formation in the north and ca. 11-10 Ma later in the south. These greatly exceed response time estimates of ca. 2 Ma or less for uplift triggered by slab-window opening. Instead, uplift timing of the high-elevation northern region is consistent with lower-lithospheric erosion driven by rift-related convective upwelling. To the south, stalled slab fragments likely inhibited convective return flow, preventing lithospheric erosion and limiting uplift to the isostatic response

  20. Tectonic lineaments in the cenozoic volcanics of southern Guatemala: Evidence for a broad continental plate boundary zone

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Baltuck, M.; Dixon, T. H.

    1984-01-01

    The northern Caribbean plate boundary has been undergoing left lateral strike slip motion since middle Tertiary time. The western part of the boundary occurs in a complex tectonic zone in the continental crust of Guatemala and southernmost Mexico, along the Chixoy-Polochic, Motogua and possibly Jocotan-Chamelecon faults. Prominent lineaments visible in radar imagery in the Neogene volcanic belt of southern Guatemala and western El Salvador were mapped and interpreted to suggest southwest extensions of this already broad plate boundary zone. Because these extensions can be traced beneath Quaternary volcanic cover, it is thought that this newly mapped fault zone is active and is accommodating some of the strain related to motion between the North American and Caribbean plates. Onshore exposures of the Motoqua-Polochic fault systems are characterized by abundant, tectonically emplaced ultramafic rocks. A similar mode of emplacement for these off shore ultramafics, is suggested.

  1. Formation of Island Arc-Trench System due to Plate Subduction on the Basis of Elastic Dislocation Theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fukahata, Y.; Matsu'ura, M.

    2015-12-01

    The most conspicuous cumulative deformation in subduction zones is the formation of island arc-trench system. A pair of anomalies in topography and free-air gravity, high in the arc and low around the trench, is observed without exceptions all over the world. Since the 1960s, elastic dislocation theory has been widely used to interpret coseismic crustal deformation. For the modeling of longer-term crustal deformation, it is necessary to consider viscoelastic properties of the asthenosphere. By simply applying elastic-viscoelastic dislocation theory to plate subduction, Matsu'ura and Sato (1989, GJI) have shown that some crustal deformation remains after the completion of one earthquake cycle, which means that crustal deformation accumulates with time in a long term due to plate subduction. In fact, by constructing a plate interface model in and around Japan, Hashimoto, Fukui and Matsu'ura (2004, PAGEOPH) have demonstrated that the computed vertical displacements due to steady plate subduction well explain the observed free-air gravity anomaly pattern. Recently, we got a lucid explanation of crustal deformation due to plate subduction. In subduction zones, oceanic plates bend and descend into the mantle. Because the bending of oceanic plates is usually not spontaneous, there exists kinematic interaction between the oceanic and overriding plates, which causes cumulative deformation of the overriding plate. This may be understood based on the law of action and reaction: one is bending of an oceanic plate and the other is deformation of the overriding plate. As a special case, it is useful to consider plate subduction along a part of true circle. In this case, crustal deformation due to steady subduction is solely caused by the effect of gravity, because dislocation along a circle does not cause any intrinsic internal deformation. When an oceanic plate is descending along an arcuate plate interface from the right-hand side, according to dislocation theory, the oceanic

  2. Abbot Ice Shelf, structure of the Amundsen Sea continental margin and the southern boundary of the Bellingshausen Plate seaward of West Antarctica

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cochran, James R.; Tinto, Kirsty J.; Bell, Robin E.

    2015-05-01

    Inversion of NASA Operation IceBridge airborne gravity over the Abbot Ice Shelf in West Antarctica for subice bathymetry defines an extensional terrain made up of east-west trending rift basins formed during the early stages of Antarctica/Zealandia rifting. Extension is minor, as rifting jumped north of Thurston Island early in the rifting process. The Amundsen Sea Embayment continental shelf west of the rifted terrain is underlain by a deeper, more extensive sedimentary basin also formed during rifting between Antarctica and Zealandia. A well-defined boundary zone separates the mildly extended Abbot extensional terrain from the deeper Amundsen Embayment shelf basin. The shelf basin has an extension factor, β, of 1.5-1.7 with 80-100 km of extension occurring across an area now 250 km wide. Following this extension, rifting centered north of the present shelf edge and proceeded to continental rupture. Since then, the Amundsen Embayment continental shelf appears to have been tectonically quiescent and shaped by subsidence, sedimentation, and the advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Bellingshausen Plate was located seaward of the Amundsen Sea margin prior to incorporation into the Antarctic Plate at about 62 Ma. During the latter part of its independent existence, Bellingshausen plate motion had a clockwise rotational component relative to Antarctica producing convergence across the north-south trending Bellingshausen Gravity Anomaly structure at 94°W and compressive deformation on the continental slope between 94°W and 102°W. Farther west, the relative motion was extensional along an east-west trending zone occupied by the Marie Byrd Seamounts. The copyright line for this article was changed on 5 JUN 2015 after original online publication.

  3. Plate tectonics beyond plate boundaries: the role of ancient structures in intraplate orogenesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heron, Philip; Pysklywec, Russell; Stephenson, Randell

    2015-04-01

    The development of orogens that occur at a distance from plate boundaries (i.e., `intraplate' deformation) cannot be adequately explained through conventional plate tectonic theory. Intraplate deformation infers a more complex argument for lithospheric and mantle interaction than plate tectonic theory allows. As a result, the origins of intraplate orogenesis are enigmatic. One hypothesis is the amalgamation of continental material (i.e., micro-plates) leaves inherent scars on the crust and mantle lithosphere. Previous studies into continent-continent collisions identify a number of scenarios from accretionary tectonics that affect the crust and mantle (namely, the development of a Rayleigh-Taylor instability, lithospheric underplating, lithospheric delamination, and lithospheric subduction). Any of these processes may weaken the lithosphere allowing episodic reactivation of faults within continental interiors. Hence, continental convergence (i.e., shortening) at a time after continental collision may cause the already weakened crust and mantle lithosphere to produce intraplate deformation. In order to better understand the processes involved in deformation away from plate boundaries, we present suites of continental shortening models (using the high-resolution thermal-mechanical modelling code SOPALE) to identify the preferred style of deformation. We model ancient structures by applying weak subduction scarring, changing the rheological conditions, and modifying the thermal structure within the lithosphere. To highlight the role of surface processes on plate and lithosphere deformation, the effect of climate-driven erosion and deposition on the tectonic structure of intraplate deformation is also addressed. We explore the relevance of the models to previously studied regions of intraplate orogenesis, including the Pyrenees in Europe, the Laramide orogen in North America, Tien Shan orogen in Central Asia, and Central Australia. The findings of the simulations with

  4. Overriding Ethical Constraints in Lethal Autonomous Systems

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-01-01

    absolve the guilt from the party that issued the order in the first place. During the Nuremberg trials it was not sufficient for a soldier to merely...with coded authorization by two separate individuals, ideally the operator and his immediate superior. The inverse situation, denying the system...potentially violating. Permission to override in case 2 requires a coded two-key release by two separate operators, each going through the override

  5. The effects of subduction termination on the continental lithosphere: Linking volcanism, deformation, surface uplift, and slab tearing in central Anatolia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Delph, Jonathan R.; Abgarmi, Bijan; Ward, Kevin M.; Beck, Susan L.; Arda Ozacar, A.; Zandt, George; Sandvol, Eric; Turkelli, Niyazi; Kalafat, Dogan

    2017-04-01

    The lithospheric evolution of Anatolia is largely defined by processes associated with the terminal stages of subduction along its southern margin. Central Anatolia represents the transition from the subduction of oceanic lithosphere at the Aegean trench in the west to the Arabian - Eurasian continental collision in the east. In the overriding plate, this complicated transition is contemporaneous with uplift along the southern margin of central Anatolia (2 km in 6 Myr), voluminous felsic-intermediate ignimbrite eruptions (>1000 km3), extension, and tectonic deformation reflected by abundant low-magnitude seismic activity. The addition of 72 seismic stations as part of the Continental Dynamics - Central Anatolian Tectonics project, along with development of a new approach to the joint inversion of receiver functions and dispersion data, enables us obtain a high-resolution 3D shear wave velocity model of central Anatolia down to 150 km. This new velocity model has important implications for the complex interactions between the downgoing, segmenting African lithosphere and the overriding Anatolian Plate. These results reveal that the lithosphere of central Anatolia and the northern Arabian Plate is thin (<50 to 80 km). The Central Taurus Mountains, which have experienced 2 km of uplift in the past 6 Ma, are underlain by the fastest shear velocities in the region (>4.5 km/s), indicating the presence of the Cyprean slab beneath central Anatolia. Thus, uplift of the Central Taurus Mountains may be due to slab rebound after the detachment of the oceanic portion of the Cyprean slab beneath Anatolia rather than the presence of shallow asthenospheric material. These fast velocities extend to the northern margin of the Central Taurus Mountains, giving way to a NE-SW trend of very slow upper mantle shear wave velocities (<4.2 km/s) beneath the Central Anatolian Volcanic Province. These slow velocities are interpreted to be shallow, warm asthenosphere in which melt is present

  6. A Video Recall Study of In-session Changes in Sentiment Override.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Lee N; Tambling, Rachel B; Anderson, Shayne R

    2015-09-01

    This study examines in-session changes in sentiment override over the first three sessions of couple therapy. Couples viewed a video recording of therapy sessions immediately after each of the first three sessions and continuously rated their level of sentiment override. Ninety-eight changes were randomly chosen for analysis. Three talk turns prior to each change was coded using the Family Relational Communication Control Coding System. Results show that changes in sentiment override occur frequently. Repeated incidents of communication control were related to negative change in sentiment override for females. Repeated incidents of being left out of the conversation were related to negative changes in sentiment override for females and positive changes for males. © 2014 Family Process Institute.

  7. Study on cyclic injection gas override in condensate gas reservoir

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, Yan; Zhu, Weiyao; Xia, Jing; Li, Baozhu

    2018-02-01

    Cyclic injection gas override in condensate gas reservoirs for the large density difference between injection gas and condensate gas has been studied, but no relevant mathematical models have been built. In this paper, a mathematical model of cyclic injection gas override in condensate gas reservoir is established, considering density difference between the injected gas and the remaining condensate gas in the formation. The vertical flow ratio and override degree are used to reflect the override law of injected dry gas. Combined with the actual data of Tarim gas condensate reservoir, the parameters of injected dry gas override are calculated and analysed. The results show that the radial pressure rises or falls rapidly and the pressure gradient varies greatly in the near wells. The radial pressure varies slowly and the pressure gradient changes little in the reservoir which is within a certain distance from the wells. In the near injection well, the injected dry gas mainly migrates along the radial direction, and the vertical migration is relatively not obvious. With the distance from the injection well, the vertical flow ratio and override degree of injected dry gas increases, and the vertical flow ratio reaches the maximum in the middle of the injection well and the production well.

  8. Impact of Mantle Wind on Subducting Plate Geometry and Interplate Pressure: Insights From Physical Modelling.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boutelier, D.; Cruden, A. R.

    2005-12-01

    New physical models of subduction investigate the impact of large-scale mantle flow on the structure of the subducted slab and deformation of the downgoing and overriding plates. The experiments comprise two lithospheric plates made of highly filled silicone polymer resting on a model asthenosphere of low viscosity transparent silicone polymer. Subduction is driven by a piston that pushes the subducting plate at constant rate, a slab-pull force due to the relative density of the slab, and a basal drag force exerted by flow in the model asthenosphere. Large-scale mantle flow is imposed by a second piston moving at constant rate in a tunnel at the bottom of the experiment tank. Passive markers in the mantle track the evolution of flow during the experiment. Slab structure is recorded by side pictures of the experiment while horizontal deformation is studied via passive marker grids on top of both plates. The initial mantle flow direction beneath the overriding plate can be sub-horizontal or sub-vertical. In both cases, as the slab penetrates the mantle, the mantle flow pattern changes to accommodate the subducting high viscosity lithosphere. As the slab continues to descend, the imposed flow produces either over- or under-pressure on the lower surface of the slab depending on the initial mantle flow pattern (sub-horizontal or sub-vertical respectively). Over-pressure imposed on the slab lower surface promotes shallow dip subduction while under-pressure tends to steepen the slab. These effects resemble those observed in previous experiments when the overriding plate moves horizontally with respect to a static asthenosphere. Our experiments also demonstrate that a strong vertical drag force (due to relatively fast downward mantle flow) exerted on the slab results in a decrease in strain rate in both the downgoing and overriding plates, suggesting a decrease in interplate pressure. Furthermore, with an increase in drag force deformation in the downgoing plate can switch

  9. Ancient plate kinematics derived from the deformation pattern of continental crust: Paleo- and Neo-Tethys opening coeval with prolonged Gondwana-Laurussia convergence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kroner, Uwe; Roscher, Marco; Romer, Rolf L.

    2016-06-01

    The formation and destruction of supercontinents requires prolonged convergent tectonics between particular plates, followed by intra-continental extension during subsequent breakup stages. A specific feature of the Late Paleozoic supercontinent Pangea is the prolonged and diachronous formation of the collisional belts of the Rheic suture zone coeval with recurrent continental breakup and subsequent formation of the mid-ocean ridge systems of the Paleo- and Neo-Tethys oceans at the Devonian and Permian margins of the Gondwana plate, respectively. To decide whether these processes are causally related or not, it is necessary to accurately reconstruct the plate motion of Gondwana relative to Laurussia. Here we propose that the strain pattern preserved in the continental crust can be used for the reconstruction of ancient plate kinematics. We present Euler pole locations for the three fundamental stages of the Late Paleozoic assembly of Pangea and closure of the Rheic Ocean: (I) Early Devonian (ca. 400 Ma) collisional tectonics affected Gondwana at the Armorican Spur north of western Africa and at the promontory of the South China block/Australia of eastern Gondwana, resulting in the Variscan and the Qinling orogenies, respectively. The Euler pole of the rotational axis between Gondwana and Laurussia is positioned east of Gondwana close to Australia. (II) Continued subduction of the western Rheic Ocean initiates the clockwise rotation of Gondwana that is responsible for the separation of the South China block from Gondwana and the opening of Paleo-Tethys during the Late Devonian. The position of the rotational axis north of Africa reveals a shift of the Euler pole to the west. (III) The terminal closure of the Rheic Ocean resulted in the final tectonics of the Alleghanides, the Mauritanides and the Ouachita-Sonora-Marathon belt, occurred after the cessation of the Variscan orogeny in Central Europe, and is coeval with the formation of the Central European Extensional

  10. Crustal Spreading in Southern California: The Imperial Valley and the Gulf of California formed by the rifting apart of a continental plate.

    PubMed

    Elders, W A; Rex, R W; Robinson, P T; Biehler, S; Meidav, T

    1972-10-06

    The current excitement among geologists and geophysicists stemming from the "new global tectonics" has led to a widespread, speculative reinterpretation of continental geology. The Gulf of California and its continuation into the Imperial Valley provide an excellent opportunity for studying the border zone between the North American and Pacific plates, and an interface of continental and oceanic tectonics. The Salton trough, the landward extension of the gulf, is a broad structural depression, comparable in size with the deeper marine basins of the southern part of the gulf, but here partially filled with sediments deposited by the Colorado River.

  11. Continental collision slowing due to viscous mantle lithosphere rather than topography.

    PubMed

    Clark, Marin Kristen

    2012-02-29

    Because the inertia of tectonic plates is negligible, plate velocities result from the balance of forces acting at plate margins and along their base. Observations of past plate motion derived from marine magnetic anomalies provide evidence of how continental deformation may contribute to plate driving forces. A decrease in convergence rate at the inception of continental collision is expected because of the greater buoyancy of continental than oceanic lithosphere, but post-collisional rates are less well understood. Slowing of convergence has generally been attributed to the development of high topography that further resists convergent motion; however, the role of deforming continental mantle lithosphere on plate motions has not previously been considered. Here I show that the rate of India's penetration into Eurasia has decreased exponentially since their collision. The exponential decrease in convergence rate suggests that contractional strain across Tibet has been constant throughout the collision at a rate of 7.03 × 10(-16) s(-1), which matches the current rate. A constant bulk strain rate of the orogen suggests that convergent motion is resisted by constant average stress (constant force) applied to a relatively uniform layer or interface at depth. This finding follows new evidence that the mantle lithosphere beneath Tibet is intact, which supports the interpretation that the long-term strain history of Tibet reflects deformation of the mantle lithosphere. Under conditions of constant stress and strength, the deforming continental lithosphere creates a type of viscous resistance that affects plate motion irrespective of how topography evolved.

  12. 5 CFR 1320.15 - Independent regulatory agency override authority.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Independent regulatory agency override authority. 1320.15 Section 1320.15 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET OMB DIRECTIVES CONTROLLING PAPERWORK BURDENS ON THE PUBLIC § 1320.15 Independent regulatory agency override authority. (a) An...

  13. Future accreted terranes: a compilation of island arcs, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, seamounts, and continental fragments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tetreault, J. L.; Buiter, S. J. H.

    2014-07-01

    Allochthonous accreted terranes are exotic geologic units that originated from anomalous crustal regions on a subducting oceanic plate and were transferred to the overriding plate during subduction by accretionary processes. The geographical regions that eventually become accreted allochthonous terranes include island arcs, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, seamounts, continental fragments, and microcontinents. These future allochthonous terranes (FATs) contribute to continental crustal growth, subduction dynamics, and crustal recycling in the mantle. We present a review of modern FATs and their accreted counterparts based on available geological, seismic, and gravity studies and discuss their crustal structure, geological origin, and bulk crustal density. Island arcs have an average crustal thickness of 26 km, average bulk crustal density of 2.79 g cm-3, and have 3 distinct crustal units overlying a crust-mantle transition zone. Oceanic plateaus and submarine ridges have an average crustal thickness of 21 km and average bulk crustal density of 2.84 g cm-3. Continental fragments presently on the ocean floor have an average crustal thickness of 25 km and bulk crustal density of 2.81 g cm-3. Accreted allochthonous terranes can be compared to these crustal compilations to better understand which units of crust are accreted or subducted. In general, most accreted terranes are thin crustal units sheared off of FATs and added onto the accretionary prism, with thicknesses on the order of hundreds of meters to a few kilometers. In addition many island arcs, oceanic plateaus, and submarine ridges were sheared off in the subduction interface and underplated onto the overlying continent. And other times we find evidence of collision leaving behind accreted terranes 25 to 40 km thick. We posit that rheologically weak crustal layers or shear zones that were formed when the FATs were produced can be activated as detachments during subduction, allowing parts of the FAT crust to

  14. Future accreted terranes: a compilation of island arcs, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, seamounts, and continental fragments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tetreault, J. L.; Buiter, S. J. H.

    2014-12-01

    Allochthonous accreted terranes are exotic geologic units that originated from anomalous crustal regions on a subducting oceanic plate and were transferred to the overriding plate by accretionary processes during subduction. The geographical regions that eventually become accreted allochthonous terranes include island arcs, oceanic plateaus, submarine ridges, seamounts, continental fragments, and microcontinents. These future allochthonous terranes (FATs) contribute to continental crustal growth, subduction dynamics, and crustal recycling in the mantle. We present a review of modern FATs and their accreted counterparts based on available geological, seismic, and gravity studies and discuss their crustal structure, geological origin, and bulk crustal density. Island arcs have an average crustal thickness of 26 km, average bulk crustal density of 2.79 g cm-3, and three distinct crustal units overlying a crust-mantle transition zone. Oceanic plateaus and submarine ridges have an average crustal thickness of 21 km and average bulk crustal density of 2.84 g cm-3. Continental fragments presently on the ocean floor have an average crustal thickness of 25 km and bulk crustal density of 2.81 g cm-3. Accreted allochthonous terranes can be compared to these crustal compilations to better understand which units of crust are accreted or subducted. In general, most accreted terranes are thin crustal units sheared off of FATs and added onto the accretionary prism, with thicknesses on the order of hundreds of meters to a few kilometers. However, many island arcs, oceanic plateaus, and submarine ridges were sheared off in the subduction interface and underplated onto the overlying continent. Other times we find evidence of terrane-continent collision leaving behind accreted terranes 25-40 km thick. We posit that rheologically weak crustal layers or shear zones that were formed when the FATs were produced can be activated as detachments during subduction, allowing parts of the FAT

  15. Determining Inappropriate Medication Alerts from "Inaccurate Warning" Overrides in the Intensive Care Unit.

    PubMed

    Rehr, Christine A; Wong, Adrian; Seger, Diane L; Bates, David W

    2018-04-01

     This article aims to understand provider behavior around the use of the override reason "Inaccurate warning," specifically whether it is an effective way of identifying unhelpful medication alerts.  We analyzed alert overrides that occurred in the intensive care units (ICUs) of a major academic medical center between June and November 2016, focused on the following high-significance alert types: dose, drug-allergy alerts, and drug-drug interactions (DDI). Override appropriateness was analyzed by two independent reviewers using predetermined criteria.  A total of 268 of 26,501 ICU overrides (1.0%) used the reason "Inaccurate warning," with 93 of these overrides associated with our included alert types. Sixty-one of these overrides (66%) were identified to be appropriate. Twenty-one of 30 (70%) dose alert overrides were appropriate. Forty of 48 drug-allergy alert overrides (83%) were appropriate, for reasons ranging from prior tolerance ( n  = 30) to inaccurate ingredient matches ( n  = 5). None of the 15 DDI overrides were appropriate.  The "Inaccurate warning" reason was selectively used by a small proportion of providers and overrides using this reason identified important opportunities to reduce excess alerts. Potential opportunities include improved evaluation of dosing mechanisms based on patient characteristics, inclusion of institutional dosing protocols to alert logic, and evaluation of a patient's prior tolerance to a medication that they have a documented allergy for. This resource is not yet routinely used for alert tailoring at our institution but may prove to be a valuable resource to evaluate available alerts. Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart.

  16. 3-D Simulation of Tectonic Evolution in Mariana with a Coupled Model of Plate Subduction and Back-Arc Spreading

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hashima, A.; Matsu'Ura, M.

    2006-12-01

    We obtained the expressions for internal deformation fields due to a moment tensor in an elastic-viscoelastic layered holf-space. This unified formulation of internal deformation fields for shear faulting and crack opening enabled us to deal with the problem of tectonic deformation at a composite type of plate boundary zones. The tectonic deformation can be ascribed to mechanical interaction at plate boundaries, which make a closed circuit with the mode of relative plate motion changing from divergence to convergence through transcurrent motion. One of the rational ways to represent mechanical interaction at plate boundaries is specifying the increase rates of normal or tangential displacement discontinuity across plate interfaces. On the basis of such a basic idea we developed a 3-D simulation model for the nonlinear, coupled system of plate subduction and back-arc spreading in Mariana. Through numerical simulations we revealed the evolution process of back-arc spreading. At the first stage, steady plate subduction (shear faulting at a plate interface) gradually forms tensile stress fields in the back-arc region of the overriding plate. When the accumulated tensile stress reaches a critical level, back-arc spreading (crack opening) starts at a structurally weak portion of the overriding plate. The horizontal motion of the frontal part of the overriding plate due to back-arc spreading pushes out the plate boundary toward the oceanic plate. In steady-state plate subduction the shear stress acting on a plate interface must balance with the maximum frictional resistance (shear strength) of the plate interface. Therefore, the increase of shear stress at the plate interface leads to the increase of slip rate at the plate interface. The local increase of slip rate at the plate interface produces the additional tensile stress in the back-arc region. The increased tensile stress must be canceled out by the additional crack opening. Such a feedback mechanism between plate

  17. Plate tectonics of the Mediterranean region.

    PubMed

    McKenzie, D P

    1970-04-18

    The seismicity and fault plane solutions in the Mediterranean area show that two small rapidly moving plates exist in the Eastern Mediterranean, and such plates may be a common feature of contracting ocean basins. The results show that the concepts of plate tectonics apply to instantaneous motions across continental plate boundaries.

  18. Manual Override For Electromechanical Latch

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scott, Richard

    1992-01-01

    Override mechanism enables user to operate electromechanical latching mechanism manually if primary mechanism fails. Release/Engage Mechanism (REM) moves pin receivers to confine pins on object to be held. Clutch disengages electrically driven latch normally used. Used to latch and unlatch large, heavy objects from fixed support structure.

  19. Introducing tectonically and thermo-mechanically realistic lithosphere in the models of plume head -lithosphere interactions (PLI) including intra-continental plate boundaries.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guillou-Frottier, L.; Burov, E.; Cloetingh, S.

    2007-12-01

    Plume-Lithosphere Interactions (PLI) in continets have complex topographic and magmatic signatures and are often identified near boundaries between younger plates (e.g., orogenic) and older stable plates (e.g., cratons), which represent important geometrical, thermal and rheological barriers that interact with the emplacement of the plume head (e.g., Archean West Africa, East Africa, Pannonian - Carpathian system). The observable PLI signatures are conditioned by plume dynamics but also by complex rheology and structure of continental lithosphere. We address this problem by considering a new free-surface thermo-mechanical numerical model of PLI with two stratified elasto-viscous-plastic (EVP) continental plates of contrasting age, thickness and structure. The results show that: (1) surface deformation is poly-harmonic and contains smaller wavelengths (50-500 km) than that associated with the plume head (>1000 km). (2) below intra-plate boundaries, plume head flattening is asymmetric, it is blocked from one side by the cold vertical boundary of the older plate, which leads to mechanical decoupling of crust from mantle lithosphere, and to localized faulting at the cratonic margin; (2) the return flow from the plume head results in sub-vertical down-thrusting (delamination) of the lithosphere at the margin, producing sharp vertical cold boundary down to the 400 km depth; (3) plume head flattening and migration towards the younger plate results in concurrent surface extension above the centre of the plume and in compression (pushing), down-thrusting and magmatic events at the cratonic margin (down-thrusting is also produced at the opposite border of the younger plate); these processes may result in continental growth at the "craton side"; (4) topographic signatures of PLI show basin-scale uplifts and subsidences preferentially located at cratonic margins. Negative Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in the lithosphere above the plume head provide a mechanism for crustal

  20. An Investigation of Drug-Drug Interaction Alert Overrides at a Pediatric Hospital.

    PubMed

    Humphrey, Kate; Jorina, Maria; Harper, Marvin; Dodson, Brenda; Kim, Seung-Yeon; Ozonoff, Al

    2018-05-01

    Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) can result in patient harm. DDI alerts are intended to help prevent harm; when the majority of alerts presented to providers are being overridden, their value is diminished. Our objective was to evaluate the overall rates of DDI alert overrides and how rates varied by specialty, clinician type, and patient complexity. A retrospective study of DDI alert overrides that occurred during 2012 and 2013 within the inpatient setting described at the medication-, hospital-, provider-, and patient encounter-specific levels was performed at an urban, quaternary-care, pediatric hospital. There were >41 000 DDI alerts presented to clinicians; ∼90% were overridden. The 5 DDI pairs that were most frequently presented and overridden included the following: potassium chloride-spironolactone, methadone-ondansetron, ketorolac-ibuprofen, cyclosporine-fluconazole, and potassium chloride-enalapril, each with an alert override rate of ≥0.89. Override rates across provider groups ranged between 0.84 and 0.97. In general, patients with high complexity had a higher frequency of alert overrides, but the rates of alert overrides for each DDI pairing did not differ significantly. High rates of DDI alert overrides occur across medications, provider groups, and patient encounters. Methods to decrease DDI alerts which are likely to be overridden exist, but it is also clear that more robust and intelligent tools are needed. Characteristics exist at the medication, hospital, provider, and patient levels that can be used to help specialize and enhance information transmission. Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

  1. Suggestions for Teaching the Principles of Continental Drift in the Elementary School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glenn, William H.

    1977-01-01

    Provides a brief overview of current geographic ideas regarding continental drift and plate tectonics and suggests techniques for illustrating continental motions to elementary school pupils. (Author/DB)

  2. Continental Deformation in Madagascar from GNSS Observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stamps, D. S.; Rajaonarison, T.; Rambolamanana, G.; Herimitsinjo, N.; Carrillo, R.; Jesmok, G.

    2015-12-01

    D.S. Stamps, T. Rajaonarison, G. Rambolamanana Madagascar is the easternmost continental segment of the East African Rift System (EARS). Plate reconstructions assume the continental island behaves as a rigid block, but studies of geologically recent kinematics suggest Madagascar undergoes extension related to the broader EARS. In this work we test for rigidity of Madagascar in two steps. First, we quantify surface motions using a novel dataset of episodic and continuous GNSS observations that span Madagascar from north to south. We established a countrywide network of precision benchmarks fixed in bedrock and with open skyview in 2010 that we measured for 48-72 hours with dual frequency receivers. The benchmarks were remeasured in 2012 and 2014. We processed the episodic GNSS data with ABPO, the only continuous GNSS station in Madagascar with >2.5 years of data, for millimeter precision positions and velocities at 7 locations using GAMIT-GLOBK. Our velocity field shows 2 mm/yr of differential motion between southern and northern Madagascar. Second, we test a suite of kinematic predictions from previous studies and find residual velocities are greater than 95% uncertainties. We also calculate angular velocity vectors assuming Madagascar moves with the Lwandle plate or the Somalian plate. Our new velocity field in Madagascar is inconsistent with all models that assume plate rigidity at the 95% uncertainty level; this result indicates the continental island undergoes statistically significant internal deformation.

  3. Structural control of the upper plate on the down-dip segmentation of subduction dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Q.; Barbot, S.; Karato, S. I.; Shibazaki, B.; Matsuzawa, T.; Tapponnier, P.

    2017-12-01

    The geodetic and seismic discoveries of slow earthquakes in subduction zones have provided the observational evidence for the existence of the transition between megathrust earthquakes and the creeping behaviors. However, the mechanics behind slow earthquakes, and the period differential motion between the subducting slab and the overlying plate below the seismogenic zone, remain controversial. In Nankai subduction zone, the very-low-frequency earthquakes (VLFE), megathrust earthquakes, long-term slow earthquakes (duration of months or years) and the episodic tremor and slip zone (ETS) are located within the accretionary prism, the continental upper crust, the continental lower crust and the upmost mantle of the overriding plate, respectively. We use the rate-and-state friction law to simulate the periodic occurrence of VLFEs, megathrust earthquakes and the tremors in the ETS zone because of relatively high rock strength within these depth ranges. However, it is not feasible to use frictional instabilities to explain the long-term slow earthquakes in the lower crust where the ductile rock physics plays a significant role in the large-scale deformation. Here, our numerical simulations show that slow earthquakes at the depth of the lower crust may be the results of plastic instabilities in a finite volume of ductile material accompanying by the grain-size evolution. As the thickness of the fault zone increases with depth, deformation becomes distributed and the dynamic equilibrium of grain size, as a competition between thermally activated grain growth and damage-related grain size reduction, results in cycles of strain acceleration and strain deficit. In addition, we took into account the elevated pore pressure in the accretinary prism which is associated with small stress drop and low-frequency content of VLFEs and may contribute to the occurrence of tsunamigenic earthquakes. Hence, in our numerical simulations for the plate boundary system in Nankai, the down

  4. Earthquakes and plate tectonics

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Spall, H.

    1977-01-01

    An explanation is to be found in plate tectonics, a concept which has revolutionized thinking in the Earth sciences in the last 10 years. The theory of plate tectonics combines many of the ideas about continental drift (originally proposed in 1912 by Alfred Wegener in Germany) and sea-floor spreading (suggested originally by Harry Hess of Princeton University). 

  5. Divergent plate motion drives rapid exhumation of (ultra)high pressure rocks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liao, Jie; Malusà, Marco G.; Zhao, Liang; Baldwin, Suzanne L.; Fitzgerald, Paul G.; Gerya, Taras

    2018-06-01

    Exhumation of (ultra)high pressure [(U)HP] rocks by upper-plate divergent motion above an unbroken slab, first proposed in the Western Alps, has never been tested by numerical methods. We present 2D thermo-mechanical models incorporating subduction of a thinned continental margin beneath either a continental or oceanic upper plate, followed by upper-plate divergent motion away from the lower plate. Results demonstrate how divergent plate motion may trigger rapid exhumation of large volumes of (U)HP rocks directly to the Earth's surface, without the need for significant overburden removal by erosion. Model exhumation paths are fully consistent with natural examples for a wide range of upper-plate divergence rates. Exhumation rates are systematically higher than the divergent rate imposed to the upper plate, and the modeled size of exhumed (U)HP domes is invariant for different rates of upper-plate divergence. Major variations are instead predicted at depth for differing model scenarios, as larger amounts of divergent motion may allow mantle-wedge exhumation to shallow depth under the exhuming domes. The transient temperature increase, due to ascent of mantle-wedge material in the subduction channel, has a limited effect on exhumed continental (U)HP rocks already at the surface. We test two examples, the Cenozoic (U)HP terranes of the Western Alps (continental upper plate) and eastern Papua New Guinea (oceanic upper plate). The good fit between model predictions and the geologic record in these terranes encourages the application of these models globally to pre-Cenozoic (U)HP terranes where the geologic record of exhumation is only partly preserved.

  6. A numerical investigation of continental collision styles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghazian, Reza Khabbaz; Buiter, Susanne J. H.

    2013-06-01

    Continental collision after closure of an ocean can lead to different deformation styles: subduction of continental crust and lithosphere, lithospheric thickening, folding of the unsubducted continents, Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities and/or slab break-off. We use 2-D thermomechanical models of oceanic subduction followed by continental collision to investigate the sensitivity of these collision styles to driving velocity, crustal and lithospheric temperature, continental rheology and the initial density difference between the oceanic lithosphere and the asthenosphere. We find that these parameters influence the collision system, but that driving velocity, rheology and lithospheric (rather than Moho and mantle) temperature can be classified as important controls, whereas reasonable variations in the initial density contrast between oceanic lithosphere and asthenosphere are not necessarily important. Stable continental subduction occurs over a relatively large range of values of driving velocity and lithospheric temperature. Fast and cold systems are more likely to show folding, whereas slow and warm systems can experience RT-type dripping. Our results show that a continent with a strong upper crust can experience subduction of the entire crust and is more likely to fold. Accretion of the upper crust at the trench is feasible when the upper crust has a moderate to weak strength, whereas the entire crust can be scraped-off in the case of a weak lower crust. We also illustrate that weakening of the lithospheric mantle promotes RT-type of dripping in a collision system. We use a dynamic collision model, in which collision is driven by slab pull only, to illustrate that adjacent plates can play an important role in continental collision systems. In dynamic collision models, exhumation of subducted continental material and sediments is triggered by slab retreat and opening of a subduction channel, which allows upward flow of buoyant materials. Exhumation continues

  7. Thermal and mechanical structure of the upper mantle: A comparison between continental and oceanic models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Froidevaux, C.; Schubert, G.; Yuen, D. A.

    1976-01-01

    Temperature, velocity, and viscosity profiles for coupled thermal and mechanical models of the upper mantle beneath continental shields and old ocean basins show that under the continents, both tectonic plates and the asthenosphere, are thicker than they are beneath the oceans. The minimum value of viscosity in the continental asthenosphere is about an order of magnitude larger than in the shear zone beneath oceans. The shear stress or drag underneath continental plates is also approximately an order of magnitude larger than the drag on oceanic plates. Effects of shear heating may account for flattening of ocean floor topography and heat flux in old ocean basins.

  8. Dynamics of Mid-Palaeocene North Atlantic rifting linked with European intra-plate deformations.

    PubMed

    Nielsen, Søren B; Stephenson, Randell; Thomsen, Erik

    2007-12-13

    The process of continental break-up provides a large-scale experiment that can be used to test causal relations between plate tectonics and the dynamics of the Earth's deep mantle. Detailed diagnostic information on the timing and dynamics of such events, which are not resolved by plate kinematic reconstructions, can be obtained from the response of the interior of adjacent continental plates to stress changes generated by plate boundary processes. Here we demonstrate a causal relationship between North Atlantic continental rifting at approximately 62 Myr ago and an abrupt change of the intra-plate deformation style in the adjacent European continent. The rifting involved a left-lateral displacement between the North American-Greenland plate and Eurasia, which initiated the observed pause in the relative convergence of Europe and Africa. The associated stress change in the European continent was significant and explains the sudden termination of a approximately 20-Myr-long contractional intra-plate deformation within Europe, during the late Cretaceous period to the earliest Palaeocene epoch, which was replaced by low-amplitude intra-plate stress-relaxation features. The pre-rupture tectonic stress was large enough to have been responsible for precipitating continental break-up, so there is no need to invoke a thermal mantle plume as a driving mechanism. The model explains the simultaneous timing of several diverse geological events, and shows how the intra-continental stratigraphic record can reveal the timing and dynamics of stress changes, which cannot be resolved by reconstructions based only on plate kinematics.

  9. Basins in ARC-continental collisions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Draut, Amy E.; Clift, Peter D.; Busby, Cathy; Azor, Antonio

    2012-01-01

    Arc-continent collisions occur commonly in the plate-tectonic cycle and result in rapidly formed and rapidly collapsing orogens, often spanning just 5-15 My. Growth of continental masses through arc-continent collision is widely thought to be a major process governing the structural and geochemical evolution of the continental crust over geologic time. Collisions of intra-oceanic arcs with passive continental margins (a situation in which the arc, on the upper plate, faces the continent) involve a substantially different geometry than collisions of intra-oceanic arcs with active continental margins (a situation requiring more than one convergence zone and in which the arc, on the lower plate, backs into the continent), with variable preservation potential for basins in each case. Substantial differences also occur between trench and forearc evolution in tectonically erosive versus tectonically accreting margins, both before and after collision. We examine the evolution of trenches, trench-slope basins, forearc basins, intra-arc basins, and backarc basins during arc-continent collision. The preservation potential of trench-slope basins is low; in collision they are rapidly uplifted and eroded, and at erosive margins they are progressively destroyed by subduction erosion. Post-collisional preservation of trench sediment and trench-slope basins is biased toward margins that were tectonically accreting for a substantial length of time before collision. Forearc basins in erosive margins are usually floored by strong lithosphere and may survive collision with a passive margin, sometimes continuing sedimentation throughout collision and orogeny. The low flexural rigidity of intra-arc basins makes them deep and, if preserved, potentially long records of arc and collisional tectonism. Backarc basins, in contrast, are typically subducted and their sediment either lost or preserved only as fragments in melange sequences. A substantial proportion of the sediment derived from

  10. 30 CFR 281.31 - Overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Overriding royalties. 281.31 Section 281.31 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, REGULATION, AND ENFORCEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE... a producing mine, or to make possible the mining of economically marginal or low-grade ore deposits...

  11. 30 CFR 581.31 - Overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Overriding royalties. 581.31 Section 581.31 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE LEASING OF... possible the mining of economically marginal or low-grade ore deposits. In any case, the total of...

  12. 30 CFR 581.31 - Overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Overriding royalties. 581.31 Section 581.31 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE LEASING OF... possible the mining of economically marginal or low-grade ore deposits. In any case, the total of...

  13. 30 CFR 581.31 - Overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Overriding royalties. 581.31 Section 581.31 Mineral Resources BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFSHORE LEASING OF... possible the mining of economically marginal or low-grade ore deposits. In any case, the total of...

  14. From an active continental plate margin to continental collision: New constraints from the petrological, structural and geochronological record of the (ultra) high-P metamorphic Rhodope domain (N-Greece)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mposkos, E.; Krohe, A.; Wawrzenitz, N.; Romer, R. L.

    2012-04-01

    The Rhodope domain occupies a key area along the suture between the European and the Apulian/Adriatic plate (Schmid et al., 2008), which collided in the early Tertiary (closure of the Vardar/Axios ocean, cf. Mposkos & Krohe, 2006). An integrated study of the geochronological, tectonic and petrological data of the Rhodope domain provides the unique opportunity resolving a 160 my lasting metamorphic evolution (Jurassic to Miocene) of an active plate margin to a high degree. The Greek Rhodope consists of several composite metamorphic complexes bounded by the Nestos thrust and several normal detachment systems. The PT- and structural records of the complexes constrain metamorphic, magmatic and tectonic processes, associated with subduction along a convergent plate margin including UHP metamorphism, MP to HP metamorphism associated with continental collision, and core complex formation linked to Aegean back arc extension. We focus on the Sidironero Complex that shows a polymetamorphic history. This is documented by SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon ages of ca. 150 Ma from garnet-kyanite gneisses that are interpreted to record the HP/UHP metamorphism (Liati, 2005; Krenn et al., 2010). SHRIMP zircon ages of ca. 51 Ma from an amphibolitized eclogite is interpreted by Liati (2005) to record a second Eocene HP metamorphic event. We present new data from an integrated petrological, geochronological and tectonic study. Granulite facies and upper amphibolite facies metamorphic conditions are recorded by the mineral assemblage Grt-Ky-Bt-Pl-Kfs-Qtz-Rt and Grt-Ky-Bt-Ms-Pl-Qtz-Rt, respectively, in deformed migmatitic metapelites. Deformation occurred under granulite facies conditions. Monazites from the matrix, that formed during the granulite facies deformation, lack core/rim structures and are only locally patchy zoned. Monazite chemical compositions are related to varying reaction partners. Single grains and fractions of few grains yield ID-TIMS U-Pb ages that plot along the

  15. Bulldozing of Basal Continental Mantle Lithosphere During Flat-Slab Subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Axen, G. J.; van Wijk, J.; Currie, C. A.

    2017-12-01

    Flat-slab subduction occurs along 10% of subduction margins, forming magmatic gaps and causing inland migration of upper-plate deformation. We suggest that basal continental mantle lithosphere (CML) can be bulldozed ahead of the flat portion of horizontally-subducted oceanic lithosphere, forming a growing and advancing keel of thickened CML. This process fills the asthenospheric mantle wedge with CML, precluding melting. The bulldozed CML keel may transmit tectonic stresses ahead of the flat slab itself, causing upper-plate deformation ahead of the slab hinge. We designed 2-D numerical models after the North American Laramide orogeny, with subduction of a thick, buoyant oceanic plateau (conjugate Shatsky Rise) and with the continent advancing trenchward over the initial slab hinge. This results in slab-flattening, and removal of CML material. In our models, the thickness of the CML layer removed by this process depends on overriding plate rheology and is up to 25 km. The removed material is bulldozed ahead of the hinge and may fill up the asthenospheric wedge. Low-density (depleted) CML favors formation of bulldozed keels, which increase in width as CML strength decreases. Regular-density and/or stronger CML forms smaller bulldozed keels that are more likely to sink with the slab as eclogitization and densification proceed. When the flat slab rolls back, it leaves a step in the CML at the farthest extent of the slab. Relics of this step may remain below North America or may have dripped off. We interpret an upper-mantle fast-velocity anomaly below SE New Mexico and W Texas as a drip/keel, and the step in lithosphere thickness in southwestern Colorado as a fossil step, caused by the removal of the CML layer. Our model predicts that the Laramide bulldozed CML keel may have aided in stress transmission that caused basement uplifts as far as NE Wyoming and subsurface folds even farther N and E. Modern examples may exist in South American flat slab segments.

  16. Strength of plate coupling in the southern Ryukyu subduction zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doo, Wen-Bin; Lo, Chung-Liang; Wu, Wen-Nan; Lin, Jing-Yi; Hsu, Shu-Kun; Huang, Yin-Sheng; Wang, Hsueh-Fen

    2018-01-01

    Understanding the strength of a plate coupling is critical for assessing potential seismic and tsunamic hazards in subduction zones. The interaction between an overriding plate and the associated subducting plate can be used to evaluate the strength of plate coupling by examining the mantle lithospheric buoyancy. Here, we calculate the mantle lithosphere buoyancy across the northern portion of the southern Ryukyu subduction zone based on gravity modeling with the constraints from a newly derived P-wave seismic velocity model. The result indicates that the strength of the plate coupling in the study area is relatively strong, which is consistent with previous observations in the southernmost Ryukyu subduction zone. Because few large earthquakes (Mw > 7) have occurred in the southern Ryukyu subduction zone, a large amount of energy is locked and accumulated by plate coupling, that could be released in the near future.

  17. Mantle plumes and continental tectonics.

    PubMed

    Hill, R I; Campbell, I H; Davies, G F; Griffiths, R W

    1992-04-10

    Mantle plumes and plate tectonics, the result of two distinct modes of convection within the Earth, operate largely independently. Although plumes are secondary in terms of heat transport, they have probably played an important role in continental geology. A new plume starts with a large spherical head that can cause uplift and flood basalt volcanism, and may be responsible for regional-scale metamorphism or crustal melting and varying amounts of crustal extension. Plume heads are followed by narrow tails that give rise to the familiar hot-spot tracks. The cumulative effect of processes associated with tail volcanism may also significantly affect continental crust.

  18. Where does subduction initiate and die? Insights from global convection models with continental drift

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ulvrova, Martina; Williams, Simon; Coltice, Nicolas; Tackley, Paul

    2017-04-01

    Plate tectonics is a prominent feature on Earth. Together with the underlying convecting mantle, plates form a self-organized system. In order to understand the dynamics of the coupled system, subduction of the lithospheric plates plays the key role since it links the exterior with the interior of the planet. In this work we study subduction initiation and death with respect to the position of the continental rafts. Using thermo-mechanical numerical calculations we investigate global convection models featuring self-consistent plate tectonics and continental drifting employing a pseudo-plastic rheology and testing the effect of a free surface. We consider uncompressible mantle convection in Boussinesq approximation that is basaly and internaly heated. Our calculations indicate that the presence of the continents alterns stress distribution within a certain distance from the margins. Intra-oceanic subudction initiation is favorable during super-continent cycles while the initiation at passive continental margin prevails when continents are dispersed. The location of subduction initiation is additionally controlled by the lithospheric strength. Very weak lithosphere results in domination of intra-oceanic subduction initiation. The subduction zones die more easily in the vicinity of the continent due to the strong rheological contrast between the oceanic and continental lithosphere. In order to compare our findings with subduction positions through time recorded on Earth, we analyse subduction birth in global plate reconstruction back to 410 My.

  19. Reaction-induced rheological weakening enables oceanic plate subduction

    PubMed Central

    Hirauchi, Ken-ichi; Fukushima, Kumi; Kido, Masanori; Muto, Jun; Okamoto, Atsushi

    2016-01-01

    Earth is the only terrestrial planet in our solar system where an oceanic plate subducts beneath an overriding plate. Although the initiation of plate subduction requires extremely weak boundaries between strong plates, the way in which oceanic mantle rheologically weakens remains unknown. Here we show that shear-enhanced hydration reactions contribute to the generation and maintenance of weak mantle shear zones at mid-lithospheric depths. High-pressure friction experiments on peridotite gouge reveal that in the presence of hydrothermal water, increasing strain and reactions lead to an order-of-magnitude reduction in strength. The rate of deformation is controlled by pressure-solution-accommodated frictional sliding on weak hydrous phyllosilicate (talc), providing a mechanism for the ‘cutoff' of the high peak strength at the brittle-plastic transition. Our findings suggest that infiltration of seawater into transform faults with long lengths and low slip rates is an important controlling factor on the initiation of plate tectonics on terrestrial planets. PMID:27562366

  20. Reaction-induced rheological weakening enables oceanic plate subduction.

    PubMed

    Hirauchi, Ken-Ichi; Fukushima, Kumi; Kido, Masanori; Muto, Jun; Okamoto, Atsushi

    2016-08-26

    Earth is the only terrestrial planet in our solar system where an oceanic plate subducts beneath an overriding plate. Although the initiation of plate subduction requires extremely weak boundaries between strong plates, the way in which oceanic mantle rheologically weakens remains unknown. Here we show that shear-enhanced hydration reactions contribute to the generation and maintenance of weak mantle shear zones at mid-lithospheric depths. High-pressure friction experiments on peridotite gouge reveal that in the presence of hydrothermal water, increasing strain and reactions lead to an order-of-magnitude reduction in strength. The rate of deformation is controlled by pressure-solution-accommodated frictional sliding on weak hydrous phyllosilicate (talc), providing a mechanism for the 'cutoff' of the high peak strength at the brittle-plastic transition. Our findings suggest that infiltration of seawater into transform faults with long lengths and low slip rates is an important controlling factor on the initiation of plate tectonics on terrestrial planets.

  1. Plate tectonics and continental basaltic geochemistry throughout Earth history

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keller, Brenhin; Schoene, Blair

    2018-01-01

    Basaltic magmas constitute the primary mass flux from Earth's mantle to its crust, carrying information about the conditions of mantle melting through which they were generated. As such, changes in the average basaltic geochemistry through time reflect changes in underlying parameters such as mantle potential temperature and the geodynamic setting of mantle melting. However, sampling bias, preservation bias, and geological heterogeneity complicate the calculation of representative average compositions. Here we use weighted bootstrap resampling to minimize sampling bias over the heterogeneous rock record and obtain maximally representative average basaltic compositions through time. Over the approximately 4 Ga of the continental rock record, the average composition of preserved continental basalts has evolved along a generally continuous trajectory, with decreasing compatible element concentrations and increasing incompatible element concentrations, punctuated by a comparatively rapid transition in some variables such as La/Yb ratios and Zr, Nb, and Ti abundances approximately 2.5 Ga ago. Geochemical modeling of mantle melting systematics and trace element partitioning suggests that these observations can be explained by discontinuous changes in the mineralogy of mantle partial melting driven by a gradual decrease in mantle potential temperature, without appealing to any change in tectonic process. This interpretation is supported by the geochemical record of slab fluid input to continental basalts, which indicates no long-term change in the global proportion of arc versus non-arc basaltic magmatism at any time in the preserved rock record.

  2. The Lithospheric Geoid as a Constraint on Plate Dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richardson, R. M.; Coblentz, D. D.

    2015-12-01

    100 years after Wegener's pioneering work there is still considerable debate about the dynamics of present-day plate motions. A better understanding of present-day dynamics is key to a better understanding of the supercontinent cycle. The Earth's gravity field is one of the primary data sets to help constrain horizontal density contrasts, and hence plate dynamic forces. Previous work has shown that the global average for the geoid step up from old oceanic lithosphere across passive continental margins to stable continental lithosphere is about 6-9m, and the global average for the geoid anomaly associated with cooling oceanic lithosphere (the so-called "ridge push") is 10-12m. The ridge geoid anomaly corresponds to a net force of ~3x1012N/m (averaged over the thickness of the lithosphere) due to 'ridge push.' However, for individual continental margins and mid-ocean ridge systems, there is considerable variation in the geoid step and geoid anomaly and consequently the associated forces contributing to the stress field. We explore the variation in geoid step across passive continental margins looking for correlations with age of continental breakup (and hence place within the supercontinent cycle), hot spot tracks, continental plate velocities, long-wavelength geoid energy (that may be masking signal), and small scale convection. For mid-ocean ridges, we explore variations in geoid anomaly looking for correlations with plate spreading rates, hot spot tracks, long-wavelength geoid energy (that may be masking signal), and small scale convection. We use a band-pass spherical harmonic filter on the full geoid (e.g., EGM2008-WGS84, complete to spherical harmonic degree and order 2159) between orders 6 and 80. The evaluation of the role of spatial variations in the geoid gradient for cooling oceanic lithosphere and across the continental margin in the dynamics of the intraplate stress field requires high spatial resolution modeling. We perform a high resolution finite

  3. SU-E-T-84: A Survey On Radiotherapy Table Tolerances and Couch Overrides of Over 350 Institutions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chinsky, B; Patel, R; Panfil, J

    Purpose: Table overrides are relatively common in radiotherapy, yet are a potential safety concern. The goal of this study was to survey current departmental policies on treatment couch overrides and table tolerance values used clinically. Methods: A 25 question electronic survey on couch overrides and tolerances was sent to full members of the AAPM. In the first part of the survey, participants were asked: if table overrides were allowed at their institution, who was allowed to perform these overrides, and if imaging was required with overrides. In the second part of the survey, individuals were asked to provide table tolerancemore » data for the following sites: brain/head & neck, lung, breast, abdomen/pelvis and prostate. Each site was further divided into IMRT/VMAT and 3D conformal techniques. Free-text spaces were provided, allowing respondents to enter any table tolerance data they were unable to specify under the treatment sites listed. Results: A total of 361 individuals responded, of which approximately half participated in the couch tolerances portion of the survey. Overall, 86% of respondents’ institutions allow couch tolerance overrides at treatment. Therapists were the most common staff members permitted to perform overrides, followed by physicists, dosimetrists, and physicians, respectively. Of the institutions allowing overrides, 34% reported overriding daily. More than half of the centers require documentation of the override and/or a setup image (acquired after override) to radiographically verify the treatment site. With respect to table tolerances, groups resulting from the free-text responses were at the two extremes; SRS/SBRT were the tightest, while clinical setup/mets/extremities were the most generous. There was no qualitative difference between IMRT/VMAT and 3D conformal table tolerances. Conclusion: This work is intended to stimulate a discussion within the radiotherapy community. This discussion, supplemented by the survey results

  4. Continental crust beneath southeast Iceland.

    PubMed

    Torsvik, Trond H; Amundsen, Hans E F; Trønnes, Reidar G; Doubrovine, Pavel V; Gaina, Carmen; Kusznir, Nick J; Steinberger, Bernhard; Corfu, Fernando; Ashwal, Lewis D; Griffin, William L; Werner, Stephanie C; Jamtveit, Bjørn

    2015-04-14

    The magmatic activity (0-16 Ma) in Iceland is linked to a deep mantle plume that has been active for the past 62 My. Icelandic and northeast Atlantic basalts contain variable proportions of two enriched components, interpreted as recycled oceanic crust supplied by the plume, and subcontinental lithospheric mantle derived from the nearby continental margins. A restricted area in southeast Iceland--and especially the Öræfajökull volcano--is characterized by a unique enriched-mantle component (EM2-like) with elevated (87)Sr/(86)Sr and (207)Pb/(204)Pb. Here, we demonstrate through modeling of Sr-Nd-Pb abundances and isotope ratios that the primitive Öræfajökull melts could have assimilated 2-6% of underlying continental crust before differentiating to more evolved melts. From inversion of gravity anomaly data (crustal thickness), analysis of regional magnetic data, and plate reconstructions, we propose that continental crust beneath southeast Iceland is part of ∼350-km-long and 70-km-wide extension of the Jan Mayen Microcontinent (JMM). The extended JMM was marginal to East Greenland but detached in the Early Eocene (between 52 and 47 Mya); by the Oligocene (27 Mya), all parts of the JMM permanently became part of the Eurasian plate following a westward ridge jump in the direction of the Iceland plume.

  5. Continental crust beneath southeast Iceland

    PubMed Central

    Torsvik, Trond H.; Amundsen, Hans E. F.; Trønnes, Reidar G.; Doubrovine, Pavel V.; Gaina, Carmen; Kusznir, Nick J.; Steinberger, Bernhard; Corfu, Fernando; Ashwal, Lewis D.; Griffin, William L.; Werner, Stephanie C.; Jamtveit, Bjørn

    2015-01-01

    The magmatic activity (0–16 Ma) in Iceland is linked to a deep mantle plume that has been active for the past 62 My. Icelandic and northeast Atlantic basalts contain variable proportions of two enriched components, interpreted as recycled oceanic crust supplied by the plume, and subcontinental lithospheric mantle derived from the nearby continental margins. A restricted area in southeast Iceland—and especially the Öræfajökull volcano—is characterized by a unique enriched-mantle component (EM2-like) with elevated 87Sr/86Sr and 207Pb/204Pb. Here, we demonstrate through modeling of Sr–Nd–Pb abundances and isotope ratios that the primitive Öræfajökull melts could have assimilated 2–6% of underlying continental crust before differentiating to more evolved melts. From inversion of gravity anomaly data (crustal thickness), analysis of regional magnetic data, and plate reconstructions, we propose that continental crust beneath southeast Iceland is part of ∼350-km-long and 70-km-wide extension of the Jan Mayen Microcontinent (JMM). The extended JMM was marginal to East Greenland but detached in the Early Eocene (between 52 and 47 Mya); by the Oligocene (27 Mya), all parts of the JMM permanently became part of the Eurasian plate following a westward ridge jump in the direction of the Iceland plume. PMID:25825769

  6. Introduction to TETHYS—an interdisciplinary GIS database for studying continental collisions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khan, S. D.; Flower, M. F. J.; Sultan, M. I.; Sandvol, E.

    2006-05-01

    The TETHYS GIS database is being developed as a way to integrate relevant geologic, geophysical, geochemical, geochronologic, and remote sensing data bearing on Tethyan continental plate collisions. The project is predicated on a need for actualistic model 'templates' for interpreting the Earth's geologic record. Because of their time-transgressive character, Tethyan collisions offer 'actualistic' models for features such as continental 'escape', collision-induced upper mantle flow magmatism, and marginal basin opening, associated with modern convergent plate margins. Large integrated geochemical and geophysical databases allow for such models to be tested against the geologic record, leading to a better understanding of continental accretion throughout Earth history. The TETHYS database combines digital topographic and geologic information, remote sensing images, sample-based geochemical, geochronologic, and isotopic data (for pre- and post-collision igneous activity), and data for seismic tomography, shear-wave splitting, space geodesy, and information for plate tectonic reconstructions. Here, we report progress on developing such a database and the tools for manipulating and visualizing integrated 2-, 3-, and 4-d data sets with examples of research applications in progress. Based on an Oracle database system, linked with ArcIMS via ArcSDE, the TETHYS project is an evolving resource for researchers, educators, and others interested in studying the role of plate collisions in the process of continental accretion, and will be accessible as a node of the national Geosciences Cyberinfrastructure Network—GEON via the World-Wide Web and ultra-high speed internet2. Interim partial access to the data and metadata is available at: http://geoinfo.geosc.uh.edu/Tethys/ and http://www.esrs.wmich.edu/tethys.htm. We demonstrate the utility of the TETHYS database in building a framework for lithospheric interactions in continental collision and accretion.

  7. Self-assembled software and method of overriding software execution

    DOEpatents

    Bouchard, Ann M.; Osbourn, Gordon C.

    2013-01-08

    A computer-implemented software self-assembled system and method for providing an external override and monitoring capability to dynamically self-assembling software containing machines that self-assemble execution sequences and data structures. The method provides an external override machine that can be introduced into a system of self-assembling machines while the machines are executing such that the functionality of the executing software can be changed or paused without stopping the code execution and modifying the existing code. Additionally, a monitoring machine can be introduced without stopping code execution that can monitor specified code execution functions by designated machines and communicate the status to an output device.

  8. An updated digital model of plate boundaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bird, Peter

    2003-03-01

    A global set of present plate boundaries on the Earth is presented in digital form. Most come from sources in the literature. A few boundaries are newly interpreted from topography, volcanism, and/or seismicity, taking into account relative plate velocities from magnetic anomalies, moment tensor solutions, and/or geodesy. In addition to the 14 large plates whose motion was described by the NUVEL-1A poles (Africa, Antarctica, Arabia, Australia, Caribbean, Cocos, Eurasia, India, Juan de Fuca, Nazca, North America, Pacific, Philippine Sea, South America), model PB2002 includes 38 small plates (Okhotsk, Amur, Yangtze, Okinawa, Sunda, Burma, Molucca Sea, Banda Sea, Timor, Birds Head, Maoke, Caroline, Mariana, North Bismarck, Manus, South Bismarck, Solomon Sea, Woodlark, New Hebrides, Conway Reef, Balmoral Reef, Futuna, Niuafo'ou, Tonga, Kermadec, Rivera, Galapagos, Easter, Juan Fernandez, Panama, North Andes, Altiplano, Shetland, Scotia, Sandwich, Aegean Sea, Anatolia, Somalia), for a total of 52 plates. No attempt is made to divide the Alps-Persia-Tibet mountain belt, the Philippine Islands, the Peruvian Andes, the Sierras Pampeanas, or the California-Nevada zone of dextral transtension into plates; instead, they are designated as "orogens" in which this plate model is not expected to be accurate. The cumulative-number/area distribution for this model follows a power law for plates with areas between 0.002 and 1 steradian. Departure from this scaling at the small-plate end suggests that future work is very likely to define more very small plates within the orogens. The model is presented in four digital files: a set of plate boundary segments; a set of plate outlines; a set of outlines of the orogens; and a table of characteristics of each digitization step along plate boundaries, including estimated relative velocity vector and classification into one of 7 types (continental convergence zone, continental transform fault, continental rift, oceanic spreading ridge

  9. Is There Really A North American Plate?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krill, A.

    2011-12-01

    Lithospheric plates are typically identified from earthquake epicenters and evidence such as GPS movements. But no evidence indicates a plate boundary between the North American and South American Plates. Some plate maps show them separated by a transform boundary, but it is only a fracture zone. Other maps show an "undefined plate boundary" or put no boundary between these two plates (check Google images). Early plate maps showed a single large American Plate, quite narrow east of the Caribbean Plate (Le Pichon 1968, Morgan 1968). The North and South American Plates became established by the leading textbook Earth (Press & Siever 1974). On their map, from a Scientific American article by John Dewey (1972), these new plates were separated by an "uncertain plate boundary." The reasons for postulating a North American Plate were probably more psychological than geological. Each of the other continents of the world had its own plate, and North American geologists naturally wanted theirs. Similarly, European geographers used to view Europe as its own continent. A single large plate should again be hypothesized. But the term American Plate would now be ambiguous ("Which plate, North or South?") Perhaps future textbook authors could call it the "Two-American Plate." Textbook authors ultimately decide such global-tectonic matters. I became aware of textbook authors' opinions and influence from my research into the history of Alfred Wegener's continental drift (see Fixists vs. Mobilists by Krill 2011). Leading textbook author Charles Schuchert realized that continental drift would abolish his cherished paleogeographic models of large east-west continents (Eria, Gondwana) and small oceans (Poseiden, Nereis). He and his junior coauthors conspired to keep drift evidence out of their textbooks, from the 1934-editions until the 1969-editions (Physical Geology by Longwell et al. 1969, Historical Geology by Dunbar & Waage 1969). Their textbooks ruled in America. Textbooks

  10. Geological constraints on continental arc activity since 720 Ma: implications for the link between long-term climate variability and episodicity of continental arcs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cao, W.; Lee, C. T.

    2016-12-01

    Continental arc volcanoes have been suggested to release more CO2 than island arc volcanoes due to decarbonation of wallrock carbonates in the continental upper plate through which the magmas traverse (Lee et al., 2013). Continental arcs may thus play an important role in long-term climate. To test this hypothesis, we compiled geological maps to reconstruct the surface distribution of granitoid plutons and the lengths of ancient continental arcs. These results were then compiled into a GIS framework and incorporated into GPlates plate reconstructions. Our results show an episodic nature of global continental arc activity since 720 Ma. The lengths of continental arcs were at minimums during most of the Cryogenian ( 720-670 Ma), the middle Paleozoic ( 460-300 Ma) and the Cenozoic ( 50-0 Ma). Arc lengths were highest during the Ediacaran ( 640-570 Ma), the early Paleozoic ( 550-430 Ma) and the entire Mesozoic with peaks in the Early Triassic ( 250-240 Ma), Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ( 160-130 Ma), and Late Cretaceous ( 90-65 Ma). The extensive continental arcs in the Ediacaran and early Paleozoic reflect the Pan-African events and circum-Gondwana subduction during the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. The Early Triassic peak is coincident with the final closure of the paleo-Asian oceans and the onset of circum-Pacific subduction associated with the assembly of the Pangea supercontinent. The Jurassic-Cretaceous peaks reflect the extensive continental arcs established in the western Pacific, North and South American Cordillera, coincident with the initial dispersal of the Pangea. Continental arcs are favored during the final assembly and the early-stage dispersal of a supercontinent. Our compilation shows a temporal match between continental arc activity and long-term climate at least since 720 Ma. For example, continental arc activity was reduced during the Cryogenian icehouse event, and enhanced during the Early Paleozoic and Jurassic-Cretaceous greenhouse

  11. A Simple Class Exercise on Plate Tectonic Motion.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bates, Denis E. B.

    1990-01-01

    Presented is an activity in which students construct a model of plate divergence with two sheets of paper to show the separation of two continental plates in a system of spreading ridges and faults. Diagrams and procedures are described. (CW)

  12. Caribbean tectonics and relative plate motions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burke, K.; Dewey, J. F.; Cooper, C.; Mann, P.; Pindell, J. L.

    1984-01-01

    During the last century, three different ways of interpreting the tectonic evolution of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean have been proposed, taking into account the Bailey Willis School of a permanent pre-Jurassic deep sea basin, the Edward Suess School of a subsided continental terrain, and the Alfred Wegener School of continental separation. The present investigation is concerned with an outline of an interpretation which follows that of Pindell and Dewey (1982). An attempt is made to point out ways in which the advanced hypotheses can be tested. The fit of Africa, North America, and South America is considered along with aspects of relative motion between North and South America since the early Jurasic. Attention is given to a framework for reconstructing Caribbean plate evolution, the evolution of the Caribbean, the plate boundary zones of the northern and southern Caribbean, and the active deformation of the Caribbean plate.

  13. Upper and Middle Crustal Velocity Structure of the Colombian Andes From Ambient Noise Tomography: Investigating Subduction-Related Magmatism in the Overriding Plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poveda, Esteban; Julià, Jordi; Schimmel, Martin; Perez-Garcia, Nelson

    2018-02-01

    New maps of S velocity variation for the upper and middle crust making up the northwestern most corner of South America have been developed from cross correlation of ambient seismic noise at 52 broadband stations in the region. Over 1,300 empirical Green's functions, reconstructing the Rayleigh wave portion of the seismic wavefield, were obtained after time and frequency-domain normalization of the ambient noise recordings and stacking of 48 months of normalized data. Interstation phase and group velocity curves were then measured in the 6-38 s period range and tomographically inverted to produce maps of phase and group velocity variation in a 0.5° × 0.5° grid. Velocity-depth profiles were developed for each node after simultaneously inverting phase and group velocity curves and combined to produce 3-D maps of S velocity variation for the region. The S velocity models reveal a 7 km thick sedimentary cover in the Caribbean region, the Magdalena Valley, and the Cordillera Oriental, as well as crustal thicknesses in the Pacific and Caribbean region under 35 km, consistent with previous studies. They also display zones of slow velocity at 25-35 km depth under regions of both active and inactive volcanism, suggesting the presence of melts that carry the signature of segmented subduction into the overriding plate. A low-velocity zone in the same depth range is imaged under the Lower Magdalena Basin in the Caribbean region, which may represent either sublithospheric melts ponding at midcrustal levels after breaching through a fractured Caribbean flat slab or fluid migration through major faults within the Caribbean crust.

  14. Plate Tectonics: A Paradigm under Threat.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pratt, David

    2000-01-01

    Discusses the challenges confronting plate tectonics. Presents evidence that contradicts continental drift, seafloor spreading, and subduction. Reviews problems posed by vertical tectonic movements. (Contains 242 references.) (DDR)

  15. Design and Evaluation of an Electronic Override Mechanism for Medication Alerts to Facilitate Communication Between Prescribers and Pharmacists.

    PubMed

    Russ, Alissa L; Chen, Siying; Melton, Brittany L; Saleem, Jason J; Weiner, Michael; Spina, Jeffrey R; Daggy, Joanne K; Zillich, Alan J

    2015-07-01

    Computerized medication alerts can often be bypassed by entering an override rationale, but prescribers' override reasons are frequently ambiguous to pharmacists who review orders. To develop and evaluate a new override mechanism for adverse reaction and drug-drug interaction alerts. We hypothesized that the new mechanism would improve usability for prescribers and increase the clinical appropriateness of override reasons. A counterbalanced, crossover study was conducted with 20 prescribers in a simulated prescribing environment. We modified the override mechanism timing, navigation, and text entry. Instead of free-text entry, the new mechanism presented prescribers with a predefined set of override reasons. We assessed usability (learnability, perceived efficiency, and usability errors) and used a priori criteria to evaluate the clinical appropriateness of override reasons entered. Prescribers rated the new mechanism as more efficient (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P = 0.032). When first using the new design, 5 prescribers had difficulty finding the new mechanism, and 3 interpreted the navigation to mean that the alert could not be overridden. The number of appropriate override reasons significantly increased with the new mechanism compared with the original mechanism (median change of 3.0; interquartile range = 3.0; P < 0.0001). When prescribers were given a menu-based choice for override reasons, clinical appropriateness of these reasons significantly improved. Further enhancements are necessary, but this study is an important first step toward a more standardized menu of override choices. Findings may be used to improve communication through e-prescribing systems between prescribers and pharmacists. © The Author(s) 2015.

  16. Dual fuel gradients in uranium silicide plates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pace, B.W.

    1997-08-01

    Babcock & Wilcox has been able to achieve dual gradient plates with good repeatability in small lots of U{sub 3}Si{sub 2} plates. Improvements in homogeneity and other processing parameters and techniques have allowed the development of contoured fuel within the cladding. The most difficult obstacles to overcome have been the ability to evaluate the bidirectional fuel loadings in comparison to the perfect loading model and the different methods of instilling the gradients in the early compact stage. The overriding conclusion is that to control the contour of the fuel, a known relationship between the compact, the frames and final coremore » gradient must exist. Therefore, further development in the creation and control of dual gradients in fuel plates will involve arriving at a plausible gradient requirement and building the correct model between the compact configuration and the final contoured loading requirements.« less

  17. Reconstruction of Northeast Asian Deformation Integrated with Western Pacific Plate Subduction since 200 Ma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, S.; Gurnis, M.; Ma, P.; Zhang, B.

    2017-12-01

    The configuration and kinematics of continental deformation and its marginal plate tectonics on the Earth's surface are intrinsic manifestations of plate-mantle coupling. The complex interactions of plate boundary forces result in plate motions that are dominated by slab pull and ridge push forces and the effects of mantle drag; these interactions also result in continental deformation with a complex basin-mountain architecture and evolution. The kinematics and evolution of the western Pacific subduction and northeast Asian continental-margin deformation are a first-order tectonic process whose nature and chronology remains controversial. This paper implements a "deep-time" reconstruction of the western Pacific subduction, continental accretion or collision and basin-mountain deformation in northeast Asia since 200 Ma based on a newly revised global plate model. The results demonstrate a NW-SE-oriented shortening from 200-137 Ma, a NWW-SEE-oriented extension from 136-101 Ma, a nearly N-S-oriented extension and uplift with a short-term NWW-SEE-oriented compressional inversion in northeast China from 100-67 Ma, and a NW-SE- and nearly N-S-oriented extension from 66 Ma to the present day. The western Pacific oceanic plate subducted forward under East Asia along Mudanjiang-Honshu Island during the Jurassic, and the trenches retreated to the Sikhote-Alin, North Shimanto, and South Shimanto zones from ca. 137-128 Ma, ca. 130-90 Ma, and in ca. 60 Ma, respectively. Our time-dependent analysis of plate motion and continental deformation coupling suggests that the multi-plate convergent motion and ocean-continent convergent orogeny were induced by advance subduction during the Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous. Our analysis also indicates that the intra-continent rifting and back-arc extension were triggered by trench retreat during the Cretaceous and that the subduction of oceanic ridge and arc were triggered by trench retreat during the Cenozoic. Therefore, reconstructing

  18. Circum-arctic plate accretion - Isolating part of a pacific plate to form the nucleus of the Arctic Basin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Churkin, M.; Trexler, J.H.

    1980-01-01

    A mosaic of large lithospheric plates rims the Arctic Ocean Basin, and foldbelts between these plates contain numerous allochthonous microplates. A new model for continental drift and microplate accretion proposes that prior to the late Mesozoic the Kula plate extended from the Pacific into the Arctic. By a process of circumpolar drift and microplate accretion, fragments of the Pacific basin, including parts of the Kula plate, were cut off and isolated in the Arctic Ocean, the Yukon-Koyukuk basin in Alaska, and the Bering Sea. ?? 1980.

  19. 19 CFR 102.19 - NAFTA preference override.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... TREASURY RULES OF ORIGIN Rules of Origin § 102.19 NAFTA preference override. (a) Except in the case of... single NAFTA country, the country of origin of such good is the last NAFTA country in which that good underwent production other than minor processing, provided that a Certificate of Origin (see § 181.11 of...

  20. Diverse continental subduction scenarios along the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaban, M. K.; Petrunin, A.; El Khrepy, S.; Al-Arifi, N. S.

    2017-12-01

    The Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone is one of the largest and most active on the Earth. It has been discussed already long ago that the convergence of these plates implies subduction of the lithosphere. However, scenarios of this process are still debatable. Even direction of the present-day continental subduction is not clear. Previously, principal conclusions about structure of the upper mantle in this region were chiefly based on seismic tomography results. However, seismic velocities not always provide a complete image of the deep interiors since they are chiefly affected by temperature variations and less - by composition. Here we construct a 3D model of the mantle down to 700 km, which is based on a joint inversion of seismic tomography, residual (crust free) gravity field and residual topography (Kaban et al., 2016). Several cross-sections across the collision zone demonstrate principal variations of the continental subduction scenarios from northwest to southeast. In the southeastern part we observe subduction of the Eurasian plate under the West Great Caucasus, Pontic mountains and further under the northwestern part of the Arabian plate. However, the situation is changed when we move to the East Great Caucasus and Zagros, where clear double-sided subduction is observed. The Arabian plate is subducting under the Zagros, while the Eurasian plate - under the Caucasus merging in the transition zone. This situation persists further to the southeast, where we observe the subduction of the South Caspian block under Alborz accompanied by the counteracting penetration of the Arabian plate from the south. More to the southeast, the subduction of the Arabian plate is stagnated, while the subduction of the Eurasian plate can be traced down to the bottom of the transition zone under the northeastern flank of the Arabian plate. In the southern rim of the collision zone under Makran, we don't find any evidence for the present day subduction; remnants of the

  1. Global geodynamic models constrained by tectonic reconstructions including plate deformation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gurnis, M.; Flament, N.; Spasojevic, S.; Williams, S.; Seton, M.; Müller, R. D.

    2011-12-01

    In order to investigate the effect of mantle flow on the Earth's surface, imposing the kinematics predicted by plate reconstructions in global convection models has become common practice. Such models are valuable to investigate the effect of the mantle flow beneath the lithosphere on surface topography. Changes in surface topography due to lithospheric deformation are so far not part of top-down tectonic models in which plates are treated as rigid in traditional tectonic reconstructions. We introduce a new generation of geodynamic models that are based on tectonic reconstructions with deforming plates at both passive and convergent margins. These models allow us to investigate the relationships between lithospheric deformation and mantle flow, and their combined effects on surface topography. In traditional tectonic reconstructions, continents are represented as rigid blocks that either overlap or are separated by gaps in full-fit reconstructions. Reconstructions that include a global network of topological plate polygons avoid continental overlaps and gaps, but velocities are still derived on the basis of the Euler poles for rigid blocks. To resolve these issues, we developed a series of deforming plate models using the open source plate modeling software GPlates. For a given area, our methodology requires the relative motions between major rigid continental blocks, and a definition of the regions in which continental lithosphere deformed between these blocks. We use geophysical and geological data to define the limit between rigid and deforming areas, and the deformation history of non-rigid blocks. The velocity field predicted by these reconstructions is then used as a time-dependent surface boundary condition in global 3-D geodynamic models. To incorporate the continental lithosphere in our global models, we embed compositionally distinct crust and continental lithosphere within the thermal lithosphere. We define three isostatic columns of different thickness

  2. Late Cenozoic deformation of the Eurasian and Burma Plates due to subduction of the Indian Plate beneath SE Tibetan Plateau and Myanmar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ni, J.; Holt, W. E.; Flesch, L. M.; Sandvol, E. A.; Hearn, T. M.; Schmerr, N. C.

    2015-12-01

    The late Cenozoic tectonics of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions needs to be evaluated within the context of a larger dynamic system related to the subduction of the Indian oceanic lithosphere beneath Myanmar and Yunnan. The details of the geodynamic processes involve mantle flows associated with rollback and tears (which probably occur both laterally and horizontally) of the Indian slab with consequent effects on the geology of the overriding plate. These effects include: 1) volcanism in Tongchong, Yunnan Province, 2) clockwise rotational deformation of the overriding plate and 3) Burma Plate capture. In this talk we will present the strain rate throughout the region with a moment tensor summation of earthquake data. The deformation of SE Tibet, Yunnan and western Sichuan constitutes a distributed N-S oriented dextral shear zone with clockwise rotations up to 1.7° per million years. It is the clockwise vorticity relative to south China that accounts for the relative northward motion of India at a rate of 38±12 mm/yr at the Himalayas. Relative to south China, there is no southeastward extrusion of crustal material beyond the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Studies on earthquake seismic moment data, fault-slip data, and GPS measurements all show a clockwise rotational motion of SE Tibet, Yunnan, western Sichuan and eastern Myanmar around the EHS. The mirror image of this situation that is occurring today is the counterclockwise rotation of Anatolia, which is associated with the rollback of the Hellenic and Cyprian Trenches. In this talk we will also discuss the extreme oblique convergence between Indian and Burma plates and one of the effects of the oblique subducation is the transfer of right-lateral strike-slip faulting to the Indo Burma Range, one of the largest GeoPRISMs on Earth.

  3. Plate-Tectonic Circulation is Driven by Cooling From the Top and is Closed Within the Upper Mantle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamilton, W. B.

    2001-12-01

    . Plate motions are driven by subduction, the passive falling away of oceanic lithosphere which is negatively buoyant because of top-down cooling. Slabs have top and bottom rolling hinges and sink subvertically (inclinations of slabs mark their positions, not trajectories) into the transition zone, where they are laid down on, and depress, the 660-km discontinuity. Rollback of upper hinges into subducting plates is required by plate behavior at all scales. That fronts of overriding plates advance at rollback velocity is required by common preservation atop their thin leading edges of little-deformed fore-arc basins. Convergence velocity also commonly equals rollback but is faster in some arcs. Steeply-sinking inclined slabs push sublithospheric upper mantle forward into the shrinking ocean from which they came, forcing seafloor spreading therein, and pull overriding plates behind them. Continental plates pass over sunken slabs like tanks above their basal treads, and material from, and displaced rearward by, sunken slabs is cycled into pull-apart oceans opening behind the continents, thus transferring mantle from shrinking to enlarging oceans. Hot mantle displaced above slabs enables backarc spreading. Spreading ridges, in both shrinking and enlarging oceans, are passive byproducts of subduction, and migrate because it is more energy efficient to process new asthenosphere than to get partial melt from increasingly distant sources. A plate-motion framework wherein hinges roll back, ridges migrate, Antarctica is approximately fixed, and intraplate deformation is integrated may approximate an absolute reference to sluggish lower mantle, whereas the hotspot frame is invalid, and the no-net-rotation frame minimizes trench and ridge motions.

  4. A Numerical Approach to the Accretion of Micro-Continental Blocks and Subsequent Subduction Initiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gün, E.; Gogus, O.; Pysklywec, R.; Topuz, G.; Bodur, O. F.

    2017-12-01

    The Tethyan belt in the eastern Mediterranean region is characterized by the accretion of several micro-continental blocks (e.g. Anatolide-Tauride, Sakarya and Istanbul terranes). The accretion of a micro-continental block to the active continental margin and subsequent initiation of a new subduction are of crucial importance in understanding the geodynamic evolution of the region. Numerical geodynamic experiments are designed to investigate how these micro-continental blocks in the ocean-continent subduction system develops the aforementioned subduction, back-arc extension, surface uplift and the ophiolite emplacement in the eastern Mediterranean since Late Cretaceous. In a series set of experiments, we test various sizes of micro-continental blocks (ranging from 50 to 300 km), different rheological properties (e.g. dry-wet olivine mantle) and imposed plate convergence velocities (0 to 4 cm/year). For a prime present-day analogue to the micro-continental block collision-accretion, model predictions are compared against the collision between Eratosthenes and Cyprus. Preliminary results show that slab break-off occurs directly after the collision when the plate convergence velocities are less than 2 cm/yr and the mantle lithosphere of the continental block has viscoplastic rheology. On the other hand, there is no relationship between convergence rate and break-off event when the lithospheric mantle rheology is chosen to be plastic. Furthermore, the micro-continental block undergoes considerable extension before continental collision due to the slab pull force, if a viscoplastic rheology is assumed for the mantle lithosphere.

  5. Eastern Indian Ocean microcontinent formation driven by plate motion changes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whittaker, J. M.; Williams, S. E.; Halpin, J. A.; Wild, T. J.; Stilwell, J. D.; Jourdan, F.; Daczko, N. R.

    2016-11-01

    The roles of plate tectonic or mantle dynamic forces in rupturing continental lithosphere remain controversial. Particularly enigmatic is the rifting of microcontinents from mature continental rifted margins, with plume-driven thermal weakening commonly inferred to facilitate calving. However, a role for plate tectonic reorganisations has also been suggested. Here, we show that a combination of plate tectonic reorganisation and plume-driven thermal weakening were required to calve the Batavia and Gulden Draak microcontinents in the Cretaceous Indian Ocean. We reconstruct the evolution of these two microcontinents using constraints from new paleontological samples, 40Ar/39Ar ages, and geophysical data. Calving from India occurred at 101-104 Ma, coinciding with the onset of a dramatic change in Indian plate motion. Critically, Kerguelen plume volcanism does not appear to have directly triggered calving. Rather, it is likely that plume-related thermal weakening of the Indian passive margin preconditioned it for microcontinent formation but calving was triggered by changes in plate tectonic boundary forces.

  6. Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Proposition 2½ Overrides on School Segregation in Massachusetts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zabel, Jeffrey

    2014-01-01

    I investigate a possible unintended consequence of Proposition 2½ override behavior--that it led to increased segregation in school districts in Massachusetts. This can occur because richer, low-minority towns tend to have more successful override votes that attract similar households with relatively high demands for public services who can afford…

  7. Review of pre-rift continental fits and plate kinematic models for the Gulf of Mexico opening

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steier, A.; Mann, P.

    2016-12-01

    We review models for the opening of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) by: 1) subdividing them into historical groupings; 2) demonstrating their strengths and weaknesses using GPlates; and 3) illustrating the compatibility of models for GOM opening with the surrounding plate mosaic in the Central Atlantic and Caribbean. Tectonic models for GOM opening during the 1970's and 1980's disagreed on whether the Yucatan continental block originated inside or outside the GOM, but difficulties in filling the continental underlap in reconstructions of pre-rift Pangea eventually led to a consensus that the Yucatan block originated inside the GOM. The 1980's saw the advent of the "piggyback model" for GOM evolution based on the assumption that the Jurassic opening of the GOM formed a southwestward extension of the Central Atlantic spreading system and opened about its same pole of rotation. This single-phase model eventually fell out of favor as refraction surveys determined that the existence of a wedge-shaped area of oceanic crust in the deep GOM (widening from east to west) was not compatible with the single, NW-SE opening direction proposed by the piggyback model. The early 2000's saw the appearance of a two-phase opening model as a solution to the existence of a broad zone of NW-SE continental extension in the northern GOM that was succeeded by a more NS-directed phase of extension that in some areas cut at right angles across structures produced during the first rift phase. The second phase of late Jurassic rifting and oceanic crust formation is the outcome of counterclockwise rotation of the Yucatan block that is thought to have been caused by forces acting on the edges of the block. By the earliest Cretaceous rifting in the GOM has ended although tectonic events in Mexico and the northern Caribbean reactivate and influence GOM sedimentation. We provide a GPlates restoration from Triassic to Recent that takes into account all available geologic and geophysical data and illustrates

  8. Crustal architecture and deep structure of the Namibian passive continental margin around Walvis Ridge from wide-angle seismic data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Behrmann, Jan H.; Planert, Lars; Jokat, Wilfried; Ryberg, Trond; Bialas, Jörg; Jegen, Marion

    2013-04-01

    The opening of the South Atlantic ocean basin was accompanied by voluminous magmatism on the conjugate continental margins of Africa and South America, including the formation of the Parana and Entendeka large igneous provinces (LIP), the build-up of up to 100 km wide volcanic wedges characterized by seaward dipping reflector sequences (SDR), as well as the formation of paired hotspot tracks on the rifted African and South American plates, the Walvis Ridge and the Rio Grande Rise. The area is considered as type example for hotspot or plume-related continental break-up. However, SDR, and LIP-related features on land are concentrated south of the hotspot tracks. The segmentation of the margins offers a prime opportunity to study the magmatic signal in space and time, and investigate the interrelation with rift-related deformation. A globally significant question we address here is whether magmatism drives continental break-up, or whether even rifting accompanied by abundant magmatism is in response to crustal and lithospheric stretching governed by large-scale plate kinematics. In 2010/11, an amphibious set of wide-angle seismic data was acquired around the landfall of Walvis Ridge at the Namibian passive continental margin. The experiments were designed to provide crustal velocity information and to investigate the structure of the upper mantle. In particular, we aimed at identifying deep fault zones and variations in Moho depth, constrain the velocity signature of SDR sequences, as well as the extent of magmatic addition to the lower crust near the continent-ocean transition. Sediment cover down to the igneous basement was additionally constrained by reflection seismic data. Here, we present tomographic analysis of the seismic data of one long NNW oriented profile parallel to the continental margin across Walvis Ridge, and a second amphibious profile from the Angola Basin across Walvis Ridge and into the continental interior, crossing the area of the Etendeka

  9. Constraints on continental accretion from sedimentation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abbott, Dallas

    1988-01-01

    Heat loss in the ancient Earth was discussed assuming that classical sea floor spreading was the only mechanism. This may be expressed as faster spreading or longer total ridge length. These have important implications as to the size and number of cratonic plates in the distant past, the degree to which they are flooded, the kinds of sediments and volcanics that would be expected, and the amount of recycling of continental material taking place. The higher proportion of marine sedimentary rocks and oceanic volcanics in the Archean, and the relative paucity of evaporites and continental volcanics may in part be due to smaller cratonic blocks. A model was developed of the percentage of continental flooding which utilizes round continents and a constant width of the zone of flooding. This model produces a reasonable good fit to the percentage of flooding on the present day continents.

  10. Geology of continental margins

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    With continued high interest in offshore petroleum exploration, the 1977 AAPG Short Course presents the latest interpretations of new data bearing on the geology and geophysics of continental margins. Seven well-known earth scientists have organized an integrated program covering major topics involved in the development of ocean basins and continental margins with emphasis on the slopes and rises. The discussion of plate tectonics and evolution of continental margins is followed by presentations on the stratigraphy and structure of pull-apart and compressional margins. Prospective petroleum source rocks, their organic content, rate of burial, and distribution on slopes and rises of differentmore » margin types is covered. Prospective reservoir rock patterns are related to depositional processes and to the sedimentary and structural histories for different types of continental margins. Finally, the seismic recognition of depositional facies on slopes and rises for different margin types with varying rates of sediment supply during eustatic sea-level changes are discussed. The course with this syllabus offers an invaluable opportunity for explorationists to refresh their understanding of the geology associated with an important petroleum frontier. In addition, the course sets forth a technical frame of reference for the case-histoy papers to be presented later in the AAPG Research Symposium on the Petroleum Potential of Slopes, Rises, and Plateaus.« less

  11. 25 CFR 227.26 - Assignments and overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Assignments and overriding royalties. 227.26 Section 227.26 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Operations § 227.26...

  12. 25 CFR 227.26 - Assignments and overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true Assignments and overriding royalties. 227.26 Section 227.26 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Operations § 227.26...

  13. 25 CFR 227.26 - Assignments and overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Assignments and overriding royalties. 227.26 Section 227.26 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Operations § 227.26...

  14. 25 CFR 227.26 - Assignments and overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Assignments and overriding royalties. 227.26 Section 227.26 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Operations § 227.26...

  15. 25 CFR 227.26 - Assignments and overriding royalties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Assignments and overriding royalties. 227.26 Section 227.26 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ENERGY AND MINERALS LEASING OF CERTAIN LANDS IN WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION, WYOMING, FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Operations § 227.26...

  16. SU-E-T-599: Patient Safety Enhancements Through a Study of R&V System Override Data

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hendrickson, K; Vimolchalao, S

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Record and verify (R&V) software systems include safety checks that compare actual machine parameters with prescribed values for a patient’s treatment, such as treatment couch position, linac, energy, and MUs. The therapist is warned of a mismatch with a pop-up and prompted to approve an override in order to continue without changes. Override approval is often legitimate, but the pop-up can also genuinely indicate a problem that would Result in the wrong treatment. When there are numerous pop-up warnings, human nature leads us to approve any override without careful reading, undermining the effectiveness of the safety mechanism. Methods: Overridemore » data was collected from our R&V system for all patients treated between October 8 and 29, 2012, on four linacs and entered into a spreadsheet. Additional data collected included treatment technique, disease site, immobilization, time, linac, and whether localization images were obtained. Data were analyzed using spreadsheet tools to reveal trends, patterns and associations that might suggest appropriate process changes that could decrease the total number of overrides. Results: 76 out of 113 patients had overrides. Out of the 944 treatments, 599 override items were generated. The majority were due to couch positions. 74 of the 84 overrides on a linac equipped with a 6D couch were due to the use of the rotational corrections and the fact that the 6D couch control does not communicate with the R&V system; translations required to rotate the couch appear to the R&V system as translations outside the tolerance range. Conclusion: Many findings were interesting but did not suggest a process change. Proposed process changes include creating site-specific instead of just technique-specific tolerance tables for couch shifts. Proposed improvements to the vendor are to facilitate direct communication between the 6D couch and the R&V system to eliminate those override warnings related to lack of communication.« less

  17. The impact of the South-American plate motion and the Nazca Ridge subduction on the flat subduction below South Peru

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Hunen, Jeroen; van den Berg, Arie P.; Vlaar, Nico J.

    2002-07-01

    Flat subduction near Peru occurs only where the thickened crust of the Nazca Ridge subducts. Furthermore, the South-America continent shows a westward absolute plate motion. Both the overriding motion of South-America and the subduction of the Nazca Ridge have been proposed to explain the flat slab segment below South Peru. We have conducted a series of numerical model experiments to investigate the relative importance of both mechanisms. Results suggest that the average upper mantle viscosity should be about 3.5 × 1020 Pa s or less and basaltic crust should be able to survive 600 to 800°C ambient temperature before transforming into eclogite to explain the slab geometry below Peru. The effect of the overriding plate is estimated to be as large or twice as large as that of the plateau subduction.

  18. Beyond plate tectonics - Looking at plate deformation with space geodesy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jordan, Thomas H.; Minster, J. Bernard

    1988-01-01

    The requirements that must be met by space-geodetic systems in order to constrain the horizontal secular motions associated with the geological deformation of the earth's surface are explored. It is suggested that in order to improve existing plate-motion models, the tangential components of relative velocities on interplate baselines must be resolved to an accuracy of less than 3 mm/yr. Results indicate that measuring the velocities between crustal blocks to + or - 5 mm/yr on 100-km to 1000-km scales can produce geologically significant constraints on the integrated deformation rates across continental plate-boundary zones such as the western United States.

  19. Metamorphism, Plate Tectonics, and the Supercontinent Cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Michael

    duality of thermal regimes is the hallmark of modern plate tectonics and the duality of metamorphic belts is the characteristic imprint of plate tectonics in the rock record. The occurrence of both G-UHTM and E-HPGM belts since the Neoarchean manifests the onset of a 'Proterozoic plate tectonics regime', although the style of tectonics likely involved differences. The 'Proterozoic plate tectonics regime' evolved during a Neoproterozoic transition to the 'modern plate tectonics regime' characterized by colder subduction and subduction of continental crust deep into the mantle and its (partial) return from depths of up to 300 km, as chronicled by the appearance of HPM-UHPM in the rock record. The age distribution of metamorphic belts that record extreme conditions of metamorphism is not uniform, and metamorphism occurs in periods that correspond to amalgamation of continental lithosphere into supercratons (e.g. Superia/Sclavia) or supercontinents (e.g. Nuna (Columbia), Rodinia, Gondwana, and Pangea).

  20. How the interior viscosity structure of a terrestrial planet controls plate driving forces and plate tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoeink, T.; Lenardic, A.; Jellinek, M.; Richards, M. A.

    2011-12-01

    One of the fundamental unresolved problems in Earth and planetary science is the generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection. Important achievements can be made when considering rheological properties in the context of mantle convection dynamics. Among these milestones are (1) a deeper understanding of the balance of forces that drive and resist plate motion and (2) the dynamic generation of narrow plate boundaries (that lead to a piecewise continuous surface velocity distribution). Extending classic plate-tectonic theory we predict a plate driving force due to viscous coupling at the base of the plate from fast flow in the asthenosphere. Flow in the asthenosphere is due to shear-driven contributions from an overriding plate and due to additional pressure-driven contributions. We use scaling analysis to show that the extent to which this additional plate-driving force contributes to plate motions depends on the lateral dimension of plates and on the relative viscosities and thicknesses of lithosphere and asthenosphere. Whereas slab-pull forces always govern the motions of plates with a lateral extent greater than the mantle depth, asthenosphere-drive forces can be relatively more important for smaller (shorter wavelength) plates, large relative asthenosphere viscosities or large asthenosphere thicknesses. Published plate velocities, tomographic images and age-binned mean shear wave velocity anomaly data allow us to estimate the relative contributions of slab-pull and asthenosphere-drive forces driving the motions of the Atlantic and Pacific plates. At the global scale of terrestrial planets, we use 3D spherical shell simulations of mantle convection with temperature-, depth- and stress dependent rheology to demonstrate that a thin low-viscosity layer (asthenosphere) governs convective stresses imparted to the lithosphere. We find, consistent with theoretical predictions, that convective stresses increase for thinner asthenospheres. This result might

  1. Rheology and strength of the Eurasian continental lithosphere in the foreland of the Taiwan collision belt: Constraints from seismicity, flexure, and structural styles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mouthereau, FréDéRic; Petit, Carole

    2003-11-01

    Deformation in western Taiwan is characterized by variable depth-frequency distribution of crustal earthquakes which are closely connected with along-strike variations of tectonic styles (thin or thick skinned) around the Peikang High, a major inherited feature of the Chinese margin. To fit the calculated high crustal geotherm and the observed distribution of the crustal seismic activity, a Qz-diorite and granulite composition for the upper and the lower crust is proposed. We then model the plate flexure, through Te estimates, using brittle-elastic-ductile plate rheology. Flexure modeling shows that the best fit combination of Te-boundary condition is for thrust loads acting at the belt front. The calculated Te vary in the range of ˜15-20 km. These values are primarily a reflection of the thermal state of the rifted Chinese margin inherited from the Oligocene spreading in the South China Sea. However, other mechanical properties such as the degree of crust/mantle coupling and the thickness of the mechanically competent crust and mantle are considered. South of the Peikang High, flexure modeling reveals lower Te associated with thinner mechanically strong layers. Variable stress/strain distribution associated with a higher degree of crust/mantle decoupling is examined to explain plate weakening. We first show that plate curvature cannot easily explain strength reduction and observed seismic activity. Additional plate-boundary forces arising from the strong coupling induced by more frontal subduction of a buoyant crustal asperity, i.e., the Peikang High, with the overriding plate are required. Favorably oriented inherited features in the adjacent Tainan basin produce acceleration of strain rates in the upper crust and hence facilitate the crust/mantle decoupling as attested by high seismic activity and thick-skinned deformation. The relative weakening of the lower crust and mantle then leads to weaken the lithosphere. By contrast, to the north, more oblique

  2. The Plate Tectonics Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hein, Annamae J.

    2011-01-01

    The Plate Tectonics Project is a multiday, inquiry-based unit that facilitates students as self-motivated learners. Reliable Web sites are offered to assist with lessons, and a summative rubric is used to facilitate the holistic nature of the project. After each topic (parts of the Earth, continental drift, etc.) is covered, the students will…

  3. Ancient Continental Lithosphere Dislocated Beneath Ocean Basins Along the Mid-Lithosphere Discontinuity: A Hypothesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Zhensheng; Kusky, Timothy M.; Capitanio, Fabio A.

    2017-09-01

    The documented occurrence of ancient continental cratonic roots beneath several oceanic basins remains poorly explained by the plate tectonic paradigm. These roots are found beneath some ocean-continent boundaries, on the trailing sides of some continents, extending for hundreds of kilometers or farther into oceanic basins. We postulate that these cratonic roots were left behind during plate motion, by differential shearing along the seismically imaged mid-lithosphere discontinuity (MLD), and then emplaced beneath the ocean-continent boundary. Here we use numerical models of cratons with realistic crustal rheologies drifting at observed plate velocities to support the idea that the mid-lithosphere weak layer fostered the decoupling and offset of the African continent's buoyant cratonic root, which was left behind during Meso-Cenozoic continental drift and emplaced beneath the Atlantic Ocean. We show that in some cratonic areas, the MLD plays a similar role as the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary for accommodating lateral plate tectonic displacements.

  4. Dynamics of subduction, accretion, exhumation and slab roll-back: Mediterranean scenarios

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tirel, C.; Brun, J.; Burov, E. B.; Wortel, M. J.; Lebedev, S.

    2010-12-01

    A dynamic orogen reveals various tectonic processes brought about by subduction: accretion of oceanic and continental crust, exhumation of UHP-HP rocks, and often, back-arc extension. In the Mediterranean, orogeny is strongly affected by slab retreat, as in the Aegean and Tyrrhenian Seas. In order to examine the different dynamic processes in a self-consistent manner, we perform a parametric study using the fully coupled thermo-mechanical numerical code PARAFLAM. The experiments reproduce a subduction zone in a slab pull mode, with accretion of one (the Tyrrhenian case) and two continental blocks (the Aegean case) that undergo, in sequence, thrusting, burial and exhumation. The modeling shows that despite differences in structure between the two cases, the deformation mechanisms are fundamentally similar and can be described as follows. The accretion of a continental block at the trench beneath the suture zone begins with its burial to UHP-HP conditions and thrusting. Then the continental block is delaminated from its subducting lithosphere. During the subduction-accretion process, the angle of the subducting slab increases due to the buoyancy of the continental block. When the oceanic subduction resumes, the angle of the slab decreases to reach a steady-state position. The Aegean and Tyrrhenian scenarios diverge at this stage, due naturally to the differences of their accretion history. When continental accretion is followed by oceanic subduction only, the continental block that has been accreted and detached stays at close to the trench and does not undergo further deformation, despite the continuing rollback. The extensional deformation is located further within the overriding plate, resulting in continental breakup and the development of an oceanic basin, as in the Tyrrhenian domain. When the continental accretion is followed first by oceanic subduction and then by accretion of another continental block, however, the evolution of the subduction zone is

  5. Anomalous Late Jurassic motion of the Pacific Plate with implications for true polar wander

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fu, R. R.; Kent, D.

    2017-12-01

    True polar wander, or TPW, is the rotation of the entire mantle-crust system that results in simultaneous change in latitude and orientation for all lithospheric plates. One of the most recent candidate TPW events consists of a 30˚ rotation during Late Jurassic time (160 - 145 Ma). However, existing paleomagnetic documentation of this event derives exclusively from continental studies. Because all major landmasses except China were connected directly or via spreading centers in the Late Jurassic, the velocities of these continents were mutually constrained and their motion as a group over the underlying mantle would be indistinguishable from TPW using only continental data. On the other hand, plates of the Pacific Basin constituted a kinematically independent domain, interfacing with continents at subduction zones and slip-strike boundaries. Coherent motion of both Pacific Basin and continental plates would therefore indicate uniform motion of virtually the entire lithosphere, providing a means to distinguish TPW from continental drift. We performed thermal demagnetization on remaining samples from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 801B, which were cored from the oldest sampled oceanic crust in the Western Pacific, to determine its change in paleolatitude during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (167 - 134 Ma). We find that the Pacific Plate likely underwent a steady southward drift during this time period, consistent with previous results from magnetic anomalies, except for an episode of northward motion between Oxfordian and Tithonian time (161 - 147 Ma). Although the amplitude of this northward shift is subject to significant uncertainty due to the sparse recovery of core samples, the trajectory of the Pacific Plate is most simply explained by TPW in the 160 - 145 Ma interval as inferred from continental data. Furthermore, such an interpretation is consistent with the sense of shear inferred at the Farallon-North American Plate boundary, whereas uniform

  6. Block structure and geodynamics of the continental lithosphere on plate boundaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gatinsky, Yu. G.; Prokhorova, T. V.; Romanyuk, T. V.; Vladova, G. L.

    2009-04-01

    Division of the Earth lithosphere on large plates must be considered only as the first and most general approximation in its structure hierarchy. Some transit zones or difuuse boundaries after other authors take place in lithosphere plate boundaries. The tectonic tension of plate interaction is transferred and relaxed within these zones, which consist of blocks limited by seismoactive faults. Vectors of block horizontal displacements often don't coincide with vectors of main plates and change together with changing block rigidity. As a rule the intensity the seismic energy at plate and transit zone boundaries decreases linearly with distancing from these boundaries and correlates with decreasing of velocities of block horizontal displacements. But sometimes the maximum of the energy manifestation takes place in inner parts of transit zones. Some relatively tight interblock zones established in central and east Asia are the most seismically active. They limited such blocks as Pamir, Tien Shan, Bayanhar, Shan, Japanese-Korean, as well as the north boundary of the Indian Plate. A seismic energy intensity of these zones can be compared with the energy of Pacific subduction zones. It is worthy to note that the majority catastrophic earthquakes took place in Central Asia just within interblock zones. A level of block displacement is situated mainly in the bottom or inside the Earth crust, more rare in the lithosphere mantle. Blocks with the most thick lithosphere roots (SE China, Amurian) are the most rigid and weakly deformed.

  7. Submarine slope failures along the convergent continental margin of the Middle America Trench

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harders, Rieka; Ranero, CéSar R.; Weinrebe, Wilhelm; Behrmann, Jan H.

    2011-06-01

    We present the first comprehensive study of mass wasting processes in the continental slope of a convergent margin of a subduction zone where tectonic processes are dominated by subduction erosion. We have used multibeam bathymetry along ˜1300 km of the Middle America Trench of the Central America Subduction Zone and deep-towed side-scan sonar data. We found abundant evidence of large-scale slope failures that were mostly previously unmapped. The features are classified into a variety of slope failure types, creating an inventory of 147 slope failure structures. Their type distribution and abundance define a segmentation of the continental slope in six sectors. The segmentation in slope stability processes does not appear to be related to slope preconditioning due to changes in physical properties of sediment, presence/absence of gas hydrates, or apparent changes in the hydrogeological system. The segmentation appears to be better explained by changes in slope preconditioning due to variations in tectonic processes. The region is an optimal setting to study how tectonic processes related to variations in intensity of subduction erosion and changes in relief of the underthrusting plate affect mass wasting processes of the continental slope. The largest slope failures occur offshore Costa Rica. There, subducting ridges and seamounts produce failures with up to hundreds of meters high headwalls, with detachment planes that penetrate deep into the continental margin, in some cases reaching the plate boundary. Offshore northern Costa Rica a smooth oceanic seafloor underthrusts the least disturbed continental slope. Offshore Nicaragua, the ocean plate is ornamented with smaller seamounts and horst and graben topography of variable intensity. Here mass wasting structures are numerous and comparatively smaller, but when combined, they affect a large part of the margin segment. Farther north, offshore El Salvador and Guatemala the downgoing plate has no large seamounts but

  8. Neogene rotations and quasicontinuous deformation of the Pacific Northwest continental margin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    England, Philip; Wells, Ray E.

    1991-01-01

    Paleomagnetically determined rotations about vertical axes of 15 to 12 Ma flows of the Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group of Oregon and Washington decrease smoothly with distance from the plate margin, consistent with a simple physical model for continental deformation that assumes the lithosphere behaves as a thin layer of fluid. The average rate of northward translation of the continental margin since 15 Ma calculated from the rotations, using this model, is about 15 mm/yr, which suggests that much of the tangential motion between the Juan de Fuca and North American plates since middle Miocene time has been taken up by deformation of North America. The fluid-like character of the large-scale deformation implies that the brittle upper crust follows the motions of the deeper parts of the lithosphere.

  9. Absolute Plate Velocities from Seismic Anisotropy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kreemer, Corné; Zheng, Lin; Gordon, Richard

    2015-04-01

    The orientation of seismic anisotropy inferred beneath plate interiors may provide a means to estimate the motions of the plate relative to the sub-asthenospheric mantle. Here we analyze two global sets of shear-wave splitting data, that of Kreemer [2009] and an updated and expanded data set, to estimate plate motions and to better understand the dispersion of the data, correlations in the errors, and their relation to plate speed. We also explore the effect of using geologically current plate velocities (i.e., the MORVEL set of angular velocities [DeMets et al. 2010]) compared with geodetically current plate velocities (i.e., the GSRM v1.2 angular velocities [Kreemer et al. 2014]). We demonstrate that the errors in plate motion azimuths inferred from shear-wave splitting beneath any one tectonic plate are correlated with the errors of other azimuths from the same plate. To account for these correlations, we adopt a two-tier analysis: First, find the pole of rotation and confidence limits for each plate individually. Second, solve for the best fit to these poles while constraining relative plate angular velocities to consistency with the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities. The SKS-MORVEL absolute plate angular velocities (based on the Kreemer [2009] data set) are determined from the poles from eight plates weighted proportionally to the root-mean-square velocity of each plate. SKS-MORVEL indicates that eight plates (Amur, Antarctica, Caribbean, Eurasia, Lwandle, Somalia, Sundaland, and Yangtze) have angular velocities that differ insignificantly from zero. The net rotation of the lithosphere is 0.25±0.11° Ma-1 (95% confidence limits) right-handed about 57.1°S, 68.6°E. The within-plate dispersion of seismic anisotropy for oceanic lithosphere (σ=19.2° ) differs insignificantly from that for continental lithosphere (σ=21.6° ). The between-plate dispersion, however, is significantly smaller for oceanic lithosphere (σ=7.4° ) than for continental

  10. Dose uncertainties associated with a set density override of unknown hip prosthetic composition.

    PubMed

    Rijken, James D; Colyer, Christopher J

    2017-09-01

    The dosimetric uncertainties associated with radiotherapy through hip prostheses while overriding the implant to a set density within the TPS has not yet been reported. In this study, the uncertainty in dose within a PTV resulting from this planning choice was investigated. A set of metallic hip prosthetics (stainless steel, titanium, and two different Co-Cr-Mo alloys) were CT scanned in a water bath. Within the TPS, the prosthetic pieces were overridden to densities between 3 and 10 g/cm 3 and irradiated on a linear accelerator. Measured dose maps were compared to the TPS to determine which density was most appropriate to override each metal. This was shown to be in disagreement with the reported literature values of density which was attributed to the TPS dose calculation algorithm and total mass attenuation coefficient differences in water and metal. The dose difference was then calculated for a set density override of 6 g/cm 3 in the TPS and used to estimate the dose uncertainty beyond the prosthesis. For beams passing through an implant, the dosimetric uncertainty in regions of the PTV may be as high as 10% if the implant composition remains unknown and a set density override is used. These results highlight limitations of such assumptions and the need for careful consideration by radiation oncologist, therapist, and physics staff. © 2017 Adelaide Radiotherapy Centre. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  11. On the overriding issue of train front end collision in rail vehicle dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Chao; Li, Qiang; Xiao, Shoune; Wang, Xi

    2018-04-01

    A three-dimensional dynamic model of crashed vehicles coupled with moving tracks is developed to research the dynamic behaviour of the train front end collision on tangent tracks. The three-dimensional dynamic model consists of a crashed vehicle model, moving track models, a simple wheel-rail contact model, a velocity-based coupler model and the model of energy absorption and anti-climbing devices. The vector method dealing with the nonlinear wheel-rail geometry is put forward in the paper. The developed model is applicable in the scope that central collisions occur on tangent tracks at low speeds. The examples of the vehicle impacting with a rigid wall and the train front end collision are carried out to obtain the dynamic responses of vehicles. The overriding issue is studied on the basis of the wheel rise in train collisions. The results show that the second bogie of the first colliding vehicle possesses the maximal wheel rise. The wheel rise increases with the increase of vehicles. However, the number of vehicles has tiny influence on the overriding in train collisions at low speeds. On the contrary, the impact speed has significant influence on the overriding in train collisions. The wheel rise increases rapidly if the impact speed is close to the critical speed of overriding. The large wheel rise is principally generated by the great coupler force related to the rigid impact in the axial direction.

  12. Absolute plate velocities from seismic anisotropy: Importance of correlated errors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Lin; Gordon, Richard G.; Kreemer, Corné

    2014-09-01

    The errors in plate motion azimuths inferred from shear wave splitting beneath any one tectonic plate are shown to be correlated with the errors of other azimuths from the same plate. To account for these correlations, we adopt a two-tier analysis: First, find the pole of rotation and confidence limits for each plate individually. Second, solve for the best fit to these poles while constraining relative plate angular velocities to consistency with the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities. Our preferred set of angular velocities, SKS-MORVEL, is determined from the poles from eight plates weighted proportionally to the root-mean-square velocity of each plate. SKS-MORVEL indicates that eight plates (Amur, Antarctica, Caribbean, Eurasia, Lwandle, Somalia, Sundaland, and Yangtze) have angular velocities that differ insignificantly from zero. The net rotation of the lithosphere is 0.25 ± 0.11° Ma-1 (95% confidence limits) right handed about 57.1°S, 68.6°E. The within-plate dispersion of seismic anisotropy for oceanic lithosphere (σ = 19.2°) differs insignificantly from that for continental lithosphere (σ = 21.6°). The between-plate dispersion, however, is significantly smaller for oceanic lithosphere (σ = 7.4°) than for continental lithosphere (σ = 14.7°). Two of the slowest-moving plates, Antarctica (vRMS = 4 mm a-1, σ = 29°) and Eurasia (vRMS = 3 mm a-1, σ = 33°), have two of the largest within-plate dispersions, which may indicate that a plate must move faster than ≈ 5 mm a-1 to result in seismic anisotropy useful for estimating plate motion. The tendency of observed azimuths on the Arabia plate to be counterclockwise of plate motion may provide information about the direction and amplitude of superposed asthenospheric flow or about anisotropy in the lithospheric mantle.

  13. New Insight Into the Crustal Structure of the Continental Margin offshore NW Sabah/Borneo

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barckhausen, U.; Franke, D.; Behain, D.; Meyer, H.

    2002-12-01

    The continental margin offshore NW Sabah/Borneo (Malaysia) has been investigated with reflection and refraction seismics, magnetics, and gravity during the recent cruise BGR01-POPSCOMS. A total of 4000 km of geophysical profiles has been acquired, thereof 2900 km with reflection seismics. The focus of investigations was on the deep water areas. The margin looks like a typical accretionary margin and was presumably formed during the subduction of a proto South China Sea. Presently, no horizontal movements between the two plates are being observed. Like in major parts of the South China Sea, the area seaward of the Sabah Trough consists of extended continental lithosphere which is characterised by a pattern of rotated fault blocks and half grabens and a carbonate platform of Early Oligocene to Early Miocene age. We found evidence that the continental crust also underlies the Sabah Trough and the adjacent continental slope, a fact that raises many questions about the tectonic history and development of this margin. The tectonic pattern of the Dangerous Grounds' extended continental crust can be traced a long way landward of the Sabah Trough beneath the sedimentary succession of the upper plate. The magnetic anomalies which are dominated by the magnetic signatures of relatively young volcanic features also continue under the continental slope. The sedimentary rocks of the upper plate, in contrast, seem to generate hardly any magnetic anomalies. Based on the new data we propose the following scenario for the development of the NW Sabah continental margin: Seafloor spreading in the present South China Sea started at about 30 Ma in the Late Oligocene. The spreading process separated the Dangerous Grounds area from the SE Asian continent and ceased in late Early Miocene when the oceanic crust of the proto South China Sea was fully subducted in eastward direction along the Borneo-Palawan Trough. During Lower and/or Middle Miocene, Borneo rotated counterclockwise and was

  14. Composite transform-convergent plate boundaries: description and discussion

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ryan, H.F.; Coleman, P.J.

    1992-01-01

    The leading edge of the overriding plate at an obliquely convergent boundary is commonly sliced by a system of strike-slip faults. This fault system is often structurally complex, and may show correspondingly uneven strain effects, with great vertical and translational shifts of the component blocks of the fault system. The stress pattern and strain effects vary along the length of the system and change through time. These margins are considered to be composite transform-convergent (CTC) plate boundaries. Examples are given of structures formed along three CTC boundaries: the Aleutian Ridge, the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines. The dynamism of the fault system along a CTC boundary can enhance vertical tectonism and basin formation. This concept provides a framework for the evaluation of petroleum resources related to basin formation, and mineral exploration related to igneous activity associated with transtensional processes. ?? 1992.

  15. Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics.

    PubMed

    Heron, Philip J; Pysklywec, Russell N; Stephenson, Randell

    2016-06-10

    Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, subduction and continental collisions form the conventional theory of plate tectonics to explain non-rigid behaviour at plate boundaries. However, the theory does not explain directly the processes involved in intraplate deformation and seismicity. Recently, damage structures in the lithosphere have been linked to the origin of plate tectonics. Despite seismological imaging suggesting that inherited mantle lithosphere heterogeneities are ubiquitous, their plate tectonic role is rarely considered. Here we show that deep lithospheric anomalies can dominate shallow geological features in activating tectonics in plate interiors. In numerical experiments, we found that structures frozen into the mantle lithosphere through plate tectonic processes can behave as quasi-plate boundaries reactivated under far-field compressional forcing. Intraplate locations where proto-lithospheric plates have been scarred by earlier suturing could be regions where latent plate boundaries remain, and where plate tectonics processes are expressed as a 'perennial' phenomenon.

  16. The extent of continental crust beneath the Seychelles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hammond, J. O. S.; Kendall, J.-M.; Collier, J. S.; Rümpker, G.

    2013-11-01

    The granitic islands of the Seychelles Plateau have long been recognised to overlie continental crust, isolated from Madagascar and India during the formation of the Indian Ocean. However, to date the extent of continental crust beneath the Seychelles region remains unknown. This is particularly true beneath the Mascarene Basin between the Seychelles Plateau and Madagascar and beneath the Amirante Arc. Constraining the size and shape of the Seychelles continental fragment is needed for accurate plate reconstructions of the breakup of Gondwana and has implications for the processes of continental breakup in general. Here we present new estimates of crustal thickness and VP/VS from H-κ stacking of receiver functions from a year long deployment of seismic stations across the Seychelles covering the topographic plateau, the Amirante Ridge and the northern Mascarene Basin. These results, combined with gravity modelling of historical ship track data, confirm that continental crust is present beneath the Seychelles Plateau. This is ˜30-33 km thick, but with a relatively high velocity lower crustal layer. This layer thins southwards from ˜10 km to ˜1 km over a distance of ˜50 km, which is consistent with the Seychelles being at the edge of the Deccan plume prior to its separation from India. In contrast, the majority of the Seychelles Islands away from the topographic plateau show no direct evidence for continental crust. The exception to this is the island of Desroche on the northern Amirante Ridge, where thicker low density crust, consistent with a block of continental material is present. We suggest that the northern Amirantes are likely continental in nature and that small fragments of continental material are a common feature of plume affected continental breakup.

  17. New Insight Into The Crustal Structure of The Continental Margin Off NW Sabah/borneo

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barckhausen, U.; Franke, D.; Behain, D.; Meyer, H.

    The continental margin offshore NW Sabah/Borneo (Malaysia) has been investigated with reflection and refraction seismics, magnetics, and gravity during the recent cruise BGR01-POPSCOMS. A total of 4000 km of geophysical profiles has been acquired, thereof 2900 km with reflection seismics. Like in major parts of the South China Sea, the area seaward of the Sabah Trough consists of extended continental lithosphere. We found evidence that the continental crust also underlies the continental slope land- ward of the Trough, a fact that raises many questions about the tectonic history and development of this margin. The characteristic pattern of rotated fault blocks and half grabens and the carbon- ates which are observed all over the Dangerous Grounds can be traced a long way landward of the Sabah Trough beneath the sedimentary succession of the upper plate. The magnetic anomalies which are dominated by the magnetic signatures of relatively young volcanic features also continue under the continental slope. The sedimentary rocks of the upper plate, in contrast, seem to generate hardly any magnetic anoma- lies. We suspect that the volcanic activity coincided with the collision of Borneo and the Dangerous Grounds in middle or late Miocene time. The emplacement of an al- lochtonous terrane on top of the extended continental lithosphere could be explained by overthrusting as a result of the collision or it could be related to gravity sliding following a broad uplift of NW Borneo at the same time.

  18. From continental to oceanic rifting in the Gulf of California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferrari, Luca; Bonini, Marco; Martín, Arturo

    2017-11-01

    The continental margin of northwestern Mexico is the youngest example of the transition from a convergent plate boundary to an oblique divergent margin that formed the Gulf of California rift. Subduction of the Farallon oceanic plate during the Cenozoic progressively brought the East Pacific Rise (EPR) toward the North America trench. In this process increasingly younger and buoyant oceanic lithosphere entered the subduction zone until subduction ended just before most of the EPR could collide with the North America continental lithosphere. The EPR segments bounding the unsubducted parts of the Farallón plate remnants (Guadalupe and Magdalena microplates) also ceased spreading (Lonsdale, 1991) and a belt of the North American plate (California and Baja California Peninsula) became coupled with the Pacific Plate and started moving northwestward forming the modern Gulf of California oblique rift (Nicholson et al., 1994; Bohannon and Parsons, 1995). The timing of the change from plate convergence to oblique divergence off western Mexico has been constrained at the middle Miocene (15-12.5 Ma) by ocean floor morphology and magnetic anomalies as well as plate tectonic reconstructions (Atwater and Severinghaus, 1989; Stock and Hodges, 1989; Lonsdale, 1991), although the onset of transtensional deformation and the amount of right lateral displacement within the Gulf region are still being studied (Oskin et al., 2001; Fletcher et al., 2007; Bennett and Oskin, 2014). Other aspects of the formation of the Gulf of California remain not well understood. At present the Gulf of California straddles the transition from continental transtension in the north to oceanic spreading in the south. Seismic reflection-refraction data indicate asymmetric continent-ocean transition across conjugate margins of rift segments (González-Fernández et al., 2005; Lizarralde et al., 2007; Miller and Lizarralde, 2013; Martín-Barajas et al., 2013). The asymmetry may be related to crustal

  19. Plate motion changes drive Eastern Indian Ocean microcontinent formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whittaker, J. M.; Williams, S.; Halpin, J.; Wild, T.; Stilwell, J.; Jourdan, F.; Daczko, N. R.

    2016-12-01

    The roles of plate tectonic or mantle dynamic forces in rupturing continental lithosphere remain controversial. Particularly enigmatic is the rifting of microcontinents from mature continental rifted margin - several well-studied microcontinent calving events coincide in space and time with mantle plume activity, but the significance of plumes in driving microcontinent formation remains controversial, and a role for plate-driven processes has also been suggested. In 2011, our team discovered two new microcontinents in the eastern Indian Ocean, the Batavia and Gulden Draak microcontinents. These microcontinents are unique as they are the only surviving remnants of the now-destroyed or highly deformed Greater Indian margin and provide us with an opportunity to test existing models of microcontinent formation against new observations. Here, we explore models for microcontinent formation using our new data from the Eastern Indian Ocean in a plate tectonic reconstruction framework. We use Argon dating and paleontology results to constrain calving from greater India at 101-104 Ma. This region had been proximal to the active Kerguelen plume for 30 Myrs but we demonstrate that calving did not correspond with a burst of volcanic activity. Rather, it is likely that plume-related thermal weakening of the Indian passive margin preconditioned it for microcontinent formation but calving was triggered by changes in plate tectonic boundary forces. Changes in the relative motions between Indian and Australia led to increasing compressive forces along the long-offset Wallaby-Zenith Fracture Zone, which was eventually abandoned during the jump of the spreading ridge into the Indian continental margin.

  20. Lasting mantle scars lead to perennial plate tectonics

    PubMed Central

    Heron, Philip J.; Pysklywec, Russell N.; Stephenson, Randell

    2016-01-01

    Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, subduction and continental collisions form the conventional theory of plate tectonics to explain non-rigid behaviour at plate boundaries. However, the theory does not explain directly the processes involved in intraplate deformation and seismicity. Recently, damage structures in the lithosphere have been linked to the origin of plate tectonics. Despite seismological imaging suggesting that inherited mantle lithosphere heterogeneities are ubiquitous, their plate tectonic role is rarely considered. Here we show that deep lithospheric anomalies can dominate shallow geological features in activating tectonics in plate interiors. In numerical experiments, we found that structures frozen into the mantle lithosphere through plate tectonic processes can behave as quasi-plate boundaries reactivated under far-field compressional forcing. Intraplate locations where proto-lithospheric plates have been scarred by earlier suturing could be regions where latent plate boundaries remain, and where plate tectonics processes are expressed as a ‘perennial' phenomenon. PMID:27282541

  1. Plate coupling across the northern Manila subduction zone deduced from mantle lithosphere buoyancy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lo, Chung-Liang; Doo, Wen-Bin; Kuo-Chen, Hao; Hsu, Shu-Kun

    2017-12-01

    The Manila subduction zone is located at the plate boundary where the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) moves northwestward toward the Eurasian plate (EU) with a high convergence rate. However, historically, no large earthquakes greater than Mw7 have been observed across the northern Manila subduction zone. The poorly understood plate interaction between these two plates in this region creates significant issues for evaluating the seismic hazard. Therefore, the variation of mantle lithospheric buoyancy is calculated to evaluate the plate coupling status across the northern Manila subduction zone, based on recently published forward gravity modeling constrained by the results of the P-wave seismic crustal structure of the TAIGER (Taiwan Integrated Geodynamic Research) project. The results indicate weak plate coupling between the PSP and EU, which could be related to the release of the overriding PSP from the descending EU's dragging force, which was deduced from the higher elevation of the Luzon arc and the fore-arc basin northward toward the Taiwan orogen. Moreover, serpentinized peridotite is present above the plate boundary and is distributed more widely and thickly closer to offshore southern Taiwan orogen. We suggest that low plate coupling may facilitate the uplifting of serpentinized mantle material up to the plate boundary.

  2. Flow of material under compression in weak lower continental crust can cause post-rift uplift of passive continental margins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chalmers, James

    2014-05-01

    There are mountain ranges up to more than 2 km high along many passive continental margins (e.g. Norway, eastern Australia, eastern Brazil, SE and SW Africa, east and west Greenland etc.), dubbed Elevated Passive Continental Margins (EPCMs). EPCMs contain several features in common and observations indicate that uplift of these margins took place after continental break-up. There are many explanations for their formation but none that satisfy all the observations. Lack of a geodynamical mechanism has meant that there has been difficulty in getting the community to accept the observational evidence. Formation of a passive continental margin must take place under conditions of tension. After rifting ceases, however, the margin can come under compression from forces originating elsewhere on or below its plate, e.g. orogeny elsewhere in the plate or sub-lithospheric drag. The World Stress Map (www.world-stress-mp.org) shows that, where data exists, all EPCMs are currently under compression. Under sufficient compression, crust and/or lithosphere can fold, and Cloetingh & Burov (2010) showed that many continental areas may have folded in this way. The wavelengths of folding observed by Cloetingh & Burov (2010) imply that the lower crust is likely to be of intermediate composition; granitic lower crust would fold with a shorter wavelength and basic lower crust would mean that the whole lithosphere would have to fold as a unit resulting in a much longer wavelength. Continental crust more than 20 km thick would be separated from the mantle by a weak layer. However, crust less thick than that would contain no weak layers would become effectively annealed to the underlying strong mantle. Under sufficient horizontal compression stress, material can flow in the lower weak layer towards a continental margin from the continental side. The annealed extended crust and mantle under the rift means, however, that flow cannot continue towards the ocean. Mid- and lower crustal material

  3. Oceanic core complexes in the Philippine Sea: results from Japan's extended continental shelf mapping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ohara, Y.; Yoshida, T.; Nishizawa, A.

    2013-12-01

    The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) issued its recommendations on Japan's extended continental shelf in April 2012, confirming Japan's rights over the vast areas within the Philippine Sea and Pacific Plates. Japan submitted information on the limits of its continental shelf beyond the EEZ to the CLCS on November 2008, which was the result of 25 years of nation's continental shelf survey project since 1983, involving all of Japan's agency relevant to geosciences. The huge geological and geophysical data obtained through the project give the scientists unprecedented opportunity to study the geology and tectonics of the Philippine Sea and Pacific Plates. In this contribution, we show such an example from the Philippine Sea Plate, relevant to the global mid-ocean ridge problem. Oceanic core complexes (OCC) are dome-shaped bathymetric highs identified in mid-ocean ridges, interpreted as portions of the lower crust and/or upper mantle denuded via low-angle detachment faulting. OCCs are characterized morphologically by axis-normal striations (corrugations, or mullion structure) on the dome, and exposures of mantle peridotite and/or lower crustal gabbro. A strikingly giant OCC (named 'Godzilla Megamullion') was discovered in the Parece Vela Basin by the continental shelf survey project in 2001. Godzilla Megamullion is morphologically the largest OCC in the world, consisting mainly of fertile mantle peridotite along its entire length of over 125 km. Following its discovery in 2001, several academic cruises investigated the structure in detail, providing numerous important findings relevant to mid-ocean ridge tectono-magmatic processes and Philippine Sea evolution, including the slow- to ultraslow-spreading environment for denudation of the detachment fault (< 2.5 cm/y) and associated decreasing degree of partial melting of the peridotites towards the termination of Godzilla Megamullion. In addition to Godzilla Megamullion, several

  4. Absolute Plate Velocities from Seismic Anisotropy: Importance of Correlated Errors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gordon, R. G.; Zheng, L.; Kreemer, C.

    2014-12-01

    The orientation of seismic anisotropy inferred beneath the interiors of plates may provide a means to estimate the motions of the plate relative to the deeper mantle. Here we analyze a global set of shear-wave splitting data to estimate plate motions and to better understand the dispersion of the data, correlations in the errors, and their relation to plate speed. The errors in plate motion azimuths inferred from shear-wave splitting beneath any one tectonic plate are shown to be correlated with the errors of other azimuths from the same plate. To account for these correlations, we adopt a two-tier analysis: First, find the pole of rotation and confidence limits for each plate individually. Second, solve for the best fit to these poles while constraining relative plate angular velocities to consistency with the MORVEL relative plate angular velocities. Our preferred set of angular velocities, SKS-MORVEL, is determined from the poles from eight plates weighted proportionally to the root-mean-square velocity of each plate. SKS-MORVEL indicates that eight plates (Amur, Antarctica, Caribbean, Eurasia, Lwandle, Somalia, Sundaland, and Yangtze) have angular velocities that differ insignificantly from zero. The net rotation of the lithosphere is 0.25±0.11º Ma-1 (95% confidence limits) right-handed about 57.1ºS, 68.6ºE. The within-plate dispersion of seismic anisotropy for oceanic lithosphere (σ=19.2°) differs insignificantly from that for continental lithosphere (σ=21.6°). The between-plate dispersion, however, is significantly smaller for oceanic lithosphere (σ=7.4°) than for continental lithosphere (σ=14.7°). Two of the slowest-moving plates, Antarctica (vRMS=4 mm a-1, σ=29°) and Eurasia (vRMS=3 mm a-1, σ=33°), have two of the largest within-plate dispersions, which may indicate that a plate must move faster than ≈5 mm a-1 to result in seismic anisotropy useful for estimating plate motion.

  5. Florida: A Jurassic transform plate boundary

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Klitgord, Kim D.; Popenoe, Peter; Schouten, Hans

    1984-01-01

    Magnetic, gravity, seismic, and deep drill hole data integrated with plate tectonic reconstructions substantiate the existence of a transform plate boundary across southern Florida during the Jurassic. On the basis of this integrated suite of data the pre-Cretaceous Florida-Bahamas region can be divided into the pre-Jurassic North American plate, Jurassic marginal rift basins, and a broad Jurassic transform zone including stranded blocks of pre-Mesozoic continental crust. Major tectonic units include the Suwannee basin in northern Florida containing Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, a central Florida basement complex of Paleozoic age crystalline rock, the west Florida platform composed of stranded blocks of continental crust, the south Georgia rift containing Triassic sedimentary rocks which overlie block-faulted Suwannee basin sedimentary rocks, the Late Triassic-Jurassic age Apalachicola rift basin, and the Jurassic age south Florida, Bahamas, and Blake Plateau marginal rift basins. The major tectonic units are bounded by basement hinge zones and fracture zones (FZ). The basement hinge zone represents the block-faulted edge of the North American plate, separating Paleozoic and older crustal rocks from Jurassic rifted crust beneath the marginal basins. Fracture zones separate Mesozoic marginal sedimentary basins and include the Blake Spur FZ, Jacksonville FZ, Bahamas FZ, and Cuba FZ, bounding the Blake Plateau, Bahamas, south Florida, and southeastern Gulf of Mexico basins. The Bahamas FZ is the most important of all these features because its northwest extension coincides with the Gulf basin marginal fault zone, forming the southern edge of the North American plate during the Jurassic. The limited space between the North American and the South American/African plates requires that the Jurassic transform zone, connecting the Central Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico spreading systems, was located between the Bahamas and Cuba FZ's in the region of southern Florida. Our

  6. Retrodeforming the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone : Age of collision and magnitude of continental subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McQuarrie, N.; van Hinsbergen, D. J. J.

    2012-04-01

    When did continents collide, and how is convergence partitioned after collision are first order questions that seem to defy consensus along the Alpine-Himalyan orogen. Estimates on the age of collision for Arabia and Eurasia range from late Cretaceous to Pliocene, based on a wide variety of presumed geologic responses. Both lower Miocene synorgenic strata with growth structures adjacent to the main Zagros fault and upper Oligocene to lower Miocene overlap strata over post-collisional thrusts are derived from Eurasia and require that collision was underway at least by ~25-24 Ma. However, upper plate deformation, exhumation and sedimentation are used to argue for an older, 35 Ma collision age. Africa-North America-Eurasia plate circuit rotations, combined with Red Sea rotations provides precise estimates of the relative positions between the northern Arabian margin and the southern Eurasia margin. Plate circuits indicate, from NW to SE along the collision zone 490-650 km of post-25 Ma Arabia-Eurasia convergence and 810-1070 km since 35 Ma. To assess the consequences of these collision ages for the amount of Arabian continental subduction, we compile all documented shortening within the orogen. The Zagros fold-thrust belt consists of thrusted upper crust that was offscraped from subducted Arabian continental lithosphere. Balanced cross-sections give 105-180 km of Zagros shortening (including estimates from the Zagros proper, 45-90 km, and the Zagros "crush" zone, 60-90 km). Shortening within Eurasia is estimated to be 53-75 km through the Kopet Dagh and Alborz Mountains, plus 38 km across Central Iran. These estimates suggest that the orogen has shortened 200 to 300 km since the early Miocene. Both a 25 and a 35 Ma collision estimate thus requires that a considerable portion of the Arabian plate subducted without recognized accretion of its upper crust. To balance plate circuits and documented shortening requires whole-sale subduction of ~500-800 km of continental

  7. Signature of slab fragmentation beneath Anatolia from full-waveform tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Govers, Rob; Fichtner, Andreas

    2016-09-01

    When oceanic basins close after a long period of convergence and subduction, continental collision and mountain building is a common consequence. Slab segmentation is expected to have been relatively common just prior to closure of other oceans in the geological past, and may explain some of the complexity that geologists have documented in the Tibetan plateau also. We focus on the eastern Mediterranean basin, which is the last remainder of a once hemispherical neo-Tethys ocean that has nearly disappeared due to convergence of the India and Africa/Arabia plates with the Eurasia plate. We present new results of full-waveform tomography that allow us to image both the crust and upper mantle in great detail. We show that a major discontinuity exists between western Anatolia lithosphere and the region to the east of it. Also, the correlation of geological features and the crustal velocities is substantially stronger in the west than in the east. We interpret these observations as the imprint in the overriding plate of fragmentation of the neo-Tethys slab below it. This north-dipping slab may have fragmented following the Eocene (about 35 million years ago) arrival of a continental promontory (Central Anatolian Core Complex) at the subduction contact. From the Eocene through the Miocene, slab roll-back ensued in the Aegean and west Anatolia, while the Cyprus-Bitlis slab subducted horizontally beneath central and east Anatolia. Following collision of Arabia (about 16 million years ago), the Cyprus-Bitlis slab steepened, exposing the crust of central and east Anatolia to high temperature, and resulting in the velocity structure that we image today. Slab fragmentation thus was a major driver of the evolution of the overriding plate as collision unfolded.

  8. Rotational inertia of continents: A proposed link between polar wandering and plate tectonics

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kane, M.F.

    1972-01-01

    A mechanism is proposed whereby displacement between continents and the earth's pole of rotation (polar wandering) gives rise to latitudinal transport of continental plates (continental drift) because of their relatively greater rotational inertia. When extended to short-term polar wobble, the hypothesis predicts an energy change nearly equivalent to the seismic energy rate.

  9. Formation of an Oceanic Transform Fault During Continental Rifting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Illsley-Kemp, F.; Bull, J. M.; Keir, D.; Gerya, T.; Pagli, C.; Gernon, T.; Ayele, A.; Goitom, B.; Hammond, J. O. S.; Kendall, J. M.

    2017-12-01

    We integrate evidence from surface faults, geodetic measurements, local seismicity, and 3D numerical modelling of the subaerial Afar continental rift to show that an oceanic-style transform fault is forming during the final stages of continental breakup. Transform faults are a fundamental tenet of plate tectonics, connecting offset extensional segments of mid-ocean ridges, and are vital in palaeotectonic reconstructions of passive margins. The current consensus is that transform faults initiate after the onset of seafloor spreading. However this inference has been difficult to test given the lack of observations of transform fault formation. We present the first direct observation of transform fault initiation, and shed unprecedented light on their formation mechanisms. We demonstrate that they originate during late-stage continental rifting, earlier in the rifting cycle than previously thought. Our results have important implications for reconstructing the breakup history of the continents. Palaeotectonic reconstructions that use transform fault terminations as an indicator of the continent-ocean boundary may have placed the continent-ocean boundary landward of its true location. This will have led to an overestimation of the age of continental breakup of between 8-18 Myr. Our results therefore have significant implications for studies that rely on accurate dating of continental breakup events.

  10. Continental collision with a sandwiched accreted terrane: Insights into Himalayan-Tibetan lithospheric mantle tectonics?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kelly, Sean; Butler, Jared P.; Beaumont, Christopher

    2016-12-01

    Many collisional orogens contain exotic terranes that were accreted to either the subducting or overriding plate prior to terminal continent-continent collision. The ways in which the physical properties of these terranes influence collision remain poorly understood. We use 2D thermomechanical finite element models to examine the effects of prior 'soft' terrane accretion to a continental upper plate (retro-lithosphere) on the ensuing continent-continent collision. The experiments explore how the style of collision changes in response to variations in the density and viscosity of the accreted terrane lithospheric mantle, as well as the density of the pro-lithospheric mantle, which determines its propensity to subduct or compress the accreted terrane and retro-lithosphere. The models evolve self-consistently through several emergent phases: breakoff of subducted oceanic lithosphere; pro-continent subduction; shortening of the retro-lithosphere accreted terrane, sometimes accompanied by lithospheric delamination; and, terminal underthrusting of pro-lithospheric mantle beneath the accreted terrane crust or mantle. The modeled variations in the properties of the accreted terrane lithospheric mantle can be interpreted to reflect metasomatism during earlier oceanic subduction beneath the terrane. Strongly metasomatized (i.e., dense and weak) mantle is easily removed by delamination or entrainment by the subducting pro-lithosphere, and facilitates later flat-slab underthrusting. The models are a prototype representation of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogeny in which there is only one accreted terrane, representing the Lhasa terrane, but they nonetheless exhibit processes like those inferred for the more complex Himalayan-Tibetan system. Present-day underthrusting of the Tibetan Plateau crust by Indian mantle lithosphere requires that the Lhasa terrane lithospheric mantle has been removed. Some of the model results support previous conceptual interpretations that Tibetan

  11. Double subduction of continental lithosphere, a key to form wide plateau

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Replumaz, Anne; Funiciello, Francesca; Reitano, Riccardo; Faccenna, Claudio; Balon, Marie

    2016-04-01

    The mechanisms involved in the creation of the high and wide topography, like the Tibetan Plateau, are still controversial. In particular, the behaviour of the indian and asian lower continental lithosphere during the collision is a matter of debate, either thickening, densifying and delaminating, or keeping its rigidity and subducting. But since several decades seismicity, seismic profiles and global tomography highlight the lithospheric structure of the Tibetan Plateau, and make the hypotheses sustaining the models more precise. In particular, in the western syntaxis, it is now clear that the indian lithosphere subducts northward beneath the Hindu Kush down to the transition zone, while the asian one subducts southward beneath Pamir (e.g. Negredo et al., 2007; Kufner et al., 2015). Such double subduction of continental lithospheres with opposite vergence has also been inferred in the early collision time. Cenozoic volcanic rocks between 50 and 30 Ma in the Qiangtang block have been interpreted as related to an asian subduction beneath Qiangtang at that time (De Celles et al., 2011; Guillot and Replumaz, 2013). We present here analogue experiments silicone/honey to explore the subduction of continental lithosphere, using a piston as analogue of far field forces. We explore the parameters that control the subductions dynamics of the 2 continental lithospheres and the thickening of the plates at the surface, and compare with the Tibetan Plateau evolution. We show that a continental lithosphere is able to subduct in a collision context, even lighter than the mantle, if the plate is rigid enough. In that case the horizontal force due to the collision context, modelled by the piston push transmitted by the indenter, is the driving force, not the slab pull which is negative. It is not a subduction driving by the weight of the slab, but a subduction induced by the collision, that we could call "collisional subduction".

  12. History and Evolution of Precambrian plate tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fischer, Ria; Gerya, Taras

    2014-05-01

    Plate tectonics is a global self-organising process driven by negative buoyancy at thermal boundary layers. Phanerozoic plate tectonics with its typical subduction and orogeny is relatively well understood and can be traced back in the geological records of the continents. Interpretations of geological, petrological and geochemical observations from Proterozoic and Archean orogenic belts however (e.g., Brown, 2006), suggest a different tectonic regime in the Precambrian. Due to higher radioactive heat production the Precambrian lithosphere shows lower internal strength and is strongly weakened by percolating melts. The fundamental difference between Precambrian and Phanerozoic tectonics is therefore the upper-mantle temperature, which determines the strength of the upper mantle (Brun, 2002) and the further tectonic history. 3D petrological-thermomechanical numerical modelling experiments of oceanic subduction at an active plate at different upper-mantle temperatures show these different subduction regimes. For upper-mantle temperatures < 175 K above the present day value a subduction style appears which is close to present day subduction but with more frequent slab break-off. At upper-mantle temperatures 175 - 250 K above present day values steep subduction continues but the plates are weakened enough to allow buckling and also lithospheric delamination and drip-offs. For upper-mantle temperatures > 250 K above the present day value no subduction occurs any more. The whole lithosphere is delaminating and due to strong volcanism and formation of a thicker crust subduction is inhibited. This stage of 200-250 K higher upper mantle temperature which corresponds roughly to the early Archean (Abbott, 1994) is marked by strong volcanism due to sublithospheric decompression melting which leads to an equal thickness for both oceanic and continental plates. As a consequence subduction is inhibited, but a compressional setup instead will lead to orogeny between a continental

  13. Relict basin closure accommodates continental convergence with minimal crustal shortening or deceleration of plate motion as inferred from detrital zircon provenance in the Caucasus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowgill, E.; Forte, A. M.; Niemi, N. A.; Avdeev, B.; Tye, A. R.; Trexler, C. C.; Javakhishvili, Z.; Elashvili, M.; Godoladze, T.

    2016-12-01

    Comparison of plate convergence with the timing and magnitude of upper-crustal shortening in collisional orogens indicates both shortening deficits (200-1700 km) and significant (30-40%) plate deceleration during collision, the cause(s) for which remain debated. The Greater Caucasus Mountains, which result from post-collisional Cenozoic closure of a relict Mesozoic back-arc basin on the northern margin of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, help reconcile these debates. Here we use U-Pb detrital zircon provenance data and the regional geology of the Caucasus to investigate the width of the now-consumed Mesozoic back-arc basin and its closure history. The provenance data record distinct southern and northern provenance domains that persisted until at least the Miocene; maximum basin width was likely 350-400 km. We propose that closure of the back-arc basin initiated at 35 Ma, coincident with initial (soft) Arabia-Eurasia collision along the Bitlis suture, eventually leading to 5 Ma (hard) collision between the Lesser Caucasus arc and the Scythian platform to form the Greater Caucasus Mountains. Final basin closure triggered deceleration of plate convergence and tectonic reorganization throughout the collision. Post-collisional subduction of such small (500-1000 km wide) relict ocean basins can account for both shortening deficits and delays in plate deceleration by accommodating convergence via subduction/underthrusting, although such shortening is easily missed if it occurs along structures hidden within flysch/slate belts. Relict-basin closure is likely typical early in continental collision at the end of a Wilson cycle due to the irregularity of colliding margins and extensive back-arc basin development during closure of long-lived ocean basins.

  14. Steady State Growth of Continental Crust?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bowring, S. A.; Bauer, A.; Dudas, F. O.; Schoene, B.; McLean, N. M.

    2012-12-01

    More than twenty years since the publication of Armstrong's seminal paper, debate still rages about most aspects of the Earth's first billion years. Although orders of magnitude more data have been generated since then, the arguments remain the same. The debate is largely centered on the isotopic systematics of minerals and whole rocks, the major and trace element geochemistry of continental crust, and various geodynamic models for differentiation of the planet. Most agree that earth, like all the terrestrial planets, differentiated into a crust, mantle and core very early in its history. After that, models of crustal evolution diverge significantly, including the suggestions that modern style plate tectonics did not originate until ca. 2.7 Ga or younger and that plumes have played a major role in the generation of continental crust. Many believe that the preserved rock record and the detrital zircon record are consistent with episodic crustal growth, which in turn has led to geodynamic models of episodic mantle convection driving major crust forming events. High-precision and high-throughput geochronology have led to claims of episodicity even more pronounced than that presented in Gastil's 1960 paper. We believe that Earth history has been dominated by plate tectonics and that continental crust is formed largely by amalgamation of island arcs, seamounts, micro continents, and oceanic plateaus. While there are geochemical differences in the average composition of Archean igneous rocks when compared to younger rocks, the processes responsible for their formation may not have changed a great deal. In this view, the so-called crustal growth curves originated by Hurley are in fact crude approximations of crustal preservation. The most highly cited rationales for the view that little silicic crust formed during Earth's first billion years are the lack of known exposed crust older than 3.5 Ga and the paucity of detrital zircons older than 4.0 Ga in sedimentary rocks of

  15. Global plate boundary evolution and kinematics since the late Paleozoic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matthews, Kara J.; Maloney, Kayla T.; Zahirovic, Sabin; Williams, Simon E.; Seton, Maria; Müller, R. Dietmar

    2016-11-01

    Many aspects of deep-time Earth System models, including mantle convection, paleoclimatology, paleobiogeography and the deep Earth carbon cycle, require high-resolution plate motion models that include the evolution of the mosaic of plate boundaries through time. We present the first continuous late Paleozoic to present-day global plate model with evolving plate boundaries, building on and extending two previously published models for the late Paleozoic (410-250 Ma) and Mesozoic-Cenozoic (230-0 Ma). We ensure continuity during the 250-230 Ma transition period between the two models, update the absolute reference frame of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic model and add a new Paleozoic reconstruction for the Baltica-derived Alexander Terrane, now accreted to western North America. This 410-0 Ma open access model provides a framework for deep-time whole Earth modelling and acts as a base for future extensions and refinement. We analyse the model in terms of the number of plates, predicted plate size distribution, plate and continental root mean square (RMS) speeds, plate velocities and trench migration through time. Overall model trends share many similarities to those for recent times, which we use as a first order benchmark against which to compare the model and identify targets for future model refinement. Except for during the period 260-160 Ma, the number of plates (16-46) and ratio of "large" plates (≥ 107.5 km2) to smaller plates ( 2.7-6.6) are fairly similar to present-day values (46 and 6.6, respectively), with lower values occurring during late Paleozoic assembly and growth of Pangea. This temporal pattern may also reflect difficulties in reconstructing small, now subducted oceanic plates further back in time, as well as whether a supercontinent is assembling or breaking up. During the 260-160 Ma timeframe the model reaches a minima in the number of plates, in contrast to what we would expect during initial Pangea breakup and thus highlighting the need for refinement

  16. Passive recording of an active transform, an example from the Levant continental margin and the Dead Sea Fault

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lang, Guy; Lazar, Michael; Schattner, Uri

    2017-04-01

    Transform faults accommodate lateral motion between two adjacent plates. Records of plate motion and consequent boundary development on land is, at times, scarce and limited to structures along the fault axis. Investigation of a passive continental margin adjacent to the plate boundary might broaden the scope and provide estimates for its structural development. To examine this hypothesis, we analyzed depth and time migrated 3D seismic data together with four boreholes located along the southern Levant continental margin, ca. 100 Km from the continental Dead Sea fault (DSF). The analysis focus on the Plio-Pleistocene sequence, a key period in the development of the DSF. It includes formation of structural maps, stacking pattern investigation and calculation of sedimentation rates based on decompacted 3D depth data. These, in turn, enabled the reconstruction of margin development. This includes Messinian-earliest Zanclean NNE-SSW sinistral strike-slip faulting followed by Zanclean-Late Gelasian syn-depositional folding striking in the same direction. Abrupt change is marked by the Top Gelasian surface that shows indications of regional mass slumping. Successive Mid-Late Pleistocene progradation marks a basinward shift of the depocenter. Progradation controls margin sedimentation rates during the mid-late Pleistocene. These were found to increase throughout the whole Plio-Pleistocene, in contrast to reported sediment discharge from the Nile, which was shown to decrease after the Gelasian. Correlations to onshore findings, suggest that the continental margin records strain localization on the DSF during the Pliocene-Gelasian. This trend peaked at 1.8 Ma when short wavelength strain ceased along the margin, and differential subsidence commenced basinwards. This is attributed to consequent deepening of the DSF plate boundary.

  17. Relative Motion of the Nazca (farallon) and South American Plates Since Late Cretaceous Time

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pardo-Casas, Federico; Molnar, Peter

    1987-06-01

    By combining reconstructions of the South American and African plates, the African and Antarctic plates, the Antarctic and Pacific plates, and the Pacific and Nazca plates, we calculated the relative positions and history of convergence of the Nazca and South American plates. Despite variations in convergence rates along the Andes, periods of rapid convergence (averaging more than 100 mm/a) between the times of anomalies 21 (49.5 Ma) and 18 (42 Ma) and since anomaly 7 (26 Ma) coincide with two phases of relatively intense tectonic activity in the Peruvian Andes, known as the late Eocene Incaic and Mio-Pliocene Quechua phases. The periods of relatively slow convergence (50 to 55 ± 30 mm/a at the latitude of Peru and less farther south) between the times of anomalies 30-31 (68.5 Ma) and 21 and between those of anomalies 13 (36 Ma) and 7 correlate with periods during which tectonic activity was relatively quiescent. Thus these reconstructions provide quantitative evidence for a correlation of the intensity of tectonic activity in the overriding plate at subduction zones with variations in the convergence rate.

  18. Caffeine stabilizes Cdc25 independently of Rad3 in S chizosaccharomyces pombe contributing to checkpoint override

    PubMed Central

    Alao, John P; Sjölander, Johanna J; Baar, Juliane; Özbaki-Yagan, Nejla; Kakoschky, Bianca; Sunnerhagen, Per

    2014-01-01

    Cdc25 is required for Cdc2 dephosphorylation and is thus essential for cell cycle progression. Checkpoint activation requires dual inhibition of Cdc25 and Cdc2 in a Rad3-dependent manner. Caffeine is believed to override activation of the replication and DNA damage checkpoints by inhibiting Rad3-related proteins in both S chizosaccharomyces pombe and mammalian cells. In this study, we have investigated the impact of caffeine on Cdc25 stability, cell cycle progression and checkpoint override. Caffeine induced Cdc25 accumulation in S . pombe independently of Rad3. Caffeine delayed cell cycle progression under normal conditions but advanced mitosis in cells treated with replication inhibitors and DNA-damaging agents. In the absence of Cdc25, caffeine inhibited cell cycle progression even in the presence of hydroxyurea or phleomycin. Caffeine induces Cdc25 accumulation in S . pombe by suppressing its degradation independently of Rad3. The induction of Cdc25 accumulation was not associated with accelerated progression through mitosis, but rather with delayed progression through cytokinesis. Caffeine-induced Cdc25 accumulation appears to underlie its ability to override cell cycle checkpoints. The impact of Cdc25 accumulation on cell cycle progression is attenuated by Srk1 and Mad2. Together our findings suggest that caffeine overrides checkpoint enforcement by inducing the inappropriate nuclear localization of Cdc25. PMID:24666325

  19. Plate Tectonics and Taiwan Orogeny based on TAIGER Experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, F. T.; Kuochen, H.; McIntosh, K. D.

    2014-12-01

    Plate tectonics framework is usually complex in a collision zone, where continental lithosphere is involved. In the young Taiwan orogeny, with geologic understanding and large new geodetic and subsurface datasets now available an environment has been created for testing tectonic hypotheses regarding collision and orogeny. Against the background of the commonly accepted view of Taiwan as a southward propagating, self-similar 2-D orogen, a fully 3-D structure is envisaged. Along the whole length of the island the convergence of the Eurasian plate (EUP) the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) takes shape with different plate configurations. In northern Taiwan the convergence occurs with simultaneous collision of the oceanic PSP with continental EUP and the northward subduction of the PSP; in the south, EUP, in the guise of the South China Sea rifted Eurasian continent, subducts toward the east; in central Taiwan collision of oceanic PSP with continental EUP dominates. When relocated seismicity and focal mechanisms are superposed on subsurface P and Vp/Vs velocity images the configurations and the kinematics of the PSP and EUP collision and subduction become clear. While in northern Taiwan the subduction/collision explains well the high peaks and their dwindling (accompanied by crustal thinning) toward the north. In the south, mountains rise above the east-dipping EUP subduction zone as the Eurasian continental shelf veers toward the southwest, divergent from the trend of the Luzon Arc - calling into question the frequently cited arc-continent collision model of Taiwan orogeny. High velocity anomaly and Benioff seismicity coexist in the south. Going north toward Central Taiwan the high velocity anomaly persists for another 150 km or so, but it becomes seismically quiescent. Above the quiescent section the PSP and EUP collide to build the main part of the Central Range and its parallel neighbor the eastern Coastal Range. Key implications regarding orogeny include: 1) Significant

  20. Lithospheric strength variations as a control on new plate boundaries: examples from the northern Red Sea region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steckler, Michael S.; ten Brink, Uri S.

    1986-08-01

    The complex plate boundary between Arabia and Africa at the northern end of the Red Sea includes the Gulf of Suez rift and the Gulf of Aqaba—Dead Sea transform. Geologic evidence indicates that during the earliest phase of rifting the Red Sea propagated NNW towards the Mediterranean Sea creating the Gulf of Suez. Subsequently, the majority of the relative movement between the plates shifted eastward to the Dead Sea transform. We propose that an increase in the strength of the lithosphere across the Mediterranean continental margin acted as a barrier to the propagation of the rift. A new plate boundary, the Dead Sea transform formed along a zone of minimum strength. We present an analysis of lithospheric strength variations across the Mediterranean continental margin. The main factors controlling these variations are the geotherm, crustal thickness and composition, and sediment thickness. The analysis predicts a characteristic strength profile at continental margins which consists of a marked increase in strength seaward of the hinge zone and a strength minimum landward of the hinge zone. This strength profile also favors the creation of thin continental slivers such as the Levant west of the Dead Sea transform and the continental promontory containing Socotra Island at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. Calculations of strength variations based on changes of crustal thickness, geotherm and sediment thickness can be extended to other geologic settings as well. They can explain the location of rerifting events at intracratonic basins, of backarc basins and of major continental strike-slip zones.

  1. Geohistory analysis of the Santa Maria basin, California, and its relationship to tectonic evolution of the continental margin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    McCrory, P.A.; Arends, R.G.; Ingle, J.C. Jr.

    1991-02-01

    The Santa Maria basin of central California is a geologically complex area located along the tectonically active California continental margin. The record of Cenozoic tectonism preserved in Santa Maria strata provides an opportunity to compare the evolution of the region with plate tectonic models for Cenozoic interactions along the margin. Geohistory analysis of Neogene Santa Maria basin strata provides important constraints for hypotheses of the tectonic evolution of the central California margin during its transition from a convergent to a transform plate boundary. Preliminary analyses suggest that the tectonic evolution of the Santa Maria area was dominated by coupling betweenmore » adjacent oceanic plates and the continental margin. This coupling is reflected in the timing of major hiatuses within the basin sedimentary sequence and margin subsidence and uplift which occurred during periods of tectonic plate adjustment. Stratigraphic evidence indicates that the Santa Maria basin originated on the continental shelf in early Miocene time. A component of margin subsidence is postulated to have been caused by cessation of spreading on adjacent offshore microplates approximately 19-18 ma. A sharp reduction in rate of tectonic subsidence in middle Miocene time, observed in the Santa Maria basin both onshore and offshore, was coeval with rotation of crustal blocks as major shearing shifts shoreward. Tectonic uplift of two eastern sites, offshore Point Arguello and near Point Sal, in the late Miocene may have been related to a change to transpressional motion between the Pacific and North American plates, as well as to rotation of the western Transverse Ranges in a restraining geometry.« less

  2. Abrupt plate acceleration through oblique rifting: Geodynamic aspects of Gulf of California evolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brune, S.

    2016-12-01

    The Gulf of California formed by oblique divergence across the Pacific-North America plate boundary. This presentation combines numerical forward modeling and plate tectonic reconstructions in order to address 2 important aspects of rift dynamics: (1) Plate motions during continental rifting are decisively controlled by the non-linear decay of rift strength. This conclusion is based on a recent plate-kinematic analysis of post-Pangea rift systems (Central Atlantic, South Atlantic, Iberia/Newfoundland, Australia/Antarctica, North Atlantic, South China Sea). In all cases, continental rifting starts with a slow phase followed by an abrupt acceleration within a few My introducing a fast rift phase. Numerical forward modeling with force boundary conditions shows that the two-phase velocity behavior and the rapid speed-up during rifting are intrinsic features of continental rupture that can be robustly inferred for different crust and mantle rheologies. (2) Rift strength depends on the obliquity of the rift system: the force required to maintain a given rift velocity can be computed from simple analytical and more realistic numerical models alike, and both modeling approaches demonstrate that less force is required to perpetuate oblique extension. The reason is that plastic yielding requires a smaller plate boundary force when extension is oblique to the rift trend. Comparing strike slip and pure extension end-member scenarios, it can be shown that about 50% less force is required to deform the lithosphere under strike-slip. This result implies that rift systems involving significant obliquity are mechanically preferred. These two aspects shed new light on the underlying geodynamic causes of Gulf of California rift history. Continental extension is thought to have started in Late Eocene/Oligocene times as part of the southern Basin and Range Province and evolved in a protracted history at low extension rate (≤15 mm/yr). However, with a direction change in Baja

  3. Plumes do not Exist: Plate Circulation is Confined to Upper Mantle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamilton, W. B.

    2002-12-01

    key to kinematics. Arcs advance and collide, fast-spreading Pacific shrinks, etc. A fore-arc basin atop an overriding plate shows that hinge and non-shortening plate front there track together: velocities of rollback and advance are equal. Convergence velocity commonly also equals rollback velocity but often is greater. Slabs sinking broadside push upper mantle back under incoming plates and force rapid Pacific spreading, whereas overriding plates flow forward with retreating hinges. Backarc basins open behind island arcs migrating with hinges. Slabs settle on uncrossable 660-km discontinuity. (Contrary tomographic claims reflect sampling and smearing artifacts, notably due to along-slab raypaths.) Plates advance over sunken slabs and mantle displaced rearward by them, and ridges spread where advancing plates pull away. Ridges migrate over asthenosphere, producing geophysical and bathymetric asymmetry, and tap fresh asthenosphere into which slab material is recycled upward. Sluggish deep-mantle circulation is decoupled from rapid upper-mantle circulation, so plate motions can be referenced to semistable lower mantle. Global plate motions make kinematic sense if Antarctica, almost ringed by departing ridges and varying little in Cenozoic paleomagnetic position, is stationary: hinges roll back, ridges migrate, and directions and velocities of plate rotations accord with subduction, including sliding and crowding of oceanic lithosphere toward free edges, as the dominant drive. (The invalid hotspot and no-net-rotation frames minimize motions of hinges and ridges, and their plate motions lack kinematic sense.) Northern Eurasia also is almost stationary, Africa rotates very slowly counterclockwise toward Aegean and Zagros, Pacific plate races toward surface-exit subduction systems, etc.

  4. Tectonostratigraphy of the Passive Continental Margin Offshore Indus Pakistan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aslam, K.; Khan, M.; Liu, Y.; Farid, A.

    2017-12-01

    The tectonic evolution and structural complexities are poorly understood in the passive continental margin of the Offshore Indus of Pakistan. In the present study, an attempt has been made to interpret the structural trends and seismic stratigraphic framework in relation to the tectonics of the region. Seismic reflection data revealed tectonically controlled, distinct episodes of normal faulting representing rifting at different ages and transpression in the Late Eocene time. This transpression has resulted in the reactivation of the Pre-Cambrian basement structures. The movement of these basement structures has considerably affected the younger sedimentary succession resulting in push up structures resembling anticlines. The structural growth of the push-up structures was computed. The most remarkable tectonic setting in the region is represented by the normal faulting and by the basement uplift which divides the rifting and transpression stages. Ten mappable seismic sequences have been identified on the seismic records. A Jurassic aged paleo-shelf has also been identified on all regional seismic profiles which is indicative of Indian-African Plates separation during the Jurassic time. Furthermore, the backstripping technique was applied which has been proved to be a powerful technique to quantify subsidence/uplift history of rift-type passive continental margins. The back strip curves suggest that transition from an extensional rifted margin to transpression occurred during Eocene time (50-30 Ma). The backstripping curves show uplift had happened in the area. We infer that the uplift has occurred due to the movement of basement structures by the transpression movements of Arabian and Indian Plates. The present study suggests that the structural styles and stratigraphy of the Offshore Indus Pakistan were significantly affected by the tectonic activities during the separation of Gondwanaland in the Mesozoic and northward movement of the Indian Plate, post

  5. Tectonic implications of post-30 Ma Pacific and North American relative plate motions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bohannon, R.G.; Parsons, T.

    1995-01-01

    The Pacific plate moved northwest relative to North America since 42 Ma. The rapid half rate of Pacific-Farallon spreading allowed the ridge to approach the continent at about 29 Ma. Extinct spreading ridges that occur offshore along 65% of the margin document that fragments of the subducted Farallon slab became captured by the Pacific plate and assumed its motion proper to the actual subduction of the spreading ridge. This plate-capture process can be used to explain much of the post-29 Ma Cordilleran North America extension, strike slip, and the inland jump of oceanic spreading in the Gulf of California. Much of the post-29 Ma continental tectonism is the result of the strong traction imposed on the deep part of the continental crust by the gently inclined slab of subducted oceanic lithosphere as it moved to the northwest relative to the overlying continent. -from Authors

  6. Plate tectonic regulation of global marine animal diversity.

    PubMed

    Zaffos, Andrew; Finnegan, Seth; Peters, Shanan E

    2017-05-30

    Valentine and Moores [Valentine JW, Moores EM (1970) Nature 228:657-659] hypothesized that plate tectonics regulates global biodiversity by changing the geographic arrangement of continental crust, but the data required to fully test the hypothesis were not available. Here, we use a global database of marine animal fossil occurrences and a paleogeographic reconstruction model to test the hypothesis that temporal patterns of continental fragmentation have impacted global Phanerozoic biodiversity. We find a positive correlation between global marine invertebrate genus richness and an independently derived quantitative index describing the fragmentation of continental crust during supercontinental coalescence-breakup cycles. The observed positive correlation between global biodiversity and continental fragmentation is not readily attributable to commonly cited vagaries of the fossil record, including changing quantities of marine rock or time-variable sampling effort. Because many different environmental and biotic factors may covary with changes in the geographic arrangement of continental crust, it is difficult to identify a specific causal mechanism. However, cross-correlation indicates that the state of continental fragmentation at a given time is positively correlated with the state of global biodiversity for tens of millions of years afterward. There is also evidence to suggest that continental fragmentation promotes increasing marine richness, but that coalescence alone has only a small negative or stabilizing effect. Together, these results suggest that continental fragmentation, particularly during the Mesozoic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, has exerted a first-order control on the long-term trajectory of Phanerozoic marine animal diversity.

  7. Plate tectonic regulation of global marine animal diversity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zaffos, Andrew; Finnegan, Seth; Peters, Shanan E.

    2017-05-01

    Valentine and Moores [Valentine JW, Moores EM (1970) Nature 228:657-659] hypothesized that plate tectonics regulates global biodiversity by changing the geographic arrangement of continental crust, but the data required to fully test the hypothesis were not available. Here, we use a global database of marine animal fossil occurrences and a paleogeographic reconstruction model to test the hypothesis that temporal patterns of continental fragmentation have impacted global Phanerozoic biodiversity. We find a positive correlation between global marine invertebrate genus richness and an independently derived quantitative index describing the fragmentation of continental crust during supercontinental coalescence-breakup cycles. The observed positive correlation between global biodiversity and continental fragmentation is not readily attributable to commonly cited vagaries of the fossil record, including changing quantities of marine rock or time-variable sampling effort. Because many different environmental and biotic factors may covary with changes in the geographic arrangement of continental crust, it is difficult to identify a specific causal mechanism. However, cross-correlation indicates that the state of continental fragmentation at a given time is positively correlated with the state of global biodiversity for tens of millions of years afterward. There is also evidence to suggest that continental fragmentation promotes increasing marine richness, but that coalescence alone has only a small negative or stabilizing effect. Together, these results suggest that continental fragmentation, particularly during the Mesozoic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, has exerted a first-order control on the long-term trajectory of Phanerozoic marine animal diversity.

  8. Crustal structure and tectonic deformation of the southern Ecuadorian margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Calahorrano, Alcinoe; Collot, Jean-Yves; Sage, Françoise; Ranero, César R.

    2010-05-01

    Multichannel seismic lines acquired during the SISTEUR cruise (2000) provide new constraints on the structure and deformation of the subduction zone at the southern Ecuadorian margin, from the deformation front to the continental shelf of the Gulf of Guayaquil. The pre-stack depth migrated images allows to characterise the main structures of the downgoing and overriding plates and to map the margin stratigraphy in order to propose a chronology of the deformation, by means of integrating commercial well data and industry seismic lines located in the gulf area. The 100-km-long seismic lines show the oceanic Nazca plate underthrusting the South American plate, as well as the subduction channel and inter-plate contact from the deformation front to about 90 km landward and ~20 km depth. Based on seismic structure we identify four upper-plate units, consisting of basement and overlaying sedimentary sequences A, B and C. The sedimentary cover varies along the margin, being few hundreds of meters thick in the lower and middle slope, and ~2-3 km thick in the upper slope. Exceptionally, a ~10-km -thick basin, here named Banco Peru basin, is located on the upper slope at the southernmost part of the gulf. This basin seems to be the first evidence of the Gulf of Guayaquil opening resulting from the NE escaping of the North Andean Block. Below the continental shelf, thick sedimentary basins of ~6 to 8 km occupy most of the gulf area. Tectonic deformation across most of the upper-plate is dominated by extensional regime, locally disturbed by diapirism. Compression evidences are restricted to the deformation front and surrounding areas. Well data calibrating the seismic profiles indicate that an important portion of the total thickness of the sedimentary coverage of the overriding plate are Miocene or older. The data indicate the extensional deformation resulting from the NE motion of the North Andean Block and the opening of the Gulf of Guayaquil, evolves progressively in age

  9. Pacific-North America plate boundary reorganization in response to a change in relative plate motion: Offshore Canada

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rohr, K. M. M.; Tryon, A. J.

    2010-06-01

    The transition from subduction in Cascadia to the transform Queen Charlotte fault along western Canada is often drawn as a subduction zone, yet recent studies of GPS and earthquake data from northern Vancouver Island are not consistent with that model. In this paper we synthesize seismic reflection and gravity interpretations with microseismicity data in order to test models of (1) microplate subduction and (2) reorganization of the preexisting strike-slip plate boundary. We focus on the critical region of outer Queen Charlotte Sound and the adjacent offshore. On much of the continental shelf, several million years of subsidence above thin crust are a counterindicator for subduction. An undated episode of compression uplifted the southernmost shelf, but subsidence patterns offshore show that recent subduction is unlikely to be responsible. Previously unremarked near-vertical faults and a mix of extensional and compressional faults offshore indicate that strike-slip faulting has been a significant mode of deformation. Seismicity in the last 18 years is dominantly strike-slip and shows large amounts of moment release on the Revere-Dellwood fault and its overlap with the Queen Charlotte fault. The relative plate motion between the Pacific and North American plates rotated clockwise ˜6 Ma and appears to have triggered formation of an evolving array of structures. We suggest that the paleo-Queen Charlotte fault which had defined this continental margin retreated northward as offshore distributed shear and the newly formed Revere Dellwood fault propagated to the northwest.

  10. Dynamic topography in subduction zones: insights from laboratory models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bajolet, Flora; Faccenna, Claudio; Funiciello, Francesca

    2014-05-01

    The topography in subduction zones can exhibit very complex patterns due to the variety of forces operating this setting. If we can deduce the theoretical isostatic value from density structure of the lithosphere, the effect of flexural bending and the dynamic component of topography are difficult to quantify. In this work, we attempt to measure and analyze the topography of the overriding plate during subduction compared to a pure shortening setting. We use analog models where the lithospheres are modeled by thin-sheet layers of silicone putty lying on low-viscosity syrup (asthenosphere). The model is shorten by a piston pushing an oceanic plate while a continental plate including a weak zone to localize the deformation is fixed. In one type of experiments, the oceanic plate bends and subducts underneath the continental one; in a second type the two plates are in contact without any trench, and thus simply shorten. The topography evolution is monitored with a laser-scanner. In the shortening model, the elevation increases progressively, especially in the weak zone, and is consistent with expected isostatic values. In the subduction model, the topography is characterized, from the piston to the back-wall, by a low elevation of the dense oceanic plate, a flexural bulge, the trench forming a deep depression, the highly elevated weak zone, and the continental upper plate of intermediate elevation. The topography of the upper plate is consistent with isostatic values for very early stages, but exhibits lower elevations than expected for later stages. For a same amount of shortening of the continental plate, the thickening is the same and the plate should have the same elevation in both types of models. However, comparing the topography at 20, 29 and 39% of shortening, we found that the weak zone is 0.4 to 0.6 mm lower when there is an active subduction. Theses values correspond to 2.6 to 4 km in nature. Although theses values are high, there are of the same order as

  11. Role of mantle flow in Nubia-Somalia plate divergence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stamps, D. S.; Iaffaldano, G.; Calais, E.

    2015-01-01

    Present-day continental extension along the East African Rift System (EARS) has often been attributed to diverging sublithospheric mantle flow associated with the African Superplume. This implies a degree of viscous coupling between mantle and lithosphere that remains poorly constrained. Recent advances in estimating present-day opening rates along the EARS from geodesy offer an opportunity to address this issue with geodynamic modeling of the mantle-lithosphere system. Here we use numerical models of the global mantle-plates coupled system to test the role of present-day mantle flow in Nubia-Somalia plate divergence across the EARS. The scenario yielding the best fit to geodetic observations is one where torques associated with gradients of gravitational potential energy stored in the African highlands are resisted by weak continental faults and mantle basal drag. These results suggest that shear tractions from diverging mantle flow play a minor role in present-day Nubia-Somalia divergence.

  12. Detachments of the subducted Indian continental lithosphere based on 3D finite-frequency tomographic images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liang, X.; Tian, X.; Wang, M.

    2017-12-01

    Indian plate collided with Eurasian plate at 60 Ma and there are about 3000 km crustal shortening since the continental-continental collision. At least one third of the total amount of crustal shortening between Indian and Eurasian plates could not be accounted by thickened Tibetan crust and surface erosion. It will need a combination of possible transfer of lower crust to the mantle by eclogitization and lateral extrusion. Based on the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary images beneath the Tibetan plateau, there is also at least the same amount deficit for lithospheric mantle subducted into upper/lower mantle or lateral extrusion with the crust. We have to recover a detailed Indian continental lithosphere image beneath the plateau in order to explain this deficit of mass budget. Combining the new teleseismic body waves recorded by SANDWICH passive seismic array with waveforms from several previous temporary seismic arrays, we carried out finite-frequency tomographic inversions to image three-dimensional velocity structures beneath southern and central Tibetan plateau to examine the possible image of subducted Indian lithosphere in the Tibetan upper mantle. We have recovered a continuous high velocity body in upper mantle and piece-wised high velocity anomalies in the mantle transition zone. Based on their geometry and relative locations, we interpreted these high velocity anomalies as the subducted and detached Indian lithosphere at different episodes of the plateau evolution. Detachments of the subducted Indian lithosphere should have a crucial impact on the volcanism activities and uplift history of the plateau.

  13. Study of southern CHAONAN sag lower continental slope basin deposition character in Northern South China Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tang, Y.

    2009-12-01

    Northern South China Sea Margin locates in Eurasian plate,Indian-Australia plate,Pacific Plates.The South China Sea had underwent a complicated tectonic evolution in Cenozoic.During rifting,the continental shelf and slope forms a series of Cenozoic sedimentary basins,including Qiongdongnan basin,Pearl River Mouth basin,Taixinan basin.These basins fill in thick Cenozoic fluviolacustrine facies,transitional facies,marine facies,abyssal facies sediment,recording the evolution history of South China Sea Margin rifting and ocean basin extending.The studies of tectonics and deposition of depression in the Southern Chaonan Sag of lower continental slope in the Norther South China Sea were dealt with,based on the sequence stratigraphy and depositional facies interpretation of seismic profiles acquired by cruises of“China and Germany Joint Study on Marine Geosciences in the South China Sea”and“The formation,evolution and key issues of important resources in China marginal sea",and combining with ODP 1148 cole and LW33-1-1 well.The free-air gravity anomaly of the break up of the continental and ocean appears comparatively low negative anomaly traps which extended in EW,it is the reflection of passive margin gravitational effect.Bouguer gravity anomaly is comparatively low which is gradient zone extended NE-SW.Magnetic anomaly lies in Magnetic Quiet Zone at the Northern Continental Margin of the South China Sea.The Cenozoic sediments of lower continental slope in Southern Chaonan Sag can be divided into five stratum interface:SB5.5,SB10.5,SB16.5,SB23.8 and Hg,their ages are of Pliocene-Quaternary,late Miocene,middle Miocene,early Miocene,paleogene.The tectonic evolution of low continental slope depressions can be divided into rifting,rifting-depression transitional and depression stages,while their depositional environments change from river to shallow marine and abyssa1,which results in different topography in different stages.The topographic evolvement in the study

  14. Remnants of Eoarchean continental crust derived from a subducted proto-arc.

    PubMed

    Ge, Rongfeng; Zhu, Wenbin; Wilde, Simon A; Wu, Hailin

    2018-02-01

    Eoarchean [3.6 to 4.0 billion years ago (Ga)] tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) is the major component of Earth's oldest remnant continental crust, thereby holding the key to understanding how continental crust originated and when plate tectonics started in the early Earth. TTGs are mostly generated by partial melting of hydrated mafic rocks at different depths, but whether this requires subduction remains enigmatic. Recent studies show that most Archean TTGs formed at relatively low pressures (≤1.5 GPa) and do not require subduction. We report a suite of newly discovered Eoarchean tonalitic gneisses dated at ~3.7 Ga from the Tarim Craton, northwestern China. These rocks are probably the oldest high-pressure TTGs so far documented worldwide. Thermodynamic and trace element modeling demonstrates that the parent magma may have been generated by water-fluxed partial melting of moderately enriched arc-like basalts at 1.8 to 1.9 GPa and 800° to 830°C, indicating an apparent geothermal gradient (400° to 450°C GPa -1 ) typical for hot subduction zones. They also locally record geochemical evidence for magma interaction with a mantle wedge. Accordingly, we propose that these high-pressure TTGs were generated by partial melting of a subducted proto-arc during arc accretion. Our model implies that modern-style plate tectonics was operative, at least locally, at ~3.7 Ga and was responsible for generating some of the oldest continental nuclei.

  15. Remnants of Eoarchean continental crust derived from a subducted proto-arc

    PubMed Central

    Ge, Rongfeng; Zhu, Wenbin; Wilde, Simon A.; Wu, Hailin

    2018-01-01

    Eoarchean [3.6 to 4.0 billion years ago (Ga)] tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) is the major component of Earth’s oldest remnant continental crust, thereby holding the key to understanding how continental crust originated and when plate tectonics started in the early Earth. TTGs are mostly generated by partial melting of hydrated mafic rocks at different depths, but whether this requires subduction remains enigmatic. Recent studies show that most Archean TTGs formed at relatively low pressures (≤1.5 GPa) and do not require subduction. We report a suite of newly discovered Eoarchean tonalitic gneisses dated at ~3.7 Ga from the Tarim Craton, northwestern China. These rocks are probably the oldest high-pressure TTGs so far documented worldwide. Thermodynamic and trace element modeling demonstrates that the parent magma may have been generated by water-fluxed partial melting of moderately enriched arc-like basalts at 1.8 to 1.9 GPa and 800° to 830°C, indicating an apparent geothermal gradient (400° to 450°C GPa−1) typical for hot subduction zones. They also locally record geochemical evidence for magma interaction with a mantle wedge. Accordingly, we propose that these high-pressure TTGs were generated by partial melting of a subducted proto-arc during arc accretion. Our model implies that modern-style plate tectonics was operative, at least locally, at ~3.7 Ga and was responsible for generating some of the oldest continental nuclei. PMID:29487901

  16. Plate tectonic regulation of global marine animal diversity

    PubMed Central

    Zaffos, Andrew; Finnegan, Seth

    2017-01-01

    Valentine and Moores [Valentine JW, Moores EM (1970) Nature 228:657–659] hypothesized that plate tectonics regulates global biodiversity by changing the geographic arrangement of continental crust, but the data required to fully test the hypothesis were not available. Here, we use a global database of marine animal fossil occurrences and a paleogeographic reconstruction model to test the hypothesis that temporal patterns of continental fragmentation have impacted global Phanerozoic biodiversity. We find a positive correlation between global marine invertebrate genus richness and an independently derived quantitative index describing the fragmentation of continental crust during supercontinental coalescence–breakup cycles. The observed positive correlation between global biodiversity and continental fragmentation is not readily attributable to commonly cited vagaries of the fossil record, including changing quantities of marine rock or time-variable sampling effort. Because many different environmental and biotic factors may covary with changes in the geographic arrangement of continental crust, it is difficult to identify a specific causal mechanism. However, cross-correlation indicates that the state of continental fragmentation at a given time is positively correlated with the state of global biodiversity for tens of millions of years afterward. There is also evidence to suggest that continental fragmentation promotes increasing marine richness, but that coalescence alone has only a small negative or stabilizing effect. Together, these results suggest that continental fragmentation, particularly during the Mesozoic breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea, has exerted a first-order control on the long-term trajectory of Phanerozoic marine animal diversity. PMID:28507147

  17. Petrology and age of volcanic-arc rocks from the continental margin of the Bering Sea: implications for Early Eocene relocation of plate boundaries

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Davis, A.S.; Pickthorn, L.-B.G.; Vallier, T.L.; Marlow, M. S.

    1989-01-01

    Eocene volcanic flow and dike rocks from the Beringian margin have arc characteristics, implying a convergent history for this region during the early Tertiary. Chemical and mineralogical compositions are similar to those of modern Aleutian-arc lavas. They also resemble volcanic-arc compositions from western mainland Alaska, although greater chemical diversity and a stronger continental influence are observed in the Alaskan mainland rocks. Early Eocene ages of 54.4-50.2 Ma for the Beringian samples are well constrained by conventional K-Ar ages of nine plagioclase separates and by concordant 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating and total-fusion experiments. A concordant U-Pb zircon age of 53 Ma for the quartz-diorite dike is in good agreement with the K-Ar data. Plate motion studies of the North Pacific Ocean indicate more northerly directed subduction prior to the Tertiary and a continuous belt of arc-type volcanism extending from Siberia, along the Beringian margin, into mainland Alaska. Around 56 Ma (chron 25-24), subduction changed to a more westerly direction and subduction-related volcanism ceased for most of mainland Alaska. The increasingly oblique angle of convergence should have ended subduction along the Beringian margin as well. However, consistent ages of 54-50 Ma indicate a final pulse in arc-type magmatism during this period of plate adjustment. -from Authors

  18. USArray Imaging of North American Continental Crust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, Xiaofei

    The layered structure and bulk composition of continental crust contains important clues about its history of mountain-building, about its magmatic evolution, and about dynamical processes that continue to happen now. Geophysical and geological features such as gravity anomalies, surface topography, lithospheric strength and the deformation that drives the earthquake cycle are all directly related to deep crustal chemistry and the movement of materials through the crust that alter that chemistry. The North American continental crust records billions of years of history of tectonic and dynamical changes. The western U.S. is currently experiencing a diverse array of dynamical processes including modification by the Yellowstone hotspot, shortening and extension related to Pacific coast subduction and transform boundary shear, and plate interior seismicity driven by flow of the lower crust and upper mantle. The midcontinent and eastern U.S. is mostly stable but records a history of ancient continental collision and rifting. EarthScope's USArray seismic deployment has collected massive amounts of data across the entire United States that illuminates the deep continental crust, lithosphere and deeper mantle. This study uses EarthScope data to investigate the thickness and composition of the continental crust, including properties of its upper and lower layers. One-layer and two-layer models of crustal properties exhibit interesting relationships to the history of North American continental formation and recent tectonic activities that promise to significantly improve our understanding of the deep processes that shape the Earth's surface. Model results show that seismic velocity ratios are unusually low in the lower crust under the western U.S. Cordillera. Further modeling of how chemistry affects the seismic velocity ratio at temperatures and pressures found in the lower crust suggests that low seismic velocity ratios occur when water is mixed into the mineral matrix

  19. Large-scale subduction of continental crust implied by India-Asia mass-balance calculation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ingalls, Miquela; Rowley, David B.; Currie, Brian; Colman, Albert S.

    2016-11-01

    Continental crust is buoyant compared with its oceanic counterpart and resists subduction into the mantle. When two continents collide, the mass balance for the continental crust is therefore assumed to be maintained. Here we use estimates of pre-collisional crustal thickness and convergence history derived from plate kinematic models to calculate the crustal mass balance in the India-Asia collisional system. Using the current best estimates for the timing of the diachronous onset of collision between India and Eurasia, we find that about 50% of the pre-collisional continental crustal mass cannot be accounted for in the crustal reservoir preserved at Earth's surface today--represented by the mass preserved in the thickened crust that makes up the Himalaya, Tibet and much of adjacent Asia, as well as southeast Asian tectonic escape and exported eroded sediments. This implies large-scale subduction of continental crust during the collision, with a mass equivalent to about 15% of the total oceanic crustal subduction flux since 56 million years ago. We suggest that similar contamination of the mantle by direct input of radiogenic continental crustal materials during past continent-continent collisions is reflected in some ocean crust and ocean island basalt geochemistry. The subduction of continental crust may therefore contribute significantly to the evolution of mantle geochemistry.

  20. Paleomagnetic Constraints on the Tectonic History of the Mesozoic Ophiolite and Arc Terranes of Western Mexico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boschman, L.; Van Hinsbergen, D. J. J.; Langereis, C. G.; Molina-Garza, R. S.; Kimbrough, D. L.

    2017-12-01

    The North American Cordillera has been shaped by a long history of accretion of arcs and other buoyant crustal fragments to the western margin of the North American Plate since the Early Mesozoic. Accretion of these terranes resulted from a complex tectonic history interpreted to include episodes of both intra-oceanic subduction within the Panthalassa/Pacific Ocean, as well as continental margin subduction along the western margin of North America. Western Mexico, at the southern end of the Cordillera, contains a Late Cretaceous-present day long-lived continental margin arc, as well as Mesozoic arc and SSZ ophiolite assemblages of which the origin is under debate. Interpretations of the origin of these subduction-related rock assemblages vary from far-travelled exotic intra-oceanic island arc character to autochthonous or parautochthonous extended continental margin origin. We present new paleomagnetic data from four localities: (1) the Norian SSZ Vizcaíno peninsula Ophiolite; (2) its Lower Jurassic sedimentary cover; and (3) Barremian and (4) Aptian sediments derived from the Guerrero arc. The data show that the Mexican ophiolite and arc terranes have a paleolatitudinal plate motion history that is equal to that of the North American continent. This suggests that these rock assemblages were part of the overriding plate and were perhaps only separated from the North American continent by temporal fore- or back-arc spreading. These spreading phases resulted in the temporal existence of tectonic plates between the North American and Farallon Plates, and upon closure of the basins, in the growth of the North American continent without addition of any far-travelled exotic terranes.

  1. Why does continental convergence stop

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hynes, A.

    1985-01-01

    Convergence between India and Asia slowed at 45 Ma when they collided, but continues today. This requires that substantial proportions of the Indian and/or Asian lithospheric mantle are still being subducted. The resulting slab-pull is probably comparable with that from complete lithospheric slabs and may promote continued continental convergence even after collision. Since descending lithospheric slabs are present at all collision zones at the time of collision such continued convergence may be general after continental collisions. It may cease only when there is a major (global) plate reorganization which results in new forces on the convergent continents that may counteractmore » the slab-pull. These inferences may be tested on the late Paleozoic collision between Gondwanaland and Laurasia. This is generally considered to have been complete by mid-Permian time (250 Ma). However, this may be only the time of docking of Gondwanaland with North America, not that of the cessation of convergence. Paleomagnetic polar-wander paths for the Gondwanide continents exhibit consistently greater latitudinal shifts from 250 Ma to 200 Ma than those of Laurasia when corrected for post-Triassic drift, suggesting that convergence continued through late Permian well into the Triassic. It may have been accommodated by crustal thickening under what is now the US Coastal Plain, or by strike-slip faulting. Convergence may have ceased only when Pangea began to fragment again, in which case the cause for its cessation may be related to the cause of continental fragmentation.« less

  2. 3-D Numerical Modelling of Oblique Continental Collisions with ASPECT

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karatun, L.; Pysklywec, R.

    2017-12-01

    Among the fundamental types of tectonic plate boundaries, continent-continent collision is least well understood. Deformation of the upper and middle crustal layers can be inferred from surface structures and geophysical imaging, but the fate of lower crustal rocks and mantle lithosphere is not well resolved. Previous research suggests that shortening of mantle lithosphere generally may be occurring by either: 1) a distributed thickening with a formation of a Raleigh-Tailor (RT) type instability (possibly accompanied with lithospheric folding); or 2) plate-like subduction, which can be one- or two-sided, with or without delamination and slab break-off; a combination of both could be taking place too. 3-D features of the orogens such as along-trench material transfer, bounding subduction zones can influence the evolution of the collision zone significantly. The current study was inspired by South Island of New Zealand - a young collision system where a block of continental crust is being shortened by the relative Australian-Pacific plate motion. The collision segment of the plate boundary is relatively small ( 800 km), and is bounded by oppositely verging subduction zones to the North and South. Here, we present results of 3-D forward numerical modelling of continental collision to investigate some of these processes. To conduct the simulations, we used ASPECT - a highly parallel community-developed code based on the Finite Element method. Model setup for three different sets of models featured 2-D vertical across strike, 3-D with periodic front and back walls, and 3-D with open front and back walls, with velocities prescribed on the left and right faces. We explored the importance of values of convergent velocity, strike-slip velocity and their ratio, which defines the resulting velocity direction relative to the plate boundary (obliquity). We found that higher strike-slip motion promotes strain localization, weakens the lithosphere close to the plate boundary and

  3. Is Active Tectonics on Madagascar Consistent with Somalian Plate Kinematics?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stamps, D. S.; Kreemer, C.; Rajaonarison, T. A.

    2017-12-01

    The East African Rift System (EARS) actively breaks apart the Nubian and Somalian tectonic plates. Madagascar finds itself at the easternmost boundary of the EARS, between the Rovuma block, Lwandle plate, and the Somalian plate. Earthquake focal mechanisms and N-S oriented fault structures on the continental island suggest that Madagascar is experiencing east-west oriented extension. However, some previous plate kinematic studies indicate minor compressional strains across Madagascar. This inconsistency may be due to uncertainties in Somalian plate rotation. Past estimates of the rotation of the Somalian plate suffered from a poor coverage of GPS stations, but some important new stations are now available for a re-evaluation. In this work, we revise the kinematics of the Somalian plate. We first calculate a new GPS velocity solution and perform block kinematic modeling to evaluate the Somalian plate rotation. We then estimate new Somalia-Rovuma and Somalia-Lwandle relative motions across Madagascar and evaluate whether they are consistent with GPS measurements made on the island itself, as well as with other kinematic indicators.

  4. SubductionGenerator: A program to build three-dimensional plate configurations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jadamec, M. A.; Kreylos, O.; Billen, M. I.; Turcotte, D. L.; Knepley, M.

    2016-12-01

    Geologic, geochemical, and geophysical data from subduction zones indicate that a two-dimensional paradigm for plate tectonic boundaries is no longer adequate to explain the observations. Many open source software packages exist to simulate the viscous flow of the Earth, such as the dynamics of subduction. However, there are few open source programs that generate the three-dimensional model input. We present an open source software program, SubductionGenerator, that constructs the three-dimensional initial thermal structure and plate boundary structure. A 3D model mesh and tectonic configuration are constructed based on a user specified model domain, slab surface, seafloor age grid file, and shear zone surface. The initial 3D thermal structure for the plates and mantle within the model domain is then constructed using a series of libraries within the code that use a half-space cooling model, plate cooling model, and smoothing functions. The code maps the initial 3D thermal structure and the 3D plate interface onto the mesh nodes using a series of libraries including a k-d tree to increase efficiency. In this way, complicated geometries and multiple plates with variable thickness can be built onto a multi-resolution finite element mesh with a 3D thermal structure and 3D isotropic shear zones oriented at any angle with respect to the grid. SubductionGenerator is aimed at model set-ups more representative of the earth, which can be particularly challenging to construct. Examples include subduction zones where the physical attributes vary in space, such as slab dip and temperature, and overriding plate temperature and thickness. Thus, the program can been used to construct initial tectonic configurations for triple junctions and plate boundary corners.

  5. Tracking the India-Arabia Transform Plate Boundary during Paleogene Times.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodriguez, M.; Huchon, P.; Chamot-Rooke, N. R. A.; Fournier, M.; Delescluse, M.

    2014-12-01

    The Zagros and Himalaya mountain belts are the most prominent reliefs built by continental collision. They respectively result from Arabia and India collision with Eurasia. Convergence motions at mountain belts induced most of plate reorganization events in the Indian Ocean during the Cenozoic. Although critical for paleogeographic reconstructions, the way relative motion between Arabia and India was accommodated prior to the formation of the Sheba ridge in the Gulf of Aden remains poorly understood. The India-Arabia plate-boundary belongs to the category of long-lived (~90-Ma) oceanic transform faults, thus providing a good case study to investigate the role of major kinematic events over the structural evolution of a long-lived transform system. A seismic dataset crossing the Owen Fracture Zone, the Owen Basin, and the Oman Margin was acquired to track the past locations of the India-Arabia plate boundary. We highlight the composite age of the Owen Basin basement, made of Paleocene oceanic crust drilled on its eastern part, and composed of pre-Maastrichtian continental crust overlaid by Early Paleocene ophiolites on its western side. A major transform fault system crossing the Owen Basin juxtaposed these two slivers of lithosphere of different ages, and controlled the uplift of marginal ridges along the Oman Margin. This transform system deactivated ~40 Ma ago, coeval with the onset of ultra-slow spreading at the Carlsberg Ridge. The transform boundary then jumped to the edge of the present-day Owen Ridge during the Late Eocene-Oligocene period, before seafloor spreading began at the Sheba Ridge. This migration of the plate boundary involved the transfer of a part of the Indian oceanic lithosphere accreted at the Carlsberg Ridge to the Arabian plate. The episode of plate transfer at the India-Arabia plate boundary during the Late Eocene-Oligocene interval is synchronous with a global plate reorganization event corresponding to geological events at the Zagros and

  6. Dynamics of continental rift propagation: the end-member modes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Wijk, J. W.; Blackman, D. K.

    2005-01-01

    An important aspect of continental rifting is the progressive variation of deformation style along the rift axis during rift propagation. In regions of rift propagation, specifically transition zones from continental rifting to seafloor spreading, it has been observed that contrasting styles of deformation along the axis of rift propagation are bounded by shear zones. The focus of this numerical modeling study is to look at dynamic processes near the tip of a weak zone in continental lithosphere. More specifically, this study explores how modeled rift behavior depends on the value of rheological parameters of the crust. A three-dimensional finite element model is used to simulate lithosphere deformation in an extensional regime. The chosen approach emphasizes understanding the tectonic forces involved in rift propagation. Dependent on plate strength, two end-member modes are distinguished. The stalled rift phase is characterized by absence of rift propagation for a certain amount of time. Extension beyond the edge of the rift tip is no longer localized but occurs over a very wide zone, which requires a buildup of shear stresses near the rift tip and significant intra-plate deformation. This stage represents a situation in which a rift meets a locked zone. Localized deformation changes to distributed deformation in the locked zone, and the two different deformation styles are balanced by a shear zone oriented perpendicular to the trend. In the alternative rift propagation mode, rift propagation is a continuous process when the initial crust is weak. The extension style does not change significantly along the rift axis and lengthening of the rift zone is not accompanied by a buildup of shear stresses. Model predictions address aspects of previously unexplained rift evolution in the Laptev Sea, and its contrast with the tectonic evolution of, for example, the Gulf of Aden and Woodlark Basin.

  7. Stress rotation across the Cascadia megathrust requires a weak subduction plate boundary at seismogenic depths

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Duo; McGuire, Jeffrey J.; Liu, Yajing; Hardebeck, Jeanne L.

    2018-03-01

    The Mendocino Triple Junction region is the most seismically active part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The northward moving Pacific plate collides with the subducting Gorda plate causing intense internal deformation within it. Here we show that the stress field rotates rapidly with depth across the thrust interface from a strike-slip regime within the subducting plate, reflecting the Pacific plate collision, to a thrust regime in the overriding plate. We utilize a dense focal mechanism dataset, including observations from the Cascadia Initiative ocean bottom seismograph experiment, to constrain the stress orientations. To quantify the implications of this rotation for the strength of the plate boundary, we designed an inversion that solves for the absolute stress tensors in a three-layer model subject to assumptions about the strength of the subducting mantle. Our results indicate that the shear stress on the plate boundary fault is likely no more than about ∼50 MPa at ∼20 km depth. Regardless of the assumed mantle strength, we infer a relatively weak megathrust fault with an effective friction coefficient of ∼0 to 0.2 at seismogenic depths. Such a low value for the effective friction coefficient requires a combination of high fluid pressures and/or fault-zone minerals with low inherent friction in the region where a great earthquake is expected in Cascadia.

  8. Stress rotation across the Cascadia megathrust requires a weak subduction plate boundary at seismogenic depths

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Li, Duo; McGuire, Jeffrey J.; Liu, Yajing; Hardebeck, Jeanne L.

    2018-01-01

    The Mendocino Triple Junction region is the most seismically active part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The northward moving Pacific plate collides with the subducting Gorda plate causing intense internal deformation within it. Here we show that the stress field rotates rapidly with depth across the thrust interface from a strike-slip regime within the subducting plate, reflecting the Pacific plate collision, to a thrust regime in the overriding plate. We utilize a dense focal mechanism dataset, including observations from the Cascadia Initiative ocean bottom seismograph experiment, to constrain the stress orientations. To quantify the implications of this rotation for the strength of the plate boundary, we designed an inversion that solves for the absolute stress tensors in a three-layer model subject to assumptions about the strength of the subducting mantle. Our results indicate that the shear stress on the plate boundary fault is likely no more than about ∼50 MPa at ∼20 km depth. Regardless of the assumed mantle strength, we infer a relatively weak megathrust fault with an effective friction coefficient of ∼0 to 0.2 at seismogenic depths. Such a low value for the effective friction coefficient requires a combination of high fluid pressures and/or fault-zone minerals with low inherent friction in the region where a great earthquake is expected in Cascadia.

  9. Impacts of continental arcs on global carbon cycling and climate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, C. T.; Jiang, H.; Carter, L.; Dasgupta, R.; Cao, W.; Lackey, J. S.; Lenardic, A.; Barnes, J.; McKenzie, R.

    2017-12-01

    On myr timescales, climatic variability is tied to variations in atmospheric CO2, which in turn is driven by geologic sources of CO2 and modulated by the efficiency of chemical weathering and carbonate precipitation (sinks). Long-term variability in CO2 has largely been attributed to changes in mid-ocean ridge inputs or the efficiency of global weathering. For example, the Cretaceous greenhouse is thought to be related to enhanced oceanic crust production, while the late Cenozoic icehouse is attributed to enhanced chemical weathering associated with the Himalayan orogeny. Here, we show that continental arcs may play a more important role in controlling climate, both in terms of sources and sinks. Continental arcs differ from island arcs and mid-ocean ridges in that the continental plate through which arc magmas pass may contain large amounts of sedimentary carbonate, accumulated over the history of the continent. Interaction of arc magmas with crustal carbonates via assimilation, reaction or heating can significantly add to the mantle-sourced CO2 flux. Detrital zircons and global mapping of basement rocks shows that the length of continental arcs in the Cretaceous was more than twice that in the mid-Cenozoic; maps also show many of these arcs intersected crustal carbonates. The increased length of continental arc magmatism coincided with increased oceanic spreading rates, placing convergent margins into compression, which favors continental arcs. Around 50 Ma, however, nearly all the continental arcs in Eurasia and North America terminated as India collided with Eurasia and the western Pacific rolled back, initiating the Marianas-Tonga-Kermadec intra-oceanic subduction complex and possibly leading to a decrease in global CO2 production. Meanwhile, extinct continental arcs continued to erode, resulting in regionally enhanced chemical weathering unsupported by magmatic fluxes of CO2. Continental arcs, during their magmatic lifetimes, are thus a source of CO2, driving

  10. Cretaceous plate interaction during the formation of the Colombian plateau, Northandean margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kammer, Andreas; Piraquive, Alejandro; Díaz, Sebastián

    2015-04-01

    The Cretaceous subduction cycle at the Northandean margin ends with an accretionary event that welds the plateau rocks of the present Western Cordillera to the continental margin. A suture between plateau and rock associations of the continental margin is well exposed at the western border of the Central Cordillera, but overprinted by intense block tectonics. Analyzed in detail, its evolution tracks an increased coupling between lower and upper plate, as may be accounted for by the following stages: 1) The Cretaceous plateau suite records at its onset passive margin conditions, as it encroaches on the continental margin and accounts for an extensional event that triggered the emplacement of ultramafic and mafic igneous rock suites along major faults. 2) An early subduction stage of a still moderate plate coupling is documented by the formation of a magmatic arc in an extensional setting that may have been prompted by slab retreat. Convergence direction was oblique, as attested the transfer of strike-slip displacements to the forearc region. 3) A phase of strong plate interaction entailed the delamination of narrow crustal flakes and their entrainment to depths below the petrologic Moho, as evidenced by their present association to serpentinites in a setting that bears characteristics of a subduction channel. 4) During the final collisional stage deformation is transferred to the lower plate, where the stacking of imbricate sheets, combined with their erosional unloading, led to the formation of an antiformal bulge that fed a foreland basin. - The life time of this Cretaceous subduction cycle was strictly synchronous to the construction of the Colombian plateau. With the final collisional stage magmatic activity vanished. This coincidence incites to explore a relationship between plume activity and subduction.

  11. From a collage of microplates to stable continental crust - an example from Precambrian Europe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Korja, Annakaisa

    2013-04-01

    Svecofennian orogen (2.0-1.7 Ga) comprises the oldest undispersed orogenic belt on Baltica and Eurasian plate. Svecofennian orogenic belt evolved from a series of short-lived terrane accretions around Baltica's Archean nucleus during the formation of the Precambrian Nuna supercontinent. Geological and geophysical datasets indicate W-SW growth of Baltica with NE-ward dipping subduction zones. The data suggest a long-lived retreating subduction system in the southwestern parts whereas in the northern and central parts the northeasterly transport of continental fragments or microplates towards the continental nucleus is also documented. The geotectonic environment resembles that of the early stages of the Alpine-Himalayan or Indonesian orogenic system, in which dispersed continental fragments, arcs and microplates have been attached to the Eurasian plate margin. Thus the Svecofennian orogeny can be viewed as proxy for the initial stages of an internal orogenic system. Svecofennian orogeny is a Paleoproterozoic analogue of an evolved orogenic system where terrane accretion is followed by lateral spreading or collapse induced by change in the plate architecture. The exposed parts are composed of granitoid intrusions as well as highly deformed supracrustal units. Supracrustal rocks have been metamorphosed in LP-HT conditions in either paleo-lower-upper crust or paleo-upper-middle crust. Large scale seismic reflection profiles (BABEL and FIRE) across Baltica image the crust as a collage of terranes suggesting that the bedrock has been formed and thickened in sequential accretions. The profiles also image three fold layering of the thickened crust (>55 km) to transect old terrane boundaries, suggesting that the over-thickened bedrock structures have been rearranged in post-collisional spreading and/or collapse processes. The middle crust displays typical large scale flow structures: herringbone and anticlinal ramps, rooted onto large scale listric surfaces also suggestive

  12. Supercontinents, mantle dynamics and plate tectonics: A perspective based on conceptual vs. numerical models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoshida, Masaki; Santosh, M.

    2011-03-01

    The periodic assembly and dispersal of supercontinents through the history of the Earth had considerable impact on mantle dynamics and surface processes. Here we synthesize some of the conceptual models on supercontinent amalgamation and disruption and combine it with recent information from numerical studies to provide a unified approach in understanding Wilson Cycle and supercontinent cycle. Plate tectonic models predict that superdownwelling along multiple subduction zones might provide an effective mechanism to pull together dispersed continental fragments into a closely packed assembly. The recycled subducted material that accumulates at the mantle transition zone and sinks down into the core-mantle boundary (CMB) provides the potential fuel for the generation of plumes and superplumes which ultimately fragment the supercontinent. Geological evidence related to the disruption of two major supercontinents (Columbia and Gondwana) attest to the involvement of plumes. The re-assembly of dispersed continental fragments after the breakup of a supercontinent occurs through complex processes involving 'introversion', 'extroversion' or a combination of both, with the closure of the intervening ocean occurring through Pacific-type or Atlantic-type processes. The timescales of the assembly and dispersion of supercontinents have varied through the Earth history, and appear to be closely linked with the processes and duration of superplume genesis. The widely held view that the volume of continental crust has increased over time has been challenged in recent works and current models propose that plate tectonics creates and destroys Earth's continental crust with more crust being destroyed than created. The creation-destruction balance changes over a supercontinent cycle, with a higher crustal growth through magmatic influx during supercontinent break-up as compared to the tectonic erosion and sediment-trapped subduction in convergent margins associated with supercontinent

  13. A change in the geodynamics of continental growth 3 billion years ago.

    PubMed

    Dhuime, Bruno; Hawkesworth, Chris J; Cawood, Peter A; Storey, Craig D

    2012-03-16

    Models for the growth of continental crust rely on knowing the balance between the generation of new crust and the reworking of old crust throughout Earth's history. The oxygen isotopic composition of zircons, for which uranium-lead and hafnium isotopic data provide age constraints, is a key archive of crustal reworking. We identified systematic variations in hafnium and oxygen isotopes in zircons of different ages that reveal the relative proportions of reworked crust and of new crust through time. Growth of continental crust appears to have been a continuous process, albeit at variable rates. A marked decrease in the rate of crustal growth at ~3 billion years ago may be linked to the onset of subduction-driven plate tectonics.

  14. Morphotectonics of Sea of Marmara: A Basin on North Anatolian Continental Transform Plate Boundary

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Çaǧatay, M. Namık; Uçarkuş, Gülsen; Eriş, K. Kadir; Henry, Pierre; Geli, Louis; Gasperini, Luca

    2017-04-01

    The Sea of Marmara is located the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), a continental transform plate boundary between the Eurasian and Anatolian-Aegean plates. The area is also under the influence of the N-S extensional Aegean regime. The 100 km-wide NAF zone in the Marmara region accommodates about 25 mm/yr dextral motion, with 70-80% of this displacement taking place along the northern branch of the NAF, the Main Marmara Fault in the Sea of Marmara. The main morphological elements of the Sea of Marmara consists of less than 100 m deep shelf areas, 1250 m three deep sub-basins (Tekirdaǧ, Central and Çınarcık) and two NE-trending pressure highs (Western and Central) separating the deep subbasins. The other elements are 800 m deep Kumburgaz Basin on the Central High, 400 m deep İmralı Basin in the south, and 100-200 m deep, E-W oriented gulfs or bays. The slopes connecting the shelf to the deep basins have slope angles ranging between 6° and 29°, and are incised by submarine canyons and marked by landslides scars. The basins have accumulated up to 6 km thick sediments. They are subsiding at a rate 5-6 mm/year and accumulating sediments at rates of 1-3 mm/yr over the last 15 ka, with the rates for the glacial periods being the 2-3 times that for interglacials. The sedimentation rates over the highs range between 0.2 and 0.4 mm/yr over the last 70 ka. The morphology of the Sea of Marmara is controlled by the NAF activity that was in turn guided a complex basement structure in the region. The basement of the Sea of Marmara region consists of various micro-continents (Istanbul Zone and Rhodope-Pontide and Sakarya continents), ophiolitic suture zones and the hydrocarbon bearing Eocene-Middle Miocene Thrace Basin on the southern margin of Rhodope-Pontide continent. After closure of the Intra-Pontide Ocean and the collision of the Sakarya and Rhodope-Pontide continents during the Oligocene-Early Miocene, the region was uplifted, and subjected to peneplanation during the

  15. Along-strike Translation of a Fossil Slab Beneath California (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Forsyth, D. W.

    2013-12-01

    There are three places where subduction ceased before a spreading ridge was consumed at a trench, leaving behind remnant microplates that were incorporated into the non-subducting oceanic plate. In the cases of the Phoenix plate off the Antarctic peninsula and the Guadalupe and Magdalena microplates off Baja California, fossil slabs still attached to the microplates have been traced into the asthenosphere using seismological techniques. Apparently deep subducting plates can tear off from the surface plate leaving behind fossil pieces of young oceanic lithosphere extending 100 km or more into the asthenosphere. The young slab fragments may be close to neutral buoyancy with their asthenospheric surroundings. In the case of the Monterey microplate off central California, now part of the Pacific plate, oceanic crust has been traced beneath the continental margin using active source seismology. Nicholson et al. (1994) suggested that the translation of the Monterey microplate under North America dragged bits of the overriding plate with it, causing the rotation of the Transverse Ranges in southern California. They also suggested that the San Andreas initiated as a low angle fault between the overriding North American plate and the subducted Monterey plate. There is a gap in coastal, post-subduction volcanic activity opposite the microplate, perhaps because a slab window never formed. A steeply dipping seismic anomaly, the Isabella anomaly, also lies opposite the microplate, probably indicating the continuation of the Monterey slab deep into the asthenosphere. Between the Isabella anomaly and the surface remnants of the Monterey microplate lies the aseismic, creeping section of the San Andreas fault, which we speculate may be caused by the migration of fluids from the subducted plate. The Monterey case differs from the Phoenix and Guadalupe cases in that the hypothesized fossil slab lies beneath the North American plate, which is translating relative to the Pacific

  16. Emergence of silicic continents as the lower crust peels off on a hot plate-tectonic Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chowdhury, Priyadarshi; Gerya, Taras; Chakraborty, Sumit

    2017-09-01

    The rock record and geochemical evidence indicate that continental recycling has been occurring since the early history of the Earth. The stabilization of felsic continents in place of Earth's early mafic crust about 3.0 to 2.0 billion years ago, perhaps due to the initiation of plate tectonics, implies widespread destruction of mafic crust during this time interval. However, the physical mechanisms of such intense recycling on a hotter, (late) Archaean and presumably plate-tectonic Earth remain largely unknown. Here we use thermomechanical modelling to show that extensive recycling via lower crustal peeling-off (delamination but not eclogitic dripping) during continent-continent convergence was near ubiquitous during the late Archaean to early Proterozoic. We propose that such destruction of the early mafic crust, together with felsic magmatism, may have caused both the emergence of silicic continents and their subsequent isostatic rise, possibly above the sea level. Such changes in the continental character have been proposed to influence the Great Oxidation Event and, therefore, peeling-off plate tectonics could be the geodynamic trigger for this event. A transition to the slab break-off controlled syn-orogenic recycling occurred as the Earth aged and cooled, leading to reduced recycling and enhanced preservation of the continental crust of present-day composition.

  17. The Rule of Threes: three factors that triple the likelihood of families overriding first person consent for organ donation in the UK

    PubMed Central

    Hopkinson, Cathy; Hudson, Cara; Murphy, Paul; Gardiner, Dale; McGowan, Olive; Miller, Cathy

    2017-01-01

    Between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2015, 263 of the 2244 families in the UK whose loved ones had registered to donate organs for transplantation after their death on the NHS Organ Donor Register chose to override this decision; an override rate of 11.7%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to data relating to various aspects of the family approach in order to identify factors associated with such overrides. The factors associated with family overrides were failure to involve the Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation in the family approach (odds ratio 3.0), donation after circulatory death (odds ratio 2.7) and Black, Asian or Minority Ethnicity (odds ratio 2.7). This highlights the need to further engage with these groups in exploring donation as an end of life choice, and suggests that there may be, from the perspective of the family, fundamental differences between donation after brainstem death and circulatory death. It further adds to the body of data linking involvement of the Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation in the family approach to improved UK consent rates.

  18. The Rule of Threes: three factors that triple the likelihood of families overriding first person consent for organ donation in the UK.

    PubMed

    Morgan, James; Hopkinson, Cathy; Hudson, Cara; Murphy, Paul; Gardiner, Dale; McGowan, Olive; Miller, Cathy

    2018-05-01

    Between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2015, 263 of the 2244 families in the UK whose loved ones had registered to donate organs for transplantation after their death on the NHS Organ Donor Register chose to override this decision; an override rate of 11.7%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to data relating to various aspects of the family approach in order to identify factors associated with such overrides. The factors associated with family overrides were failure to involve the Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation in the family approach (odds ratio 3.0), donation after circulatory death (odds ratio 2.7) and Black, Asian or Minority Ethnicity (odds ratio 2.7). This highlights the need to further engage with these groups in exploring donation as an end of life choice, and suggests that there may be, from the perspective of the family, fundamental differences between donation after brainstem death and circulatory death. It further adds to the body of data linking involvement of the Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation in the family approach to improved UK consent rates.

  19. Formation of Continental Fragments: The Tamayo Bank, Gulf of California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Wijk, J.; Abera, R.; Axen, G. J.

    2015-12-01

    Potential field data are used to construct a two-dimensional crustal model along a profile through the Tamayo Trough and Bank in the Gulf of California. The model is constrained by seismic reflection and refraction data, and field observations. The potential field data do not fit a model where the crust of the Tamayo trough is continental, but they fit well with a model where the Tamayo trough crust is oceanic. This implies that the Tamayo Bank is entirely bounded by oceanic crust and is a microcontinent. The oceanic crust of the Tamayo trough that separates the Tamayo Bank from the mainland of Mexico is thin (~4 km), so oceanic spreading was probably magma-starved before it ceased. This led us to come up with a model that explains the formation of microcontinents that are smaller in size and are not found in the proximity of hotspots. At first, seafloor spreading commences following continental breakup. When the magma supply to the ridge slows down, the plate boundary strengthens. Hence, the ridge may be abandoned while tectonic extension begins elsewhere, or slow spreading may continue while a new ridge starts to develop. The old spreading ridge becomes extinct. An asymmetric ocean basin forms if the ridge jumps within oceanic lithosphere; a microcontinent forms if the ridge jumps into a continental margin. This model for formation of continental fragments is applicable to other regions as well, eliminating the need of mantle plume impingement to facilitate rifting of a young continental margin and microcontinent formation.

  20. Subducting plate geology in three great earthquake ruptures of the western Alaska margin, Kodiak to Unimak

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    von Huene, Roland E.; Miller, John J.; Weinrebe, Wilhelm

    2012-01-01

    Three destructive earthquakes along the Alaska subduction zone sourced transoceanic tsunamis during the past 70 years. Since it is reasoned that past rupture areas might again source tsunamis in the future, we studied potential asperities and barriers in the subduction zone by examining Quaternary Gulf of Alaska plate history, geophysical data, and morphology. We relate the aftershock areas to subducting lower plate relief and dissimilar materials in the seismogenic zone in the 1964 Kodiak and adjacent 1938 Semidi Islands earthquake segments. In the 1946 Unimak earthquake segment, the exposed lower plate seafloor lacks major relief that might organize great earthquake rupture. However, the upper plate contains a deep transverse-trending basin and basement ridges associated with the Eocene continental Alaska convergent margin transition to the Aleutian island arc. These upper plate features are sufficiently large to have affected rupture propagation. In addition, massive slope failure in the Unimak area may explain the local 42-m-high 1946 tsunami runup. Although Quaternary geologic and tectonic processes included accretion to form a frontal prism, the study of seismic images, samples, and continental slope physiography shows a previous history of tectonic erosion. Implied asperities and barriers in the seismogenic zone could organize future great earthquake rupture.

  1. Multi-Agent Simulations of Earth's Dynamics: Towards a Virtual Laboratory for Plate Tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grigne, C.; Combes, M.; Tisseau, C.; LeYaouanq, S.; Parenthoen, M.; Tisseau, J.

    2012-12-01

    MACMA (Multi-Agent Convective MAntle) is a new tool developed at Laboratoire Domaines Océaniques (UMR CNRS 6538) and CERV-LabSTICC (Centre Européen de Réalité Virtuelle, UMR CNRS 6285) to simulate evolutive plates tectonics and mantle convection in a 2-D cylindrical geometry (Combes et al., 2012). In this approach, ridges, subduction zones, continents and convective cells are agents, whose behavior is controlled by analytical and phenomenological laws. These agents are autonomous entities which collect information from their environment and interact with each other. The dynamics of the system is mainly based on a force balance on each plate, that accounts for slab pull, ridge push, bending dissipation and viscous convective drag. Insulating continents are accounted for. Tectonic processes such as trench migration, plate suturing or continental breakup are controlled by explicit parameterizations. A heat balance is used to compute Earth's thermal evolution as a function of seafloor age distribution. We thereby obtain an evolutive system where the geometry and the number of tectonic plates are not imposed but emerge naturally from its dynamical history. Our approach has a very low computational cost and allows us to study the effect of a wide range of input parameters on the long-term thermal evolution of the Earth. MACMA can thus be seen as a 'plate tectonics virtual laboratory'. We can test not only the effect of input parameters, such as mantle initial temperature and viscosity, initial plate tectonics configuration, number and geometry of continents etc., but also study the effect of the analytical and empirical rules that we are using to describe the system. These rules can be changed at any time, and MACMA is an evolutive tool that can easily integrate new behavioral laws. Even poorly understood processes, that cannot be accounted for with differential equations, can be studied with this virtual laboratory. For Earth-like input parameters, MACMA yields

  2. Continental crust formation on early Earth controlled by intrusive magmatism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rozel, A. B.; Golabek, G. J.; Jain, C.; Tackley, P. J.; Gerya, T.

    2017-05-01

    The global geodynamic regime of early Earth, which operated before the onset of plate tectonics, remains contentious. As geological and geochemical data suggest hotter Archean mantle temperature and more intense juvenile magmatism than in the present-day Earth, two crust-mantle interaction modes differing in melt eruption efficiency have been proposed: the Io-like heat-pipe tectonics regime dominated by volcanism and the “Plutonic squishy lid” tectonics regime governed by intrusive magmatism, which is thought to apply to the dynamics of Venus. Both tectonics regimes are capable of producing primordial tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) continental crust but lithospheric geotherms and crust production rates as well as proportions of various TTG compositions differ greatly, which implies that the heat-pipe and Plutonic squishy lid hypotheses can be tested using natural data. Here we investigate the creation of primordial TTG-like continental crust using self-consistent numerical models of global thermochemical convection associated with magmatic processes. We show that the volcanism-dominated heat-pipe tectonics model results in cold crustal geotherms and is not able to produce Earth-like primordial continental crust. In contrast, the Plutonic squishy lid tectonics regime dominated by intrusive magmatism results in hotter crustal geotherms and is capable of reproducing the observed proportions of various TTG rocks. Using a systematic parameter study, we show that the typical modern eruption efficiency of less than 40 per cent leads to the production of the expected amounts of the three main primordial crustal compositions previously reported from field data (low-, medium- and high-pressure TTG). Our study thus suggests that the pre-plate-tectonics Archean Earth operated globally in the Plutonic squishy lid regime rather than in an Io-like heat-pipe regime.

  3. Continental crust formation on early Earth controlled by intrusive magmatism.

    PubMed

    Rozel, A B; Golabek, G J; Jain, C; Tackley, P J; Gerya, T

    2017-05-18

    The global geodynamic regime of early Earth, which operated before the onset of plate tectonics, remains contentious. As geological and geochemical data suggest hotter Archean mantle temperature and more intense juvenile magmatism than in the present-day Earth, two crust-mantle interaction modes differing in melt eruption efficiency have been proposed: the Io-like heat-pipe tectonics regime dominated by volcanism and the "Plutonic squishy lid" tectonics regime governed by intrusive magmatism, which is thought to apply to the dynamics of Venus. Both tectonics regimes are capable of producing primordial tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) continental crust but lithospheric geotherms and crust production rates as well as proportions of various TTG compositions differ greatly, which implies that the heat-pipe and Plutonic squishy lid hypotheses can be tested using natural data. Here we investigate the creation of primordial TTG-like continental crust using self-consistent numerical models of global thermochemical convection associated with magmatic processes. We show that the volcanism-dominated heat-pipe tectonics model results in cold crustal geotherms and is not able to produce Earth-like primordial continental crust. In contrast, the Plutonic squishy lid tectonics regime dominated by intrusive magmatism results in hotter crustal geotherms and is capable of reproducing the observed proportions of various TTG rocks. Using a systematic parameter study, we show that the typical modern eruption efficiency of less than 40 per cent leads to the production of the expected amounts of the three main primordial crustal compositions previously reported from field data (low-, medium- and high-pressure TTG). Our study thus suggests that the pre-plate-tectonics Archean Earth operated globally in the Plutonic squishy lid regime rather than in an Io-like heat-pipe regime.

  4. Geodynamic settings of microcontinents, non-volcanic islands and submerged continental marginal plateau formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dubinin, Evgeny; Grokholsky, Andrey; Makushkina, Anna

    2016-04-01

    Complex process of continental lithosphere breakup is often accompanied by full or semi isolation of small continental blocks from the parent continent such as microcontinents or submerged marginal plateaus. We present different types of continental blocks formed in various geodynamic settings. The process depends on thermo-mechanical properties of rifting. 1) The continental blocks fully isolated from the parent continent. This kind of blocks exist in submerged form (Elan Bank, the Jan-Mayen Ridge, Zenith Plateau, Gulden Draak Knoll, Batavia Knoll) and in non-submerged form in case of large block size. Most of listed submerged blocks are formed in proximity of hot-spot or plume. 2) The continental blocks semi-isolated from the parent continent. Exmouth Plateau, Vøring, Agulhas, Naturaliste are submerged continental plateaus of the indicated category; Sri Lanka, Tasmania, Socotra are islands adjacent to continent here. Nowadays illustration of this setting is the Sinai block located between the two continental rifts. 3) The submerged linear continental blocks formed by the continental rifting along margin (the Lomonosov Ridge). Suggested evolution of this paragraph is the rift propagation along existing transtensional (or another type) transform fault. Future example of this type might be the California Peninsula block, detached from the North American plate by the rifting within San-Andreas fault. 4) The submerged continental blocks formed by extensional processes as the result of asthenosphere flow and shear deformations. Examples are submerged blocks in the central and southern Scotia Sea (Terror Bank, Protector Basin, Discovery Bank, Bruce Bank etc.). 5) The continental blocks formed in the transform fault systems originated in setting of contradict rifts propagation in presence of structure barriers, rifts are shifted by several hundreds kilometers from each other. Examples of this geodynamic setting are Equatorial Atlantic at the initial development stage

  5. Structure of the Cascadia Subduction Zone Imaged Using Surface Wave Tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schaeffer, A. J.; Audet, P.

    2017-12-01

    Studies of the complete structure of the Cascadia subduction zone from the ridge to the arc have historically been limited by the lack of offshore ocean bottom seismograph (OBS) infrastructure. On land, numerous dense seismic deployments have illuminated detailed structures and dynamics associated with the interaction between the subducting oceanic plate and the overriding continental plate, including cycling of fluids, serpentinization of the overlying forearc mantle wedge, and the location of the upper surface of the Juan de Fuca plate as it subducts beneath the Pacific Northwest. In the last half-decade, the Cascadia Initiative (CI), along with Neptune (ONC) and several other OBS initiatives, have instrumented both the continental shelf and abyssal plains off shore of the Cascadia subduction zone, facilitating the construction of a complete picture of the subduction zone from ridge to trench and volcanic arc. In this study, we present a preliminary azimuthally anisotropic surface-wave phase-velocity based model of the complete system, capturing both the young, unaltered Juan de Fuca plate from the ridge, to its alteration as it enters the subduction zone, in addition to the overlying continent. This model is constructed from a combination of ambient noise cross-correlations and teleseismic two station interferometry, and combines together concurrently running offshore OBS and onshore stations. We furthermore perform a number of representative 1D depth inversions for shear velocity to categorize the pristine oceanic, subducted oceanic, and continental crust and lithospheric structure. In the future the dispersion dataset will be jointly inverted with receiver functions to constrain a 3D shear-velocity model of the complete region.

  6. An Analysis of Wilson Cycle Plate Margins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buiter, S.; Torsvik, T. H.

    2012-12-01

    The Wilson Cycle theory that oceans close and open along the same suture is a powerful concept in analyses of ancient plate tectonics. It implies that collision zones are structures that are able to localize extensional deformation for long times after the collision has waned. However, some sutures are seemingly never reactivated and already Tuzo Wilson recognized that Atlantic break-up did not follow the precise line of previous junction. We have reviewed margin pairs around the Atlantic and Indian Oceans with the aim to evaluate the extent to which oceanic opening used former sutures, summarize delay times between collision and break-up, and analyze the role of mantle plumes in continental break-up. We aid our analyses with plate tectonic reconstructions using GPlates (www.gplates.org). Although at first sight opening of the North Atlantic Ocean largely seems to follow the Iapetus and Rheic sutures, a closer look reveals deviations. For example, Atlantic opening did not utilize the Iapetus suture in Great Britain and rather than opening along the younger Rheic suture north of Florida, break-up occurred along the older Pan-African structures south of Florida. We find that today's oceanic Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone, between Ireland and Newfoundland, is aligned with the Iapetus suture. We speculate therefore that in this region the Iapetus suture was reactivated as a transform fault. As others before us, we find no correlation of suture and break-up age. Often continental break-up occurs some hundreds of Myrs after collision, but it may also take over 1000 Myr, as for example for Australia - Antarctica and Congo - São Francisco. This places serious constraints on potential collision zone weakening mechanisms. Several studies have pointed to a link between continental break-up and large-scale mantle upwellings. It is, however, much debated whether plumes use existing rifts as a pathway, or whether plumes play an active role in causing rifting. We find a positive

  7. Seismological constraints on the crustal structures generated by continental rejuvenation in northeastern China

    PubMed Central

    Zheng, Tian-Yu; He, Yu-Mei; Yang, Jin-Hui; Zhao, Liang

    2015-01-01

    Crustal rejuvenation is a key process that has shaped the characteristics of current continental structures and components in tectonic active continental regions. Geological and geochemical observations have provided insights into crustal rejuvenation, although the crustal structural fabrics have not been well constrained. Here, we present a seismic image across the North China Craton (NCC) and Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) using a velocity structure imaging technique for receiver functions from a dense array. The crustal evolution of the eastern NCC was delineated during the Mesozoic by a dominant low seismic wave velocity with velocity inversion, a relatively shallow Moho discontinuity, and a Moho offset beneath the Tanlu Fault Zone. The imaged structures and geochemical evidence, including changes in the components and ages of continental crusts and significant continental crustal growth during the Mesozoic, provide insight into the rejuvenation processes of the evolving crust in the eastern NCC caused by structural, magmatic and metamorphic processes in an extensional setting. The fossil structural fabric of the convergent boundary in the eastern CAOB indicates that the back-arc action of the Paleo-Pacific Plate subduction did not reach the hinterland of Asia. PMID:26443323

  8. A harbinger of plate tectonics: a commentary on Bullard, Everett and Smith (1965) 'The fit of the continents around the Atlantic'.

    PubMed

    Dewey, John F

    2015-04-13

    In the 1960s, geology was transformed by the paradigm of plate tectonics. The 1965 paper of Bullard, Everett and Smith was a linking transition between the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. They showed, conclusively, that the continents around the Atlantic were once contiguous and that the Atlantic Ocean had grown at rates of a few centimetres per year since the Early Jurassic, about 160 Ma. They achieved fits of the continental margins at the 500 fathom line (approx. 900 m), not the shorelines, by minimizing misfits between conjugate margins and finding axes, poles and angles of rotation, using Euler's theorem, that defined the unique single finite difference rotation that carried congruent continents from contiguity to their present positions, recognizing that the real motion may have been more complex around a number of finite motion poles. Critically, they were concerned only with kinematic reality and were not restricted by considerations of the mechanism by which continents split and oceans grow. Many of the defining features of plate tectonics were explicit or implicit in their reconstructions, such as the torsional rigidity of continents, Euler's theorem, closure of the Tethyan ocean(s), major continental margin shear zones, the rapid rotation of small continental blocks (Iberia) around nearby poles, the consequent opening of small wedge-shaped oceans (Bay of Biscay), and misfit overlaps (deltas and volcanic piles) and underlaps (stretched continental edges). This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

  9. Geodetic constraints on continental rifting along the Red Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reilinger, R.; McClusky, S.; Arrajehi, A.; Mahmoud, S.; Rayan, A.; Ghebreab, W.; Ogubazghi, G.; Al-Aydrus, A.

    2006-12-01

    We are using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to monitor and quantify patterns and rates of tectonic and magmatic deformation associated with active rifting of the continental lithosphere and the transition to sea floor spreading in the Red Sea. Broad-scale motions of the Nubian and Arabian plates indicate coherent plate motion with internal deformation below the current resolution of our measurements (~ 1-2 mm/yr). The GPS-determined Euler vector for Arabia-Nubia is indistinguishable from the geologic Euler vector determined from marine magnetic anomalies, and Arabia-Eurasia relative motion from GPS is equal within uncertainties to relative motion determined from plate reconstructions, suggesting that Arabia plate motion has remained constant (±10%) during at least the past ~10 Ma. The approximate agreement between broad-scale GPS rates of extension (i.e., determined from relative plate motions) and those determined from magnetic anomalies along the Red Sea rift implies that spreading in the central Red Sea is primarily confined to the central rift (±10-20%). Extension appears to be more broadly distributed in the N Red Sea and Gulf of Suez where comparisons with geologic data also indicate a relatively recent (between 500 and 125 kyr BP) change in the motion of the Sinai block that is distinct from both Nubia and Arabia. In the southern Red Sea, GPS results are beginning to define the motion of the "Danakil micro-plate". We investigate and report on a model involving CCW rotation of the Danakil micro-plate relative to Nubia and magmatic inflation below the Afar Triple Junction that is consistent with available geodetic constraints. Running the model back in time suggests that the Danakil micro-plate has been an integral part of rifting/triple junction processes throughout the history of separation of the Arabian and Nubian plates. On the scale of Nubia-Arabia-Eurasia plate interactions, we show that new area formed at spreading centers roughly equals that

  10. Net Rotation of the Lithosphere in Mantle Convection Models with Self-consistent Plate Generation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerault, M.; Coltice, N.

    2017-12-01

    Lateral variations in the viscosity structure of the lithosphere and the mantle give rise to a discordant motion between the two. In a deep mantle reference frame, this motion is called the net rotation of the lithosphere. Plate motion reconstructions, mantle flow computations, and inferences from seismic anisotropy all indicate some amount of net rotation using different mantle reference frames. While the direction of rotation is somewhat consistent across studies, the predicted amplitudes range from 0.1 deg/Myr to 0.3 deg/Myr at the present-day. How net rotation rates could have differed in the past is also a subject of debate and strong geodynamic arguments are missing from the discussion. This study provides the first net rotation calculations in 3-D spherical mantle convection models with self-consistent plate generation. We run the computations for billions of years of numerical integration. We look into how sensitive the net rotation is to major tectonic events, such as subduction initiation, continental breakup and plate reorganisations, and whether some governing principles from the models could guide plate motion reconstructions. The mantle convection problem is solved with the finite volume code StagYY using a visco-pseudo-plastic rheology. Mantle flow velocities are solely driven by buoyancy forces internal to the system, with free slip upper and lower boundary conditions. We investigate how the yield stress, the mantle viscosity structure and the properties of continents affect the net rotation over time. Models with large lateral viscosity variations from continents predict net rotations that are at least threefold faster than those without continents. Models where continents cover a third of the surface produce net rotation rates that vary from nearly zero to over 0.3 deg/Myr with rapide increase during continental breakup. The pole of rotation appears to migrate along no particular path. For all models, regardless of the yield stress and the

  11. Crustal structure of a transform plate boundary: San Francisco Bay and the central California continental margin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Holbrook, W.S.; Brocher, T.M.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Hole, J.A.

    1996-01-01

    Wide-angle seismic data collected during the Bay Area Seismic Imaging Experiment provide new glimpses of the deep structure of the San Francisco Bay Area Block and across the offshore continental margin. San Francisco Bay is underlain by a veneer (<300 m) of sediments, beneath which P wave velocities increase rapidly from 5.2 km/s to 6.0 km/s at 7 km depth, consistent with rocks of the Franciscan subduction assemblage. The base of the Franciscan at-15-18 km depth is marked by a strong wide-angle reflector, beneath which lies an 8- to 10-km-thick lower crust with an average velocity of 6.75??0.15 km/s. The lower crust of the Bay Area Block may be oceanic in origin, but its structure and reflectivity indicate that it has been modified by shearing and/or magmatic intrusion. Wide-angle reflections define two layers within the lower crust, with velocities of 6.4-6.6 km/s and 6.9-7.3 km/s. Prominent subhorizontal reflectivity observed at near-vertical incidence resides principally in the lowermost layer, the top of which corresponds to the "6-s reflector" of Brocher et al. [1994]. Rheological modeling suggests that the lower crust beneath the 6-s reflector is the weakest part of the lithosphere; the horizontal shear zone suggested by Furlong et al. [1989] to link the San Andreas and Hayward/Calaveras fault systems may actually be a broad zone of shear deformation occupying the lowermost crust. A transect across the continental margin from the paleotrench to the Hayward fault shows a deep crustal structure that is more complex than previously realized. Strong lateral variability in seismic velocity and wide-angle reflectivity suggests that crustal composition changes across major transcurrent fault systems. Pacific oceanic crust extends 40-50 km landward of the paleotrench but, contrary to prior models, probably does not continue beneath the Salinian Block, a Cretaceous arc complex that lies west of the San Andreas fault in the Bay Area. The thickness (10 km) and high

  12. OESbathy version 1.0: a method for reconstructing ocean bathymetry with generalized continental shelf-slope-rise structures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goswami, A.; Olson, P. L.; Hinnov, L. A.; Gnanadesikan, A.

    2015-09-01

    We present a method for reconstructing global ocean bathymetry that combines a standard plate cooling model for the oceanic lithosphere based on the age of the oceanic crust, global oceanic sediment thicknesses, plus generalized shelf-slope-rise structures calibrated at modern active and passive continental margins. Our motivation is to develop a methodology for reconstructing ocean bathymetry in the geologic past that includes heterogeneous continental margins in addition to abyssal ocean floor. First, the plate cooling model is applied to maps of ocean crustal age to calculate depth to basement. To the depth to basement we add an isostatically adjusted, multicomponent sediment layer constrained by sediment thickness in the modern oceans and marginal seas. A three-parameter continental shelf-slope-rise structure completes the bathymetry reconstruction, extending from the ocean crust to the coastlines. Parameters of the shelf-slope-rise structures at active and passive margins are determined from modern ocean bathymetry at locations where a complete history of seafloor spreading is preserved. This includes the coastal regions of the North, South, and central Atlantic, the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica, and the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. The final products are global maps at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution of depth to basement, ocean bathymetry with an isostatically adjusted multicomponent sediment layer, and ocean bathymetry with reconstructed continental shelf-slope-rise structures. Our reconstructed bathymetry agrees with the measured ETOPO1 bathymetry at most passive margins, including the east coast of North America, north coast of the Arabian Sea, and northeast and southeast coasts of South America. There is disagreement at margins with anomalous continental shelf-slope-rise structures, such as around the Arctic Ocean, the Falkland Islands, and Indonesia.

  13. Opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean: Implications for Geometric Rifting and Asymmetric Initial Seafloor Spreading after Continental Breakup

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klingelhoefer, F.; Biari, Y.; Sahabi, M.; Funck, T.; Benabdellouahed, M.; Schnabel, M.; Reichert, C. J.; Gutscher, M. A.; Bronner, A.; Austin, J. A., Jr.

    2017-12-01

    The structure of conjugate passive margins provides information about rifting styles, the initial phases of the opening of an ocean and the formation of its associated sedimentary basins. The study of the deep structure of conjugate passive continental margins combined with precise plate kinematic reconstructions can provide constraints on the mechanisms of rifting and formation of initial oceanic crust. In this study the Central Atlantic conjugate margins are compared, based on compilation of wide-angle seismic profiles from the NW-Africa Nova Scotian and US passive margins. Plate cinematic reconstructions were used to place the profiles in the position at opening and at the M25 magnetic anomaly. The patterns of volcanism, crustal thickness, geometry, and seismic velocities in the transition zone. suggest symmetric rifting followed by asymmetric oceanic crustal accretion. Conjugate profiles in the southern Central Atlantic image differences in the continental crustal thickness. While profiles on the eastern US margin are characterized by thick layers of magmatic underplating, no such underplate was imaged along the NW-African continental margin. It has been proposed that these volcanic products form part of the CAMP (Central Atlantic Magmatic Province). In the north, two wide-angle seismic profiles acquired in exactly conjugate positions show that the crustal geometry of the unthinned continental crust and the necking zone are nearly symmetric. A region including seismic velocities too high to be explained by either continental or oceanic crust is imaged along the Nova Scotia margin off Eastern Canada, corresponding on the African side to an oceanic crust with slightly elevated velocities. These might result from asymmetric spreading creating seafloor by faulting the existing lithosphere on the Canadian side and the emplacement of magmatic oceanic crust including pockets of serpentinite on the Moroccan margin. A slightly elevated crustal thickness along the

  14. Magmatism and deformation during continental breakup

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keir, Derek

    2013-04-01

    The rifting of continents and the transition to seafloor spreading is characterised by extensional faulting and thinning of the lithosphere, and is sometimes accompanied by voluminous intrusive and extrusive magmatism. In order to understand how these processes develop over time to break continents apart, we have traditionally relied on interpreting the geological record at the numerous fully developed, ancient rifted margins around the world. In these settings, however, it is difficult to discriminate between different mechanisms of extension and magmatism because the continent-ocean transition is typically buried beneath thick layers of volcanic and sedimentary rocks, and the tectonic and volcanic activity that characterised breakup has long-since ceased. Ongoing continental breakup in the African and Arabian rift systems offers a unique opportunity to address these problems because it exposes several sectors of tectonically active rift sector development spanning the transition from embryonic continental rifting in the south to incipient seafloor spreading in the north. Here I synthesise exciting, multidisciplinary observational and modelling studies using geophysical, geodetic, petrological and numerical techniques that uniquely constrain the distribution, time-scales, and interactions between extension and magmatism during the progressive breakup of the African Plate. This new research has identified the previously unrecognised role of rapid and episodic dike emplacement in accommodating a large proportion of extension during continental rifting. We are now beginning to realise that changes in the dominant mechanism for strain over time (faulting, stretching and magma intrusion) impact dramatically on magmatism and rift morphology. The challenge now is to take what we're learned from East Africa and apply it to the rifted margins whose geological record documents breakup during entire Wilson Cycles.

  15. 3D geodynamic models for the development of opposing continental subduction zones: The Hindu Kush-Pamir example

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liao, Jie; Gerya, Taras; Thielmann, Marcel; Webb, A. Alexander G.; Kufner, Sofia-Katerina; Yin, An

    2017-12-01

    The development of opposing continental subduction zones remains scantly explored in three dimensions. The Hindu Kush-Pamir orogenic system at the western end of the Himalayan orogen provides a rare example of continental collision linked to two opposing intra-continental subduction zones. The subducted plates feature a peculiar 3D geometry consisting of two distinct lithospheric fragments with different polarities, subduction angles and slab-curvatures beneath the Hindu Kush and Pamir, respectively. Using 3D geodynamic modeling, we simulate possible development of two opposing continental subduction zones to understand the dynamic evolution of the Hindu Kush-Pamir orogenic system. Our geodynamic model reproduces the major tectonic elements observed: (1) the deeper subduction depth, the steeper dip angle and the southward offset of the Hindu Kush subduction zone relative to the Pamir naturally occur if convergence direction of the subducting Indian plate and dip-direction of the Hindu Kush subduction zone match. (2) The formation of the highly asymmetrically curved Pamir region and the south-dipping subduction is promoted by the initial geometry of the indenting Indian lithosphere together with the existence of a major strike-slip fault on the eastern margin of the Pamir region. (3) Subduction of only the lower continental crust during continental collision can occur if the coupling between upper and lower crusts is weak enough to allow a separation of these two components, and that (4) the subduction of mainly lower crust then facilitates that conditions for intermediate-depth seismicity can be reached. (5) The secondary tectonic features modeled here such as strike-slip-fault growth, north-northwest striking extension zone, and lateral flow of the thickened ductile upper crust are comparable to the current tectonics of the region. (6) Model results are further compared to the potentially similar orogenic system, i.e., the Alpine orogen, in terms of the curved

  16. A harbinger of plate tectonics: a commentary on Bullard, Everett and Smith (1965) ‘The fit of the continents around the Atlantic’

    PubMed Central

    Dewey, John F.

    2015-01-01

    In the 1960s, geology was transformed by the paradigm of plate tectonics. The 1965 paper of Bullard, Everett and Smith was a linking transition between the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. They showed, conclusively, that the continents around the Atlantic were once contiguous and that the Atlantic Ocean had grown at rates of a few centimetres per year since the Early Jurassic, about 160 Ma. They achieved fits of the continental margins at the 500 fathom line (approx. 900 m), not the shorelines, by minimizing misfits between conjugate margins and finding axes, poles and angles of rotation, using Euler's theorem, that defined the unique single finite difference rotation that carried congruent continents from contiguity to their present positions, recognizing that the real motion may have been more complex around a number of finite motion poles. Critically, they were concerned only with kinematic reality and were not restricted by considerations of the mechanism by which continents split and oceans grow. Many of the defining features of plate tectonics were explicit or implicit in their reconstructions, such as the torsional rigidity of continents, Euler's theorem, closure of the Tethyan ocean(s), major continental margin shear zones, the rapid rotation of small continental blocks (Iberia) around nearby poles, the consequent opening of small wedge-shaped oceans (Bay of Biscay), and misfit overlaps (deltas and volcanic piles) and underlaps (stretched continental edges). This commentary was written to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. PMID:25750142

  17. Intermittent plate tectonics?

    PubMed

    Silver, Paul G; Behn, Mark D

    2008-01-04

    Although it is commonly assumed that subduction has operated continuously on Earth without interruption, subduction zones are routinely terminated by ocean closure and supercontinent assembly. Under certain circumstances, this could lead to a dramatic loss of subduction, globally. Closure of a Pacific-type basin, for example, would eliminate most subduction, unless this loss were compensated for by comparable subduction initiation elsewhere. Given the evidence for Pacific-type closure in Earth's past, the absence of a direct mechanism for termination/initiation compensation, and recent data supporting a minimum in subduction flux in the Mesoproterozoic, we hypothesize that dramatic reductions or temporary cessations of subduction have occurred in Earth's history. Such deviations in the continuity of plate tectonics have important consequences for Earth's thermal and continental evolution.

  18. Insights Into the Causes of Arc Rifting From 2-D Dynamic Models of Subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Billen, Magali I.

    2017-11-01

    Back-arc spreading centers initiate as fore-arc or arc rifting events when extensional forces localize within lithosphere weakened by hydrous fluids or melting. Two models have been proposed for triggering fore-arc/arc rifting: rollback of the subducting plate causing trench retreat or motion of the overriding plate away from the subduction zone. This paper demonstrates that there is a third mechanism caused by an in situ instability that occurs when the thin high-viscosity boundary, which separates the weak fore arc from the hot buoyant mantle wedge, is removed. Buoyant upwelling mantle causes arc rifting, drives the overriding plate away from the subducting plate, and there is sufficient heating of the subducting plate crust and overriding plate lithosphere to form adakite or boninite volcanism. For spontaneous fore-arc/arc rifting to occur a broad region of weak material must be present and one of the plates must be free to respond to the upwelling forces.

  19. The interpretation of crustal dynamics data in terms of plate interactions and active tectonics of the Anatolian plate and surrounding regions in the Middle East

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Toksoz, M. Nafi; Reilinger, Robert

    1992-01-01

    A detailed study was made of the consequences of the Arabian plate convergence against Eurasia and its effects on the tectonics of Anatolia and surrounding regions of the eastern Mediterranean. A primary source of information is time rates of change of baseline lengths and relative heights determined by repeated SLR measurements. These SLR observations are augmented by a network of GPS stations in Anatolia, Aegea, and Greece, established and twice surveyed since 1988. The existing SLR and GPS networks provide the spatial resolution necessary to reveal the details of ongoing tectonic processes in this area of continental collision. The effort has involved examining the state of stress in the lithosphere and relative plate motions as revealed by these space based geodetic measurements, seismicity, and earthquake mechanisms as well as the aseismic deformations of the plates from conventional geodetic data and geological evidence. These observations are used to constrain theoretical calculations of the relative effects of: (1) the push of the Arabian plate; (2) high topography of Eastern Anatolia; (3) the geometry and properties of African-Eurasian plate boundary; (4) subduction under the Hellenic Arc and southwestern Turkey; and (5) internal deformation and rotation of the Anatolian plate.

  20. A fictitious domain method for fluid/solid interaction applied to the plate folding over the 660 Km depth boundary.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cerpa, Nestor; Hassani, Riad; Gerbault, Muriel

    2014-05-01

    A large variety of geodynamical problems involve a mechanical system where a competent body is embedded in a more deformable medium, and hence they can be viewed as belonging to the field of solid/fluid interaction.The lithosphere/asthenosphere interaction in subduction zones is among those kind of problems which are generally difficult to tackle numerically since the immersed (solid) body can be geometrically complex and the surrounding (fluid) medium can thus undergo large deformation. Our work presents a new numerical approach for the study of subduction zones. The lithosphere is modeled as a Maxwell viscoelastic body sinking in the viscous asthenosphere. Both domains are discretized by the Finite Element Method (FEM) and we use a staggered coupling method. The interaction is provided by a non-matching interface method called the Fictitious Domain Method (FDM). We have validated this method with some 2-D benchmarks and examples. Through this numerical coupling method we aim at studying the effect of mantle viscosity on the cyclicity of slab folding on the 660 km depth discontinuity approximated as an impenetrable barrier. Depending on the kinematics condition imposed to the overriding and subducting plates, analog and numerical models have previously shown that cyclicity occurs. The viscosity of the asthenosphere (taken as an isoviscous or a double viscosity-layer fluid) impacts on folding cyclicity and consequently on the slab's dip as well as the stress regime of the overriding plate. In particular, applying far-field plate velocities corresponding to those of the South-American and Nazca plates at present, (4.3 cm/yr and 2.9 cm/yr respectively), we obtain periodic slab folding which is consistent with magmatism and sedimentalogical records. These data report cycles in orogenic growth of the order of 30-40 Myrs, a period that we reproduce when the mantle viscosity ranges in between 3 and 5 x 1020 Pa.s. Moreover, we reproduce episodic development of horizontal

  1. Rift migration explains continental margin asymmetry and crustal hyper-extension

    PubMed Central

    Brune, Sascha; Heine, Christian; Pérez-Gussinyé, Marta; Sobolev, Stephan V.

    2014-01-01

    When continents break apart, continental crust and lithosphere are thinned until break-up is achieved and an oceanic basin is formed. The most remarkable and least understood structures associated with this process are up to 200 km wide areas of hyper-extended continental crust, which are partitioned between conjugate margins with pronounced asymmetry. Here we show, using high-resolution thermo-mechanical modelling, that hyper-extended crust and margin asymmetry are produced by steady state rift migration. We demonstrate that rift migration is accomplished by sequential, oceanward-younging, upper crustal faults, and is balanced through lower crustal flow. Constraining our model with a new South Atlantic plate reconstruction, we demonstrate that larger extension velocities may account for southward increasing width and asymmetry of these conjugate magma-poor margins. Our model challenges conventional ideas of rifted margin evolution, as it implies that during rift migration large amounts of material are transferred from one side of the rift zone to the other. PMID:24905463

  2. Tectonics of the Scotia-Antarctica plate boundary constrained from seismic and seismological data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Civile, D.; Lodolo, E.; Vuan, A.; Loreto, M. F.

    2012-07-01

    The plate boundary between the Scotia and Antarctic plates runs along the broadly E-W trending South Scotia Ridge. It is a mainly transcurrent margin that juxtaposes thinned continental and transitional crust elements with restricted oceanic basins and deep troughs. Seismic profiles and regional-scale seismological constraints are used to define the peculiarities of the crustal structures in and around the southern Scotia Sea, and focal solutions from recent earthquakes help to understand the present-day geodynamic setting. The northern edge of the western South Scotia Ridge is marked by a sub-vertical, left-lateral master fault. Locally, a narrow wedge of accreted sediments is present at the base of the slope. This segment represents the boundary between the Scotia plate and the independent South Shetland continental block. Along the northern margin of the South Orkney microcontinent, the largest fragment of the South Scotia Ridge, an accretionary prism is present at the base of the slope, which was possibly created by the eastward drift of the South Orkney microcontinent and the consequent subduction of the transitional crust present to the north. East of the South Orkney microcontinent, the physiography and structure of the plate boundary are less constrained. Here the tectonic regime exhibits mainly strike-slip behavior with some grade of extensional component, and the plate boundary is segmented by a series of NNW-SSE trending release zones which favored the fragmentation and dispersion of the crustal blocks. Seismic data have also identified, along the north-western edge of the South Scotia Ridge, an elevated region - the Ona Platform - which can be considered, along with the Terror Rise, as the conjugate margin of the Tierra del Fuego, before the Drake Passage opening. We propose here an evolutionary sketch for the plate boundary (from the Late Oligocene to the present) encompassing the segment from the Elephant Island platform to the Herdman Bank.

  3. Upper and lower plate controls on the great 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    The great 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake [moment magnitude (Mw) 9.0)] is the best-documented megathrust earthquake in the world, but its causal mechanism is still in controversy because of the poor state of knowledge on the nature of the megathrust zone. We constrain the structure of the Tohoku forearc using seismic tomography, residual topography, and gravity data, which reveal a close relationship between structural heterogeneities in and around the megathrust zone and rupture processes of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. Its mainshock nucleated in an area with high seismic velocity, low seismic attenuation, and strong seismic coupling, probably indicating a large asperity (or a cluster of asperities) in the megathrust zone. Strong coseismic high-frequency radiations also occurred in high-velocity patches, whereas large afterslips took plate in low-velocity areas, differences that may reflect changes in fault friction and lithological variations. These structural heterogeneities in and around the Tohoku megathrust originate from both the overriding and subducting plates, which controlled the nucleation and rupture processes of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake.

  4. Craton destruction and related resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Rixiang; Zhang, Hongfu; Zhu, Guang; Meng, Qingren; Fan, Hongrui; Yang, Jinhui; Wu, Fuyuan; Zhang, Zhiyong; Zheng, Tianyu

    2017-10-01

    Craton destruction is a dynamic event that plays an important role in Earth's evolution. Based on comprehensive observations of many studies on the North China Craton (NCC) and correlations with the evolution histories of other cratons around the world, craton destruction has be defined as a geological process that results in the total loss of craton stability due to changes in the physical and chemical properties of the involved craton. The mechanisms responsible for craton destruction would be as the follows: (1) oceanic plate subduction; (2) rollback and retreat of a subducting oceanic plate; (3) stagnation and dehydration of a subducting plate in the mantle transition zone; (4) melting of the mantle above the mantle transition zone caused by dehydration of a stagnant slab; (5) non-steady flow in the upper mantle induced by melting, and/or (6) changes in the nature of the lithospheric mantle and consequent craton destruction caused by non-steady flow. Oceanic plate subduction itself does not result in craton destruction. For the NCC, it is documented that westward subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate should have initiated at the transition from the Middle-to-Late Jurassic, and resulted in the change of tectonic regime of eastern China. We propose that subduction, rollback and retreat of oceanic plates and dehydration of stagnant slabs are the main dynamic factors responsible for both craton destruction and concentration of mineral deposits, such as gold, in the overriding continental plate. Based on global distribution of gold deposits, we suggest that convergent plate margins are the most important setting for large gold concentrations. Therefore, decratonic gold deposits appear to occur preferentially in regions with oceanic subduction and overlying continental lithospheric destruction/modification/growth.

  5. Textures of water-rich mud sediments from the continental margin offshore Costa Rica (IODP expeditions 334 and 344)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuehn, Rebecca; Stipp, Michael; Leiss, Bernd

    2017-04-01

    During sedimentation and burial at continental margins, clay-rich sediments develop crystallographic preferred orientations (textures) depending on the ongoing compaction as well as size distribution and shape fabrics of the grains. Such textures can control the deformational properties of these sediments and hence the strain distribution in active continental margins and also the frictional behavior along and around the plate boundary. Strain-hardening and discontinuous deformation may lead to earthquake nucleation at or below the updip limit of the seismogenic zone. We want to investigate the active continental margin offshore Costa Rica where the oceanic Cocos plate is subducted below the Caribbean plate at a rate of approximately 9 cm per year. The Costa Rica trench is well-known for shallow seismogenesis and tsunami generation. As it is an erosive continental margin, both the incoming sediments from the Nazca plate as well as the slope sediments of the continental margin can be important for earthquake nucleation and faulting causing sea-floor breakage. To investigate texture and composition of the sediments and hence their deformational properties we collected samples from varying depth of 7 different drilling locations across the trench retrieved during IODP expeditions 334 and 344 as part of the Costa Rica Seismogenesis Project (CRISP). Texture analysis was carried out by means of synchrotron diffraction, as only this method is suitable for water-bearing samples. As knowledge on the sediment composition is required as input parameter for the texture data analysis, additional X-ray powder diffraction analysis on the sample material has been carried out. Samples for texture measurements were prepared from the original drill cores using an internally developed cutter which allows to produce cylindrical samples with a diameter of about 1.5 cm. The samples are oriented with respect to the drill core axis. Synchrotron texture measurements were conducted at the

  6. Evolution of Plate Tectonics on Earth since the Mid-Mesoarchean was Controlled by Sedimentary Fluxes from Continents to Oceans and Mantle Temperature

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sobolev, S. V.; Brown, M.

    2017-12-01

    Plate tectonics (PT) is the most important geological process operating on Earth, making it unique among the rocky planets in the Solar System. The question of how PT was initiated and which factors controlled its evolution over Earth's history are widely discussed, but remain controversial. It is broadly accepted that a necessary condition for initiation and stable operation of PT is maintaining low strength along plate boundaries, particularly along the subduction zone interfaces in the subduction channels. Examples from the South American Andes and other convergent margins show that unconsolidated continental sediments in trenches serve as an efficient lubricant for subduction; if these are lacking, friction in the subduction channel and strength of the plate boundary are significantly increased. We suggest that lubrication of subduction by accumulation of continental sediments in trenches played a crucial role during the evolution of PT on Earth since the mid-Mesoarchean. We posit that continental emergence and enhanced surface erosion caused an increasing flux of sediments into the oceans, which in turn lubricated subduction channels and intensified PT. Thus, peaks in orogenesis, as confirmed by several proxies, during periods of supercraton/supercontinent assembly represent periods of vigorous subduction and continental sedimentation in trenches prior to terminal collision. Conversely, a decrease in plate boundary length and a reduction in continental sediment accumulation in trenches during periods of stability after supercraton/supercontinent assembly is the likely reason for periods of lower PT vigor, including the so called `boring billion' between 1.8 and 0.8 Ga. The largest surface erosion and subduction-lubrication event occurred at the end of the `snowball' Earth epoch in the Neoproterozoic and likely accelerated the most recent episode of vigorous PT. Based on analysis of various geological observations, we suggest that the cyclic behavior of PT on

  7. The origin of strike-slip tectonics in continental rifts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ebinger, C. J.; Pagli, C.; Yun, S. H.; Keir, D.; Wang, H.

    2016-12-01

    Although continental rifts are zones of lithospheric extension, strike-slip tectonics is also accommodated within rifts and its origin remains controversial. Here we present a combined analysis of recent seismicity, InSAR and GPS derived strain maps to reveal that the plate motion in Afar is accommodated primarily by extensional tectonics in all rift arms and lacks evidences of regional scale bookshelf tectonics. However in the rifts of central Afar we identify crustal extension and normal faulting in the central part of the rifts but strike-slip earthquakes at the rift tips. We investigate if strike-slip can be the result of Coulomb stress changes induced by recent dyking but models do not explain these earthquakes. Instead we explain strike-slips as shearing at the tips of a broad zone of spreading where extension terminates against unstretched lithosphere. Our results demonstrate that plate spreading can develop both strike-slip and extensional tectonics in the same rifts.

  8. Spreading continents kick-started plate tectonics.

    PubMed

    Rey, Patrice F; Coltice, Nicolas; Flament, Nicolas

    2014-09-18

    Stresses acting on cold, thick and negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere are thought to be crucial to the initiation of subduction and the operation of plate tectonics, which characterizes the present-day geodynamics of the Earth. Because the Earth's interior was hotter in the Archaean eon, the oceanic crust may have been thicker, thereby making the oceanic lithosphere more buoyant than at present, and whether subduction and plate tectonics occurred during this time is ambiguous, both in the geological record and in geodynamic models. Here we show that because the oceanic crust was thick and buoyant, early continents may have produced intra-lithospheric gravitational stresses large enough to drive their gravitational spreading, to initiate subduction at their margins and to trigger episodes of subduction. Our model predicts the co-occurrence of deep to progressively shallower mafic volcanics and arc magmatism within continents in a self-consistent geodynamic framework, explaining the enigmatic multimodal volcanism and tectonic record of Archaean cratons. Moreover, our model predicts a petrological stratification and tectonic structure of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle, two predictions that are consistent with xenolith and seismic studies, respectively, and consistent with the existence of a mid-lithospheric seismic discontinuity. The slow gravitational collapse of early continents could have kick-started transient episodes of plate tectonics until, as the Earth's interior cooled and oceanic lithosphere became heavier, plate tectonics became self-sustaining.

  9. Tomographic Imaging of the Lesser Antilles Subducted Slab and its Significance for Estimating the Age and Amount of Eastward Motion of the Overriding Caribbean Plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mann, P.; Chen, Y. W.; Wu, J.; Suppe, J.

    2017-12-01

    The idea of a Pacific-derived and eastward-transported Caribbean and Scotia plates was first proposed by J. Tuzo Wilson in 1966. Wilson proposed that the motion of these two, small plates was analogous to "ice rafting" observed on frozen lakes and oceans when a narrow ( 50 m) strip of ice is forced over a lower plate of ice. In the Caribbean the upper plate corresponds to the 750 km-long, north-south length of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc ranging in thickness from 20-30 km while its subducting plate is Atlantic Cretaceous oceanic crust of 8-10 km thickness and subducting at an angle of 45º to a depth of 300 km into the mantle. We estimated the length of the Lesser Antilles slab from MIT P-wave global tomography (MITP08; Li et al., 2008) and compared to published transects from Utrecht UUP-07 global tomography (van Bentham et al., 2013). The measured slab lengths vary from 1550 km (Utrecht) to 1250 km (MIT). We then unfolded both slabs to the Earth's surface, and used GPlates to restore the leading edge of the Caribbean plate at the time of the Lesser Antilles slab's initial subduction. The Middle Eocene (49 Ma) reconstruction realigns the proto-Lesser Antilles arc and leading edge of the Caribbean plate in a continuous arc with older arc rocks in Cuba. During this Middle Eocene period of abrupt tectonic transition, the Cuban arc segment was terminated on its northeastward path by collision with the Bahama carbonate platform with subsequent reorientation onto its present, east-west path into the central Atlantic Ocean from 49-0 Ma. This collision/plate reorientation event is independently recorded by: 1) a poorly defined Greater Antilles slab seen on tomography that is aligned with the Cuban arc; 2) identical initiation ages of 49 Ma for the Cayman trough pull-apart and the Lesser Antilles slab; and 3) similarity in lengths for the length of the subducted, Lesser Antilles slab ( 1250-1550 km) and the length of the Cayman trough pull-apart basin ( 1100 km). East

  10. Seismic reflection imaging of two megathrust shear zones in the northern Cascadia subduction zone.

    PubMed

    Calvert, Andrew J

    2004-03-11

    At convergent continental margins, the relative motion between the subducting oceanic plate and the overriding continent is usually accommodated by movement along a single, thin interface known as a megathrust. Great thrust earthquakes occur on the shallow part of this interface where the two plates are locked together. Earthquakes of lower magnitude occur within the underlying oceanic plate, and have been linked to geochemical dehydration reactions caused by the plate's descent. Here I present deep seismic reflection data from the northern Cascadia subduction zone that show that the inter-plate boundary is up to 16 km thick and comprises two megathrust shear zones that bound a >5-km-thick, approximately 110-km-wide region of imbricated crustal rocks. Earthquakes within the subducting plate occur predominantly in two geographic bands where the dip of the plate is inferred to increase as it is forced around the edges of the imbricated inter-plate boundary zone. This implies that seismicity in the subducting slab is controlled primarily by deformation in the upper part of the plate. Slip on the shallower megathrust shear zone, which may occur by aseismic slow slip, will transport crustal rocks into the upper mantle above the subducting oceanic plate and may, in part, provide an explanation for the unusually low seismic wave speeds that are observed there.

  11. Lithospheric controls on magma composition along Earth's longest continental hotspot track.

    PubMed

    Davies, D R; Rawlinson, N; Iaffaldano, G; Campbell, I H

    2015-09-24

    Hotspots are anomalous regions of volcanism at Earth's surface that show no obvious association with tectonic plate boundaries. Classic examples include the Hawaiian-Emperor chain and the Yellowstone-Snake River Plain province. The majority are believed to form as Earth's tectonic plates move over long-lived mantle plumes: buoyant upwellings that bring hot material from Earth's deep mantle to its surface. It has long been recognized that lithospheric thickness limits the rise height of plumes and, thereby, their minimum melting pressure. It should, therefore, have a controlling influence on the geochemistry of plume-related magmas, although unambiguous evidence of this has, so far, been lacking. Here we integrate observational constraints from surface geology, geochronology, plate-motion reconstructions, geochemistry and seismology to ascertain plume melting depths beneath Earth's longest continental hotspot track, a 2,000-kilometre-long track in eastern Australia that displays a record of volcanic activity between 33 and 9 million years ago, which we call the Cosgrove track. Our analyses highlight a strong correlation between lithospheric thickness and magma composition along this track, with: (1) standard basaltic compositions in regions where lithospheric thickness is less than 110 kilometres; (2) volcanic gaps in regions where lithospheric thickness exceeds 150 kilometres; and (3) low-volume, leucitite-bearing volcanism in regions of intermediate lithospheric thickness. Trace-element concentrations from samples along this track support the notion that these compositional variations result from different degrees of partial melting, which is controlled by the thickness of overlying lithosphere. Our results place the first observational constraints on the sub-continental melting depth of mantle plumes and provide direct evidence that lithospheric thickness has a dominant influence on the volume and chemical composition of plume-derived magmas.

  12. Archean upper crust transition from mafic to felsic marks the onset of plate tectonics.

    PubMed

    Tang, Ming; Chen, Kang; Rudnick, Roberta L

    2016-01-22

    The Archean Eon witnessed the production of early continental crust, the emergence of life, and fundamental changes to the atmosphere. The nature of the first continental crust, which was the interface between the surface and deep Earth, has been obscured by the weathering, erosion, and tectonism that followed its formation. We used Ni/Co and Cr/Zn ratios in Archean terrigenous sedimentary rocks and Archean igneous/metaigneous rocks to track the bulk MgO composition of the Archean upper continental crust. This crust evolved from a highly mafic bulk composition before 3.0 billion years ago to a felsic bulk composition by 2.5 billion years ago. This compositional change was attended by a fivefold increase in the mass of the upper continental crust due to addition of granitic rocks, suggesting the onset of global plate tectonics at ~3.0 billion years ago. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  13. Ocean Basin Evolution and Global-Scale Plate Reorganization Events Since Pangea Breakup

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Müller, R. Dietmar; Seton, Maria; Zahirovic, Sabin; Williams, Simon E.; Matthews, Kara J.; Wright, Nicky M.; Shephard, Grace E.; Maloney, Kayla T.; Barnett-Moore, Nicholas; Hosseinpour, Maral; Bower, Dan J.; Cannon, John

    2016-06-01

    We present a revised global plate motion model with continuously closing plate boundaries ranging from the Triassic at 230 Ma to the present day, assess differences among alternative absolute plate motion models, and review global tectonic events. Relatively high mean absolute plate motion rates of approximately 9-10 cm yr-1 between 140 and 120 Ma may be related to transient plate motion accelerations driven by the successive emplacement of a sequence of large igneous provinces during that time. An event at ˜100 Ma is most clearly expressed in the Indian Ocean and may reflect the initiation of Andean-style subduction along southern continental Eurasia, whereas an acceleration at ˜80 Ma of mean rates from 6 to 8 cm yr-1 reflects the initial northward acceleration of India and simultaneous speedups of plates in the Pacific. An event at ˜50 Ma expressed in relative, and some absolute, plate motion changes around the globe and in a reduction of global mean plate speeds from about 6 to 4-5 cm yr-1 indicates that an increase in collisional forces (such as the India-Eurasia collision) and ridge subduction events in the Pacific (such as the Izanagi-Pacific Ridge) play a significant role in modulating plate velocities.

  14. On the initiation of subduction

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mueller, Steve; Phillips, Roger J.

    1991-01-01

    Estimates of shear resistance associated with lithospheric thrusting and convergence represent lower bounds on the force necessary to promote trench formation. Three environments proposed as preferential sites of incipient subduction are investigated: passive continental margins, transform faults/fracture zones, and extinct ridges. None of these are predicted to convert into subduction zones simply by the accumulation of local gravitational stresses. Subduction cannot initiate through the foundering of dense oceanic lithosphere immediately adjacent to passive continental margins. The attempted subduction of buoyant material at a mature trench can result in large compressional forces in both subducting and overriding plates. This is the only tectonic force sufficient to trigger the nucleation of a new subduction zone. The ubiquitous distribution of transform faults and fracture zones, combined with the common proximity of these features to mature subduction complexes, suggests that they may represent the most likely sites of trench formation if they are even marginally weaker than normal oceanic lithosphere.

  15. NRC Continental Margins Workshop

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Katsouros, Mary Hope

    The Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council is organizing a workshop, “Continental Margins: Evolution of Passive Continental Margins and Active Marginal Processes,” to stimulate discussion and longterm planning in the scientific community about the evolution of all types of continental margins. We want to coordinate academic, industry, and government agency efforts in this field, and to enhance communication between sea-based and land-based research programs.The continental margins constitute the only available record of the long-term dynamic interaction of oceanic and continental lithosphere. Of great interest are the unique structures and thick sedimentary sequences associated with this interaction. A major focus of the workshop will be to define strategies for exploring and understanding the continental margins in three dimensions and through geologic time. The workshop will be divided into 7 working groups, each concentrating on a major issue in continental margins research. A background document is being prepared summarizing recent research in specific continental margin fields and identifying key scientific and technical issues.

  16. Continuum calculations of continental deformation in transcurrent environments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sonder, L. J.; England, P. C.; Houseman, G. A.

    1986-01-01

    A thin viscous sheet approximation is used to investigate continental deformation near a strike-slip boundary. The vertically averaged velocity field is calculated for a medium characterized by a power law rheology with stress exponent n. Driving stresses include those applied along boundaries of the sheet and those arising from buoyancy forces related to lateral differences in crustal thickness. Exact and approximate analytic solutions for a region with a sinusoidal strike-slip boundary condition are compared with solutions for more geologically relevant boundary conditions obtained using a finite element technique. The across-strike length scale of the deformation is approximately 1/4pi x sq rt n times the dominant wavelength of the imposed strike-slip boundary condition for both the analytic and the numerical solutions; this result is consistent with length scales observed in continental regions of large-scale transcurrent faulting. An approximate, linear relationship between displacement and rotation is found that depends only on the deformation length scale and the rheology. Calculated displacements, finite rotations, and distribution of crustal thicknesses are consistent with those observed in the region of the Pacific-North America plate boundary in California.

  17. Seismicity and deep structure of the Indo-Burman plate margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vaněk, J.; Hanuš, V.; Sitaram, M. V. D.

    Two differently inclined segments of the Wadati-Benioff zone beneath the Chin Hills and Naga Hills segments of the Indo-Burman Ranges were verified on the basis of the geometrical analysis of distribution of 566 earthquakes. The Wadati-Benioff zone and young calc-alkaline volcanism point to the existence of a Mio-Pliocene subduction with the trench at the western boundary of the Oligocene Indo-Burman orogenic belt. A system of ten seismically active fracture zones was delineated in the adjacent Indian and Burman plates, the tectonic pattern of which represents the eastern manifestation of the continental collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The position of historical disastrous earthquakes confirms the reality of this pattern.

  18. The wide-angle seismic image of a complex rifted margin, offshore North Namibia: Implications for the tectonics of continental breakup

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Planert, Lars; Behrmann, Jan; Jokat, Wilfried; Fromm, Tanja; Ryberg, Trond; Weber, Michael; Haberland, Christian

    2017-10-01

    Voluminous magmatism during the South Atlantic opening has been considered as a classical example for plume related continental breakup. We present a study of the crustal structure around Walvis Ridge, near the intersection with the African margin. Two wide-angle seismic profiles were acquired. One is oriented NNW-SSE, following the continent-ocean transition and crossing Walvis Ridge. A second amphibious profile runs NW-SE from the Angola Basin into continental Namibia. At the continent-ocean boundary (COB) the mafic crust beneath Walvis Ridge is up to 33 km thick, with a pronounced high-velocity lower crustal body. Towards the south there is a smooth transition to 20-25 km thick crust underlying the COB in the Walvis Basin, with a similar velocity structure, indicating a gabbroic lower crust with associated cumulates at the base. The northern boundary of Walvis Ridge towards the Angola Basin shows a sudden change to oceanic crust only 4-6 km thick, coincident with the projection of the Florianopolis Fracture Zone, one of the most prominent tectonic features of the South Atlantic ocean basin. In the amphibious profile the COB is defined by a sharp transition from oceanic to rifted continental crust, with a magmatic overprint landward of the intersection of Walvis Ridge with the Namibian margin. The continental crust beneath the Congo Craton is 40 km thick, shoaling to 35 km further SE. The velocity models show that massive high-velocity gabbroic intrusives are restricted to a narrow zone directly underneath Walvis Ridge and the COB in the south. This distribution of rift-related magmatism is not easily reconciled with models of continental breakup following the establishment of a large, axially symmetric plume in the Earth's mantle. Rift-related lithospheric stretching and associated transform faulting play an overriding role in locating magmatism, dividing the margin in a magma-dominated southern and an essentially amagmatic northern segment.

  19. Petrology and tectonics of Phanerozoic continent formation: From island arcs to accretion and continental arc magmatism

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lee, C.-T.A.; Morton, D.M.; Kistler, R.W.; Baird, A.K.

    2007-01-01

    Mesozoic continental arcs in the North American Cordillera were examined here to establish a baseline model for Phanerozoic continent formation. We combine new trace-element data on lower crustal xenoliths from the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada Batholith with an extensive grid-based geochemical map of the Peninsular Ranges Batholith, the southern equivalent of the Sierras. Collectively, these observations give a three-dimensional view of the crust, which permits the petrogenesis and tectonics of Phanerozoic crust formation to be linked in space and time. Subduction of the Farallon plate beneath North America during the Triassic to early Cretaceous was characterized by trench retreat and slab rollback because old and cold oceanic lithosphere was being subducted. This generated an extensional subduction zone, which created fringing island arcs just off the Paleozoic continental margin. However, as the age of the Farallon plate at the time of subduction decreased, the extensional environment waned, allowing the fringing island arc to accrete onto the continental margin. With continued subduction, a continental arc was born and a progressively more compressional environment developed as the age of subducting slab continued to young. Refinement into a felsic crust occurred after accretion, that is, during the continental arc stage, wherein a thickened crustal and lithospheric column permitted a longer differentiation column. New basaltic arc magmas underplate and intrude the accreted terrane, suture, and former continental margin. Interaction of these basaltic magmas with pre-existing crust and lithospheric mantle created garnet pyroxenitic mafic cumulates by fractional crystallization at depth as well as gabbroic and garnet pyroxenitic restites at shallower levels by melting of pre-existing lower crust. The complementary felsic plutons formed by these deep-seated differentiation processes rose into the upper crust, stitching together the accreted terrane, suture and former

  20. Initiation of the Pyrenean plate boundary fault and its effect on the near- and far-field deformation of the European plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dielforder, Armin; Frasca, Gianluca; Ford, Mary

    2017-04-01

    The European plate was affected by contractional deformation events in Late Cretaceous time. This is recorded by inception of thrusting and foreland basin subsidence in the Pyrenean realm, and inversion of Mesozoic rift systems in the interior of the European plate. It is widely accepted that the plate-wide deformation resulted from the onset of NE-directed convergence of Africa-Iberia relative to Europe, and a strong mechanical coupling of the plates, which allowed the transfer of stresses far into Europe. Geological data from both the Pyrenean orogen and the interior of the European plate indicate, however, that these conditions persisted only for 15-20 Myr and that Europe experienced a plate-wide stress relaxation during Paleocene time. Although a slow down in plate convergence between Africa and Europe and North Atlantic continental rifting were proposed as potential causes for the stress relaxation, the subject has remained controversial. In particular, none of the mechanisms seem to be suitable to explain the required changes in the mechanical coupling of Iberian and European plates and the associated stress transfer. Here we propose a new model for the Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene tectonic evolution of the European plate, which takes the temporal evolution of the Pyrenean plate boundary fault into account. Based on plate reconstructions, geological field-data, and restored cross-sections we argue that the plate boundary fault initiated during the Upper Cretaceous within the exhumed mantle domain situated between the rifted margins of the Iberian and European plates. At the transition from the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene, the mantle domain was closed and the rifted margins collided. This evolution was associated with a substantial change in the fault rheology leading to an overall decrease in the plate coupling force. During Paleocene time, the plate coupling force was efficiently balanced by the gravitational push of the European plate, leading to a near

  1. Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault: The possible role of rheology

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    ten Brink, Uri S.; Miller, Nathaniel; Andrews, Brian; Brothers, Daniel; Haeussler, Peter J.

    2018-01-01

    The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Island and Alaska is similar to the PA/NA boundary in California in its kinematic history and the rate and azimuth of current relative motion, yet their deformation styles are distinct. The California plate boundary shows a broad zone of parallel strike slip and thrust faults and folds, whereas the 49‐mm/yr PA/NA relative plate motion in Canada and Alaska is centered on a single, narrow, continuous ~900‐km‐long fault, the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF). Using gravity analysis, we propose that this plate boundary is centered on the continent/ocean boundary (COB), an unusual location for continental transform faults because plate boundaries typically localize within the continental lithosphere, which is weaker. Because the COB is a boundary between materials of contrasting elastic properties, once a fault is established there, it will probably remain stable. We propose that deformation progressively shifted to the COB in the wake of Yakutat terrane's northward motion along the margin. Minor convergence across the plate boundary is probably accommodated by fault reactivation on Pacific crust and by an eastward dipping QCF. Underthrusting of Pacific slab under Haida Gwaii occurs at convergence angles >14°–15° and may have been responsible for the emergence of the archipelago. The calculated slab entry dip (5°–8°) suggests that the slab probably does not extend into the asthenosphere. The PA/NA plate boundary at the QCF can serve as a structurally simple site to investigate the impact of rheology and composition on crustal deformation and the initiation of slab underthrusting.

  2. A new plate tectonic concept for the eastern-most Mediterranean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huebscher, C.; McGrandle, A.; Scaife, G.; Spoors, R.; Stieglitz, T.

    2012-04-01

    Owing to the seismogenic faults bordering the Levant-Sinai realm and the discovery of giant gas reservoirs in the marine Levant Basin the scientific interest in this tectonically complex setting increased in recent years. Here we provide a new model for the Levant Basin architecture and adjacent plate boundaries emphasizing the importance of industrial seismic data for frontier research in earth science. PSDM seismics, residual gravity and depth to basement maps give a clear line of evidence that the Levant Basin, formerly considered as a single tectonic entity, is divided into two different domains. Highly stretched continental crust in the southern domain is separated from deeper and presumably Tethyan oceanic crust in the north. A transform continuing from southwest Cyprus to the Carmel Fault in northern Israel is considered as the boundary. If this interpretation holds, the Carmel-Cyprus Transform represents a yet unknown continent-ocean boundary in the eastern Mediterranean, thus adding new constrains for the Mediterranean plate tectonic puzzle. The Eratosthenes Seamount, considered as the spearhead of incipient continental collision in the eastern Mediterranean, is interpreted as a carbonate platform that developed above a volcanic basement. NW-SE trending strike-slip faults are abundant in the entire Levant region. Since this trend also shapes the topography of the Levant hinterland including Quaternary deposits their recent tectonic activity is quite likely. Thus, our study supports previous studies which attributed the evolution of submarine canyons and Holocene triggering of mass failures not only to salt tectonics or depositional processes, but also to active plate-tectonics.

  3. Subduction and exhumation of a continental margin in the Scandinavian Caledonides: Insights from ultrahigh pressure metamorphism, late orogenic basins and 3D numerical modelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cuthbert, Simon

    2017-04-01

    The Scandinavian Caledonides (SC) represents a plate collision zone of Himalayan style and scale. Three fundamental characteristics of this orogen are: (1) early foreland-directed, tectonic transport and stacking of nappes; (2) late, wholesale reversal of tectonic transport; (3) ultrahigh pressure metamorphism of felsic crust derived from the underthrusting plate at several levels in the orogenic wedge and below the main thrust surface, indicating subduction of continental crust into the mantle. The significance of this for crustal evolution is the profound remodeling of continental crust, direct geochemical interaction of such crust and the mantle and the opening of accommodation space trapping large volumes of clastic detritus within the orogen. The orogenic wedge of the SC was derived from the upper crust of the Baltica continental margin (a hyper-extended passive margin), plus terranes derived from an assemblage of outboard arcs and intra-oceanic basins and, at the highest structural level, elements of the Laurentian margin. Nappe emplacement was driven by Scandian ( 430Ma) collision of Baltica with Laurentia, but emerging Middle Ordovician ages for diamond-facies metamorphism for the most outboard (or rifted) elements of Baltica suggest prior collision with an arc or microcontinent. Nappes derived from Baltica continental crust were subducted, in some cases to depths sufficient to form diamond. These then detached from the upper part of the down-going plate along major thrust faults, at which time they ceased to descend and possibly rose along the subduction channel. Subduction of the remaining continental margin continued below these nappes, possibly driven by slab-pull of the previously subducted Iapetus oceanic lithosphere and metamorphic densification of subducted felsic continental margin. 3D numerical modelling based upon a Caledonide-like plate scenario shows that if a continental corner or promontory enters the subduction zone, the continental margin

  4. Plate Kinematic model of the NW Indian Ocean and derived regional stress history of the East African Margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tuck-Martin, Amy; Adam, Jürgen; Eagles, Graeme

    2015-04-01

    Starting with the break up of Gondwana, the northwest Indian Ocean and its continental margins in Madagascar, East Africa and western India formed by divergence of the African and Indian plates and were shaped by a complicated sequence of plate boundary relocations, ridge propagation events, and the independent movement of the Seychelles microplate. As a result, attempts to reconcile the different plate-tectonic components and processes into a coherent kinematic model have so far been unsatisfactory. A new high-resolution plate kinematic model has been produced in an attempt to solve these problems, using seafloor spreading data and rotation parameters generated by a mixture of visual fitting of magnetic isochron data and iterative joint inversion of magnetic isochron and fracture zone data. Using plate motion vectors and plate boundary geometries derived from this model, the first-order regional stress pattern was modelled for distinct phases of margin formation. The stress pattern is correlated with the tectono-stratigraphic history of related sedimentary basins. The plate kinematic model identifies three phases of spreading, from the Jurassic to the Paleogene, which resulted in the formation of three main oceanic basins. Prior to these phases, intracontinental 'Karoo' rifting episodes in the late Carboniferous to late Triassic had failed to break up Gondwana, but initiated the formation of sedimentary basins along the East African and West Madagascan margins. At the start of the first phase of spreading (183 to 133 Ma) predominantly NW - SE extension caused continental rifting that separated Madagascar/India/Antarctica from Africa. Maximum horizontal stresses trended perpendicular to the local plate-kinematic vector, and parallel to the rift axes. During and after continental break-up and subsequent spreading, the regional stress regime changed drastically. The extensional stress regime became restricted to the active spreading ridges that in turn adopted trends

  5. Normal-Faulting in Madagascar: Another Round of Continental Rifting?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wysession, M. E.; Pratt, M. J.; Tsiriandrimanana, R.; Andriampenomanana Ny Ony, F. S. T.; Nyblade, A.; Durrheim, R. J.; Tilmann, F. J.; Rumpker, G.; Rambolamanana, G.; Aleqabi, G. I.; Shore, P.

    2017-12-01

    Analyses of seismicity and seismic structure within Madagascar suggest the current occurrence of crustal extension, which may be related to continental rifting associated with a diffuse boundary between the Somalia and Lwandle tectonic plates. Madagascar has participated in two major rifting events as part of the break-up of Gondwana: the break-away of Greater India (Madagascar, India, the Seychelles) away from mainland Africa during the Jurassic and the break-away of India from Madagascar during the Cretaceous. Seismic activity and the structures obtained from it, using data from the 2-year (2011-2013) MACOMO project, suggest that this break-up may not be finished, and that continental rifts may be developing again. There are fairly high levels of intraplate seismicity within Madagascar: over 800 events located during the 22 months of the deployment. For comparison, a 2-year deployment of seismometers within the upper Midwest of the U.S. yielded just 12 intraplate earthquakes. While the Madagascar seismicity occurs across the island, it is strongly concentrated in the central region, where Cenozoic volcanism has occurred through the Holocene, and earthquakes align along N-S-trending lineations associated with N-S-trending pull-apart graben structures. The thickness of the crust is still >40 km in this region, but it is underlain by a large low-velocity structure within the lithosphere and asthenosphere that is observed in our studies of surface-wave, body-wave, and Pn-phase tomography. Normal faulting is not observed everywhere on the island, however; seismicity in the north is largely strike-slip, and seismicity in the south appears to be largely reverse faulting. Several studies have suggested that the diffuse boundary between the Somalia and Lwandle plates runs roughly E-W across Madagascar. Extensional faulting seems to predominate only within central Madagascar, likely associated with the current volcanic activity, which also appears to be associated with the

  6. A plate-driven model for enigmatic volcanic history of the Cascades-Yellowstone System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Szwaja, S.; Kincaid, C. R.; Druken, K. A.; MacDougall, J.

    2013-12-01

    south, and is capable of producing opposite age progressions beneath the surface HLP/SRP track locations. The evolution of a high viscosity residuum in rollback-driven flow did not match the observed trends, as the feature deformed into an overly thick and wide morphology in the sub-HLP wedge compared to seismic data. Higher viscosity also produces stress coupling throughout the residuum, causing efficient entrainment from under the SRP towards the trench, leaving only ambient fluid beneath this track. In cases with stronger viscous coupling to the base of the overriding plate, the residuum is not able to deform into a morphology that is consistent with SRP/HLP tracks over the period 15 - 0 Ma. Models show only a limited range of conditions, where a low viscosity residuum is decoupled from the overriding plate, are capable of producing morphologies and offsets that roughly match observed spatial and temporal trends for primary features in the Pacific Northwest. Additional work is needed to understand the vertical heat/mass transfer processes that would enable deforming residuum to continually supply the bimodal magmatic output recorded over ~15Ma along the HLP and SRP tracks.

  7. Extending Alaska's plate boundary: tectonic tremor generated by Yakutat subduction

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wech, Aaron G.

    2016-01-01

    The tectonics of the eastern end of the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone are complicated by the inclusion of the Yakutat microplate, which is colliding into and subducting beneath continental North America at near-Pacific-plate rates. The interaction among these plates at depth is not well understood, and further east, even less is known about the plate boundary or the source of Wrangell volcanism. The drop-off in Wadati-Benioff zone (WBZ) seismicity could signal the end of the plate boundary, the start of aseismic subduction, or a tear in the downgoing plate. Further compounding the issue is the possible presence of the Wrangell slab, which is faintly outlined by an anemic, eastward-dipping WBZ beneath the Wrangell volcanoes. In this study, I performed a search for tectonic tremor to map slow, plate-boundary slip in south-central Alaska. I identified ∼11,000 tremor epicenters, which continue 85 km east of the inferred Pacific plate edge marked by WBZ seismicity. The tremor zone coincides with the edges of the downgoing Yakutat terrane, and tremors transition from periodic to continuous behavior as they near the aseismic Wrangell slab. I interpret tremor to mark slow, semicontinuous slip occurring at the interface between the Yakutat and North America plates. The slow slip region lengthens the megathrust interface beyond the WBZ and may provide evidence for a connection between the Yakutat slab and the aseismic Wrangell slab.

  8. The Viability and Style of the Modern Plate-Tectonic Subduction Process in a Hotter Earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Hunen, J.; van den Berg, A.; Vlaar, N. J.

    2001-12-01

    The Earth was probably warmer during the Archean and Proterozoic, and a 50 to 300 K mantle temperature increase has been suggested. This resulted in a thicker basaltic oceanic crust and underlying harzburgitic layer, and increased buoyancy of the lithosphere. This phenomenon has raised questions about the style or even the existence of plate tectonics in a younger Earth. Buoyant, low-angle subduction (e.g. below overriding plates) could have been more important, but also alternative tectonic styles, such as small-scale layered convection within the thickened crust have been proposed. We conducted 2-D Cartesian numerical model calculations to quantify the viability of the subduction process for an Earth with a higher potential temperature.As the basalt-to-eclogite transition in the crust plays an important role in the buoyancy of the oceanic plate and slab, and therefore also in its propensity to subduct, the kinetics of this phase transition is included in the numerical model. One set of model results suggest that flat subduction below a continuously overriding lithosphere, or lithospheric doubling, can give rise to flat subduction up to a mantle temperature, which is not much higher (38 to 75 K) than today. An even hotter mantle is too weak to support the flat slab, so that fast, steep Benioff subduction develops. We performed another set of model calculations to examine the possibility of modern-style subduction in a hotter Earth, without extra driving forces such as lithospheric doubling. We use again the mechanism of lithospheric doubling, but only to trigger the subduction process, and switch it off after a few million years, when `active' subduction developes. For a mantle temperature increase up to 150 K, we find subduction to be essentially the same as today, but subduction rates increase with increasing mantle temperature and increasing eclogitisation rates. For a 225 K mantle temperature increase, considerable amounts of the dense eclogitic crust

  9. Analog modelling of obduction processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Agard, P.; Zuo, X.; Funiciello, F.; Bellahsen, N.; Faccenna, C.; Savva, D.

    2012-04-01

    Obduction corresponds to one of plate tectonics oddities, whereby dense, oceanic rocks (ophiolites) are presumably 'thrust' on top of light, continental ones, as for the short-lived, almost synchronous Peri-Arabic obduction (which took place along thousands of km from Turkey to Oman in c. 5-10 Ma). Analog modelling experiments were performed to study the mechanisms of obduction initiation and test various triggering hypotheses (i.e., plate acceleration, slab hitting the 660 km discontinuity, ridge subduction; Agard et al., 2007). The experimental setup comprises (1) an upper mantle, modelled as a low-viscosity transparent Newtonian glucose syrup filling a rigid Plexiglas tank and (2) high-viscosity silicone plates (Rhodrosil Gomme with PDMS iron fillers to reproduce densities of continental or oceanic plates), located at the centre of the tank above the syrup to simulate the subducting and the overriding plates - and avoid friction on the sides of the tank. Convergence is simulated by pushing on a piston at one end of the model with velocities comparable to those of plate tectonics (i.e., in the range 1-10 cm/yr). The reference set-up includes, from one end to the other (~60 cm): (i) the piston, (ii) a continental margin containing a transition zone to the adjacent oceanic plate, (iii) a weakness zone with variable resistance and dip (W), (iv) an oceanic plate - with or without a spreading ridge, (v) a subduction zone (S) dipping away from the piston and (vi) an upper, active continental margin, below which the oceanic plate is being subducted at the start of the experiment (as is known to have been the case in Oman). Several configurations were tested and over thirty different parametric tests were performed. Special emphasis was placed on comparing different types of weakness zone (W) and the extent of mechanical coupling across them, particularly when plates were accelerated. Displacements, together with along-strike and across-strike internal deformation in all

  10. The plume head-continental lithosphere interaction using a tectonically realistic formulation for the lithosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Burov, E.; Guillou-Frottier, L.

    2005-05-01

    Current debates on the existence of mantle plumes largely originate from interpretations of supposed signatures of plume-induced surface topography that are compared with predictions of geodynamic models of plume-lithosphere interactions. These models often inaccurately predict surface evolution: in general, they assume a fixed upper surface and consider the lithosphere as a single viscous layer. In nature, the surface evolution is affected by the elastic-brittle-ductile deformation, by a free upper surface and by the layered structure of the lithosphere. We make a step towards reconciling mantle- and tectonic-scale studies by introducing a tectonically realistic continental plate model in large-scale plume-lithosphere interaction. This model includes (i) a natural free surface boundary condition, (ii) an explicit elastic-viscous(ductile)-plastic(brittle) rheology and (iii) a stratified structure of continental lithosphere. The numerical experiments demonstrate a number of important differences from predictions of conventional models. In particular, this relates to plate bending, mechanical decoupling of crustal and mantle layers and tension-compression instabilities, which produce transient topographic signatures such as uplift and subsidence at large (>500 km) and small scale (300-400, 200-300 and 50-100 km). The mantle plumes do not necessarily produce detectable large-scale topographic highs but often generate only alternating small-scale surface features that could otherwise be attributed to regional tectonics. A single large-wavelength deformation, predicted by conventional models, develops only for a very cold and thick lithosphere. Distinct topographic wavelengths or temporarily spaced events observed in the East African rift system, as well as over French Massif Central, can be explained by a single plume impinging at the base of the continental lithosphere, without evoking complex asthenospheric upwelling.

  11. Structure and Geochemistry of the Continental-Oceanic Crust Boundary of the Red Sea and the Rifted Margin of Western Arabia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dilek, Y.; Furnes, H.; Schoenberg, R.

    2009-12-01

    The continental-oceanic crust boundary and an incipient oceanic crust of the Red Sea opening are exposed within the Arabian plate along a narrow zone of the Tihama Asir coastal plain in SW Saudi Arabia. Dike swarms, layered gabbros, granophyres and basalts of the 22 Ma Tihama Asir (TA) continental margin ophiolite represent products of magmatic differentiation formed during the initial stages of rifting between the African and Arabian plates. Nearly 4-km-wide zone of NW-trending sheeted dikes are the first products of mafic magmatism associated with incipient oceanic crust formation following the initial continental breakup. Gabbro intrusions are composed of cpx-ol-gabbro, cpx-gabbro, and norite/troctolite, and are crosscut by fine-grained basaltic dikes. Granophyre bodies intrude the sheeted dike swarms and are locally intrusive into the gabbros. Regional Bouger gravity anomalies suggest that the Miocene mafic crust represented by the TA complex extends westward beneath the coastal plain sedimentary rocks and the main trough of the Red Sea. The TA complex marks an incipient Red Sea oceanic crust that was accreted to the NE side of the newly formed continental rift in the earliest stages of seafloor spreading. Its basaltic to trachyandesitic lavas and dikes straddle the subalkaline-mildly alkaline boundary. Incompatible trace element relationships (e.g. Zr-Ti, Zr-P) indicate two distinct populations. The REE concentrations show an overall enrichment compared to N-MORB; light REEs are enriched over the heavy ones ((La/Yb)n > 1), pointing to an E-MORB influence. Nd-isotope data show ɛNd values ranging from +4 to +8, supporting an E-MORB melt source. The relatively large variations in ɛNd values also suggest various degrees of involvement of continental crust during ascent and emplacement, or by mixing of another mantle source.

  12. Microseismicity in Southern South Island, New Zealand: Implications for the Mechanism of Crustal Deformation Adjacent to a Major Continental Transform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Warren-Smith, Emily; Lamb, Simon; Stern, Tim A.; Smith, Euan

    2017-11-01

    Shallow (<25 km), diffuse crustal seismicity occurs in a zone up to 150 km wide adjacent to the southern Alpine Fault, New Zealand, as a consequence of distributed shear and thickening in the obliquely convergent Australian-Pacific plate boundary zone. It has recently been proposed that continental convergence here is accommodated by oblique slip on a low-angle detachment that underlies the region, and as such, forms a previously unrecognized mode of oblique continental convergence. We test this model using microseismicity, presenting a new, 15 month high-resolution microearthquake catalog for the Southern Lakes and northern Fiordland regions adjacent to the Alpine Fault. We determine the spatial distribution, moment release, and style of microearthquakes and show that seismicity in the continental lithosphere is predominantly shallower than 20 km, in a zone up to 150 km wide, but less frequent deeper microseismicity extending into the mantle, at depths of up to 100 km is also observed. The geometry of the subducted oceanic Australian plate is well imaged, with a well-defined Benioff zone to depths of 150 km. In detail, the depth of continental microseismicity shows considerable variation, with no clear link with major active surface faults, but rather represents diffuse cracking in response to the ambient stress release. The moment release rate is 0.1% of that required to accommodate relative plate convergence, and the azimuth of the principal horizontal axis of contraction accommodated by microseismicity is 120°, 15-20° clockwise of the horizontal axis of contractional strain rate observed geodetically. Thus, short-term microseismicity, independent of knowledge of intermittent large-magnitude earthquakes, may not be a good guide to the rate and orientation of long-term deformation but is an indicator of the instantaneous state of stress and potential distribution of finite deformation. We show that both the horizontal and vertical spatial distribution of

  13. Initiation of Extension in South China Continental Margin during the Active-Passive Margin Transition: Thermochronological and Kinematic Constraints

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zuo, X.; Chan, L. S.

    2015-12-01

    The South China continental margin is characterized by a widespread magmatic belt, prominent NE-striking faults and numerous rifted basins filled by Cretaceous-Eocene sediments. The geology denotes a transition from active to passive margin, which led to rapid modifications of crustal stress configuration and reactivation of older faults in this area. Our zircon fission-track data in this region show two episodes of exhumation: The first episode, occurring during 170-120Ma, affected local parts of the Nanling Range. The second episode, a more regional exhumation event, occurred during 115-70Ma, including the Yunkai Terrane and the Nanling Range. Numerical geodynamic modeling was conducted to simulate the subduction between the paleo-Pacific plate and the South China Block. The modeling results could explain the fact that exhumation of the granite-dominant Nanling Range occurred earlier than that of the gneiss-dominant Yunkai Terrane. In addition to the difference in rock types, the heat from Jurassic-Early Cretaceous magmatism in Nanling may have softened the upper crust, causing the area to exhume more readily than Yunkai. Numerical modeling results also indicate that (1) high lithospheric geothermal gradient, high slab dip angle and low convergence velocity favor the reversal of crustal stress state from compression to extension in the upper continental plate; (2) late Mesozoic magmatism in South China was probably caused by a slab roll-back; and (3) crustal extension could have occurred prior to the cessation of plate subduction. The inversion of stress regime in the continental crust from compression to crustal extension imply that the Late Cretaceous-early Paleogene red-bed basins in South China could have formed during the late stage of the subduction, accounting for the occurrence of volcanic events in some sedimentary basins. We propose that the rifting started as early as Late Cretaceous, probably before the cessation of subduction process.

  14. Thermal Evolution of the Earth from a Plate Tectonics Point of View

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grigne, C.; Combes, M.; Le Yaouanq, S.; Husson, L.; Conrad, C. P.; Tisseau, C.

    2011-12-01

    Earth's thermal history is classically studied using scaling laws that link the surface heat loss to the temperature and viscosity of the convecting mantle. When such a parameterization is used in the global heat budget of the Earth to integrate the mantle temperature backwards in time, a runaway increase of temperature is obtained, leading to the so-called "thermal catastrophe". We propose a new approach that does not rely on convective scaling laws but instead considers the dynamics of plate tectonics, including temperature-dependent surface processes. We use a multi-agent system to simulate time-dependent plate tectonics in a 2D cylindrical geometry with evolutive plate boundaries. Plate velocities are computed using local force balance and explicit parameterizations for plate boundary processes such as trench migration, subduction initiation, continental breakup and plate suturing. The number of plates is not imposed but emerges naturally. At a given time step, heat flux is integrated from the seafloor age distribution and a global heat budget is used to compute the evolution of mantle temperature. This approach has a very low computational cost and allows us to study the effect of a wide range of input parameters on the long-term thermal evolution of the system. For Earth-like parameters, an average cooling rate of 60-70K per billion years is obtained, which is consistent with petrological and rheological constraints. Two time scales arise in the evolution of the heat flux: a linear long-term decrease and high-amplitude short-term fluctuations due to tectonic rearrangements. We show that the viscosity of the mantle is not a key parameter in the thermal evolution of the system and that no thermal catastrophe occurs when considering tectonic processes. The cooling rate of the Earth depends mainly on its ability to replace old insulating seafloor by young thin oceanic lithosphere. Therefore, the main controlling factors are parameters such as the resistance of

  15. Modeling the role of back-arc spreading in controlling 3-D circulation and temperature patterns in subduction zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kincaid, C.

    2005-12-01

    Subduction of oceanic lithosphere provides a dominant driving force for mantle dynamics and plate tectonics, and strongly modulates the thermal evolution of the mantle. Magma generation in arc environments is related to slab temperatures, slab dehydration/wedge hydration processes and circulation patterns in the mantle wedge. A series of laboratory experiments is used to model three-dimensional aspects of flow in subduction zones, and the consequent temperature variations in the slab and overlying mantle wedge. The experiments utilize a tank of glucose syrup to simulate the mantle and a Phenolic plate to represent subducting oceanic lithosphere. Different modes of plate sinking are produced using hydraulic pistons. The effects of longitudinal, rollback and slab-steepening components of slab motions are considered, along with different thicknesses of the over-riding lithosphere. Models look specifically at how distinct modes of back-arc spreading alter subduction zone temperatures and flow in the mantle wedge. Results show remarkably different temperature and circulation patterns when spreading is produced by rollback of the trench-slab-arc relative to a stationary overriding back-arc plate versus spreading due to motion of the overriding plate away from a fixed trench location. For rollback-induced spreading, flow trajectories in the wedge are shallow (e.g., limited upwelling), both the sub-arc and back-arc regions are supplied by material flowing around the receding slab. Flow lines in the sub-arc wedge are strongly trench-parallel. In these cases, strong lateral variations in slab surface temperature (SST) are recorded (hot at plate center, cool at plate edge). When the trench is fixed in space and spreading is produced by motion of the overriding plate, strong vertical flow velocities are recorded in the wedge, both the shallow sub-arc and back-arc regions are supplied by flow from under the overriding plate producing strong vertical shear. In these cases SSTs

  16. OESbathy version 1.0: a method for reconstructing ocean bathymetry with realistic continental shelf-slope-rise structures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goswami, A.; Olson, P. L.; Hinnov, L. A.; Gnanadesikan, A.

    2015-04-01

    We present a method for reconstructing global ocean bathymetry that uses a plate cooling model for the oceanic lithosphere, the age distribution of the oceanic crust, global oceanic sediment thicknesses, plus shelf-slope-rise structures calibrated at modern active and passive continental margins. Our motivation is to reconstruct realistic ocean bathymetry based on parameterized relationships of present-day variables that can be applied to global oceans in the geologic past, and to isolate locations where anomalous processes such as mantle convection may affect bathymetry. Parameters of the plate cooling model are combined with ocean crustal age to calculate depth-to-basement. To the depth-to-basement we add an isostatically adjusted, multicomponent sediment layer, constrained by sediment thickness in the modern oceans and marginal seas. A continental shelf-slope-rise structure completes the bathymetry reconstruction, extending from the ocean crust to the coastlines. Shelf-slope-rise structures at active and passive margins are parameterized using modern ocean bathymetry at locations where a complete history of seafloor spreading is preserved. This includes the coastal regions of the North, South, and Central Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica, and the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. The final products are global maps at 0.1° × 0.1° resolution of depth-to-basement, ocean bathymetry with an isostatically adjusted, multicomponent sediment layer, and ocean bathymetry with reconstructed continental shelf-slope-rise structures. Our reconstructed bathymetry agrees with the measured ETOPO1 bathymetry at most passive margins, including the east coast of North America, north coast of the Arabian Sea, and northeast and southeast coasts of South America. There is disagreement at margins with anomalous continental shelf-slope-rise structures, such as around the Arctic Ocean, the Falkland Islands, and Indonesia.

  17. Plate convergence, transcurrent faults and internal deformation adjacent to Southeast Asia and the western Pacific

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fitch, T. J.

    1971-01-01

    A model for oblique convergence between plates of lithosphere is proposed in which at least a fraction of slip parallel to the plate margin results in transcurrent movements on a nearly vertical fault which is located on the continental side of a zone of plate consumption. In an extreme case of complete decoupling only the component of slip normal to the plate margin can be inferred from underthrusting. Recent movements in the western Sunda region provide the most convincing evidence for decoupling of slip, which in this region is thought to be oblique to the plate margin. A speculative model for convergence along the margins of the Philippine Sea is constructed from an inferred direction of oblique slip in the Philippine region. This model requires that the triple point formed by the junction of the Japanese and Izu-Bonin trenches and the Nankai trough migrate along the Sagami trough.

  18. Comparison of Pore Fractal Characteristics Between Marine and Continental Shales

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Jun; Yao, Yanbin; Liu, Dameng; Cai, Yidong; Cai, Jianchao

    Fractal characterization offers a quantitative evaluation on the heterogeneity of pore structure which greatly affects gas adsorption and transportation in shales. To compare the fractal characteristics between marine and continental shales, nine samples from the Lower Silurian Longmaxi formation in the Sichuan basin and nine from the Middle Jurassic Dameigou formation in the Qaidam basin were collected. Reservoir properties and fractal dimensions were characterized for all the collected samples. In this study, fractal dimensions were originated from the Frenkel-Halsey-Hill (FHH) model with N2 adsorption data. Compared to continental shale, marine shale has greater values of quartz content, porosity, specific surface area and total pore volume but lower level of clay minerals content, permeability, average pore diameter and methane adsorption capacity. The quartz in marine shale is mostly associated with biogenic origin, while that in continental shale is mainly due to terrigenous debris. The N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms exhibit that marine shale has fewer inkbottle-shaped pores but more plate-like and slit-shaped pores than continental shale. Two fractal dimensions (D1 and D2) were obtained at P/Po of 0-0.5 and 0.5-1. The dimension D2 is commonly greater than D1, suggesting that larger pores (diameter >˜ 4nm) have more complex structures than small pores (diameter <˜ 4nm). The fractal dimensions (both D1 and D2) positively correlate to clay minerals content, specific surface area and methane adsorption capacity, but have negative relationships with porosity, permeability and average pore diameter. The fractal dimensions increase proportionally with the increasing quartz content in marine shale but have no obvious correlation with that in continental shale. The dimension D1 is correlative to the TOC content and permeability of marine shale at a similar degree with dimension D2, while the dimension D1 is more sensitive to those of continental shale than

  19. Structure of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary Onshore and Offshore the California Continental Margin from Three-Dimensional Seismic Anisotropy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gomez, C. D.; Escobar, L., Sr.; Rathnayaka, S.; Weeraratne, D. S.; Kohler, M. D.

    2016-12-01

    The California continental margin, a major transform plate boundary in continental North America, is the locus of complex tectonic stress fields that are important in interpreting both remnant and ongoing deformational strain. Ancient subduction of the East Pacific Rise spreading center, the rotation and translation of tectonic blocks and inception of the San Andreas fault all contribute to the dynamic stress fields located both onshore and offshore southern California. Data obtained by the ALBACORE (Asthenospheric and Lithospheric Broadband Architecture from the California Offshore Region Experiment) and the CISN (California Integrated Seismic Network) seismic array are analyzed for azimuthal anisotropy of Rayleigh waves from 80 teleseismic events at periods 16 - 78 s. Here we invert Rayleigh wave data for shear wave velocity structure and three-dimensional seismic anisotropy in the thee regions designated within the continental margin including the continent, seafloor and California Borderlands. Preliminary results show that seismic anisotropy is resolved in multiple layers and can be used to determine the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) in offshore and continental regions. The oldest seafloor in our study at age 25-35 Ma indicates that the anisotropic transition across the LAB occurs at 73 km +/- 25 km with the lithospheric fast direction oriented WNW-ESE, consistent with current Pacific plate motion direction. The continent region west of the San Andreas indicates similar WNW-ESE anisotropy and LAB depth. Regions east of the San Andreas fault indicate NW-SE anisotropy transitioning to a N-S alignment at 80 km depth north of the Garlock fault. The youngest seafloor (15 - 25 Ma) and outer Borderlands indicate a more complex three layer fabric where shallow lithospheric NE-SW fast directions are perpendicular with ancient Farallon subduction arc, a mid-layer with E-W fast directions are perpendicular to remnant fossil fabric, and the deepest layer

  20. Considering bioactivity in modelling continental growth and the Earth's evolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Höning, D.; Spohn, T.

    2013-09-01

    The complexity of planetary evolution increases with the number of interacting reservoirs. On Earth, even the biosphere is speculated to interact with the interior. It has been argued (e.g., Rosing et al. 2006; Sleep et al, 2012) that the formation of continents could be a consequence of bioactivity harvesting solar energy through photosynthesis to help build the continents and that the mantle should carry a chemical biosignature. Through plate tectonics, the surface biosphere can impact deep subduction zone processes and the interior of the Earth. Subducted sediments are particularly important, because they influence the Earth's interior in several ways, and in turn are strongly influenced by the Earth's biosphere. In our model, we use the assumption that a thick sedimentary layer of low permeability on top of the subducting oceanic crust, caused by a biologically enhanced weathering rate, can suppress shallow dewatering. This in turn leads to greater vailability of water in the source region of andesitic partial melt, resulting in an enhanced rate of continental production and regassing rate into the mantle. Our model includes (i) mantle convection, (ii) continental erosion and production, and (iii) mantle water degassing at mid-ocean ridges and regassing at subduction zones. The mantle viscosity of our model depends on (i) the mantle water concentration and (ii) the mantle temperature, whose time dependency is given by radioactive decay of isotopes in the Earth's mantle. Boundary layer theory yields the speed of convection and the water outgassing rate of the Earth's mantle. Our results indicate that present day values of continental surface area and water content of the Earth's mantle represent an attractor in a phase plane spanned by both parameters. We show that the biologic enhancement of the continental erosion rate is important for the system to reach this fixed point. An abiotic Earth tends to reach an alternative stable fixed point with a smaller

  1. Regulation of emotion in ADHD: can children with ADHD override the natural tendency to approach positive and avoid negative pictures?

    PubMed

    Van Cauwenberge, Valerie; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J S; Hoppenbrouwers, Karel; Van Leeuwen, Karla; Wiersema, Jan R

    2017-03-01

    Studies have demonstrated inefficient use of antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategies in children with ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the current study we tested for the first time if ADHD is also associated with difficulties in response-focused strategies by measuring the ability to override action tendencies induced by emotional information. Performance data on a computer-based approach-avoidance paradigm of 28 children with ADHD and 38 typically developing children between 8 and 15 years of age were analyzed, by comparing a congruent condition in which they were instructed to approach positive and avoid negative pictures and an incongruent condition where they had to override these automatic reactions and approach negative and avoid positive pictures. Children also rated the valence and salience of the pictures. Children with ADHD and typically developing children rated the emotional valence of the pictures appropriately and similarly, while positive pictures were rated as more arousing by children with ADHD. Solid congruency effects were found indicating that the task measured response-focused emotion regulation; however groups did not differ in this respect. Our findings do not support a deficit in emotion regulation in ADHD in terms of the ability to override natural tendencies to approach positive and avoid negative pictures.

  2. This Dynamic Planet: World map of volcanoes, earthquakes, impact craters and plate tectonics

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Simkin, Tom; Tilling, Robert I.; Vogt, Peter R.; Kirby, Stephen H.; Kimberly, Paul; Stewart, David B.

    2006-01-01

    Our Earth is a dynamic planet, as clearly illustrated on the main map by its topography, over 1500 volcanoes, 44,000 earthquakes, and 170 impact craters. These features largely reflect the movements of Earth's major tectonic plates and many smaller plates or fragments of plates (including microplates). Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are awe-inspiring displays of the powerful forces of nature and can be extraordinarily destructive. On average, about 60 of Earth's 550 historically active volcanoes are in eruption each year. In 2004 alone, over 160 earthquakes were magnitude 6.0 or above, some of which caused casualties and substantial damage. This map shows many of the features that have shaped--and continue to change--our dynamic planet. Most new crust forms at ocean ridge crests, is carried slowly away by plate movement, and is ultimately recycled deep into the earth--causing earthquakes and volcanism along the boundaries between moving tectonic plates. Oceans are continually opening (e.g., Red Sea, Atlantic) or closing (e.g., Mediterranean). Because continental crust is thicker and less dense than thinner, younger oceanic crust, most does not sink deep enough to be recycled, and remains largely preserved on land. Consequently, most continental bedrock is far older than the oldest oceanic bedrock. (see back of map) The earthquakes and volcanoes that mark plate boundaries are clearly shown on this map, as are craters made by impacts of extraterrestrial objects that punctuate Earth's history, some causing catastrophic ecological changes. Over geologic time, continuing plate movements, together with relentless erosion and redeposition of material, mask or obliterate traces of earlier plate-tectonic or impact processes, making the older chapters of Earth's 4,500-million-year history increasingly difficult to read. The recent activity shown on this map provides only a present-day snapshot of Earth's long history, helping to illustrate how its present surface came to

  3. Global plate motion frames: Toward a unified model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Torsvik, Trond H.; Müller, R. Dietmar; van der Voo, Rob; Steinberger, Bernhard; Gaina, Carmen

    2008-09-01

    frame transition. Using plate driving force arguments and the mapping of reconstructed large igneous provinces to core-mantle boundary topography, we argue that continental paleolongitudes can be constrained with reasonable confidence.

  4. When Boundary Layers Collide: Plumes v. Subduction Zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moresi, L. N.; Betts, P. G.; Miller, M. S.; Willis, D.; O'Driscoll, L.

    2014-12-01

    Many subduction zones retreat while hotspots remain sufficiently stable in the mantle to provide an approximate reference frame. As a consequence, the mantle can be thought of as an unusual convecting system which self-organises to promote frequent collisions of downgoing material with upwellings. We present three 3D numerical models of subduction where buoyant material from a plume head and an associated ocean-island chain or plateau produce flat slab subduction and deformation of the over-riding plate. We observe transient instabilities of the convergent margin including: contorted trench geometry; trench migration parallel with the plate margin; folding of the subducting slab and orocline development at the convergent margin; and transfer of the plateau to the overriding plate. The presence of plume material beneath the oceanic plateau causes flat subduction above the plume, resulting in a "bowed" shaped subducting slab. In the absence of a plateau at the surface, the slab can remain uncoupled from the over-riding plate during very shallow subduction and hence there is very little shortening at the surface or advance of the plate boundary. In plateau-only models, plateau accretion at the edge of the overriding plate results in trench migration around the edge of the plateau before subduction re-establishes directly behind the trailing edge of the plateau. The plateau shortens during accretion and some plateau material subducts. In a plateau-plus-plume model, accretion is associated with rapid trench advance as the flat slab drives the plateau into the margin. This indentation stops once a new convergent boundary forms close to the original trench location. A slab window formed beneath the accreted plateau allows plume material to flow from beneath the subducting plate to the underside of the overriding plate. In all of these models the subduction zone maintains a relatively stable configuration away from the buoyancy anomalies within the downgoing plate. The

  5. Seismofocal zones and mid-ocean ridges - look outside of the plate paradigm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anokhin, Vladimir; Kholmianskii, Mikhail

    2014-05-01

    Seismofocal zones and mid-ocean ridges - look outside of the plate paradigm Vladimir M. Anokhin, Mikhail A. Kholmianskii Configuration of the seismofocal zones (SFZ), visible in a real position of the focuses of earthquakes, has a significant step component (jagged) expressed by the presence of several sub-horizontal "seismoplanes", which concentrates focuses of earthquakes (depths 10, 35 km and other). Orientation of seismolines inside of SFZ tends to 4 main directions: 0-5 dgr, 120-145 dgr, 40-55 dgr, 85-90 dgr. These facts suggest significantly block, a terraced structure of the body of Benioff zone. The borders of blocks have orientation according directions regmatic net of the Earth. In accordance with this, SFZ can be presented as the most active segments of the border of the crossing: «continent-ocean», having the following properties: - block (terraced) structure; - in some sites - dive under the continental crust (in present time); - prevailing compression (in present time), perhaps, as the period of the oscillatory cycle; Infinite "subduction" in SFZ is unlikely. One of the areas where there is proof of concept of far "spreading" is the southernmost tip of the mid-oceanic Gakkel ridge in the Laptev sea (Arctic ocean). Here active "spreading" ridge normal approaches to the boundary of the continental crust - the shelf of the Laptev sea. On the shelf there are a number of subparallel NW grabens. NE fault zone Charlie, controlling the continental slope is established stepped fault without shift component. This means that the amount of extending of the offshore grabens does not significantly differ from the scale of spreading in the Gakkel ridge. However, the total spreads grabens (50-100 km) 6-10 times less than the width of the oceanic crust (600 km) in the surrounding area. Conclusion: the oceanic crust in the Laptev sea was formed mainly not due to "spreading". It is very likely that here was sinking and the processing of continental crust in the ocean

  6. Self-Consistent Generation of Primordial Continental Crust in Global Mantle Convection Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jain, C.; Rozel, A.; Tackley, P. J.

    2017-12-01

    We present the generation of primordial continental crust (TTG rocks) using self-consistent and evolutionary thermochemical mantle convection models (Tackley, PEPI 2008). Numerical modelling commonly shows that mantle convection and continents have strong feedbacks on each other. However in most studies, continents are inserted a priori while basaltic (oceanic) crust is generated self-consistently in some models (Lourenco et al., EPSL 2016). Formation of primordial continental crust happened by fractional melting and crystallisation in episodes of relatively rapid growth from late Archean to late Proterozoic eras (3-1 Ga) (Hawkesworth & Kemp, Nature 2006) and it has also been linked to the onset of plate tectonics around 3 Ga. It takes several stages of differentiation to generate Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite (TTG) rocks or proto-continents. First, the basaltic magma is extracted from the pyrolitic mantle which is both erupted at the surface and intruded at the base of the crust. Second, it goes through eclogitic transformation and then partially melts to form TTGs (Rudnick, Nature 1995; Herzberg & Rudnick, Lithos 2012). TTGs account for the majority of the Archean continental crust. Based on the melting conditions proposed by Moyen (Lithos 2011), the feasibility of generating TTG rocks in numerical simulations has already been demonstrated by Rozel et al. (Nature, 2017). Here, we have developed the code further by parameterising TTG formation. We vary the ratio of intrusive (plutonic) and extrusive (volcanic) magmatism (Crisp, Volcanol. Geotherm. 1984) to study the relative volumes of three petrological TTG compositions as reported from field data (Moyen, Lithos 2011). Furthermore, we systematically vary parameters such as friction coefficient, initial core temperature and composition-dependent viscosity to investigate the global tectonic regime of early Earth. Continental crust can also be destroyed by subduction or delamination. We will investigate

  7. Global isostatic geoid anomalies for plate and boundary layer models of the lithosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hager, B. H.

    1981-01-01

    Commonly used one dimensional geoid models predict that the isostatic geoid anomaly over old ocean basins for the boundary layer thermal model of the lithosphere is a factor of two greater than that for the plate model. Calculations presented, using the spherical analogues of the plate and boundary layer thermal models, show that for the actual global distribution of plate ages, one dimensional models are not accurate and a spherical, fully three dimensional treatment is necessary. The maximum difference in geoid heights predicted for the two models is only about two meters. The thermal structure of old lithosphere is unlikely to be resolvable using global geoid anomalies. Stripping the effects of plate aging and a hypothetical uniform, 35 km, isostatically-compensated continental crust from the observed geoid emphasizes that the largest-amplitude geoid anomaly is the geoid low of almost 120 m over West Antarctica, a factor of two greater than the low of 60 m over Ceylon.

  8. The Interpretation of Crustal Dynamics Data in Terms of Plate Interactions and Active Tectonics of the Anatolian Plate and Surrounding Regions in the Middle East

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Toksoz, M. Nafi; Reilinger, Robert E.

    1990-01-01

    During the past 6 months, efforts were concentrated on the following areas: (1) Continued development of realistic, finite element modeling of plate interactions and associated deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean; (2) Neotectonic field investigations of seismic faulting along the active fault systems in Turkey with emphasis on identifying seismic gaps along the North Anatolian fault; and (3) Establishment of a GPS regional monitoring network in the zone of ongoing continental collision in eastern Turkey (supported in part by NSF).

  9. Predicting and testing continental vertical motion histories since the Paleozoic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, N.; Zhong, S.; Flowers, R. M.

    2011-12-01

    Dynamic topography at the Earth's surface caused by mantle convection can affect a range of geophysical and geological observations including bathymetry, sea-level change, continental flooding, sedimentation and erosion. These observations provide important constraints on and test of mantle dynamic models. Based on global mantle convection models coupled with the surface plate motion history, we compute dynamic topography and its history for the last 400 Ma associated with Pangea assembly and breakup, with particular focus on continental cratonic regions. We propose that burial-unroofing histories of continental cratons inferred from thermochronology data can be used as a new diagnostic to test dynamic topography and mantle dynamic models. Our models show that there are currently two broad dynamic topography highs in the Pacific and Africa for the present-day Earth that are associated with the broad, warm structures (i.e., superplumes) in the deep mantle, consistent with previous proposals of dynamical support for the Pacific and African superswells. Our models reveal that Pangea assembly and breakup, by affecting subduction and mantle upwelling processes, have significant effects on continental vertical motions. Our models predict that the Slave craton in North America subsides before Pangea assembly at 330 Ma but uplifts significantly from 330 Ma to 240 Ma in response to pre-Pangea subduction and post-assembly mantle warming. The Kaapvaal craton of Africa is predicted to undergo uplift from ~180 Ma to 90 Ma after Pangea breakup, but its dynamic topography remains stable for the last 90 Ma. The predicted histories of elevation change for the Slave and Kaapvaal cratons compare well with the burial-unroofing histories inferred from thermochronology studies, thus supporting our dynamic models including the development of the African superplume mantle structure. The vertical motion histories for other cratons can provide further tests and constraints on our mantle

  10. Diffuse Extension of the Southern Mariana Margin: Implications for Subduction Zone Infancy and Plate Tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martinez, F.; Stern, R. J.; Kelley, K. A.; Ohara, Y.; Sleeper, J. D.; Ribeiro, J. M.; Brounce, M. N.

    2017-12-01

    Opening of the southern Mariana margin takes place in contrasting modes: Extension normal to the trench forms crust that is passively accreted to a rigid Philippine Sea plate and forms along focused and broad accretion axes. Extension also occurs parallel to the trench and has split apart an Eocene-Miocene forearc terrain accreting new crust diffusely over a 150-200 km wide zone forming a pervasive volcano-tectonic fabric oriented at high angles to the trench and the backarc spreading center. Earthquake seismicity indicates that the forearc extension is active over this broad area and basement samples date young although waning volcanic activity. Diffuse formation of new oceanic crust and lithosphere is unusual; in most oceanic settings extension rapidly focuses to narrow plate boundary zones—a defining feature of plate tectonics. Diffuse crustal accretion has been inferred to occur during subduction zone infancy, however. We hypothesize that, in a near-trench extensional setting, the continual addition of water from the subducting slab creates a weak overriding hydrous lithosphere that deforms broadly. This process counteracts mantle dehydration and strengthening proposed to occur at mid-ocean ridges that may help to focus deformation and melt delivery to narrow plate boundary zones. The observations from the southern Mariana margin suggest that where lithosphere is weakened by high water content narrow seafloor spreading centers cannot form. These conditions likely prevail during subduction zone infancy, explaining the diffuse contemporaneous volcanism inferred in this setting.

  11. Mapping the evolving strain field during continental breakup from crustal anisotropy in the Afar Depression

    PubMed Central

    Keir, Derek; Belachew, M.; Ebinger, C.J.; Kendall, J.-M.; Hammond, J.O.S.; Stuart, G.W.; Ayele, A.; Rowland, J.V.

    2011-01-01

    Rifting of the continents leading to plate rupture occurs by a combination of mechanical deformation and magma intrusion, yet the spatial and temporal scales over which these alternate mechanisms localize extensional strain remain controversial. Here we quantify anisotropy of the upper crust across the volcanically active Afar Triple Junction using shear-wave splitting from local earthquakes to evaluate the distribution and orientation of strain in a region of continental breakup. The pattern of S-wave splitting in Afar is best explained by anisotropy from deformation-related structures, with the dramatic change in splitting parameters into the rift axis from the increased density of dyke-induced faulting combined with a contribution from oriented melt pockets near volcanic centres. The lack of rift-perpendicular anisotropy in the lithosphere, and corroborating geoscientific evidence of extension dominated by dyking, provide strong evidence that magma intrusion achieves the majority of plate opening in this zone of incipient plate rupture. PMID:21505441

  12. Geometry and spatial variations of seismic reflection intensity of the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate off the Boso Peninsula, Japan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kono, Akihiro; Sato, Toshinori; Shinohara, Masanao; Mochizuki, Kimihiro; Yamada, Tomoaki; Uehira, Kenji; Shinbo, Takashi; Machida, Yuya; Hino, Ryota; Azuma, Ryousuke

    2017-07-01

    In the region off the Boso Peninsula, Japan, the Pacific plate is subducting westward beneath both the Honshu island arc and Philippine Sea plate, while the Philippine Sea plate is subducting northwestward beneath the Honshu island arc. These complex tectonic interactions have caused numerous seismic events occurred in the past. To better understand these seismic events, it is important to determine the geometry of the plate boundary, in particular the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate. We conducted an active-source seismic refraction survey in July and August 2009 from which we obtained a 2-D P-wave velocity structure model along a 216-km profile. We used the velocity model and previously published data that indicate a P-wave velocity of 5.0 km/s for the upper surface of the subducting Philippine Sea plate to delineate its boundary with the overriding Honshu island arc. Our isodepth contours of the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate show that its dip is shallow at depths of 10 to 15 km, far off the Boso Peninsula. This shallow dip may be a result of interference from the Pacific plate slab, which is subducting westward under the Philippine Sea plate. Within our survey data, we recognized numerous seismic reflections of variable intensity, some of which came from the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate. An area of high seismic reflection intensity corresponds with the main slip area of the Boso slow slip events. Our modeling indicates that those reflections can be explained by an inhomogeneous layer close to the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate.

  13. Study of crustal structure and stretch mechanism of central continental shelf of northern South China Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cao, J.; Xia, S.; Sun, J.; Wan, K.; Xu, H.

    2017-12-01

    Known as a significant region to study tectonic relationship between South China block and South China Sea (SCS) block and the evolution of rifted basin in continental margin, the continental shelf of northern SCS documents the evolution from continental splitting to seafloor spreading of SCS. To investigate crustal structure of central continental shelf in northern SCS, two wide-angle onshore-offshore seismic experiments and coincident multi-channel seismic (MCS) profiles were carried out across the onshore-offshore transitional zone in northern SCS, 2010 and 2012. A total of 34 stations consisted of ocean bottom seismometers, portable and permanent land stations were deployed during the survey. The two-dimensional precise crustal structure models of central continental shelf in northern SCS was constructed from onshore to offshore, and the stretching factors along the P-wave velocity models were calculated. The models reveal that South China block is a typical continental crust with a 30-32 km Moho depth, and a localized high-velocity anomaly in middle-lower crust under land area near Hong Kong was imaged, which may reflect magma underplating caused by subduction of paleo-Pacific plate in late Mesozoic. The littoral fault zone is composed of several parallel, high-angle, normal faults that mainly trend northeast to northeast-to-east and dip to the southeast with a large displacement, and the fault is divided into several segments separated by the northwest-trending faults. The shelf zone south of LFZ was consisted of a differential thinning upper and lower continental crust, which indicate stretch thinning of passive continent margin during the Cenozoic spreading of the SCS. The results appear to further confirm that the northern margin of SCS experienced a transition from active margin to passive one during late Mesozoic and Cenozoic.

  14. Override the controversy: Analytic thinking predicts endorsement of evolution.

    PubMed

    Gervais, Will M

    2015-09-01

    Despite overwhelming scientific consensus, popular opinions regarding evolution are starkly divided. In the USA, for example, nearly one in three adults espouse a literal and recent divine creation account of human origins. Plausibly, resistance to scientific conclusions regarding the origins of species-like much resistance to other scientific conclusions (Bloom & Weisberg, 2007)-gains support from reliably developing intuitions. Intuitions about essentialism, teleology, agency, and order may combine to make creationism potentially more cognitively attractive than evolutionary concepts. However, dual process approaches to cognition recognize that people can often analytically override their intuitions. Two large studies (total N=1324) found consistent evidence that a tendency to engage analytic thinking predicted endorsement of evolution, even controlling for relevant demographic, attitudinal, and religious variables. Meanwhile, exposure to religion predicted reduced endorsement of evolution. Cognitive style is one factor among many affecting opinions on the origin of species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Abrupt Upper-Plate Tilting Upon Slab-Transition-Zone Collision

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crameri, F.; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C. R.

    2017-12-01

    During its sinking, the remnant of a surface plate crosses and interacts with multiple boundaries in Earth's interior. The most-prominent dynamic interaction arises at the upper-mantle transition zone where the sinking plate is strongly affected by the higher-viscosity lower mantle. Within our numerical model, we unravel, for the first time, that this very collision of the sinking slab with the transition zone induces a sudden, dramatic downward tilt of the upper plate towards the subduction trench. The slab-transition zone collision sets parts of the higher-viscosity lower mantle in motion. Naturally, this then induces an overall larger return flow cell that, at its onset, tilts the upper plate abruptly by around 0.05 degrees and over around 10 Millions of years. Such a significant and abrupt variation in surface topography should be clearly visible in temporal geologic records of large-scale surface elevation and might explain continental-wide tilting as observed in Australia since the Eocene or North America during the Phanerozoic. Unravelling this crucial mantle-lithosphere interaction was possible thanks to state-of-the-art numerical modelling (powered by StagYY; Tackley 2008, PEPI) and post-processing (powered by StagLab; www.fabiocrameri.ch/software). The new model that is introduced here to study the dynamically self-consistent temporal evolution of subduction features accurate subduction-zone topography, robust single-sided plate sinking, stronger plates close to laboratory values, an upper-mantle phase transition and, crucially, simple continents at a free surface. A novel, fully-automated post-processing includes physical model diagnostics like slab geometry, mantle flow pattern, upper-plate tilt angle and trench location.

  16. Shear wave velocity structure in the lithosphere and asthenosphere across the Southern California continent and Pacific plate margin using inversion of Rayleigh wave data from the ALBACORE project.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Price, A. C.; Weeraratne, D. S.; Kohler, M. D.; Rathnayaka, S.; Escobar, L., Sr.

    2015-12-01

    The North American and Pacific plate boundary is a unique example of past subduction of an oceanic spreading center which has involved oceanic plate capture and inception of a continental transform boundary that juxtaposes continental and oceanic lithosphere on a single plate. The amphibious ALBACORE seismic project (Asthenospheric and Lithospheric Broadband Architecture from the California Offshore Region Experiment) deployed 34 ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) on 15-35 Ma seafloor and offers a unique opportunity to compare the LAB in continental and oceanic lithosphere in one seismic study. Rayleigh waves were recorded simultaneously by our offshore array and 82 CISN network land stations from 2010-2011. Here we predict phase velocities for a starting shear wave velocity model for each of 5 regions in our study area and compare to observed phase velocities from our array in a least-squares sense that produces the best fit 1-D shear wave velocity structure for each region. Preliminary results for the deep ocean (seafloor 25-32 Ma) indicates high velocities reaching 4.5 km/s at depths of 50 km associated with the lithosphere for seafloor 25-32 Ma. A negative velocity gradient is observed below this which reaches a minimum of 4.0 km/s at 160 km depth. The mid-ocean region (age 13-25 Ma) indicates a slightly lower magnitude and shallower LVZ. The Inner Borderland displays the highest lithospheric velocities offshore reaching 4.8 km/s at 40 km depth indicating underplating. The base of the LVZ in the Borderland increases sharply from 4.0 km/s to 4.5 km/s at 80-150 km depth indicating partial melt and compositional changes. The LVZ displays a very gradual positive velocity gradient in all other regions such as the deep seafloor and continent reaching 4.5 km/s at 300 km depth. The deep ocean, Borderlands, and continental region each have unique lithospheric velocities, LAB depths, and LVZ character that indicate stark differences in mantle structure that occur on a

  17. Raising the continental crust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Campbell, Ian H.; Davies, D. Rhodri

    2017-02-01

    The changes that occur at the boundary between the Archean and Proterozoic eons are arguably the most fundamental to affect the evolution of Earth's continental crust. The principal component of Archean continental crust is Granite-Greenstone Terranes (GGTs), with granites always dominant. The greenstones consist of a lower sequence of submarine komatiites and basalts, which erupted onto a pre-existing Tonalite-Trondhjemite-Granodiorite (TTG) crust. These basaltic rocks pass upwards initially into evolved volcanic rocks, such as andesites and dacites and, subsequently, into reworked felsic pyroclastic material and immature sediments. This transition coincides with widespread emplacement of granitoids, which stabilised (cratonised) the continental crust. Proterozoic supra-crustal rocks, on the other hand, are dominated by extensive flat-lying platform sequences of mature sediments, which were deposited on stable cratonic basements, with basaltic rocks appreciably less abundant. The siliceous TTGs cannot be produced by direct melting of the mantle, with most hypotheses for their origin requiring them to be underlain by a complimentary dense amphibole-garnet-pyroxenite root, which we suggest acted as ballast to the early continents. Ubiquitous continental pillow basalts in Archean lower greenstone sequences require the early continental crust to have been sub-marine, whereas the appearance of abundant clastic sediments, at higher stratigraphic levels, shows that it had emerged above sea level by the time of sedimentation. We hypothesise that the production of komatiites and associated basalts, the rise of the continental crust, widespread melting of the continental crust, the onset of sedimentation and subsequent cratonisation form a continuum that is the direct result of removal of the continent's dense amphibole-garnet-pyroxenite roots, triggered at a regional scale by the arrival of a mantle plume at the base of the lithosphere. Our idealised calculations suggest

  18. Precambrian plate tectonic setting of Africa from multidimensional discrimination diagrams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verma, Sanjeet K.

    2017-01-01

    New multi-dimensional discrimination diagrams have been used to identify plate tectonic setting of Precambrian terrains. For this work, nine sets of new discriminant-function based multi-dimensional discrimination diagrams were applied for thirteen case studies of Precambrian basic, intermediate and acid magmas from Africa to highlight the application of these diagrams and probability calculations. The applications of these diagrams indicated the following results: For northern Africa: to Wadi Ghadir ophiolite, Egypt indicated an arc setting for Neoproterozoic (746 ± 19 Ma). For South Africa: Zandspruit greenstone and Bulai pluton showed a collision and a transitional continental arc to collision setting at about Mesoarchaean and Neoarchaean (3114 ± 2.3 Ma and 2610-2577 Ma); Mesoproterozoic (1109 ± 0.6 Ma and 1100 Ma) ages for Espungabera and Umkondo sills were consistent with an island arc setting. For eastern Africa, Iramba-Sekenke greenstone belt and Suguti area, Tanzania showed an arc setting for Neoarchaean (2742 ± 27 Ma and 2755 ± 1 Ma). Chila, Bulbul-Kenticha domain, and Werri area indicated a continental arc setting at about Neoproterozoic (800-789 Ma); For western Africa, Sangmelima region and Ebolowa area, southern Cameroon indicated a collision and continental arc setting, respectively for Neoarchaean (∼2800-2900 Ma and 2687-2666 Ma); Finally, Paleoproterozoic (2232-2169 Ma) for Birimian supergroup, southern Ghana a continental arc setting; and Paleoproterozoic (2123-2108 Ma) for Katiola-Marabadiassa, Côte d'Ivoire a transitional continental arc to collision setting. Although there were some inconsistencies in the inferences, most cases showed consistent results of tectonic settings. These inconsistencies may be related to mixed ages, magma mixing, crustal contamination, degree of mantle melting, and mantle versus crustal origin.

  19. Dynamic Linkages Between the Transition Zone & Surface Plate Motions in 2D Models of Subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arredondo, K.; Billen, M. I.

    2013-12-01

    While slab pull is considered the dominant force controlling plate motion and speed, its magnitude is controlled by slab behavior in the mantle, where tomographic studies show a wide range of possibilities from direct penetration to folding, or stagnation directly above the lower mantle (e.g. Fukao et al., 2009). Geodynamic studies have investigated various parameters, such as plate age and two phase transitions, to recreate observed behavior (e.g. Běhounková and Cízková, 2008). However, past geodynamic models have left out known slab characteristics that may have a large impact on slab behavior and our understanding of subduction processes. Mineral experiments and seismic observations have indicated the existence of additional phase transitions in the mantle transition zone that may produce buoyancy forces large enough to affect the descent of a subducting slab (e.g. Ricard et al., 2005). The current study systematically tests different common assumptions used in geodynamic models: kinematic versus free-slip boundary conditions, the effects of adiabatic heating, viscous dissipation and latent heat, compositional layering and a more complete suite of phase transitions. Final models have a complete energy equation, with eclogite, harzburgite and pyrolite lithosphere compositional layers, and seven composition-dependent phase transitions within the olivine, pyroxene and garnet polymorph minerals. Results show important feedback loops between different assumptions and new behavior from the most complete models. Kinematic models show slab weakening or breaking above the 660 km boundary and between compositional layers. The behavior in dynamic models with a free-moving trench and overriding plate is compared to the more commonly found kinematic models. The new behavior may have important implications for the depth distribution of deep earthquakes within the slab. Though the thermodynamic parameters of certain phase transitions may be uncertain, their presence and

  20. Magma-poor vs. magma-rich continental rifting and breakup in the Labrador Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gouiza, M.; Paton, D.

    2017-12-01

    Magma-poor and magma-rich rifted margins show distinct structural and stratigraphic geometries during the rift to breakup period. In magma-poor margins, crustal stretching is accommodated mainly by brittle faulting and the formation of wide rift basins shaped by numerous graben and half-graben structures. Continental breakup and oceanic crust accretion are often preceded by a localised phase of (hyper-) extension where the upper mantle is embrittled, serpentinized, and exhumed to the surface. In magma-rich margins, the rift basin is narrow and extension is accompanied by a large magmatic supply. Continental breakup and oceanic crust accretion is preceded by the emplacement of a thick volcanic crust juxtaposing and underplating a moderately thinned continental crust. Both magma-poor and magma-rich rifting occur in response to lithospheric extension but the driving forces and processes are believed to be different. In the former extension is assumed to be driven by plate boundary forces, while in the latter extension is supposed to be controlled by sublithospheric mantle dynamics. However, this view fails in explaining observations from many Atlantic conjugate margins where magma-poor and magma-rich segments alternate in a relatively abrupt fashion. This is the case of the Labrador margin where the northern segment shows major magmatic supply during most of the syn-rift phase which culminate in the emplacement of a thick volcanic crust in the transitional domain along with high density bodies underplating the thinned continental crust; while the southern segment is characterized mainly by brittle extension, mantle seprentinization and exhumation prior to continental breakup. In this work, we use seismic and potential field data to describe the crustal and structural architectures of the Labrador margin, and investigate the tectonic and mechanical processes of rifting that may have controlled the magmatic supply in the different segments of the margin.

  1. Sediments, structural framework, petroleum potential, environmental conditions, and operational considerations of the United States South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    ,

    1975-01-01

    The area designated for possible oil and gas lease sale in Bureau of Land Management memorandum 3310 #43 (722) and referred to therein as part of the United States South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) contains about 98,000 square kilometres of the continental margin seaward of the 3 mile offshore limit and within the 600 metre isobath. The designated area, offshore of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, encompasses parts of three physiographic provinces: the Continental Shelf, the Florida-Hatteras Slope, and the Blake Plateau. The structural framework of the U.3. South Atlantic region is dominated by the Southeast Georgia Embayment --an east-plunging depression recessed into the Atlantic Coastal Plain and shelf between Cape Fear, North Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida. The embayment is bounded to the north by the Cape Fear Arch and to southeast by the Peninsular Arch. Refraction data indicate a minor basement(?) ridge beneath the outer shelf between 30? and 32?N at 80?W. Drill hole data also suggest a gentle fold or accretionary structure (reef?) off the east coast of Florida. Several other structural features have been identified by refraction and reflection techniques and drilling. These are the Yamacraw Uplift, Burton High, Stone Arch, and the Suwannee Channel. Gravity and magnetic anomalies within the area probably result from emplacement of magma bodies along linear features representing fundamental crustal boundaries. Of these anomalies, the most prominent, is a segment of the East Coast Magnetic Anomaly which crosses the coast at Brunswick, Georgia. This anomaly has been interpreted as representing an ancient continental boundary where two formerly separate continental plates collided and were welded together. There may be as much as 5,000 m of sedimentary rocks in the Southeast Georgia Embayment out to the 600 m isobath. Basement rocks beneath the Southeast Georgia Embayment are expected to be similar to those exposed in the

  2. Paleomagnetic Tests of Global Plate Reconstructions with Fixed and Moving Hotspots

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andrews, D. L.; Gordon, R. G.; Horner-Johnson, B. C.

    2004-12-01

    Three distinct approaches have been used in prior work to estimate the motion of the Pacific basin plates relative to the surrounding continents. The first approach is to use the global plate motion circuit through Antarctica (e.g., the Pacific plate to the Antarctic plate to the African plate to the North American plate). An update to this approach is to incorporate the modest mid-Tertiary motion between East and West Antarctica estimated by Cande et al. (2000). A recently proposed second approach is to take an alternative circuit for the early Tertiary of the Pacific plate to the Australian plate to the East Antarctic plate to the African plate to the North American plate (Steinberger et al. 2004). The third approach is to assume that the hotspots in the Pacific Ocean are fixed relative to those in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (e.g., Engebretson et al., 1986), which we recently showed indicates motion between East and West Antarctica of 800 ± 500 km near the Ross Sea Embayment. The first approach (global plate motion circuit through Antarctica) indicates very rapid motion between Pacific and Indo-Atlantic hotspots during the early Tertiary (e.g., Raymond et al. 2000). The second approach (global plate motion circuit through Australia) indicates slower, but still substantial, motion between Pacific and Indo-Atlantic hotspots (Steinberger et al. 2004). Because each of the three approaches predicts distinctly different motion between the Pacific plate and the continental plates, they can be tested with paleomagnetic data. The results of such tests indicate that the first approach leads to systematic and significant misfits between Pacific and non-Pacific early Tertiary and Late Cretaceous paleomagnetic poles. The second approach leads to slightly smaller misfits. In contrast, the circuit based on fixed hotspots brings the Pacific and non-Pacific paleomagnetic poles into consistency. Thus the paleomagnetic data decisively favor fixed hotspots over the alternative

  3. Repression by Jun of the Polyoma-virus enhancer overrides activation in a cell specific manner.

    PubMed Central

    Schneikert, J; Imler, J L; Wasylyk, B

    1991-01-01

    The activities of promoters and enhancers are generated by the combinatorial effects of the factors which interact with them. The Polyoma virus (Py) enhancer contains sequences that are positively regulated by the proto-oncogene Jun. Surprisingly, Jun has an additional and overriding repressing effect on enhancer activity, which is cell specific. Thus overall enhancer activity cannot be simply deduced from the properties of individual elements. We present evidence that repression is indirect. Images PMID:1850124

  4. Crustal stress across the northern Arabian plate and the relationship with the plate boundary forces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yassminh, Rayan

    The region encompassing the collision of northern Arabia with Eurasia is a tectonically heterogeneous region of distributed deformation. The northern Arabia plate is bounded to the west by the subducting Sinai plate and the left-lateral Dead Sea transform. This complexity suggests that there are multiple competing processes that may influence regional tectonics in northern Arabia and adjacent areas. Earthquake mechanisms provide insight into crustal kinematics and stress; however, reliable determination of earthquake source parameters can be challenging in a complex geological region, such as the continental collision zone between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The goal of this study is to investigate spatial patterns of the crustal stress in the northern Arabian plate and surrounding area. The focal mechanisms used in this study are based on (1) first-motion polarities for earthquakes recorded by Syrian earthquake center during 2000-2011, and (2) regional moment tensors from broadband seismic data, from Turkey and Iraq. First motion focal mechanisms were assigned quality classifications based on the variation of both nodal planes. Regional moment tensor analysis can be significantly influenced by seismic velocity structure; thus, we have divided the study area into regions based on tectonic units. For each region, the velocity model is described using a waveform-modeling technique prior to the regional moment tensor inversion. The resulting focal mechanisms, combined with other previously published focal mechanisms for the study area, provide a basis for stress inversion analysis. The resulting deviatoric stress tensors show the spatial distribution of the maximum horizontal stress varies from NW-SE along the Dead Sea Fault to the N-S toward the east. We interpret this to reflect the eastward change from the transform to collision processes in northern Arabia. Along the Dead Sea Fault, transposition of the sigma-1 and sigma-2 to vertical and horizontal

  5. A New Absolute Plate Motion Model for Africa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maher, S. M.; Wessel, P.; Müller, D.; Harada, Y.

    2013-12-01

    The India-Eurasia collision, a change in relative plate motion between Australia and Antarctica, and the coeval ages of the Hawaiian Emperor Bend (HEB) and Louisville Bend of ~Chron 22-21 all provide convincing evidence of a global tectonic plate reorganization at ~50 Ma. Yet if it were a truly global event, then there should be a contemporaneous change in Africa absolute plate motion (APM) reflected by physical evidence somewhere on the Africa plate. This evidence might be visible in the Reunion-Mascarene bend, which exhibits many HEB-like features such as a large angular change close to ~50 Ma. Recently, the Reunion hotpot trail has been interpreted as a continental feature with incidental hotspot volcanism. Here we propose the alternative hypothesis that the northern portion of the chain between Saya de Malha and the Seychelles (Mascarene Plateau) formed as the Reunion hotspot was situated on the Carlsberg Ridge, contemporaneously forming the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge on the India plate. We have created a 4-stage model that explores how a simple APM model fitting the Mascarene Plateau can also satisfy the age progressions and geometry of other hotspot trails on the Africa plate. This type of model could explain the apparent bifurcation of the Tristan hotspot chain, the age reversals seen along the Walvis Ridge and the diffuse nature of the St. Helena chain. To test this hypothesis we have made a new African APM model that goes back to ~80 Ma using a modified version of the Hybrid Polygonal Finite Rotation Method. This method uses seamount chains and their associated hotspots as geometric constraints for the model, and seamount age dates to determine its motion through time. The positions of the hotspots can be moved to get the best fit for the model and to explore the possibility that the ~50 Ma bend in the Reunion-Mascarene chain reflects Africa plate motion. We will examine how well this model can predict the key features reflecting Africa plate motion and

  6. Alps, Carpathians and Dinarides-Hellenides: about plates, micro-plates and delaminated crustal blocks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmid, Stefan

    2014-05-01

    Before the onset of Europe-Africa continental collision in the Dinarides-Hellenides (around 60Ma) and in the Alps and Western Carpathians (around 35 Ma), and at a large scale, the dynamics of orogenic processes in the Mediterranean Alpine chains were governed by Europe-Africa plate convergence leading to the disappearance of large parts of intervening oceanic lithosphere, i.e. the northern branch of Neotethys along the Sava-Izmir-Ankara suture and Alpine Tethys along the Valais-Magura suture (Schmid et al. 2008). In spite of this, two major problems concerning the pre-collisional stage are still poorly understood: (1) by now we only start to understand geometry, kinematics and dynamics of the along-strike changes in the polarity of subduction between Alps-Carpathians and Dinarides-Hellenides, and (2) it is not clear yet during exactly which episodes and to what extent intervening rifted continental fragments such as, for example, Iberia-Briançonnais, Tisza, Dacia, Adria-Taurides moved independently as micro-plates, and during which episodes they remained firmly attached to Europa or Africa from which they broke away. As Europe-Africa plate convergence slowed down well below 1 cm/yr at around 30 Ma ago these pre-collisional processes driven by plate convergence on a global scale gave way to more local processes of combined roll-back and crustal delamination in the Pannonian basin of the Carpathian embayment and in the Aegean (as well as in the Western Mediterranean, not discussed in this contribution). In the case of the Carpathian embayment E-directed roll back totally unrelated to Europe-Africa N-S-directed convergence, started at around 20 Ma ago, due to the presence relict oceanic lithosphere in the future Pannonian basin that remained un-subducted during collision. Due to total delamination of the crust from the eastward rolling back European mantle lithosphere the anticlockwise rotating ALCAPA crustal block, consisting of Eastern Alps and Western Carpathian

  7. Continental Extensional Tectonics in the Basins and Ranges and Aegean Regions: A Review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cemen, I.

    2017-12-01

    The Basins and Ranges of North America and the Aegean Region of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor have been long considered as the two best developed examples of continental extension. The two regions contain well-developed normal faults which were considered almost vertical in the 1950s and 1960s. By the mid 1980s, however, overwhelming field evidence emerged to conclude that the dip angle normal faults in the two regions may range from almost vertical to almost horizontal. This led to the discovery that high-grade metamorphic rocks could be brought to surface by the exhumation of mid-crustal rocks along major low-angle normal faults (detachment faults) which were previously either mapped as thrust faults or unconformity. Within the last three decades, our understanding of continental extensional tectonics in the Basins and Ranges and the Aegean Region have improved substantially based on fieldwork, geochemical analysis, analog and computer modeling, detailed radiometric age determinations and thermokinematic modelling. It is now widely accepted that a) Basin and Range extension is controlled by the movement along the San Andreas fault zone as the North American plate moved southeastward with respect to the northwestward movement of the Pacific plate; b) Aegean extension is controlled by subduction roll-back associated with the Hellenic subduction zone; and c) the two regions contain best examples of detachment faulting, extensional folding, and extensional basins. However, there are still many important questions of continental extensional tectonics in the two regions that remain poorly understood. These include determining a) precise amount and percentage of cumulative extension; b) role of strike-slip faulting in the extensional processes; c) exhumation history along detachment surfaces using multimethod geochronology; d) geometry and nature of extensional features in the middle and lower crust; e) the nature of upper mantle and asthenospheric flow; f) evolutions

  8. The dynamics of continental breakup-related magmatism on the Norwegian volcanic margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Breivik, A. J.; Faleide, J. I.; Mjelde, R.

    2007-12-01

    The Vøring margin off mid-Norway was initiated during the earliest Eocene (~54 Ma), and large volumes of magmatic rocks were emplaced during and after continental breakup. In 2003, an ocean bottom seismometer survey was acquired on the Norwegian margin to constrain continental breakup and early seafloor spreading processes. The profile P-wave model described here crosses the northern part of the Vøring Plateau. Maximum igneous crustal thickness was found to be 18 km, decreasing to ~6.5 km over ~6 M.y. after continental breakup. Both the volume and the duration of excess magmatism after breakup is about twice of what is observed off the Møre Margin south of the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone, which offsets the margin segments by ~170 km. A similar reduction in magmatism occurs to the north over an along-margin distance of ~100 km to the Lofoten margin, but without a margin offset. There is a strong correlation between magma productivity and early plate spreading rate, which are highest just after breakup, falling with time. This is seen both at the Møre and the Vøring margin segments, suggesting a common cause. A model for the breakup- related magmatism should be able to (1) explain this correlation, (2) the magma production peak at breakup, and (3) the magmatic segmentation. Proposed end-member hypotheses are elevated upper-mantle temperatures caused by a hot mantle plume, or edge-driven small-scale convection fluxing mantle rocks through the melt zone. Both the average P-wave velocity and the major-element data at the Vøring margin indicate a low degree of melting consistent with convection. However, small scale convection does not easily explain the issues listed above. An elaboration of the mantle plume model by N. Sleep, in which buoyant plume material fills the rift-topography at the base of the lithosphere, can explain these: When the continents break apart, the buoyant plume-material flows up into the rift zone, causing excess magmatism by both elevated

  9. Reconstructing Rodinia by Fitting Neoproterozoic Continental Margins

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stewart, John H.

    2009-01-01

    Reconstructions of Phanerozoic tectonic plates can be closely constrained by lithologic correlations across conjugate margins by paleontologic information, by correlation of orogenic belts, by paleomagnetic location of continents, and by ocean floor magmatic stripes. In contrast, Proterozoic reconstructions are hindered by the lack of some of these tools or the lack of their precision. To overcome some of these difficulties, this report focuses on a different method of reconstruction, namely the use of the shape of continents to assemble the supercontinent of Rodinia, much like a jigsaw puzzle. Compared to the vast amount of information available for Phanerozoic systems, such a limited approach for Proterozoic rocks, may seem suspect. However, using the assembly of the southern continents (South America, Africa, India, Arabia, Antarctica, and Australia) as an example, a very tight fit of the continents is apparent and illustrates the power of the jigsaw puzzle method. This report focuses on Neoproterozoic rocks, which are shown on two new detailed geologic maps that constitute the backbone of the study. The report also describes the Neoproterozoic, but younger or older rocks are not discussed or not discussed in detail. The Neoproterozoic continents and continental margins are identified based on the distribution of continental-margin sedimentary and magmatic rocks that define the break-up margins of Rodinia. These Neoproterozoic continental exposures, as well as critical Neo- and Meso-Neoproterozoic tectonic features shown on the two new map compilations, are used to reconstruct the Mesoproterozoic supercontinent of Rodinia. This approach differs from the common approach of using fold belts to define structural features deemed important in the Rodinian reconstruction. Fold belts are difficult to date, and many are significantly younger than the time frame considered here (1,200 to 850 Ma). Identifying Neoproterozoic continental margins, which are primarily

  10. A kinematic model for the formation of the Siletz-Crescent forearc terrane by capture of coherent fragments of the Farallon and Resurrection plates

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McCrory, Patricia A.; Wilson, Douglas S.

    2013-01-01

    The volcanic basement of the Oregon and Washington Coast ranges has been proposed to represent a pair of tracks of the Yellowstone hotspot formed at a mid-ocean ridge during the early Cenozoic. This interpretation has been questioned on many grounds, especially that the range of ages does not match the offshore spreading rates and that the presence of continental coarse clastic sediments is difficult to reconcile with fast convergence rates between the oceanic plates and North America. Updates to basement geochronology and plate motion history reveal that these objections are much less serious than when they were first raised. Forward plate kinematic modeling reveals that predicted basement ages can be consistent with the observed range of about 55–49 Ma, and that the entire basement terrane can form within about 300 km of continental sources for clastic sediments. This kinematic model indicates that there is no firm reason to reject the near-ridge hotspot hypothesis on the basis of plate motions. A novel element of the model is the Resurrection plate, previously proposed to exist between the Farallon and Kula plates. By including the defunct Resurrection plate in our reconstruction, we are able to model the Farallon hotspot track as docking against the Oregon subduction margin starting about 53 Ma, followed by docking of the Resurrection track to the north starting about 48 Ma. Accretion of the Farallon plate fragment and partial subduction of the Resurrection fragment complicates the three-dimensional structure of the modern Cascadia forearc. We interpret the so-called “E” layer beneath Vancouver Island to be part of the Resurrection fragment. Our new kinematic model of mobile terranes within the Paleogene North American plate boundary allows reinterpretation of the three-dimensional structure of the Cascadia forearc and its relationship to ongoing seismotectonic processes.

  11. Feasibility of Active Monitoring for Plate Coupling Using ACROSS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamaoka, K.; Watanabe, T.; Ikuta, R.

    2004-12-01

    Detectability of temporal changes in reflected wave from the boundary of subducting plates in Tokai district with active sources are studied. Based on rock experiments the change in the intensity of reflection wave can be caused by change in coupling between subducting and overriding plates. ACROSS (Accurately-Controlled Rountine-Operated Signal System) consists of sinusoidal vibration sources and receivers is proved to provide a data of excellent signal resolution. The following technical issues should be overcome to monitor the returned signal from boundaries of subducting plates. (1) Long term operation of the source. (2) Detection of temporal change. (3) Accurate estimation of source functions and their temporal change. First two issues have already overcome. We have already succeeded a long-term operation experiment with the ACROSS system in Awaji, Japan. The operation was carried out for 15 months with only minor troubles. Continuous signal during the experiment are successfully obtained. In the experiment we developed a technique to monitor the temporal change of travel time with a resolution of several tens of microseconds. The third issue is one of the most difficult problem for practical monitoring using artificial sources. In the 15-month experiment we correct the source function using the record of seismometers that were deployed around the source We also estimate the efficiency of the reflected wave detection using ACROSS system. We use a data of seismic exploration experiment by blasts that carried out above subducting plate in Tokai district. Clear reflection from the surface of the Philippine Sea plate is observed in the waveform. Assuming that the ACROSS source is installed at the same place of the blast source, the detectability of temporal variation of reflection wave can be estimated. As we have measured the variation of signal amplitude that depends on the distance from an ACROSS source, ground noise at seismic stations (receivers) provide us

  12. Plume-induced subduction initiation at the Cretaceous India-Arabia transform plate boundary: paleomagnetic constraints from the Semail ophiolite, Oman

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Hinsbergen, D. J. J.; Maffione, M.; Koornneef, L.; Guilmette, C.

    2016-12-01

    The Neotethyan realm hosts a prominent belt of Cretaceous supra-subduction zone ophiolites from Turkey and Cyprus in the west, to Oman in the east. Associated crustal and metamorphic sole ages tightly cluster at 95-90 Ma, interpreted to shortly post-date subduction initiation in an intra-oceanic setting along transform faults or ridge segments (or ridge-parallel oceanic detachments). This subduction episode ended when the Arabian-African continental lithosphere arrived in the trench in the late Cretaceous and the leading edge of the overriding oceanic lithosphere obducted as ophiolites, including the famous Semail ophiolite of Oman. This catastrophic subduction initiation phase is assumed to be as response to some far-field trigger. Here, we analyzed whether the Semail ophiolite was generated at an E-W trending Neotethyan ridge or at a N-S trending transform. Therefore we paleomagnetically analyzed 10 localities in sheeted dyke sections of the Semail ophiolite that trend parallel to the obduction front of the ophiolite taken to reflect the paleo-trench. We demonstrate that the sheeted dyke sections, and thus also the trench, had an initial N-S strike, indicating that subduction below the Semail ophiolite probably initiated along a N-S striking transform plate boundary between the Indian and Arabian plate rather than at a Neotethyan mid-ocean ridge. Sometime before 83 Ma, India broke away from Madagascar, and underwent a counterclockwise rotation relative to Africa/Arabia around an Euler pole just north of Madagascar, likely triggered by the arrival of the Morondova mantle plume, the associated large igneous province formed since at least 91 Ma. Numerical models have shown that plume push was a likely driver for the inception of India-Madagascar spreading and associated Indian rotation. North of the associated Euler pole, E-W convergence India-Arabia must have occurred during India-Madagascar break-up. This has already been related to 96-90 Ma subduction initiation

  13. Cretaceous-Eocene provenance connections between the Palawan Continental Terrane and the northern South China Sea margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shao, Lei; Cao, Licheng; Qiao, Peijun; Zhang, Xiangtao; Li, Qianyu; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.

    2017-11-01

    The plate kinematic history of the South China Sea opening is key to reconstructing how the Mesozoic configuration of Panthalassa and Tethyan subduction systems evolved into today's complex Southeast Asian tectonic collage. The South China Sea is currently flanked by the Palawan Continental Terrane in the south and South China in the north and the two blocks have long been assumed to be conjugate margins. However, the paleogeographic history of the Palawan Continental Terrane remains an issue of uncertainty and controversy, especially regarding the questions of where and when it was separated from South China. Here we employ detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and heavy mineral analysis on Cretaceous and Eocene strata from the northern South China Sea and Palawan to constrain the Late Mesozoic-Early Cenozoic provenance and paleogeographic evolution of the region testing possible connection between the Palawan Continental Terrane and the northern South China Sea margin. In addition to a revision of the regional stratigraphic framework using the youngest zircon U-Pb ages, these analyses show that while the Upper Cretaceous strata from the Palawan Continental Terrane are characterized by a dominance of zircon with crystallization ages clustering around the Cretaceous, the Eocene strata feature a large range of zircon ages and a new mineral group of rutile, anatase, and monazite. On the one hand, this change of sediment compositions seems to exclude the possibility of a latest Cretaceous drift of the Palawan Continental Terrane in response to the Proto-South China Sea opening as previously inferred. On the other hand, the zircon age signatures of the Cretaceous-Eocene strata from the Palawan Continental Terrane are largely comparable to those of contemporary samples from the northeastern South China Sea region, suggesting a possible conjugate relationship between the Palawan Continental Terrane and the eastern Pearl River Mouth Basin. Thus, the Palawan Continental

  14. Subduction and Plate Edge Tectonics in the Southern Caribbean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levander, A.; Schmitz, M.; Niu, F.; Bezada, M. J.; Miller, M. S.; Masy, J.; Ave Lallemant, H. G.; Pindell, J. L.

    2012-12-01

    The southern Caribbean plate boundary consists of a subduction zone at at either end connected by a strike-slip fault system: In the east at the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, the Atlantic part of the South American plate subducts beneath the Caribbean. In the north and west in the Colombia basin, the Caribbean subducts under South America. In a manner of speaking, the two plates subduct beneath each other. Finite-frequency teleseismic P-wave tomography confirms this, imaging the Atlantic and the Caribbean subducting steeply in opposite directions to transition zone depths under northern South America (Bezada et al, 2010). The two subduction zones are connected by the El Pilar-San Sebastian strike-slip fault system, a San Andreas scale system that has been cut off at the Bocono fault, the southeastern boundary of the Maracaibo block. A variety of seismic probes identify where the two plates tear as they begin to subduct (Niu et al, 2007; Clark et al., 2008; Miller et al. 2009; Growdon et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2010; Masy et al., 2011). The El Pilar system forms at the southeastern corner of the Antilles subduction zone with the Atlantic plate tearing from South America. The deforming plate edges control mountain building and basin formation at the eastern end of the strike-slip system. In northwestern South America the Caribbean plate very likely also tears, as its southernmost element subducts at shallow angles under northernmost Colombia and the northern, nonsubducting part underthrusts the continental edge. The subducting segment rapidly descends to transition zone depths under Lake Maracaibo (Bezada et al., 2010). We believe that the flat slab produces the Merida Andes, the Perija, and the Santa Marta ranges. The nonsubducting part of the Caribbean plate underthrusts northern Venezuela to about the width of the coastal mountains (Miller et al., 2009), where the plate edge supports the coastal mountains, and controls continuing deformation.

  15. Filling in the juvenile magmatic gap: Evidence for uninterrupted Paleoproterozoic plate tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Partin, C. A.; Bekker, A.; Sylvester, P. J.; Wodicka, N.; Stern, R. A.; Chacko, T.; Heaman, L. M.

    2014-02-01

    Despite several decades of research on growth of the continental crust, it remains unclear whether the production of juvenile continental crust has been continuous or episodic throughout the Precambrian. Models for episodic crustal growth have gained traction recently through compilations of global U-Pb zircon age frequency distributions interpreted to delineate peaks and lulls in crustal growth through geologic time. One such apparent trough in zircon age frequency distributions between ∼2.45 and 2.22 Ga is thought to represent a pause in crustal addition, resulting from a global shutdown of magmatic and tectonic processes. The ∼2.45-2.22 Ga magmatic shutdown model envisions a causal relationship between the cessation of plate tectonics and accumulation of atmospheric oxygen over the same period. Here, we present new coupled U-Pb, Hf, and O isotope data for detrital and magmatic zircon from the western Churchill Province and Trans-Hudson orogen of Canada, covering an area of approximately 1.3 million km2, that demonstrate significant juvenile crustal production during the ∼2.45-2.22 Ga time interval, and thereby argue against the magmatic shutdown hypothesis. Our data is corroborated by literature data showing an extensive 2.22-2.45 Ga record in both detrital and magmatic rocks on every continent, and suggests that the operation of plate tectonics continued throughout the early Paleoproterozoic, while atmospheric oxygen rose over the same time interval. We argue that uninterrupted plate tectonics between ∼2.45 and 2.22 Ga would have contributed to efficient burial of organic matter and sedimentary pyrite, and the consequent rise in atmospheric oxygen documented for this time interval.

  16. Seamount subduction and related deformation and seismicity of the continental slope off Manzanillo, Mexico, as evidenced by multibeam data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bandy, W. L.; Castillo Maldonado, M.; Mortera-Gutierrez, C. A.

    2014-12-01

    The west coast of Mexico presents a complex pattern of deformation related to the convergence and subduction of the Rivera plate beneath the Jalisco Block/North American plate. Previous single beam bathymetric data have evidenced a large bathymetric high at 104.6218oW, 18.7123oN, in the continental slope region off Manzanillo, Mexico. One school of thought held that this high was the offshore extension of the onshore Manzanillo horst, although the two features are offset in a right-lateral sense. Alternatively, given the presence of a large positive magnetic anomaly near the bathymetric high, the high could also be caused by the collision and subsequent subduction of a large seamount. Given that the offset between the two structures was the main evidence for proposing the existence of a forearc sliver in the offshore area of the Jalisco margin, resolving the nature of this bathymetric high is quite important in our attempts to understand the plate kinematics and tectonics of this region. Thus, to better define the deformation pattern associated with the bathymetric high, multibeam bathymetric data (obtained using the Kongsberg EM300 multibeam system), subbottom profiles (obtained using the Kongsberg TOPAS18 system), and total field magnetic data (obtained using the Geometrics G877 marine proton precession magnetometer) were collected in the continental slope region between Manzanillo, Colima, and Chamela, Jalisco, during several cruises of UNAM´s research vessel the B.O. EL PUMA. The morphology and structural deformation patterns obtained in this study indicate very clearly that a large seamount is in the process of subducting beneath the continental slope off Manzanillo. The results also indicate that not only has the seamount uplifted the slope but has resulted in slumping of the area of the slope landward of the seamount. Given these results the proposal of the existence of an independent forearc sliver in the offshore area of the southern Jalisco block needs

  17. Introduction to the special issue on the 2012 Haida Gwaii and 2013 Craig earthquakes at the Pacific–North America plate boundary (British Columbia and Alaska)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    James, Thomas S.; Cassidy, John F.; Rogers, Garry C.; Haeussler, Peter J.

    2015-01-01

    The 27 October 2012 Mw 7.8 Haida Gwaii thrust earthquake and the 5 January 2013 Mw 7.5 Craig strike‐slip earthquake are the focus of this special issue. They occurred along the transform boundary between the Pacific and North American plates (Fig. 1). The most identifiable feature of the plate boundary, the strike‐slip Queen Charlotte fault, might be viewed as typical of continent–ocean transform faults because it separates the continental crust of the North American plate from oceanic crust of the Pacific plate for most of its length. However, the current relative plate motion of about 5  cm/yr is highly oblique to the Queen Charlotte fault, causing a transpressive plate boundary in the region.

  18. Cretaceous to present kinematics of the Indian, African and Seychelles plates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eagles, Graeme; Hoang, Ha H.

    2014-01-01

    An iterative inverse model of seafloor spreading data from the Mascarene and Madagascar basins and the flanks of the Carlsberg Ridge describes a continuous history of Indian-African Plate divergence since 84 Ma. Visual-fit modelling of conjugate magnetic anomaly data from near the Seychelles platform and Laxmi Ridge documents rapid rotation of a Seychelles Plate about a nearby Euler pole in Palaeocene times. As the Euler pole migrated during this rotation, the Amirante Trench on the western side of the plate accommodated first convergence and later divergence with the African Plate. The unusual present-day morphology of the Amirante Trench and neighbouring Amirante Banks can be related to crustal thickening by thrusting and folding during the convergent phase and the subsequent development of a spreading centre with a median valley during the divergent phase. The model fits FZ trends in the north Arabian and east Somali basins, suggesting that they formed in India-Africa Plate divergence. Seafloor fabric in and between the basins shows that they initially hosted a segmented spreading ridge that accommodated slow plate divergence until 71-69 Ma, and that upon arrival of the Deccan-Réunion plume and an increase to faster plate divergence rates in the period 69-65 Ma, segments of the ridge lengthened and propagated. Ridge propagation into the Indian continental margin led first to the formation of the Laxmi Basin, which accompanied extensive volcanism onshore at the Deccan Traps and offshore at the Saurashtra High and Somnath Ridge. A second propagation episode initiated the ancestral Carlsberg Ridge at which Seychelles-India and India-Africa Plate motions were accommodated. With the completion of this propagation, the plate boundaries in the Mascarene Basin were abandoned. Seafloor spreading between this time and the present has been accommodated solely at the Carlsberg Ridge.

  19. Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2010 eastern margin of the Australia plate

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Benz, Harley M.; Herman, Matthew; Tarr, Arthur C.; Hayes, Gavin P.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Villaseñor, Antonio; Dart, Richard L.; Rhea, Susan

    2011-01-01

    The eastern margin of the Australia plate is one of the most seismically active areas of the world due to high rates of convergence between the Australia and Pacific plates. In the region of New Zealand, the 3,000 km long Australia-Pacific plate boundary extends from south of Macquarie Island to the southern Kermadec Island chain. It includes an oceanic transform (the Macquarie Ridge), two oppositely verging subduction zones (Puysegur and Hikurangi), and a transpressive continental transform, the Alpine Fault through South Island, New Zealand. Since 1900, there have been 15 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded near New Zealand. Nine of these, and the four largest, occurred along or near the Macquarie Ridge, including the 1989 M8.2 event on the ridge itself, and the 2004 M8.1 event 200 km to the west of the plate boundary, reflecting intraplate deformation. The largest recorded earthquake in New Zealand itself was the 1931 M7.8 Hawke's Bay earthquake, which killed 256 people. The last M7.5+ earthquake along the Alpine Fault was 170 years ago; studies of the faults' strain accumulation suggest that similar events are likely to occur again.

  20. Tectonic Structure of the Middle America Pacific Margin and Incoming Cocos Plate From Costa Rica to Guatemala

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ranero, C. R.; Weinrebe, W.; Grevemeyer, I.; Phipps Morgan, J.; Vannucchi, P.; von Huene, R.

    2003-12-01

    A new multibeam bathymetry and magnetic survey with R/V SONNE in summer 2003 has mapped the continental margin and incoming plate of NW Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, extending existing coverage from offshore Costa Rica and part of Nicaragua to a full coverage map of about 1200 km long by 100 km wide area along the plate boundary. The incoming plate along Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala is of similar age and was formed at superfast spreading rates; however, its morphology changes drastically along strike. The seafloor-spreading inherited morphology is very smooth along Nicaragua, but with ridges up to 800 m high in Guatemala, with a transition across El Salvador. The development and dimensions of the dominant inherited fabric seems to be related to discontinuities at the paleospreading center. A series of troughs oblique to the main fabric may indicate the location of pseudofaults and correspond to areas where the seafloor fabric is most prominent. Bending of the oceanic plate into the trench reactivates the inherited fabric forming a well pervasive faulting system along the oceanic trench slope. The continental slope displays three morphotectonic units that roughly correspond to the upper, middle and lower slope, although the across slope width of each unit is fairly variable. Small canyons and gullies that form at the sudden dip change across the shelf break carve the upper slope. The canyons coalesce and become shallower as the dip decreases downslope. Locally some large canyons continue into the slope toe. The middle slope is a rough terrain variable in width and dip sculptured by pervasive normal faulting and locally by mass wasting processes. The lower slope is formed by en echelon terraces striking similar to the rough terrain of the incoming plate and mimicking the half graben morphology of the underthusting plate. The three morphotectonic slope domains represent differences in tectonic activity, with more stable upper slope, a middle slope

  1. Oceanic Remnants In The Caribbean Plate: Origin And Loss Of Related LIPs.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giunta, G.

    2005-12-01

    The modern Caribbean Plate is an independent lithospheric entity, occupying more than 4 Mkm2 and consisting of the remnants of little deformed Cretaceous oceanic plateau of the Colombia and Venezuela Basins (almost 1 Mkm2) and the Palaeozoic-Mesozoic Chortis continental block (about 700,000 km2), both bounded by deformed marginal belts. The northern (Guatemala and Greater Antilles) and the southern (northern Venezuela) plate margins are marked by collisional zones, whereas the western (Central America Isthmus) and the eastern (Lesser Antilles) margins are represented by convergent boundaries and their magmatic arcs, all involving ophiolitic terranes. The evolutionary history of the Caribbean Plate since the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous encompasses plume, accretionary, and collisional tectonics, the evidence of which has been recorded in the oceanic remnants of lost LIPs, as revealed in: i) the MORB to OIB thickened crust of the oceanic plateau, including its un-deformed or little deformed main portion, and scattered deformed tectonic units; ii) ophiolitic tectonic units of MORB affinity and the rock blocks in ophiolitic melanges; iii) intra-oceanic, supra subduction magmatic sequences with IAT and CA affinities. The Mesozoic oceanic LIPs, from which the remnants of the Caribbean Plate have been derived, have been poorly preserved during various episodes of the intra-oceanic convergence, either those related to the original proto-Caribbean oceanic realm or those connected with two eo-Caribbean stages of subduction. The trapped oceanic plateau of the Colombia and Venezuela Basins is likely to be an unknown portion of a bigger crustal element of a LIP, similar to the Ontong-Java plateau. The Jurassic-Early Cretaceous proto-Caribbean oceanic domain consists of oceanic crust generated at multiple spreading centres; during the Cretaceous, part of this crust was thickened to form an oceanic plateau with MORB and OIB affinities. At the same time, both South and North American

  2. Active NE-SW Compressional Strain Within the Arabian Plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Floyd, M. A.; ArRajehi, A.; King, R. W.; McClusky, S.; Reilinger, R. E.; Douad, M.; Sholan, J.; Bou-Rabee, F.

    2012-12-01

    Motion of the Arabian plate with respect to Eurasia has been remarkably steady over more than 25 Myr as revealed by comparison of geodetic and plate tectonic reconstructions (e.g., McQuarrie et al., 2003, GRL; ArRajehi et al., 2010, Tectonics). While internal plate deformation is small in comparison to the rate of Arabia-Eurasia convergence, the improved resolution of GPS observations indicate ~ NE-SW compressional strain that appears to affect much of the plate south of latitude ~ 30°N. Seven ~ NE-SW oriented inter-station baselines all indicated shortening at rates in the range of 0.5-2 mm/yr, for the most part with 1-sigma velocity uncertainties < 0.4 mm/yr. Plate-scale strain rates exceed 2×10-9/yr. The spatial distribution of strain can not be resolved from the sparse available data, but strain appears to extend at least to Riyadh, KSA, ~ 600 km west of the Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt that forms the eastern, collisional boundary of the Arabian plate with Eurasia (Iran). Geodetic velocities in the plate tectonic reference frame for Arabia, derived from magnetic anomalies in the Red Sea (Chu and Gordon, 1998, GJI), show no significant E-W motion for GPS stations located along the Red Sea coast (i.e., geodetic and plate tectonic spreading rates across the Red Sea agree within their resolution), in contrast to sites in the plate interior and along the east side of the plate that indicate east-directed motions. In addition, NE-SW contraction is roughly normal to ~ N-S striking major structural folds in the sedimentary rocks within the Arabian Platform. These relationships suggest that geodetically observed contraction has characterized the plate for at least the past ~ 3 Myr. Broad-scale contraction of the Arabian plate seems intuitively reasonable given that the east and north sides of the plate are dominated by active continental collision (Zagros, E Turkey/Caucasus) while the west and south sides are bordered by mid-ocean ridge spreading (Red Sea and Gulf of

  3. Override of spontaneous respiratory pattern generator reduces cardiovascular parasympathetic influence

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Patwardhan, A. R.; Vallurupalli, S.; Evans, J. M.; Bruce, E. N.; Knapp, C. F.

    1995-01-01

    We investigated the effects of voluntary control of breathing on autonomic function in cardiovascular regulation. Variability in heart rate was compared between 5 min of spontaneous and controlled breathing. During controlled breathing, for 5 min, subjects voluntarily reproduced their own spontaneous breathing pattern (both rate and volume on a breath-by-breath basis). With the use of this experimental design, we could unmask the effects of voluntary override of the spontaneous respiratory pattern generator on autonomic function in cardiovascular regulation without the confounding effects of altered respiratory pattern. Results from 10 subjects showed that during voluntary control of breathing, mean values of heart rate and blood pressure increased, whereas fractal and spectral powers in heart rate in the respiratory frequency region decreased. End-tidal PCO2 was similar during spontaneous and controlled breathing. These results indicate that the act of voluntary control of breathing decreases the influence of the vagal component, which is the principal parasympathetic influence in cardiovascular regulation.

  4. Seismic investigation on the Littoral Faults Zone in the northern continental margin of South China Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, J.; Xu, H.; Xia, S.; Cao, J.; Wan, K.

    2017-12-01

    The continental margin of the northern South China Sea (SCS) had experienced continuous evolution from an active continental margin in the late Mesozoic to a passive continental margin in the Cenozoic. The 1200km-long Littoral Faults Zone (LFZ) off the mainland South China was suggested to represent one of the sub-plate boundaries and play a key role during the evolution. Besides, four devastating earthquakes with magnitude over 7 and another 11 destructive events with M>6 were documented to have occurred along the LFZ. However, its approximity to the shoreline, the shallow water depth, and the heavy fishing activities make it hard to conduct a marine seismic investigation. As a result, understandings about the LFZ before 2000 were relatively poor and mostly descriptive. After two experiments of joint onshore-offshore wide-angle seismic surveys in the 1st decade of this century, several cruses aiming to unveil the deep structure of the LFZ were performed in the past few years, with five joint onshore-offshore wide-angle seismic survey profiles completed. Each of these profiles is perpendicular to the shoreline, with four to five seismometers of campaign mode deployed on the landside and over ten Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) spacing at 20km deployed on the seaside. Meanwhile, multi-channel seismic (MCS) data along these profiles were obtained simultaneously. Based on these data, velocity models from both forward modeling and inversion were obtained. According to these models, the LFZ was imaged to be a low-velocity fractured zone dipping to the SSE-SE at a high-angle and cutting through the thinned continental crust at some locations. Width of the fractured zone varies from 6km to more than 10km from site to site. With these results, it is suggested that the LFZ accommodates the stresses from both the east side, where the Eurasia/Philippine Sea plate converging and mountain building is ongoing, and the west side, where a strike-slip between the Indochina

  5. Anomalous heat flow belt along the continental margin of Brazil

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamza, Valiya M.; Vieira, Fabio P.; Silva, Raquel T. A.

    2018-01-01

    A comprehensive analysis of thermal gradient and heat flow data was carried out for sedimentary basins situated in the continental margin of Brazil (CMB). The results point to the existence of a narrow belt within CMB, where temperature gradients are higher than 30 °C/km and the heat flow is in excess of 70 mW/m2. This anomalous geothermal belt is confined between zones of relatively low to normal heat flow in the adjacent continental and oceanic regions. The width of the belt is somewhat variable, but most of it falls within the range of 100-300 km. The spatial extent is relatively large in the southern (in the basins of Pelotas, Santos and Campos) and northern (in the basins of Potiguar and Ceará) parts, when compared with those in the central parts (in the basins of South Bahia, Sergipe and Alagoas). The characteristics of heat flow anomalies appear to be compatible with those produced by thermal sources at depths in the lower crust. Hence, magma emplacement at the transition zone between lower crust and upper mantle is considered the likely mechanism producing such anomalies. Seismicity within the belt is relatively weak, with focal depths less than 10 km for most of the events. Such observations imply that "tectonic bonding" between continental and oceanic segments, at the transition zone of CMB, is relatively weak. Hence, it is proposed that passive margins like CMB be considered as constituting a type of plate boundary that is aseismic at sub-crustal levels, but allows for escape of significant amounts of earth's internal heat at shallow depths.

  6. Modelling the Impact of Life on Continental Growth - Mechanisms and Results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Höning, D.; Spohn, T.

    2013-12-01

    The complexity of planetary evolution increases with the number of interacting reservoirs. On Earth, even the biosphere is speculated to interact with the interior. It has been argued (e.g., Rosing et al. 2006; Sleep et al, 2012) that the formation of continents could be a consequence of bioactivity harvesting solar energy through photosynthesis to help build the continents and that the mantle should carry a chemical biosignature. Through plate tectonics, the surface biosphere can impact deep subduction zone processes and the interior of the Earth. Subducted sediments are particularly important, because they influence the Earth's interior in several ways, and in turn are strongly influenced by the Earth's biosphere. In our model, we use the assumption that a thick sedimentary layer of low permeability on top of the subducting oceanic crust, caused by a biologically enhanced weathering rate, can suppress shallow dewatering. This in turn leads to greater availability of water in the source region of andesitic partial melt, resulting in an enhanced rate of continental production and regassing rate into the mantle. Our model includes (i) mantle convection, (ii) continental erosion and production, and (iii) mantle water degassing at mid-ocean ridges and regassing at subduction zones. The mantle viscosity of our model depends on (i) the mantle water concentration and (ii) the mantle temperature, whose time dependency is given by radioactive decay of isotopes in the Earth's mantle. Boundary layer theory yields the speed of convection and the water outgassing rate of the Earth's mantle. Our results indicate that present day values of continental surface area and water content of the Earth's mantle represent an attractor in a phase plane spanned by both parameters. We show that the biologic enhancement of the continental erosion rate is important for the system to reach this fixed point. An abiotic Earth tends to reach an alternative stable fixed point with a smaller

  7. Cyclic stressing and seismicity at strongly coupled subduction zones

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Taylor, M.A.J.; Zheng, G.; Rice, J.R.; Stuart, W.D.; Dmowska, R.

    1996-01-01

    We use the finite element method to analyze stress variations in and near a strongly coupled subduction zone during an earthquake cycle. Deformation is assumed to be uniform along strike (plane strain on a cross section normal to the trench axis), and periodic earthquake slip is imposed consistent with the long-term rate of plate convergence and degree of coupling. Simulations of stress and displacement rate fields represent periodic fluctuations in time superimposed on an average field. The oceanic plate, descending slab, and continental lithosphere are assumed here to respond elastically to these fluctuations, and the remaining mantle under and between plates is assumed to respond as Maxwell viscoelastic. In the first part of the analysis we find that computed stress fluctuations in space and time are generally consistent with observed earthquake mechanism variations with time since a great thrust event. In particular, trench-normal extensional earthquakes tend to occur early in the earthquake cycle toward the outer rise but occur more abundantly late in the cycle in the subducting slab downdip of the main thrust zone. Compressional earthquakes, when they occur at all, have the opposite pattern. Our results suggest also that the actual timing of extensional outer rise events is controlled by the rheology of the shallow aseismic portion of the thrust interface. The second part of the analysis shows the effects of mantle relaxation on the rate of ground surface deformation during the earthquake cycle. Models without relaxation predict a strong overall compressional strain rate in the continental plate above the main thrust zone, with the strain rate constant between mainshocks. However with significant relaxation present, a localized region of unusually low compressional, or even slightly extensional, strain rate develops along the surface of the continental plate above and somewhat inland from the downdip edge of the locked main thrust zone. The low strain rate

  8. Lower plate deformation structures along the Costa Rica erosive plate boundary - results from IODP Expedition 344 (CRISP 2)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brandstätter, Jennifer; Kurz, Walter; Micheuz, Peter; Krenn, Kurt

    2015-04-01

    The primary objective of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 344 offshore the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica was to sample and quantify the material entering the seismogenic zone of the Costa Rican erosive subduction margin. Fundamental to this objective is an understanding of the nature of both the subducting Cocos plate crust and of the overriding Caribbean plate. The subducting Cocos plate is investigated trying to define its hydrologic system and thermal state. The forearc structures recorded by the sediment deposited on the forearc, instead, document periods of uplift and subsidence and provide important information about the process of tectonic erosion that characterizes the Costa Rica margin. Offshore the western margin of Costa Rica, the oceanic Cocos plate subducts under the Caribbean plate, forming the southern end of the Middle America Trench. Subduction parameters including the age, convergence rate, azimuth, obliquity, morphology, and slab dip all vary along strike. The age of the Cocos plate at the Middle America Trench decreases from 24 Ma offshore the Nicoya Peninsula to 15 Ma offshore the Osa Peninsula. Subduction rates vary from 70 mm/y offshore Guatemala to 90 mm/y offshore southern Costa Rica. Convergence obliquity across the trench varies from offshore Nicaragua, where it is as much as 25° oblique, to nearly orthogonal southeast of the Nicoya Peninsula. Passage of the Cocos plate over the Galapagos hotspot created the aseismic Cocos Ridge, an overthickened welt of oceanic crust. This ridge is ~25 km thick, greater than three times normal oceanic crustal thickness. During IODP Expedition 344, the incoming Cocos plate was drilled at sites U1381 and U1414. Site U1381 is located ~4.5 km seaward of the deformation front offshore the Osa Peninsula and Caño Island. It is located on a local basement high. Basement relief often focuses fluid flow, so data from this site are likely to document the vigor of fluid flow in this area. Site U

  9. A new global plate velocity model using space geodetic data, REVEL

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sella, G. F.; Dixon, T. H.; Mao, A.; Stein, S.

    2001-12-01

    Our model describes the relative velocities of 19 plates and continental blocks, and is derived from publicly available space geodetic (primarily GPS) data for the period 1993-2000. We include an independent and rigorous estimate for GPS velocity uncertainties in order to assess plate rigidity, and propagate these uncertainties to the velocity predictions. By excluding sites that may be influenced by seismic cycle effects within the plate boundary zone as well sites affected by glacial isostatic adjustment, we believe the plate velocity model is representative of geologically Recent motions (last ~10,000 years) and have termed it REVEL, for Recent velocity. Departures from short term rigid plate behaviour due to glacial isostatic adjustment are clearly observed for North America and Eurasia. Australia shows possible differences from rigid plate behavior in a manner consistent with its mapped intraplate stress field. We see statistically significant differences between the velocity predictions of REVEL-2000 and those of the NUVEL-1A geologic model for about one third of tested plate pairs. Pacific-North America motion and motion of the Caribbean plate with respect to North and South America are significantly faster than NUVEL-1A, presumably reflecting systematic errors in the geological model because the relevant rate data do not reflect the full plate rate. Many other differences between the geodetic and geological models appear to reflect real velocity changes over the last few million years. Nubia-Arabia and Arabia-Eurasia appear to be slowing, perhaps related to the collision of Arabia with Eurasia and consequent increased resistance to Arabia's northward motion Several other plate pairs, including Nazca-Pacific, Nazca-South America and Nubia-South America, are experiencing gradual slowing that dates back to about 25 Ma. This is the time of the initiation of the modern Andes mountains, and we speculate that associated crustal thickening on the leading edge of

  10. 76 FR 2919 - Outer Continental Shelf Official Protraction Diagram and Supplemental Official Outer Continental...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-01-18

    ...: Availability of Revised North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) Outer Continental Shelf Official Protraction... that effective with this publication, the following NAD 83-based Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Official...

  11. Uplift of continental crustal blocks adjacent to the Rancheria Basin-Guasare area: the effects of Maastrichtian-Paleocene collision along the southern Caribbean plate boundary

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bayona, G.; Montes, C.; Jaramillo, C.; Ojeda, G.; Cardona, A.; Pardo, A.; Lamus, F.

    2007-05-01

    peat in RB and GA. In the late Late Paleocene, inversion along a buried graben system under the Perija range explain supply toward RB and GA of micritic, volcanic, and sedimentary rock fragments, and the record of a thinner Upper Paleocene strata in the GA than in the RB. Tectonic subsidence in the RB was mainly related to pivoting of the Santa Marta massif as result of collision of the Maracaibo continental sub-plate with the southern margin of the Caribbean oceanic plate. This model explains the generation of accommodation space in the RB without faulting, denudation of upper crustal material of the Santa Marta massif, early capture of terrigenous detritus in the RB that favored carbonate deposition in the GA, the mechanism of initial inversion of the Perija range, and the present positive gravity anomaly under the Santa Marta massif.

  12. Deep Crustal Melting and the Survival of Continental Crust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whitney, D.; Teyssier, C. P.; Rey, P. F.; Korchinski, M.

    2017-12-01

    Plate convergence involving continental lithosphere leads to crustal melting, which ultimately stabilizes the crust because it drives rapid upward flow of hot deep crust, followed by rapid cooling at shallow levels. Collision drives partial melting during crustal thickening (at 40-75 km) and/or continental subduction (at 75-100 km). These depths are not typically exceeded by crustal rocks that are exhumed in each setting because partial melting significantly decreases viscosity, facilitating upward flow of deep crust. Results from numerical models and nature indicate that deep crust moves laterally and then vertically, crystallizing at depths as shallow as 2 km. Deep crust flows en masse, without significant segregation of melt into magmatic bodies, over 10s of kms of vertical transport. This is a major mechanism by which deep crust is exhumed and is therefore a significant process of heat and mass transfer in continental evolution. The result of vertical flow of deep, partially molten crust is a migmatite dome. When lithosphere is under extension or transtension, the deep crust is solicited by faulting of the brittle upper crust, and the flow of deep crust in migmatite domes traverses nearly the entire thickness of orogenic crust in <10 million years. This cycle of burial, partial melting, rapid ascent, and crystallization/cooling preserves the continents from being recycled into the mantle by convergent tectonic processes over geologic time. Migmatite domes commonly preserve a record of high-T - low-P metamorphism. Domes may also contain rocks or minerals that record high-T - high-P conditions, including high-P metamorphism broadly coeval with host migmatite, evidence for the deep crustal origin of migmatite. There exists a spectrum of domes, from entirely deep-sourced to mixtures of deep and shallow sources. Controlling factors in deep vs. shallow sources are relative densities of crustal layers and rate of extension: fast extension (cm/yr) promotes efficient

  13. Prototypical Concepts and Misconceptions of Plate Tectonic Boundaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sibley, D. F.; Patino, L. C.

    2003-12-01

    Students of geology encounter many prototypical/exemplar concepts* that include representative, but not necessarily defining, features and characteristics. This study of students' prototypical representations of plate tectonic boundaries indicates that their representations are rich sources of information about their misconceptions about plate tectonics. After lectures in plate tectonics and mountain building, 353 students in a general education geology class were asked to draw a continent-continent convergent boundary. For this study, a correct answer is defined as having the major features in correct proportions as depicted in the plate boundary diagrams on the USGS web. Fifty-two percent of the drawings were either incorrect or incomplete such that they could not be interpreted. Only 48% were readily interpretable, and of these 22% drew the boundary correctly, showing a thickening of crust where two continents collide. Thirty-three percent drew the boundary showing concave slabs of continental crust as one might imagine two pieces of firm rubber pushed together on a rigid surface and 45% depicted mountains as one might imagine inverted ice cream cones on a rigid plank. Twenty-one senior class geology majors and graduate students were given the same assignment. Forty-eight percent rendered a correct drawing, whereas 38% drew the same ice cream cone on a plank type picture that 45% of the general education students drew. In a second class of 12 geology majors, only 1 student drew a cross section of a continent-ocean boundary similar to standard representation. Four of 12 drew mountains on the top of continental crust over a subduction zone but did not draw a compensating mass within the crust or lithosphere. Prototypical drawings provide more information about students' concepts than do most multiple-choice questions. For example, sixty-two percent of theses students who drew mountains similar to foam rubber pads pushed together on a desk or ice cream cones on a

  14. Plate deformation at depth under northern California: Slab gap or stretched slab?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    ten Brink, Uri S.; Shimizu, N.; Molzer, P.C.

    1999-01-01

    Plate kinematic interpretations for northern California predict a gap in the underlying subducted slab caused by the northward migration of the Pacific-North America-Juan de Fuca triple junction. However, large-scale decompression melting and asthenospheric upwelling to the base of the overlying plate within the postulated gap are not supported by geophysical and geochemical observations. We suggest a model for the interaction between the three plates which is compatible with the observations. In this 'slab stretch' model the Juan de Fuca plate under coastal northern California deforms by stretching and thinning to fill the geometrical gap formed in the wake of the northward migrating Mendocino triple junction. The stretching is in response to boundary forces acting on the plate. The thinning results in an elevated geothermal gradient, which may be roughly equivalent to a 4 Ma oceanic lithosphere, still much cooler than that inferred by the slab gap model. We show that reequilibration of this geothermal gradient under 20-30 km thick overlying plate can explain the minor Neogene volcanic activity, its chemical composition, and the heat flow. In contrast to northern California, geochemical and geophysical consequences of a 'true' slab gap can be observed in the California Inner Continental Borderland offshore Los Angeles, where local asthenospheric upwelling probably took place during the Miocene as a result of horizontal extension and rotation of the overlying plate. The elevated heat flow in central California can be explained by thermal reequilibration of the stalled Monterey microplate under the Coast Ranges, rather than by a slab gap or viscous shear heating in the mantle.

  15. A true polar wander model for Neoproterozoic plate motions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ripperdan, R.L.

    1992-01-01

    Recent paleogeographic reconstructions for the interval 750--500 Ma (Neoproterozoic to Late Cambrian) require rapid rates of plate motion and/or rotation around an equatorial Euler pole to accommodate reconstructions for the Early Paleozoic. Motions of this magnitude appear to be very uncommon during the Phanerozoic. A model for plate motions based on the hypothesis that discrete intervals of rapid true polar wander (RTPW) occurred during the Neoproterozoic can account for the paleogeographic changes with minimum amounts of plate motion. The model uses the paleogeographic reconstructions of Hoffman (1991). The following constraints were applied during derivation of the model: (1) relative motionsmore » between major continental units were restricted to be combinations of great circle or small circle translations with Euler poles of rotation = spin axis; (2) maximum rates of relative translational plate motion were 0.2 m/yr. Based on these constraints, two separate sets of synthetic plate motion trajectories were determined. The sequence of events in both can be summarized as: (1) A rapid true polar wander event of ca 90[degree] rafting a supercontinent to the spin axis; (2) breakup of the polar supercontinent into two fragments, one with the Congo, West Africa, Amazonia, and Baltica cratons, the other with the Laurentia, East Gondwana, and Kalahari cratons; (3) great circle motion of the blocks towards the equator; (4) small circle motion leading to amalgamation of Gondwana and separation of Laurentia and Baltica. In alternative 1, rifting initiates between East Antarctica and Laurentia and one episode of RTPW is required. Alternative 2 requires two episodes of RTPW; and that rifting occurred first along the eastern margin and later along the western margin of Laurentia. Synthetic plate motion trajectories are compared to existing paleomagnetic and geological data, and implications of the model for paleoclimatic changes during the Neoproterozoic are discussed.« less

  16. Slab dragging and the recent geodynamic evolution of the western Mediterranean plate boundary region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spakman, Wim; Chertova, Maria V.; van den Berg, Arie P.; Thieulot, Cedric; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.

    2016-04-01

    The Tortonian-Present geodynamic evolution of the plate boundary between North Africa and Iberia is characterized by first-order enigmas. This concerns, e.g., the diffuse tectonic activity of the plate boundary; the crustal thickening below the Rif; the closing of the northern Moroccan marine gateways prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis; crustal extension of the central to eastern Betics; the origin and sense of motion of the large left-lateral Trans Alboran Shear Zone (TASZ) and Eastern Betic Shear Zone (EBSZ); and lithosphere delamination of the North African continental edge. Many explanations have been given for each of these seemingly disparate tectonic features, which invariably have been addressed in the plate tectonic context of the NW-SE relative plate convergence between the major plates since the Tortonian, mostly independently from each other. Usually there is no clear role for the subducted slab underlying the region, except for presumed rollback, either to SW or to the W, depending on the type of observations that require explanation. Here we integrate the dynamic role of the slab with the NW-SE relative plate convergence by 3-D numerical modelling of the slab evolution constrained by absolute plate motions (Chertova et al., JGR,2014 & Gcubed 2014). By combining observations and predictions from seismology, geology, and geodesy, with our numerical 3-D slab-mantle dynamics modelling, we developed a new and promising geodynamic framework that provides explanations of all noted tectonic enigmas in a coherent and connected way. From the Tortonian until today, we propose that mantle-resisted slab dragging combines with the NW-SE plate convergence across the (largely) unbroken plate boundary to drive the crustal deformation of the region. Slab dragging is the lateral transport, pushing or pulling, of slab through the mantle by the absolute motion of the subducting plate (Chertova et al., Gcubed, 2014). Because the slab is connected to both the Iberian

  17. The Rapid Drift of the Indian Tectonic Plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumar, P.; Yuan, X.; Kumar, R.; Kind, R.; Li, X.; Chadha, R.

    2007-12-01

    The breakup of the supercontinent Gondwanaland into Africa, Antarctica, Australia and India about 140 million years ago and consequently the opening of the Indian Ocean was caused by heating of the lithosphere from below by a large plume whose relicts are the Marion, Kerguelen and Reunion plumes. Plate reconstructions based on paleomagnetic data suggest that the Indian plate attained a very high speed (18-20 cm/yr during late Cretaceous) subsequent to its breakup from the Gondwanaland and slowed down to ~5 cm/yr since the continental collision with Asia during the last ~50 Ma. The Australian and African plates moved comparatively lesser distances and at much lesser speed of 2-4 cm/yr. Antarctica remained almost stationary. This super mobility makes India unique compared to the other fragments of Gondwanaland. We propose that when the parts of Gondwanaland were separated by the plume, the penetration of their lithospheric roots into the asthenosphere played an important role in determining their speed. We estimated the thickness of the lithospheric plates of the different parts of Gondwanaland around the Indian Ocean using the S-receiver function technique. We found that the part of Gondwanaland with clearly the thinnest lithosphere has travelled with the highest speed - India. The lithospheric root in South Africa, Australia and Antarctica is between 180 and 300 km deep. The Indian lithosphere is in contrast only about 100 km thick. Our interpretation is that the plume that partitioned Gondwanaland has also melted the lower half of the Indian lithosphere thus permitting faster motion due to the ridge push or slab pull.

  18. Geophysical study of the structure and processes of the continental convergence zones: Alpine-Himalayan Belt

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Toksoez, M. N.

    1981-01-01

    The seismic wave velocity structure in the crust and upper mantle region beneath the Tibetan plateau was studied in detail. Also, a preliminary study of the uppermost mantle P wave velocity beneath Iran and Turkey was carried out, and the results are compared with those for the Tibetan plateau. These two studies compose the bulk of the efforts on the observational aspects of continental collision zones in addition to satellite derived data. On the theoretical aspects the thermal evolution of converging plate boundaries was explored using a finite difference scheme.

  19. Continental Assembly and Anisotropy Beneath the CANOE Array

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Courtier, A. M.; Gaherty, J. B.; Revenaugh, J.

    2007-12-01

    The Canadian Northwest Experiment (CANOE) is an array of nearly sixty broadband seismometers reaching from the Slave Craton in the Northwest Territories (NWT), across a series of Proterozoic orogens and the Canadian Rockies in the NWT, northern British Columbia, and southern Yukon, and across the Churchill Province south to Edmonton, Alberta. The array traverses a wide variety of continental settings, allowing the study of mantle variability associated with the formation of continental cratons and continental assembly over a time span of nearly 4 Ga. The close spacing of instruments in the CANOE array provides a detailed view of the mantle and lithosphere across these transitions. We examine splitting of the shear phases SKS, SKKS, and sSKS to study anisotropy beneath the region. The dataset consists of ~~70 teleseismic events of either magnitude > 5.6 and depth > 500 km or magnitude > 6.4 with depth < 500 km. All earthquakes were recorded at CANOE or nearby Canadian National Seismic Network stations between May 2003 and September 2005. Splitting times derived from multi-event station averages average ~1.4 s, and fast directions are coherent yet suggestive of strong variability of mantle anisotropy across the region. Stations on the craton show a dominant NE-SW fast direction that is roughly consistent with mantle flow dominated by plate motion. At the Cordillera boundary, fast directions flip abruptly to NW-SE, and continuing west across the Cordillera the fast directions rotate from NW-SE to roughly E-W before returning to NW-SE near the edge of the continent. These patterns are suggestive of dominant transpressional deformation through the lithosphere during continental accretion. Within the craton, there is an anomalous cluster of stations with N-S fast directions; these stations sit astride an apparent ancient suture zone (subducted slab?) detected through previous scattered-wave and seismic reflection studies. We will explore the possible

  20. Strength and Deformation Rate of Plate Boundaries: The Rheological Effects of Grain Size Reduction, Structure, and Serpentinization.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montesi, L.; Gueydan, F.

    2016-12-01

    Global strain rate maps reveal 1000-fold contrasts between plate interiors, oceanic or continental diffuse plate boundaries and narrow plate boundaries. Here, we show that rheological models based on the concepts of shear zone localization and the evolution of rock structure upon strain can explain these strain rate contrasts. Ductile shear zones constitute a mechanical paradox in the lithosphere. As every plastic deformation mechanism is strain-rate-hardening, ductile rocks are expected to deform at low strain rate and low stress (broad zone of deformation). Localized ductile shear zones require either a localized forcing (locally high stress) or a thermal or structural anomaly in the shear zone; either can be inherited or develop progressively as rocks deform. We previously identified the most effective process at each depth level of the lithosphere. In the upper crust and middle crust, rocks fabric controls localization. Grain size reduction is the most efficient mechanism in the uppermost mantle. This analysis can be generalized to consider a complete lithospheric section. We assume strain rate does not vary with depth and that the depth-integrated strength of the lithospheric does not change over time, as the total force is controlled by external process such as mantle convection and plate and slab buoyancy. Reducing grain size from a coarse value typical of undeformed peridotite to a value in agreement with the stress level (piezometer) while letting that stress vary from depth to depth (the integrated stress remains the same) increases the lithospheric strain rate by about a factor of 1000. This can explain the development of diffuse plate boundaries. The slightly higher strain rate of continental plate boundary may reflect development of a layered rock fabric in the middle crust. Narrow plate boundaries require additional weakening process. The high heat flux near mid-ocean ridge implies a thin lithosphere, which enhances stress (for constant integrated

  1. Craton stability and continental lithosphere dynamics during plume-plate interaction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, H.; Van Hunen, J.; Pearson, D.

    2013-12-01

    Survival of thick cratonic roots in a vigorously convecting mantle system for billions of years has long been studied by the geodynamical community. A high cratonic root strength is generally considered to be the most important factor. We first perform and discuss new numerical models to investigate craton stability in both Newtonian and non-Newtonian rheology in the stagnant lid regime. The results show that only a modest compositional rheological factor of Δη=10 with non-Newtonian rheology is required for the survival of cratonic roots in a stagnant lid regime. A larger rheological factor (100 or more) is needed to maintain similar craton longevity in a Newtonian rheology environment. Furthermore, chemical buoyancy plays an important role on craton stability and its evolution, but could only work with suitable compositional rheology. During their long lifespan, cratons experienced a suite of dynamic, tectonothermal events, such as nearby subduction and mantle plume activity. Cratonic nuclei are embedded in shorter-lived, more vulnerable continental areas of different thickness, composition and rheology, which would influence the lithosphere dynamic when tectonothermal events happen nearby. South Africa provides a very good example to investigate such dynamic processes as it hosts several cratons and there are many episodic thermal events since the Mesozoic as indicated by a spectrum of magmatic activity. We numerically investigate such an integrated system using the topographic evolution of cratons and surrounding lithosphere as a diagnostic observable. The post-70Ma thinning of pericratonic lithosphere by ~50km around Kaapvaal craton (Mather et al., 2011) is also investigated through our numerical models. The results show that the pericratonic lithosphere cools and grows faster than cratons do, but is also more likely to be effected by episodic thermal events. This leads to surface topography change that is significantly larger around the craton than within

  2. DELP Symposium: Tectonics of eastern Asia and western Pacific Continental Margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eastern Asia and the western Pacific make up a broad region of active plate tectonic interaction. The area is a natural laboratory for studying the processes involved in the origin and evolution of volcanic island arcs, marginal basins, accretionary prisims, oceanic trenches, accreted terranes, ophiolite emplacement, and intracontinental deformation. Many of our working concepts of plate tectonics and intraplate deformation were developed in this region, even though details of the geology and geophysics there must be considered of a reconnaissance nature.During the past few years researchers have accumulated a vast amount of new and detailed information and have developed a better understanding of the processes that have shaped the tectonic elements in this region. To bring together scientists from many disciplines and to present the wide range of new data and ideas that offer a broader perspective on the interrelations of geological, geochemical, geophysical and geodetic studies, the symposium Tectonics of Eastern Asia and Western Pacific Continental Margin was held December 13-16, 1988, at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, under the auspicies of DELP (Dynamics and Evolution of the Lithosphere Project).

  3. Continental Growth and Mantle Hydration as Earth System Feedback Cycles and possible Effects of the Biosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Höning, D.; Spohn, T.

    2016-12-01

    The evolution of Earth is charcterized by intertwined feedback cycles. We focus on two feedback cycles that include the mantle water budget and the continental crust and study possible effects of the Earth's biosphere. The first feedback loop includes cycling of water into the mantle at subduction zones and outgassing at volcanic chains and mid-ocean ridges. Water will reduce the viscosity of mantle rock, and therefore the speed of mantle convection and plate subduction will increase with the mantle water concentration, eventually enhancing the rates of mantle water regassing and outgassing. A second feedback loop includes the production and erosion of continental crust. Continents grow by volcanism above subduction zones, whose total length is determined by the total area of the continents. Furthermore, the erosion rate of the continents is proportional to the total surface area of continental crust. The rate of sediment subduction affects the rate of transport of water to the mantle and the production rate of new continental crust. We present a model that includes both cycles and show how the system develops stable and unstable fixed points in a plane defined by mantle water concentration and surface are of continents. The stable points represent either an Earth mostly covered by continents and a wet mantle or an Earth mostly covered by oceans with a dry mantle. The presently observed Earth is inbetween these extreme states but the state is intrinsically unstable. We couple the feedback model to a parameterized thermal evolution model. We show how Earth evolved towards its present unstable state. We argue that other feedback cycles such as the carbonate silicate cycle may act to stabilize the present state, however. By enhancing continental weathering and erosion, and eventually the sediment transport into subduction zones, the biosphere impacts both feedback cycles and might play a crucial role in regulating Earth's system and keep continental crust coverage and

  4. Rock mechanics observations pertinent to the rheology of the continental lithosphere and the localization of strain along shear zones

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kirby, S.H.

    1985-01-01

    Emphasized in this paper are the deformation processes and rheologies of rocks at high temperatures and high effective pressures, conditions that are presumably appropriate to the lower crust and upper mantle in continental collision zones. Much recent progress has been made in understanding the flexure of the oceanic lithosphere using rock-mechanics-based yield criteria for the inelastic deformations at the top and base. At mid-plate depths, stresses are likely to be supported elastically because bending strains and elastic stresses are low. The collisional tectonic regime, however, is far more complex because very large permanent strains are sustained at mid-plate depths and this requires us to include the broad transition between brittle and ductile flow. Moreover, important changes in the ductile flow mechanisms occur at the intermediate temperatures found at mid-plate depths. Two specific contributions of laboratory rock rheology research are considered in this paper. First, the high-temperature steady-state flow mechanisms and rheology of mafic and ultramafic rocks are reviewed with special emphasis on olivine and crystalline rocks. Rock strength decreases very markedly with increases in temperature and it is the onset of flow by high temperature ductile mechanisms that defines the base of the lithosphere. The thickness of the continental lithosphere can therefore be defined by the depth to a particular isotherm Tc above which (at geologic strain rates) the high-temperature ductile strength falls below some arbitrary strength isobar (e.g., 100 MPa). For olivine Tc is about 700??-800??C but for other crustal silicates, Tc may be as low as 400??-600??C, suggesting that substantial decoupling may take place within thick continental crust and that strength may increase with depth at the Moho, as suggested by a number of workers on independent grounds. Put another way, the Moho is a rheological discontinuity. A second class of laboratory observations pertains to

  5. Crustal Structure across Rivera Plate and Jalisco Block (MEXICO): TsuJal Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nuñez-Cornu, F. J.; Nunez, D.; Barba, D. C., Sr.; Trejo, E.; Escalona, F.; Danobeitia, J.; Gutierrez Pena, Q. J.

    2015-12-01

    Located on the western margin of Mexico, the collision zone between Rivera, Cocos and North American plates is a complex tectonic collage with high seismic hazards and potential tsunamigenic sources. During the spring of 2014, within the framework of TSUJAL project, Spanish and Mexican scientists investigated this region with the main objective of defining the crustal architecture of this active margin and recognizing potential structural sources that can trigger earthquakes and tsunamis at the convergence between Rivera plate-Jalisco block with the North American Plate. To achieve these goals, a wide-ranging of geophysical data was acquired in this region both offshore and onshore. In this paper, we present the preliminary results obtained from this project about bathymetric, structural geology and wide-angle seismic data of the southern coast of Bahía de Banderas. A crustal P-wave velocity model for the southern coast of Bahía de Banderas was obtained using WAS data recorded by OBS and land seismic stations for more than 150 km across Rivera Plate and Jalisco Block. The thickness of the slab in this area is about 10 km and presents a dip angle about 8º. Continental crustal thickness below Puerto Vallarta is about 20 km, no evidence of continental Moho was found in this study. This model support that due to the convergence of Rivera Plate against Jalisco Block, the region of Bahía de Banderas is under strong crustal stresses that generate structural lineaments and have the same trends offshore and inland. Most of the seismicity reported can be associated to the main structural lineaments. The Banderas Canyon apparently is in an opening process from west to east, which seems to continue through the Rio Pitillal river valley. There is no seismic or morphological evidence to consider that the Banderas Canyon is a continuation of Vallarta Graben.South of María Cleofas Island, the SC marks the limit between RP and JB, possibly being the result of the RP against JB

  6. Is Plate Tectonics Speeding up with Time?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Condie, K. C.; Korenaga, J.; Pisarevsky, S. A.

    2014-12-01

    Cooling of the mantle is often assumed to result in a decrease in average global plate speeds with time. However, deformation in collisional orogens indicates the frequency of craton collisions increases from about 5/100 Myr 2.5 Ga to 10/100 Myr 200 Ma. Likewise, angular plate velocities weighted by craton area increase from an average of 25 deg/100Myr at 2 Ga to about 50 deg/100 Myr in the last 200 Myr. The number of cratons decreases rapidly from > 20 to ≤ 15 between 1.9 and 1.75 Ga as numerous Archean blocks were sutured together. Orogens and passive margins show the same two cycles of ocean basin closing: an early cycle from 2.5-1.9 Ga and a later cycle, which corresponds to the supercontinent cycle ≤ 1.9 Ga. Also recorded in the geologic record during the last 200 Myr is a decrease in the duration of passive continental margins from 400 Myr at 1.2 Ga to < 100 Myr during the last 200 Myr. And finally, assuming Gondwana and Pangea represent stages in the growth of a single supercontinent, the period of the supercontinent cycle has dropped from about 1000 Myr at 1.5 Ga to < 500 Myr in the last 500 Myr. All of these observations are consistent with an increase in average plate speeds with time, which is consistent with the geodynamic model of Korenaga (2006) suggesting that plate tectonics is speeding up with time. This could be due to a decrease in the magnitude of lithosphere dehydration stiffening as ambient mantle temperature falls with time. Alternatively or in addition, gradual hydration of the mantle by subduction may decrease mantle viscosity and increase convection rates.

  7. Heat flow and continental breakup: The Gulf of Elat (Aqaba)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ben-Avraham, Z.; Vonherzen, R. P.

    1985-01-01

    Heat flow measurements were made in the major basins of the Gulf of Elat (Aqaba), northern Red Sea. The gulf is located at the southern portion of the Dead Sea rift which is a transform plate boundary. Gradient measurements at each site were made with a probe which allows multiple penetration of the bottom during a single deployment of the instrument. Thermal conductivity was determined by needle probe measurements on sedimentary cores. The mean heat flux, about 80 mWm(-2), is significantly above the continental mean, and probably also above that from the adjacent Sinai and Arabian continental blocks. The heat flow appears to increase from north to south. Such an increase may be related to the more advanced rifting stage of the Red Sea immediately to the south, which presently includes creation of an oceanic crust. This trend also corresponds to the general trend of the deep crustal structure in the gulf. Evidence from various geophysical fields suggest a gradual thinning of the crust towards the direction of the Red Sea where a normal oceanic crust exists. The heat flow data, together with other geophysical data, indicate a propagation of mature rifting activity from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Elat. This process is acting simultaneously with the transform motion along the Dead Sea rift.

  8. The effects of thick sediment upon continental breakup: seismic imaging and thermal modeling of the Salton Trough, southern California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Han, L.; Hole, J. A.; Lowell, R. P.; Stock, J. M.; Fuis, G. S.; Driscoll, N. W.; Kell, A. M.; Kent, G. M.; Harding, A. J.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, A.; Lázaro-Mancilla, O.

    2015-12-01

    Continental rifting ultimately creates a deep accommodation space for sediment. When a major river flows into a late-stage rift, thick deltaic sediment can change the thermal regime and alter the mechanisms of extension and continental breakup. The Salton Trough, the northernmost rift segment of the Gulf of California plate boundary, has experienced the same extension as the rest of the Gulf, but is filled to sea level by sediment from the Colorado River. Unlike the southern Gulf, seafloor spreading has not initiated. Instead, seismicity, high heat flow, and minor volcanoes attest to ongoing rifting of thin, transitional crust. Recently acquired controlled-source seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection data in the Salton Trough provide constraints upon crustal architecture and active rift processes. The crust in the central Salton Trough is only 17-18 km thick, with a strongly layered but relatively one-dimensional structure for ~100 km in the direction of plate motion. The upper crust includes 2-4 km of Colorado River sediment. Crystalline rock below the sediment is interpreted to be similar sediment metamorphosed by the high heat flow and geothermal activity. Meta-sediment extends to at least 9 km depth. A 4-5 km thick layer in the middle crust is either additional meta-sediment or stretched pre-existing continental crust. The lowermost 4-5 km of the crust is rift-related mafic magmatic intrusion or underplating from partial melting in the hot upper mantle. North American lithosphere in the Salton Trough has been almost or completely rifted apart. The gap has been filled by ~100 km of new transitional crust created by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. These processes create strong lithologic, thermal, and rheologic layering. While heat flow in the rift is very high, rapid sedimentation cools the upper crust as compared to a linear geotherm. Brittle extension occurs within new meta-sedimentary rock. The lower crust, in comparison, is

  9. Continental Affinities of the Alpha Ridge

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, H. Ruth; Li, Qingmou; Shimeld, John; Chian, Deping

    2017-04-01

    Identifying the crustal attributes of the Alpha Ridge (AR) part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province and tracing the spreading centre across the Amerasia Basin plays a key role in understanding the opening history of the Arctic Ocean. In this approach, we report the evidence for a continental influence on the development of the AR and reduced ocean crust in the Amerasia Basin. These points are inferred from a documented continental sedimentation source in the Amerasia Basin and calculated diagnostic compressional and shear refraction waves, and from the tracing of the distinct spreading centre using the potential field data. (1) The circum-Arctic geology of the small polar ocean provides compelling evidence of a long-lived continental landmass north of the Sverdrup Basin in the Canadian Arctic Islands and north of the Barents Sea continental margin. Based on sediment distribution patterns in the Sverdrup Basin a continental source is required from the Triassic to mid Jurassic. In addition, an extensive continental sediment source to the north of the Barents Sea is required until the Barremian. (2) Offshore data suggest a portion of continental crust in the Alpha and Mendeleev ridges including measured shear wave velocities, similarity of compressional wave velocities with large igneous province with continental fragments and magnetic patterns. Ocean bottom seismometers recorded shear waves velocities that are sensitive to the quartz content of rocks across the Chukchi Borderland and the Mendeleev Ridge that are diagnostic of both an upper and lower continental crust. On the Nautilus Spur of the Alpha Ridge expendable sonobuoys recorded clear converted shear waves also consistent with continental crust. The magnetic patterns (amplitude, frequency, and textures) on the Northwind Ridge and the Nautilus Spur also have similarities. In fact only limited portions of the deepest water portions of the Canada Basin and the Makarov Basin have typical oceanic layer 2 and

  10. Plate motions and deformations from geologic and geodetic data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jordan, Thomas H.

    1989-01-01

    The very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) measurements made in the western U.S. since 1979 provide discrete samples of the temporal and spatial deformation field. The interpretation of the VLBI derived rates of deformation requires an examination of geologic information and more densely sampled ground based geodetic data. Triangulation and trilateration data measured on two regional networks, one in the central Mojave Desert and one in the Coast Ranges east of the San Andreas fault, were processed. At the spatial scales spanned by these local geodetic networks, auxiliary geologic and geophysical data were utilized to examine the relation between measured incremental strain and the accommodation of strain seen in local geologic structures, strain release in earthquakes, and principal stress directions inferred from in situ measurements. VLBI data was also processed from stations distributed across the Pacific-North America plate boundary zone in the western U.S. The VLBI data were used to constrain the integrated rate of deformation across portions of the continental plate boundary in California and to provide a tectonic framework to interpret regional geodetic and geologic studies.

  11. Deep continental margin reflectors

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ewing, J.; Heirtzler, J.; Purdy, M.; Klitgord, Kim D.

    1985-01-01

    In contrast to the rarity of such observations a decade ago, seismic reflecting and refracting horizons are now being observed to Moho depths under continental shelves in a number of places. These observations provide knowledge of the entire crustal thickness from the shoreline to the oceanic crust on passive margins and supplement Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP)-type measurements on land.

  12. The rapid drift of the Indian tectonic plate.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Prakash; Yuan, Xiaohui; Kumar, M Ravi; Kind, Rainer; Li, Xueqing; Chadha, R K

    2007-10-18

    The breakup of the supercontinent Gondwanaland into Africa, Antarctica, Australia and India about 140 million years ago, and consequently the opening of the Indian Ocean, is thought to have been caused by heating of the lithosphere from below by a large plume whose relicts are now the Marion, Kerguelen and Réunion plumes. Plate reconstructions based on palaeomagnetic data suggest that the Indian plate attained a very high speed (18-20 cm yr(-1) during the late Cretaceous period) subsequent to its breakup from Gondwanaland, and then slowed to approximately 5 cm yr(-1) after the continental collision with Asia approximately 50 Myr ago. The Australian and African plates moved comparatively less distance and at much lower speeds of 2-4 cm yr(-1) (refs 3-5). Antarctica remained almost stationary. This mobility makes India unique among the fragments of Gondwanaland. Here we propose that when the fragments of Gondwanaland were separated by the plume, the penetration of their lithospheric roots into the asthenosphere were important in determining their speed. We estimated the thickness of the lithospheric plates of the different fragments of Gondwanaland around the Indian Ocean by using the shear-wave receiver function technique. We found that the fragment of Gondwanaland with clearly the thinnest lithosphere is India. The lithospheric roots in South Africa, Australia and Antarctica are between 180 and 300 km deep, whereas the Indian lithosphere extends only about 100 km deep. We infer that the plume that partitioned Gondwanaland may have also melted the lower half of the Indian lithosphere, thus permitting faster motion due to ridge push or slab pull.

  13. Crustal-Scale Seismic Structure From Trench to Forearc in the Cascadia Subduction Zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rathnayaka, Sampath; Gao, Haiying

    2017-09-01

    The (de)hydration process and the amount of hydrated sediment carried by the downgoing oceanic plate play a key role in the subduction dynamics. A high-resolution shear velocity model from the crust down to the uppermost mantle, extending from trench to forearc, is constructed in the northern Cascadia subduction zone to investigate seismic characteristics related to slab deformation and (de)hydration at the plate boundary. A total of 220 seismic stations are used, including the Cascadia Initiative Amphibious Array and inland broadband and short-period stations. The empirical Green's functions extracted from continuous ambient noise data from 2006 to 2014 provide high-quality Rayleigh wave signals at periods of 4-50 s. We simulate wave propagation using finite difference method to generate station Strain Green's Tensors and synthetic waveforms. The phase delays of Rayleigh waves between the observed and synthetic data are measured at multiple period ranges. We then invert for the velocity perturbations from the reference model and progressively improve the model resolution. Our tomographic imaging shows many regional- and local-scale low-velocity features, which are possibly related to slab (de)hydration from the oceanic plate to the overriding plate. Specifically, we observe (1) NW-SE oriented linear low-velocity features across the trench, indicating hydration of the oceanic plate induced by bending-related faultings; (2) W-E oriented fingerlike low-velocity structures off the continental margins due to dehydration of the Juan de Fuca plate; and (3) seismic lows atop the plate interface beneath the Washington forearc, indicating fluid-rich sediments subducted and overthrusted at the accretionary wedge.

  14. The Effect of Plumes on the Dynamics of Supercontinents in a Self-Consistent Plate Tectonics Setting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jain, C.; Rozel, A.; Tackley, P. J.

    2014-12-01

    Strong mantle plumes arising from the deep mantle can impose stresses on the continents, thereby facilitating continental rifting and disrupting the supercontinent cycle (Storey, Nature 1995; Santosh et al., Gondwana Research 2009). In recent years, several studies have characterized the relation between the location of the plumes and the continents, but with contradicting observations. While Heron and Lowman (GRL, 2010; Tectonophysics, 2011) propose regions where downwelling has ceased (irrespective of overlying plate) as the preferred location for plumes, O'Neill et al. (Gondwana Research, 2009) show an anti-correlation between the average positions of subducting slabs at continental margins, and mantle plumes at continental/oceanic interiors. Extent of continental motion depends on the heat budget of the mantle (CMB heat flux, radiogenic heating, mantle cooling). CMB heat flux is not well defined; however, the recent determination of core's high thermal conductivity requires a CMB heat flow of at least 12 TW (de Koker et al., PNAS 2012; Pozzo et al., Nature 2012; Gomi et al., PEPI 2013), much higher than early estimates of 3-4 TW (Lay et al., Nature 2008). Thus, it is necessary to characterize the effect of increased CMB heat flux on mantle dynamics. In almost all mantle convection simulations, the top boundary is treated as a free-slip surface whereas Earth's surface is a deformable free surface. Unlike free-slip, a free surface boundary condition allows for the development of topography and leads to realistic single-sided (asymmetric) subduction (Crameri et al., GJI 2012; Crameri et al., GRL 2012). Using StagYY code (Tackley, PEPI 2008), we test (i) the impact of increased basal heating on mantle dynamics with continents and self-consistent plate tectonics, including whether plumes prefer to develop under continents; (ii) the influence of a free surface on continents using the 'sticky air' approach, in which a low density and a small viscosity fluid layer is

  15. An unrecognized major collision of the Okhotomorsk Block with East Asia during the Late Cretaceous, constraints on the plate reorganization of the Northwest Pacific

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Yong-Tai

    2013-11-01

    Interactions at plate boundaries induce stresses that constitute critical controls on the structural evolution of intraplate regions. However, the traditional tectonic model for the East Asian margin during the Mesozoic, invoking successive episodes of paleo-Pacific oceanic subduction, does not provide an adequate context for important Late Cretaceous dynamics across East Asia, including: continental-scale orogenic processes, significant sinistral strike-slip faulting, and several others. The integration of numerous documented field relations requires a new tectonic model, as proposed here. The Okhotomorsk continental block, currently residing below the Okhotsk Sea in Northeast Asia, was located in the interior of the Izanagi Plate before the Late Cretaceous. It moved northwestward with the Izanagi Plate and collided with the South China Block at about 100 Ma. The indentation of the Okhotomorsk Block within East Asia resulted in the formation of a sinistral strike-slip fault system in South China, formation of a dextral strike-slip fault system in North China, and regional northwest-southeast shortening and orogenic uplift in East Asia. Northeast-striking mountain belts over 500 km wide extended from Southeast China to Southwest Japan and South Korea. The peak metamorphism at about 89 Ma of the Sanbagawa high-pressure metamorphic belt in Southwest Japan was probably related to the continental subduction of the Okhotomorsk Block beneath the East Asian margin. Subsequently, the north-northwestward change of motion direction of the Izanagi Plate led to the northward movement of the Okhotomorsk Block along the East Asian margin, forming a significant sinistral continental transform boundary similar to the San Andreas fault system in California. Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks in Southwest Japan were rapidly exhumed through the several-kilometer wide ductile shear zone at the lower crust and upper mantle level. Accretionary complexes successively accumulated along the East

  16. Summary of the stratigraphy and structural elements related to plate convergence of the Quetta-Muslim Bagh-Sibi region, Balochistan, west-central Pakistan

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Maldonado, Florian; Mengal, Jan M.; Khan, Shahid H.; Warwick, Peter D.

    2011-01-01

    The four major faults that bound the structural terrane are the Frontal (F), Ghazaband-Zhob (GZ), Gwal-Bagh (GB), and Chaman (C) faults. Four major periods of deformation are recognized: (1) emplacement of ophiolitic rocks onto the continental margin of the India plate; (2) convergence of the India-Eurasia plates; (3) deposition of Tertiary-Quaternary molasse units followed by major folding and thrusting, and formation of strike-slip faults; and (4) deposition of Pleistocene molasse units with subsequent folding, thrusting, and strike-slip motion that continues to the present.

  17. Upper-Mantel Earthquakes in the Australia-Pacific Plate Boundary Zone and the Roots of the Alpine Fault

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boese, C. M.; Warren-Smith, E.; Townend, J.; Stern, T. A.; Lamb, S. H.

    2016-12-01

    Seismicity in the upper mantle in continental collision zones is relatively rare, but observed around the world. Temporary seismometer deployments have repeatedly detected mantle earthquakes at depths of 40-100 km within the Australia-Pacific plate boundary zone beneath the South Island of New Zealand. Here, the transpressive Alpine Fault constitutes the primary plate boundary structure linking subduction zones of opposite polarity farther north and south. The Southern Alps Microearthquake Borehole Array (SAMBA) has been operating continuously since November 2008 along a 50 km-long section of the central Alpine Fault, where the rate of uplift of the Southern Alps is highest. To date it has detected more than 40 small to moderate-sized mantle events (1≤ML≤3.9). The Central Otago Seismic Array (COSA) has been in operation since late 2012 and detected 15 upper mantle events along the sub-vertical southern Alpine Fault. Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the occurrence of upper mantle seismicity in the South Island, including intra-continental subduction (Reyners 1987, Geology); high shear-strain gradients due to depressed geotherms and viscous deformation of mantle lithosphere (Kohler and Eberhart-Phillips 2003, BSSA); high strain rates resulting from plate bending (Boese et al. 2013, EPSL), and underthrusting of the Australian plate (Lamb et al. 2015, G3). Focal mechanism analysis reveals a variety of mechanisms for the upper mantle events but predominantly strike-slip and reverse faulting. In this study, we apply spectral analysis to better constrain source parameters for these mantle events. These results are interpreted in conjunction with new information about crustal structure and low-frequency earthquakes near the Moho and in light of existing velocity, attenuation and resistivity models.

  18. The Effect of Temperature Dependent Rheology on a Kinematic Model of Continental Breakup and Rifted Continental Margin Formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tymms, V. J.; Kusznir, N. J.

    2004-12-01

    The effect of temperature dependent rheology has been examined for a model of continental lithosphere thinning by an upwelling divergent flow field within continental lithosphere and asthenosphere leading to continental breakup and rifted continental margin formation. The model uses a coupled FE fluid flow and thermal solution and is kinematically driven using a half divergence rate Vx and upwelling velocity Vz. Viscosity structure is modified by the evolving temperature field of the model through the temperature dependent Newtonian rheology. Continental lithosphere and asthenosphere material are advected by the fluid-flow field in order to predict crustal and mantle lithosphere thinning leading to rifted continental margin formation. The results of the temperature dependent rheology model are compared with those of a simple isoviscous model. The temperature dependent rheology model predicts continental lithosphere thinning and depth dependent stretching, similar to that predicted by the uniform viscosity model. However compared with the uniform viscosity model the temperature dependent rheology predicts greater amounts of thinning of the continental crust and lithospheric mantle than the isoviscous solutions. An important parameter within the kinematic model of continental lithosphere breakup and rifted continental margin development is the velocity ratio Vz/Vx. For non-volcanic margins, Vz/Vx is thought to be around unity. Applying a velocity ratio Vz/Vx of unity gives a diffuse ocean-continent transition and exhumation of continental lithospheric mantle. For volcanic margins, Vz/Vx is of order 10, falling to unity with a half-life of order 10 Ma, leading to a more sharply defined ocean-continent transition. While Vx during continental breakup may be estimated, Vz can only be inferred. FE fluid flow solutions, in which Vz is not imposed and without an initial buoyancy driven flow component, predict a velocity ratio Vz/Vx of around unity for both temperature

  19. Controls on the T Phase Energy Fluxes Recorded on Juan Fernandez Island by Continental Seismic Wave Paths and Nazca Bathymetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sáez, Miguel; Ruiz, Sergio

    2018-03-01

    T phases from 54 South American earthquakes with Mw > 5.2 are observed at a broadband station on Juan Fernandez Island. We computed the T phase energy flux (TPEF) values of the seismograms. The TPEF values show a large dispersion that can be explained by considering the tectonic characteristics of the South American plate and the Nazca plate bathymetry. The TPEFs generated by the 2015 Illapel and 2017 Valparaíso seismic sequences were controlled by the positions of the interface events along the dip. The central and downdip interplate earthquakes were more efficient in the generation of T phases than the near-trench interplate earthquakes (depths of <15 km). The variations in the generation efficiency with depth are explained by the continental raypaths of the body waves and the incidence angles of waves entering the sound fixing and ranging channel. Additionally, we observed differences in the TPEFs from both earthquake sequences that were controlled by seamounts atop the Nazca plate along the T phase paths.

  20. Modeling Archean Subduction Initiation from Continental Spreading with a Free-Surface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adams, A.; Thielmann, M.; Golabek, G.

    2017-12-01

    Earth is the only planet known to have plate tectonics, however the onset of plate tectonics and Earth's early tectonic environment are highly uncertain. Modern plate tectonics are characterized by the sinking of dense lithosphere at subduction zones; however this process may not have been feasible if Earth's interior was hotter in the Archean, resulting in thicker and more buoyant oceanic lithosphere than observed at present [van Hunen and van den Berg, 2008]. Previous studies have proposed gravitational spreading of early continents at passive margins as a mechanism to trigger early episodes of plate subduction using numerical simulations with a free-slip upper boundary condition [Rey et al., 2014]. This study utilizes 2D thermo-mechanical numerical experiments using the finite element code MVEP2 [Kaus, 2010; Thielmann et al., 2014] to investigate the viability of this mechanism for subduction initiation in an Archean mantle for both free-slip and free-surface models. Radiogenic heating, strain weakening, and eclogitization were systematically implemented to determine critical factors for modeling subduction initiation. In free-slip models, results show episodes of continent spreading and subduction initiation of oceanic lithosphere for low limiting yield stresses (100-150 MPa) and increasing continent width with no dependency on radiogenic heating, strain weakening, or eclogitization. For models with a free-surface, subduction initiation was observed at low limiting yield stresses (100-225 MPa) with increasing continent width and only in models with eclogitization. Initial lithospheric stress states were studied as a function of density and viscosity ratios between continent and oceanic lithosphere, and results indicate the magnitude of lithospheric stresses increases with increasing continental buoyancy. This work suggests continent spreading may trigger episodes of subduction in models with a free-surface with critical factors being low limiting yield stresses

  1. Imaging megathrust zone and Yakutat/Pacific plate interface in Alaska subduction zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Y.; Abers, G. A.; Li, J.; Christensen, D. H.; Calkins, J. A.

    2013-05-01

    We image the subducted slab underneath a 450 km long transect of the Alaska subduction zone. Dense stations in southern Alaska are set up to investigate (1) the geometry and velocity structure of the downgoing plate and their relation to slab seismicity, and (2) the interplate coupled zone where the great 1964 (magnitude 9.3) had greatest rupture. The joint teleseismic migration of two array datasets (MOOS, Multidisciplinary Observations of Onshore Subduction, and BEAAR, Broadband Experiment Across the Alaska Range) based on teleseismic receiver functions (RFs) using the MOOS data reveal a shallow-dipping prominent low-velocity layer at ~25-30 km depth in southern Alaska. Modeling of these RF amplitudes shows a thin (<6.5 km) low-velocity layer (shear wave velocity of ~3 km/s), which is ~20-30% slower than normal oceanic crustal velocities, between the subducted slab and the overriding North American plate. The observed low-velocity megathrust layer (with P-to-S velocity ratio (Vp/Vs) exceeding 2.0) may be due to a thick sediment input from the trench in combination of elevated pore fluid pressure in the channel. The subducted crust below the low-velocity channel has gabbroic velocities with a thickness of 11-12 km. Both velocities and thickness of the low-velocity channel abruptly increase as the slab bends in central Alaska, which agrees with previously published RF results. Our image also includes an unusually thick low-velocity crust subducting with a ~20 degree dip down to 130 km depth at approximately 200 km inland beneath central Alaska. The unusual nature of this subducted segment has been suggested to be due to the subduction of the Yakutat terrane. We also show a clear image of the Yakutat and Pacific plate subduction beneath the Kenai Peninsula, and the along-strike boundary between them at megathrust depths. Our imaged western edge of the Yakutat terrane, at 25-30 km depth in the central Kenai along the megathrust, aligns with the western end of the

  2. Processes accompanying of mantle plume emplacement into continental lithosphere: Evidence from NW Arabian plate, Western Syria

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharkov, E. V.

    2015-12-01

    Lower crustal xenoliths occurred in the Middle Cretaceous lamprophyre diatremes in Jabel Ansaria (Western Syria) (Sharkov et al., 1992). They are represented mainly garnet granulites and eclogite-like rocks, which underwent by deformations and retrograde metamorphism, and younger fresh pegmatoid garnet-kaersutite-clinopyroxene (Al-Ti augite) rocks; mantle peridotites are absent in these populations. According to mineralogical geothermobarometers, forming of garnet-granulite suite rocks occurred under pressure 13.5-15.4 kbar (depths 45-54 kn) and temperature 965-1115oC. At the same time, among populations of mantle xenoliths in the Late Cenozoic platobasalts of the region, quite the contrary, lower crustal xenoliths are absent, however, predominated spinel lherzolites (fragments of upper cooled rim of a plume head), derived from the close depths (30-40 km: Sharkov, Bogatikov, 2015). From this follows that ancient continental crust was existed here even in the Middle Cretaceous, but in the Late Cenozoic was removed by extended mantle plume head; at that upper sialic crust was not involved in geomechanic processes, because Precambrian metamorphic rocks survived as a basement for Cambrian to Cenozoic sedimentary cover of Arabian platform. In other words, though cardinal rebuilding of deep-seated structure of the region occurred in the Late Cenozoic but it did not affect on the upper shell of the ancient lithosphere. Because composition of mantle xenolithis in basalts is practically similar worldwide, we suggest that deep-seated processes are analogous also. As emplacement of the mantle plume heads accompanied by powerful basaltic magmatism, very likely that range of lower (mafic) continental crust existence is very convenient for extension of plume heads and their adiabatic melting. If such level, because of whatever reasons, was not reached, melting was limited but appeared excess of volatile matters which led to forming of lamprophyre or even kimberlite.

  3. The Misis-Andırın Complex: a Mid-Tertiary melange related to late-stage subduction of the Southern Neotethys in S Turkey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Robertson, Alastair; Unlügenç, Ülvi Can; İnan, Nurdan; Ta ṡli, Kemal

    2004-01-01

    The Mid-Tertiary (Mid-Eocene to earliest Miocene) Misis-Andırın Complex documents tectonic-sedimentary processes affecting the northerly, active margin of the South Tethys (Neotethys) in the easternmost Mediterranean region. Each of three orogenic segments, Misis (in the SW), Andırın (central) and Engizek (in the NE) represent parts of an originally continuous active continental margin. A structurally lower Volcanic-Sedimentary Unit includes Late Cretaceous arc-related extrusives and their Lower Tertiary pelagic cover. This unit is interpreted as an Early Tertiary remnant of the Mesozoic South Tethys. The overlying melange unit is dominated by tectonically brecciated blocks (>100 m across) of Mesozoic neritic limestone that were derived from the Tauride carbonate platform to the north, together with accreted ophiolitic material. The melange matrix comprises polymict debris flows, high- to low-density turbidites and minor hemipelagic sediments. The Misis-Andırın Complex is interpreted as an accretionary prism related to the latest stages of northward subduction of the South Tethys and diachronous continental collision of the Tauride (Eurasian) and Arabian (African) plates during Mid-Eocene to earliest Miocene time. Slivers of Upper Cretaceous oceanic crust and its Early Tertiary pelagic cover were accreted, while blocks of Mesozoic platform carbonates slid from the overriding plate. Tectonic mixing and sedimentary recycling took place within a trench. Subduction culminated in large-scale collapse of the overriding (northern) margin and foundering of vast blocks of neritic carbonate into the trench. A possible cause was rapid roll back of dense downgoing Mesozoic oceanic crust, such that the accretionary wedge taper was extended leading to gravity collapse. Melange formation was terminated by underthrusting of the Arabian plate from the south during earliest Miocene time. Collision was diachronous. In the east (Engizek Range and SE Anatolia) collision generated

  4. Rapid change in drift of the Australian plate records collision with Ontong Java plateau.

    PubMed

    Knesel, Kurt M; Cohen, Benjamin E; Vasconcelos, Paulo M; Thiede, David S

    2008-08-07

    The subduction of oceanic plateaux, which contain extraordinarily thick basaltic crust and are the marine counterparts of continental flood-basalt provinces, is an important factor in many current models of plate motion and provides a potential mechanism for triggering plate reorganization. To evaluate such models, it is essential to decipher the history of the collision between the largest and thickest of the world's oceanic plateaux, the Ontong Java plateau, and the Australian plate, but this has been hindered by poor constraints for the arrival of the plateau at the Melanesian trench. Here we present (40)Ar-(39)Ar geochronological data on hotspot volcanoes in eastern Australian that reveal a strong link between collision of the Greenland-sized Ontong Java plateau with the Melanesian arc and motion of the Australian plate. The new ages define a short-lived period of reduced northward plate motion between 26 and 23 Myr ago, coincident with an eastward offset in the contemporaneous tracks of seamount chains in the Tasman Sea east of Australia. These features record a brief westward deflection of the Australian plate as the plateau entered and choked the Melanesian trench 26 Myr ago. From 23 Myr ago, Australia returned to a rapid northerly trajectory at roughly the same time that southwest-directed subduction began along the Trobriand trough. The timing and brevity of this collisional event correlate well with offsets in hotspot seamount tracks on the Pacific plate, including the archetypal Hawaiian chain, and thus provide strong evidence that immense oceanic plateaux, like the Ontong Java, can contribute to initiating rapid change in plate boundaries and motions on a global scale.

  5. Continental Scientific Drilling Program.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-01-01

    Institute of Technology ALBERT W. BALLY, Shell Oil Company, Houston HUBERT L. BARNES, Pennsylvania State University ARTHUR L. BOETTCHER, University of...San Marcos arch near Victoria, Texas. Information from a hole would answer fundamental questions about ancient continental margins and would complement...did the uplift begin in this area? Is the crust continental or oceanic? Area 3 (Figure A-7), positioned upon the San Marcos arch to avoid the thick

  6. Brazilian continental cretaceous

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petri, Setembrino; Campanha, Vilma A.

    1981-04-01

    Cretaceous deposits in Brazil are very well developed, chiefly in continental facies and in thick sequences. Sedimentation occurred essentially in rift-valleys inland and along the coast. Three different sequences can be distinguished: (1) a lower clastic non-marine section, (2) a middle evaporitic section, (3) an upper marine section with non-marine regressive lithosomes. Continental deposits have been laid down chiefly between the latest Jurassic and Albian. The lower lithostratigraphic unit is represented by red shales with occasional evaporites and fresh-water limestones, dated by ostracods. A series of thick sandstone lithosomes accumulated in the inland rift-valleys. In the coastal basins these sequences are often incompletely preserved. Uplift in the beginning of the Aptian produced a widespread unconformity. In many of the inland rift-valleys sedimentation ceased at that time. A later transgression penetrated far into northeastern Brazil, but shortly after continental sedimentation continued, with the deposition of fluvial sandstones which once covered large areas of the country and which have been preserved in many places. The continental Cretaceous sediments have been laid down in fluvial and lacustrine environments, under warm climatic conditions which were dry from time to time. The fossil record is fairly rich, including besides plants and invertebrates, also reptiles and fishes. As faulting tectonism was rather strong, chiefly during the beginning of the Cretaceous, intercalations of igneous rocks are frequent in some places. Irregular uplift and erosion caused sediments belonging to the remainder of this period to be preserved only in tectonic basins scattered across the country.

  7. New Constraints on Baja California-North America Relative Plate Motion Since 11 Ma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bennett, S. E.; Skinner, L. A.; Darin, M. H.; Umhoefer, P. J.; Oskin, M. E.; Dorsey, R. J.

    2013-12-01

    Tectonic reconstructions of the Pacific-North America (PAC-NAM) plate boundary across the Gulf of California and Salton Trough (GCAST) constrain the controversial magnitude of Baja California microplate-North America (BCM-NAM) relative motion since middle Miocene time. We use estimates of total PAC-NAM relative dextral-oblique motion from the updated global plate-circuit model (Atwater and Stock, 2013; GSA Cordilleran Mtg) to resolve the proportion of this motion on faults east of the BCM. Modern GPS studies and offset of late Miocene cross-gulf geologic tie points both suggest that BCM has never been completely coupled to the Pacific plate. Thus, our preferred GCAST reconstruction uses 93% BCM-PAC coupling from the present back to 6 Ma. We assume BCM-PAC coupling of 60% between 6 and 7 Ma, and 25% between 7 and 11 Ma, to avoid unacceptable overlap of continental crustal blocks between Baja California and the Sierra Madre Occidental (on stable NAM). Using these coupling ratios and PAC-NAM stage Euler poles, we determine the azimuth and velocity of individual points on the BCM in 1 million year increments back to 11 Ma. This procedure accounts for minor clockwise rotation of BCM that occurred during oblique rifting, and shows how total BCM-NAM relative motion increases from north to south due to greater distance from the Euler pole. Finer-scale restoration of tectonic blocks along significant (>1 km offset) faults, across extensional (e.g. pull-apart and half-graben) basins, and by vertical-axis rotation is constrained by local geologic and marine-geophysical datasets and accomplished via the open-source Tectonic Reconstruct ArcGIS tool. We find that restoration across the Gulf of California completely closes marine basins and their terrestrial predecessors between 6 and 9 Ma. Latest Miocene opening of these basins was coincident with a ~10° clockwise azimuthal change from 8 to 6 Ma in PAC-NAM relative motion, as revealed by the global plate circuit model. The

  8. Tear geometry at active STEPs: an analogue model approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Broerse, Taco; Sokoutis, Dimitrios; Willingshofer, Ernst; Govers, Rob

    2017-04-01

    At the lateral end of a subduction zone, tearing of lithosphere is the result of subduction of oceanic lithosphere while adjacent buoyant continental lithosphere stays at the surface. The location of lithospheric tearing is called a Subduction-Transform-Edge-Propagator (STEP), which continuously extends the plate boundary between overriding plate and continental lithosphere. One of our areas of interest is the southern Caribbean where Atlantic lithosphere subducts below the Caribbean plate. Mantle tomography suggests a clear southern edge of the Lesser Antilles slab, which makes the boundary between the Caribbean and South America a clear STEP candidate. At the surface, the San Sebastián/El Pilar fault zone forms the plate boundary between the Caribbean and South America and the active STEP is located near Trinidad. For the deeper part of the damage/shear zone, some information is available from a recent 3D gravity study: significant lateral variability in densities of the lithospheric mantle to the south of the STEP fault zone. The low-density zone may result from higher sub-crustal temperatures, such as would arise from an asthenospheric window resulting from detachment. Interpreted in this way, the mantle part of the damage zone may be 200-250 km wide. So, while the location of the plate boundary at the surface is relatively well resolved, little is known about the deeper continuation of the active STEP in the mantle lithosphere. We study the evolution of the tearing process at a STEP using analogue models. In our models we use silicone putty (lithosphere) and glucose (asthenosphere). Solely gravitational forces resulting from density differences between oceanic lithosphere and asthenosphere drive our model. Lithospheric tearing commences after subduction has initiated. The geometry of the tear varies with the rheology of the lithosphere and asthenosphere, particularly Newtonian versus power-law. We investigate the dependence on model parameters of the width of

  9. Early origins of the Caribbean plate from deep seismic profiles across the Nicaraguan Rise

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ott, B.; Mann, W. P.

    2012-12-01

    The offshore Nicaraguan Rise in the maritime zones of Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Colombia covers a combined area of 500,000 km2, and is one of the least known equatorial Cretaceous-Cenozoic carbonate regions remaining on Earth. The purpose of this study is to describe the Cretaceous to Recent tectonic and stratigraphic history of the deep water Nicaraguan Rise, and to better understand how various types of crustal blocks underlying the Eocene to Recent carbonate cover fused into a single, larger Caribbean plate known today from GPS studies. We interpreted 8700 km of modern, deep-penetration 2D seismic data kindly provided by the oil industry, tied to five wells that penetrated Cretaceous igneous basement. Based on these data, and integration with gravity, magnetic and existing crustal refraction data, we define four crustal provinces for the offshore Nicaraguan Rise: 1) Thicker (15-18 km) Late Cretaceous Caribbean ocean plateau (COP) with rough, top basement surface; 2) normal (6-8 km) Late Cretaceous COP with smooth top basement surface (B") and correlative outcrops in southern Haiti and Jamaica; 3) Precambrian-Paleozoic continental crust (20-22 km thick) with correlative outcrops in northern Central America; and 4) Cretaceous arc crust (>18 km thick) with correlative outcrops in Jamaica. These strongly contrasting basement belts strike northeastward to eastward, and were juxtaposed by latest Cretaceous-Paleogene northward and northwestward thrusting of Caribbean arc over continental crust in Central America, and the western Nicaraguan Rise (84 to 85 degrees west). A large Paleogene to recent, CCW rotation of the Caribbean plate along the Cayman trough faults and into its present day location explains why terranes in Central America and beneath the Nicaraguan Rise have their present, anomalous north-east strike. Continuing, present-day activity on some of these crustal block boundaries is a likely result of intraplate stresses imposed by the surrounding

  10. Continental growth by successive accretion of oceanic lithosphere: Evidence from tilted seismic anisotropy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Babuska, V.; Plomerova, J.; Karato, S. I.

    2012-04-01

    Although many studies indicate that subduction-related accretion, subduction-driven magmatism and tectonic stacking are major crustal-growth mechanisms, how the mantle lithosphere forms remains enigmatic. Cook (AGU Geod. Series 1986) published a model of continental 'shingling' based on seismic reflection data indicating dipping structures in the deep crust of accreted terranes. Helmstaedt and Gurney (J. Geoch. Explor. 1995) and Hart et al. (Geology 1997) suggest that the Archean continental lithosphere consists of alternating layers of basalt and peridotite derived from subducted and obducted Archean oceanic lithosphere. Peridotite xenoliths from the Mojavian mantle lithosphere (Luffi et al., JGR 2009), as well as xenoliths of eclogites underlying the Sierra Nevada batholith in California (Horodynskij et al., EPSL 2007), are representative for oceanic slab fragments successively attached to the continent. Recent seismological findings also seem to support a model of continental lithosphere built from systems of paleosubductions of plates of ancient oceanic lithosphere (Babuska and Plomerova, AGU Geoph. Monograph 1989), or by stacking of the plates (Helmstaedt and Schulze, Geol. Soc. Aust. Spec. Publ. 1989). Seismic anisotropy in the oceanic mantle lithosphere, explained mainly by the olivine A- (or D-) type fabric (Karato et al., Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 2008), was discovered almost a half century ago (Hess, Nature 1964). Though it is difficult to determine seismic anisotropy within an active subducting slab (e.g., Healy et al., EPSL 2009; Eberhart-Phillips and Reyners, JGR 2009), field observations and laboratory experiments indicate the oceanic olivine fabric might be preserved there to a depth of at least 200-300 km. Dipping anisotropic fabrics in domains of the European mantle lithosphere were interpreted as systems of 'frozen' paleosubductions (Babuska and Plomerova, PEPI 2006), and the lithosphere base as a boundary between a fossil anisotropy in the

  11. How Continental Bank outsourced its "crown jewels.".

    PubMed

    Huber, R L

    1993-01-01

    No industry relies more on information than banking does, yet Continental, one of America's largest banks, outsources its information technology. Why? Because that's the best way to service the customers that form the core of the bank's business, says vice chairman Dick Huber. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Continental participated heavily with Penn Square Bank in energy investments. When falling energy prices burst Penn Square's bubble in 1982, Continental was stuck with more than $1 billion in bad loans. Eight years later when Dick Huber came on board, Continental was working hard to restore its once solid reputation. Executives had made many tough decisions already, altering the bank's focus from retail to business banking and laying off thousands of employees. Yet management still needed to cut costs and improve services to stay afloat. Regulators, investors, and analysts were watching every step. Continental executives, eager to focus on the bank's core mission of serving business customers, decided to outsource one after another in-house service--from cafeteria services to information technology. While conventional wisdom holds that banks must retain complete internal control of IT, Continental bucked this argument when it entered into a ten-year, multimillion-dollar contract with Integrated Systems Solutions Corporation. Continental is already reaping benefits from outsourcing IT. Most important, Continental staffers today focus on their true core competencies: intimate knowledge of customers' needs and relationships with customers.

  12. Plate tectonic model for the oligo-miocene evolution of the western Mediterranean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cohen, Curtis R.

    1980-10-01

    This paper outlines a plate tectonic model for the Oligo-Miocene evolution of the western Mediterranean which incorporates recent data from several tectonic domains (Corsica, Sardinia, the Kabylies, Balearic promontory, Iberia, Algero-Provençal Basin and Tunisian Atlas). Following late Mesozoic anticlockwise rotation of the Iberian peninsula (including the Balearic promontory and Sardinia), late Eocene collision occurred between the Kabylies and Balearic promontory forming a NE-trending suture with NW-tectonic polarity. As a result of continued convergence between the African and European plates, a polarity flip occurred and a southward-facing trench formed south of the Kabylie—Balearic promontory suture. During late Oligocene time an E-W-trending arc and marginal basin developed behind the southward-facing trench in the area of the present-day Gulf of Lion. Opening of this basin moved the Corsica—Sardinia—Calabria—Petit Kabylie—Menorca plate southward, relative to the African plate. Early Miocene back-arc spreading in the area between the Balearic promontory and Grand Kabylie emplaced the latter in northern Algeria and formed the South Balearic Basin. Coeval with early Miocene back-arc basin development, the N-S-extension in the Gulf of Lion marginal basin changed to a more NW-SE direction causing short-lived extension in the area of the present-day Valencia trough and a 30° anticlockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia-Calabria—Petit Kabylie plate away from the European plate. Early—middle Miocene deformation along the western Italian and northeastern African continental margins resulted from this rotation. During the early late Miocene (Tortonian), spreading within a sphenochasm to the southwest of Sardinia resulted in the emplacement of Petit Kabylie in northeastern Algeria.

  13. Madagascar's Escape from Africa: New Constraints and Understanding for Plate Tectonic Reconstructions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phethean, J. J. J.; Davies, R. J.; Van Hunen, J.; Kalnins, L. M.; McCaffrey, K. J. W.

    2015-12-01

    We present a new plate tectonic reconstruction for the drift of Madagascar away from East Africa using the new Sandwell and Smith gravity dataset (V23.1). Detailed interpretation of free-air and Bouguer anomalies, together with gravity gradients, has allowed interpretation of the extinct mid ocean ridge and associated fracture zone lineaments from the Western Somali Basin. Combined with temporal constraints from previous ocean magnetic anomaly interpretations, this analysis produces a reconstruction that supports Reeves' (2014) tight fit of Gondwana fragments. Furthermore, it sheds light on the nature of the Davie Fracture Zone (DFZ) and the position of the continent-ocean boundary (COB) in the region. The model predicts that the COB lies along the Rovuma Basin; and that offshore Tanzania is most likely a segmented and obliquely rifted margin, not a transform continental margin along the DFZ as previously thought. This places the COB up to several hundred kilometres farther inboard than previous interpretations, which is supported by new seismic evidence of oceanic crust inboard of the DFZ. We show the DFZ to be a major ocean-ocean fracture zone formed by the coalescence of several smaller fracture zones during a change in plate motions as Madagascar escaped from Africa. This new geodynamical understanding has important implications for petroleum industry activities in East Africa, as the expected heat flow varies dramatically between oceanic and continental crust. Reeves, C., 2014. The position of Madagascar within Gondwana and its movements during Gondwana dispersal. J. Afr. Earth. Sci. 94, 45-57.

  14. Hafnium isotope evidence for a transition in the dynamics of continental growth 3.2 Gyr ago.

    PubMed

    Næraa, T; Scherstén, A; Rosing, M T; Kemp, A I S; Hoffmann, J E; Kokfelt, T F; Whitehouse, M J

    2012-05-30

    Earth's lithosphere probably experienced an evolution towards the modern plate tectonic regime, owing to secular changes in mantle temperature. Radiogenic isotope variations are interpreted as evidence for the declining rates of continental crustal growth over time, with some estimates suggesting that over 70% of the present continental crustal reservoir was extracted by the end of the Archaean eon. Patterns of crustal growth and reworking in rocks younger than three billion years (Gyr) are thought to reflect the assembly and break-up of supercontinents by Wilson cycle processes and mark an important change in lithosphere dynamics. In southern West Greenland numerous studies have, however, argued for subduction settings and crust growth by arc accretion back to 3.8 Gyr ago, suggesting that modern-day tectonic regimes operated during the formation of the earliest crustal rock record. Here we report in situ uranium-lead, hafnium and oxygen isotope data from zircons of basement rocks in southern West Greenland across the critical time period during which modern-like tectonic regimes could have initiated. Our data show pronounced differences in the hafnium isotope-time patterns across this interval, requiring changes in the characteristics of the magmatic protolith. The observations suggest that 3.9-3.5-Gyr-old rocks differentiated from a >3.9-Gyr-old source reservoir with a chondritic to slightly depleted hafnium isotope composition. In contrast, rocks formed after 3.2 Gyr ago register the first additions of juvenile depleted material (that is, new mantle-derived crust) since 3.9 Gyr ago, and are characterized by striking shifts in hafnium isotope ratios similar to those shown by Phanerozoic subduction-related orogens. These data suggest a transitional period 3.5-3.2 Gyr ago from an ancient (3.9-3.5 Gyr old) crustal evolutionary regime unlike that of modern plate tectonics to a geodynamic setting after 3.2 Gyr ago that involved juvenile crust generation by plate

  15. Continental fragmentation and the strontium isotopic evolution of seawater.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eric, H.; Jean Pascal, C.

    2008-12-01

    The time evolution of the strontium isotopic composition of seawater over the last 600 million years has the form of an asymmetric trough. The values are highest in the Cambrian and recent and lowest in the Jurassic. Superimposed on this trend are a number of smaller oscillations. The mechanisms responsible for these global isotopic fluctuations are subject to much debates. In order to get a quantitative picture of the changing paleogeography, we have characterized land-ocean distributions over Late Proterozoic to Phanerozoic times from measurement of perimeters and areas of continental fragments, based on paleomagnetic reconstructions. These measurements served to calculate geophysically constrainted breakup and scatter indexes of continental land masses from 0 to 1100 Ma (Cogne and Humler, 2008). Both parameters (strontium isotopic ratios of seawater and continental fragmentation indexes) are obviously highly correlated during the last 600 Ma. Low continental dispersion (that is large continental land masses) are associated with low seawater strontium isotopic ratios (that is when the continental inputs to oceans are minimum) and high continental dispersion (that is relatively small and widely distributed continents) with high seawater strontium isotopic ratios (that is when the continental input to ocean is maximum). Importantly, this first order evolution appears to conflict with the common idea of mountains erosion as a source for radiogenic strontium to oceans because high strontium isotopic ratios in seawater correspond to period of maximum dispersion of continents and not with period of general collisions. At first glance, it would seem that continental erosion increases with the degree of continental dispersion. Models showing that continental precipitation increases when continental masses are smaller and more widely dispersed and/or the length of continental margins available for rivers to carry continental material to oceans are thus favoured in order

  16. Processes in continental collision zones: Preface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Yong-Fei; Zhang, Lifei; McClelland, William C.; Cuthbert, Simon

    2012-04-01

    Formation and exhumation of high-pressure (HP) to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks in continental subduction zones are the two fundamental geodynamic aspects of collisional orogensis. This volume is based on the Session 08c titled "Geochemical processes in continental collision zones" at Goldschmidt 2010 in Knoxville, USA. It focuses on micro- to macro-scale processes that are temporally and spatially linked to different depths of crustal subduction/exhumation and associated mineralogical changes. They are a key to understanding a wide spectrum of phenomena, involving HP/UHP metamorphism and syn-/post-collisional magmatism. Papers in this volume report progresses in petrological, geochronological and geochemical studies of UHP metamorphic rocks and their derivatives in China, with tectonic settings varying from arc-continent collision to continent-continent collision. Microbeam in-situ analyses of metamorphic and magmatic minerals are successfully utilized to solve various problems in the study of continental deep subduction and UHP metamorphism. In addition to their geochronological applications to dating of HP to UHP metamorphic events during continental collision, microbeam techniques have also served as an efficient means to recognize different generations of mineral growth during continental subduction-zone metamorphism. Furthermore, metamorphic dehydration and partial melting of UHP metamorphic rocks during subduction and exhumation are highlighted with respect to their effects on fluid action and element mobilization. These have provided new insights into chemical geodynamics in continental subduction zones.

  17. Seismic probing of continental subduction zones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Liang; Xu, Xiaobing; Malusà, Marco G.

    2017-09-01

    High-resolution images of Earth's interior provide pivotal information for the understanding of a range of geodynamic processes, including continental subduction and exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks. Here we present a synthesis of available global seismic observations on continental subduction zones, and selected examples of seismic probing from the European Alps, the Himalaya-Tibet and the Qinling-Dabie orogenic belts. Our synthesis and examples show that slabs recognized beneath exhumed continental UHP terranes generally have shallow dip angles (<45°) at depths <100 km, to become much steeper at depths >100 km. Slabs underlined by a clear high velocity anomaly from Earth's surface to the mantle are generally Cenozoic in age. Some of these slabs are continuous, whereas other continental subduction zones are located above discontinuous high velocity anomalies possibly suggesting slab breakoff. The density of seismic stations and the quality of recordings are of primary importance to get high-resolution images of the upper mantle to be used as a starting point to provide reliable geodynamic interpretations. In some cases, areas previously indicated as possible site of slab breakoff, such as the European Alps, have been later proven to be located above a continuous slab by using higher quality travel time data from denser seismic arrays. Discriminating between oceanic and continental slabs can be challenging, but valuable information can be provided by combining teleseismic tomography and receiver function analysis. The upper mantle beneath most continental UHP terranes generally shows complex seismic anisotropy patterns that are potentially preserved even in pre-Cenozoic subduction zones. These patterns can be used to provide information on continental slabs that are no longer highlighted by a clear high-velocity anomaly.

  18. The Continental Margins Program in Georgia

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cocker, M.D.; Shapiro, E.A.

    1999-01-01

    From 1984 to 1993, the Georgia Geologic Survey (GGS) participated in the Minerals Management Service-funded Continental Margins Program. Geological and geophysical data acquisition focused on offshore stratigraphic framework studies, phosphate-bearing Miocene-age strata, distribution of heavy minerals, near-surface alternative sources of groundwater, and development of a PC-based Coastal Geographic Information System (GIS). Seven GGS publications document results of those investigations. In addition to those publications, direct benefits of the GGS's participation include an impetus to the GGS's investigations of economic minerals on the Georgia coast, establishment of a GIS that includes computer hardware and software, and seeds for additional investigations through the information and training acquired as a result of the Continental Margins Program. These addtional investigations are quite varied in scope, and many were made possible because of GIS expertise gained as a result of the Continental Margins Program. Future investigations will also reap the benefits of the Continental Margins Program.From 1984 to 1993, the Georgia Geologic Survey (GGS) participated in the Minerals Management Service-funded Continental Margins Program. Geological and geophysical data acquisition focused on offshore stratigraphic framework studies, phosphate-bearing Miocene-age strata, distribution of heavy minerals, near-surface alternative sources of groundwater, and development of a PC-based Coastal Geographic Information System (GIS). Seven GGS publications document results of those investigations. In addition to those publications, direct benefits of the GGS's participation include an impetus to the GGS's investigations of economic minerals on the Georgia coast, establishment of a GIS that includes computer hardware and software, and seeds for additional investigations through the information and training acquired as a result of the Continental Margins Program. These additional

  19. Formation of plate boundaries: The role of mantle volatilization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seno, Tetsuzo; Kirby, Stephen H.

    2014-02-01

    In the early Earth, convection occurred with the accumulation of thick crust over a weak boundary layer downwelling into the mantle (Davies, G.F., 1992. On the emergence of plate tectonics. Geology 20, 963-966.). This would have transitioned to stagnant-lid convection as the mantle cooled (Solomatov, V.S., Moresi, L.-N., 1997. Three regimes of mantle convection with non-Newtonian viscosity and stagnant lid convection on the terrestrial planets. Geophys. Res. Lett. 24, 1907-1910.) or back to a magma ocean as the mantle heated (Sleep, N., 2000. Evolution of the mode of convection within terrestrial planets. J. Geophys. Res. 105(E7): 17563-17578). Because plate tectonics began operating on the Earth, subduction must have been initiated, thus avoiding these shifts. Based on an analogy with the continental crust subducted beneath Hindu Kush and Burma, we propose that the lithosphere was hydrated and/or carbonated by H2O-CO2 vapors released from magmas generated in upwelling plumes and subsequently volatilized during underthrusting, resulting in lubrication of the thrust above, and subduction of the lithosphere along with the overlying thick crust. Once subduction had been initiated, serpentinized forearc mantle may have formed in a wedge-shaped body above a dehydrating slab. In relict arcs, suture zones, or rifted margins, any agent that warms and dehydrates the wedge would weaken the region surrounding it, and form various types of plate boundaries depending on the operating tectonic stress. Thus, once subduction is initiated, formation of plate boundaries might be facilitated by a major fundamental process: weakening due to the release of pressurized water from the warming serpentinized forearc mantle.

  20. Integrating EarthScope Data to Constrain the Long-Term Effects of Tectonism on Continental Lithosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Porter, R. C.; van der Lee, S.

    2017-12-01

    One of the most significant products of the EarthScope experiment has been the development of new seismic tomography models that take advantage of the consistent station design, regular 70-km station spacing, and wide aperture of the EarthScope Transportable Array (TA) network. These models have led to the discovery and interpretation of additional compositional, thermal, and density anomalies throughout the continental US, especially within tectonically stable regions. The goal of this work is use data from the EarthScope experiment to better elucidate the temporal relationship between tectonic activity and seismic velocities. To accomplish this, we compile several upper-mantle seismic velocity models from the Incorporated Research Institute for Seismology (IRIS) Earth Model Collaboration (EMC) and compare these to a tectonic age model we compiled using geochemical ages from the Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance: EarthChem Database. Results from this work confirms quantitatively that the time elapsed since the most recent tectonic event is a dominant influence on seismic velocities within the upper mantle across North America. To further understand this relationship, we apply mineral-physics models for peridotite to estimate upper-mantle temperatures for the continental US from tomographically imaged shear velocities. This work shows that the relationship between the estimated temperatures and the time elapsed since the most recent tectonic event is broadly consistent with plate cooling models, yet shows intriguing scatter. Ultimately, this work constrains the long-term thermal evolution of continental mantle lithosphere.

  1. Rifting by continental rotation, mantle flow and hotspot volcanism in the salt-depositing South Atlantic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Szatmari, P.

    2012-04-01

    Rabinowitz & LaBrecque (1979) proposed that Africa and South America separated between 130 Ma and 107 Ma by 11.1° rigid plate rotation about an Euler pole in NE Brazil. According to those authors, the two continents remained contiguous in the north as the wedge-shaped South Atlantic opened up between them and deposited salt mostly over oceanic crust. Subsequent seismic profiling and drilling showed that salt, restricted to north of the volcanic proto-Walvis Ridge, deposited over rift sediments and stretched-thinned continental crust. Increasingly accurate restorations by Nürnberg & Müller (1991), Aslanian et al. (2009), Torsvik et al. (2009), and Moulin et al. (2010) differentiated in both continents several rigid plates separated by active deformation zones. Still, tectonic analysis of the rifted margins indicates that the main Early Cretaceous event was the clockwise rotation of South America about an Euler pole in its northeast. Both rifting and volcanism, including the Paraná-Etendeka large igneous province, where most flood basalts erupted at 134.6 ± 0.6 Ma (Thiede & Vasconcelos, 2010), were controlled by distance and orientation of rift segments relative to that pole in NE Brazil. Rifting was active from latest Jurassic to early Albian time (Magnavita et al., 2011) over inherited late Proterozoic fold-thrust belts. By Aptian time a long, dry wedge-shaped basin formed north of the volcanic barrier of the proto-Walvis Ridge, widening southward to 700 km and subsiding deep below sea level in the Santos Basin. The basin was filled with oil-rich lacustrine limestone and marine salt, each more than 2 km thick, deposited in often desiccating shallow water over the partially hyperextended continental crust of the São Paulo Plateau (Zalán et al., 2010; Magnavita et al., 2011; Szatmari, 2011). Further south marine sediments deposited over oceanic crust. Surface subsidence of the long, deep sediment-starved rift wedge was shaped, prior to the deposition of the

  2. The Sunda-Banda Arc Transition: New Insights from Marine Multichannel Seismic Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mueller, C.; Kopp, H.; Djajadihardja, Y.; Engels, M.; Flueh, E.; Gaedicke, C.; Lueschen, E.; Lutz, R.; Planert, L.; Shulgin, A.; Soemantri, D. D.

    2007-12-01

    After the Indian Ocean Mw 9.3 earthquake and tsunami on December 26, 2004, intensive research activities focussed on the Sunda Arc subduction system offshore Sumatra. For this area a broad database is now available interpreted in terms of plate segmentation and outer arc high evolution. In contrast, the highly active easternmost part of this subduction system, as indicated by the south of Java Mw 7.7 earthquake and tsunami on July 17, 2006, has remained almost unexplored until recently. During RV SONNE cruise SO190 from October until December 2006 almost 5000 km of marine geophysical profiles have been acquired at the eastern Sunda Arc and the transition to the Banda Arc. The SINDBAD project (Seismic and Geoacoustic Investigations along the Sunda-Banda Arc Transition) comprises 30-fold multichannel reflection seismics with a 3-km streamer, wide-angle OBH/OBS refraction seismics for deep velocity control (see poster of Planert et al. in this session), swath bathymetry, sediment echosounder, gravimetric and geomagnetic measurements. We present data and interpretations of several 250-380 km long, prestack depth-migrated seismic sections, perpendicular to the deformation front, based on velocity models from focussing analysis and inversion of OBH/OBS refraction data. We focus on the variability of the lower plate and the tectonic response of the overriding plate in terms of outer arc high formation and evolution, forearc basin development, accretion and erosion processes at the base of the overriding plate. The subducting Indo-Australian Plate is characterized by three segments: i) the Roo Rise with rough topography offshore eastern Java ii) the Argo Abyssal Plain with smooth oceanic crust offshore Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa, and iii) the Scott Plateau with continental crust colliding with the Banda island arc. The forearc responds to differences in the incoming oceanic plate with the absence of a pronounced forearc basin offshore eastern Java and with development of

  3. Sunda-Banda Arc Transition: Marine Multichannel Seismic Profiling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lueschen, E.; Mueller, C.; Kopp, H.; Djajadihardja, Y.; Ehrhardt, A.; Engels, M.; Lutz, R.; Planert, L.; Shulgin, A.; Working Group, S.

    2008-12-01

    After the Indian Ocean Mw 9.3 earthquake and tsunami on December 26, 2004, intensive research activities focussed on the Sunda Arc subduction system offshore Sumatra. For this area a broad database is now available interpreted in terms of plate segmentation and outer arc high evolution. In contrast, the highly active easternmost part of this subduction system, as indicated by the south of Java Mw 7.7 earthquake and tsunami on July 17, 2006, has remained almost unexplored until recently. During RV SONNE cruise SO190 from October until December 2006 almost 5000 km of marine geophysical profiles have been acquired at the eastern Sunda Arc and the transition to the Banda Arc. The SINDBAD project (Seismic and Geoacoustic Investigations along the Sunda-Banda Arc Transition) comprises 30-fold multichannel reflection seismics with a 3-km streamer, wide-angle OBH/OBS refraction seismics for deep velocity control (see poster of Shulgin et al. in this session), swath bathymetry, sediment echosounder, gravimetric and geomagnetic measurements. We present data and interpretations of several 250-380 km long, prestack depth-migrated seismic sections, perpendicular to the deformation front, based on velocity models from focussing analysis and inversion of OBH/OBS refraction data. We focus on the variability of the lower plate and the tectonic response of the overriding plate in terms of outer arc high formation and evolution, forearc basin development, accretion and erosion processes at the base of the overriding plate. The subducting Indo-Australian Plate is characterized by three segments: i) the Roo Rise with rough topography offshore eastern Java ii) the Argo Abyssal Plain with smooth oceanic crust offshore Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa, and iii) the Scott Plateau with continental crust colliding with the Banda island arc. The forearc responds to differences in the incoming oceanic plate with the absence of a pronounced forearc basin offshore eastern Java and with development of

  4. Plate-boundary kinematics in the Alps: Motion in the Arosa suture zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ring, Uwe; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Frisch, Wolfgang

    1988-08-01

    The Arosa zone forms a melange complex along the Penninic/Austroalpine boundary and belongs to the main Alpine suture zone. Accretion and plate collision occurred during Cretaceous and lower Tertiary time. A mixture of ophiolitic rocks and pelagic sediments is imbricated with flysch and blocks of Austroalpine (continental) derivation. We present a description of deformation structures, an analysis of strain, and a kinematic interpretation based on structural work. Deformation histories of imbricates show a translation path that was west-directed between ca. 110 and 50 Ma and north-directed thereafter. The kinematics of the Arosa zone agrees with the recently deduced displacement history of the Austroalpine units in the Eastern Alps during the Cretaceous orogeny. This calls for a predominantly top-to-the-west imbrication of Austroalpine and Penninic units and is in contradiction to what is inferred in most models of the Eastern Alps. A direct relation between the deformation along the Austroalpine margin and relative plate motion existed.

  5. Continental rifts and mineral resources

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Burke, K.

    1992-01-01

    Continental rifts are widespread and range in age from the present to 3 b.y. Individual rifts may form parts of complex systems as in E. Africa and the Basin and Range. Rifts have originated in diverse environments such as arc-crests, sites of continental collision, collapsing mountain belts and on continents at rest over the mantle circulation pattern. Continental rift resources can be classified by depth of origin: For example, in the Great Dike, Norilsk and Mwadui magma from the mantle is the host. At shallower depths continental crust partly melted above mafic magma hosts ore (Climax, Henderson). Rift volcanics aremore » linked to local hydrothermal systems and to extensive zeolite deposits (Basin and Range, East Africa). Copper (Zambia, Belt), zinc (Red Dog) and lead ores (Benue) are related to hydrothermal systems which involve hot rock and water flow through both pre-rift basement and sedimentary and volcanic rift fill. Economically significant sediments in rifts include coals (the Gondwana of Inida), marine evaporites (Lou Ann of the Gulf of Mexico) and non-marine evaporites (East Africa). Oil and gas in rifts relate to a variety of source, reservoir and trap relations (North Sea, Libya), but rift-lake sediment sources are important (Sung Liao, Bo Hai, Mina, Cabinda). Some ancient iron ores (Hammersley) may have formed in rift lakes but Algoman ores and greenstone belt mineral deposits in general are linked to oceanic and island arc environments. To the extent that continental environments are represented in such areas as the Archean of the Superior and Slave they are Andean Arc environments which today have locally rifted crests (Ecuador, N. Peru). The Pongola, on Kaapvaal craton may, on the other hand represent the world's oldest preserved, little deformed, continental rift.« less

  6. Variations in the degree of crustal extension during formation of a back-arc basin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Wit, Maarten J.; Stern, Charles R.

    1981-02-01

    oceanic-type spreading centre. Observations in southern Chile and elsewhere suggest that variability in horizontal stress across a convergent plate boundary may be the overriding factor in determining the regional response of continental crust to subduction induced back-arc convection, and hence the mechanism of emplacement into the crust of mafic mantle melts. The various lithologies observed in southern Chile could also be expected to form during the opening phase of major ocean basins and to currently underlie Atlantic-type continental margins.

  7. Deformation and seismicity associated with continental rift zones propagating toward continental margins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lyakhovsky, V.; Segev, A.; Schattner, U.; Weinberger, R.

    2012-01-01

    We study the propagation of a continental rift and its interaction with a continental margin utilizing a 3-D lithospheric model with a seismogenic crust governed by a damage rheology. A long-standing problem in rift-mechanics, known as thetectonic force paradox, is that the magnitude of the tectonic forces required for rifting are not large enough in the absence of basaltic magmatism. Our modeling results demonstrate that under moderate rift-driving tectonic forces the rift propagation is feasible even in the absence of magmatism. This is due to gradual weakening and "long-term memory" of fractured rocks that lead to a significantly lower yielding stress than that of the surrounding intact rocks. We show that the style, rate and the associated seismicity pattern of the rift zone formation in the continental lithosphere depend not only on the applied tectonic forces, but also on the rate of healing. Accounting for the memory effect provides a feasible solution for thetectonic force paradox. Our modeling results also demonstrate how the lithosphere structure affects the geometry of the propagating rift system toward a continental margin. Thinning of the crystalline crust leads to a decrease in the propagation rate and possibly to rift termination across the margin. In such a case, a new fault system is created perpendicular to the direction of the rift propagation. These results reveal that the local lithosphere structure is one of the key factors controlling the geometry of the evolving rift system and seismicity pattern.

  8. Association of Sub-continental and Asthenosphere related Volcanism in NW Iran,Implication forMantle thermal perturbation induced by slab break off and collision event

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jahangiri, A.

    2017-12-01

    Cenozoic magmatic rocks occur extensively in the north of the Zagros suture zone and constitute a significant component of the continental crust in this segment of the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt. They range in age from Eocene to quaternary. Miocene to Plio-Quaternary volcanism with post-collisional related significant is covered vast areas in NW Iran. These volcanic rocks can be divided into three different sub-groups on the basis of their mineralogy, geochemistry and magma sources including: 1. alkaline leucite-bearing mafic rocks, which are characterized with high ratios of K2O/Na2O, high content LILE and low HFS elements like Ti, Nb and Ta. They are display fractionated REE patterns and based on different discrimination diagrams show similarity with subduction related magmas. 2- Olivine basalt to trachy-basaltic samples which shows similarity to within plate basalts with high content of TiO2, Nb, Ta and fractionated REE pattern. However, compared with a global average of OIB, they are display slightly higher LIL elements and lower HFS elements concentrations, features that resemble to the arc magmas and suggest that the source of the magmas may have been contaminated by slab-derived fluids. These rocks have simple mineralogical composition with plagioclase, clinopyroxene and olivine. 3- Dominant dacitic volcanic rocks with adakitic geochemical characteristics such as highly fractionate REE pattern and high Sr/Y ratio. Generation of adakitic magmas can be related to increased temperatures in the subduction zone due to mantle upwelling and slab tearing. Subsequent asthenospheric upwelling could be caused direct melting of sub-continental mantle to produce the alkaline magmas, with high contents of K2O, MgO and volatile rich phase's potassic magmas that led to crystallization of leucite, phlogopite, apatite and olivine in studied samples. Rupture of the continental lithosphere by strike-slip-related transtensional deformation might have caused decompression

  9. Strength of the Subduction Plate Interface beneath the Seismogenic Zone: A Microstructural Investigation of Deformation Mechanisms within a Phyllosilicate- and Amphibole-rich Shear Zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seyler, C.; Kirkpatrick, J. D.; Šilerová, D.

    2017-12-01

    Localization of strain at plate boundaries requires rheological weakening of the lithosphere. The rheology of the subduction plate interface is dictated by the dominant grain-scale deformation mechanisms. However, little is known about the deformation mechanisms within phases commonly found in subduction zones, such as phyllosilicates and amphiboles. We investigate the Leech River Shear Zone on Vancouver Island, British Columbia to explore deformation processes downdip of the seismogenic zone and evaluate the bulk rheology of the plate interface. This shear zone juxtaposes a metamorphosed accretionary prism against a metabasaltic oceanic plateau, representing a paleo-plate interface from the ancient Cascadia subduction zone. Preliminary geothermometry results record a prograde deformation temperature of 573.6±11.2 ˚C in the overriding accretionary wedge, and the hornblende-chlorite-epidote-plagioclase mineral assemblage suggests upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies metamorphism of the downgoing oceanic crust. Detailed mapping of the plate interface documents a 200 m wide mylonitic shear zone developed across the lithologic contact. Asymmetric shear fabrics, isoclinal folding, boudinage, and a steeply plunging, penetrative stretching lineation are consistent with sinistral-oblique subduction. Numerous discordant quartz veins are variably sheared into sigmoidal shapes as well as isoclinally folded and boudinaged, indicating cyclical synkinematic fracture and vein formation. At the grain-scale, interconnected, anastomosing layers of muscovite, chlorite, and graphite in the accretionary prism rocks likely deformed through kinking and dislocation glide. Framework minerals such as quartz and feldspar deformed by dislocation creep. In the metabasalt, hornblende and chlorite form a continuous S—C fabric in which asymmetric hornblende porphyroclasts deformed by rigid grain rotation and dissolution-precipitation creep. The strength of the subduction plate

  10. Slab detachment during continental collision: Influence of crustal rheology and interaction with lithospheric delamination

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duretz, T.; Gerya, T. V.

    2013-08-01

    Collision between continents can lead to the subduction of continental material. If the crust remains coupled to the downgoing slab, a large buoyancy force is generated. This force slows down convergence and promotes slab detachment. If the crust resists to subduction, it may decouple from the downgoing slab and be subjected to buoyant extrusion. We employ two-dimensional thermo-mechanical modelling to study the importance of crustal rheology on the evolution of subduction-collision systems. We propose simple quantifications of the mechanical decoupling between lithospheric levels (σ*) and the potential for buoyant extrusion of the crust (ξ*). The modelling results indicate that a variable crustal rheological structure results in slab detachment, delamination, or the combination of both mechanisms. A strong crust provides coupling at the Moho (low σ*) and remains coherent during subduction (low ξ). It promotes deep subduction of the crust (180 km) and slab detachment. Exhumation occurs in coherent manners via eduction and thrusting. Slab detachment triggers the development of topography (> 4.5 km) close to the suture. A contrasting style of collision occurs using a weak crustal rheology. Mechanical decoupling at the Moho (high σ*) promotes the extrusion of the crust (high ξ), disabling slab detachment. Ongoing shortening leads to buckling of the crust and development of topography on the lower plate. Collisions involving rheologically layered crust allow decoupling at mid-crustal depths. This structure favours both the extrusion of upper crust and the subduction of the lower crust. Such collisions are successively affected by delamination and slab detachment. Topography develops together with the buoyant extrusion of crust onto the foreland and is further amplified by slab detachment. Our results suggest that the occurrence of both delamination (Apennines) and slab detachment (Himalayas) in orogens may indicate differences in the initial crustal structure of

  11. Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Golonka, J.

    2004-03-01

    Thirteen time interval maps were constructed, which depict the Triassic to Neogene plate tectonic configuration, paleogeography and general lithofacies of the southern margin of Eurasia. The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of the geodynamic evolution and position of the major tectonic elements of the area within a global framework. The Hercynian Orogeny was completed by the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia, whereas the Tethys Ocean formed the embayment between the Eurasian and Gondwanian branches of Pangea. During Late Triassic-Early Jurassic times, several microplates were sutured to the Eurasian margin, closing the Paleotethys Ocean. A Jurassic-Cretaceous north-dipping subduction boundary was developed along this new continental margin south of the Pontides, Transcaucasus and Iranian plates. The subduction zone trench-pulling effect caused rifting, creating the back-arc basin of the Greater Caucasus-proto South Caspian Sea, which achieved its maximum width during the Late Cretaceous. In the western Tethys, separation of Eurasia from Gondwana resulted in the formation of the Ligurian-Penninic-Pieniny-Magura Ocean (Alpine Tethys) as an extension of Middle Atlantic system and a part of the Pangean breakup tectonic system. During Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous times, the Outer Carpathian rift developed. The opening of the western Black Sea occurred by rifting and drifting of the western-central Pontides away from the Moesian and Scythian platforms of Eurasia during the Early Cretaceous-Cenomanian. The latest Cretaceous-Paleogene was the time of the closure of the Ligurian-Pieniny Ocean. Adria-Alcapa terranes continued their northward movement during Eocene-Early Miocene times. Their oblique collision with the North European plate led to the development of the accretionary wedge of the Outer Carpathians and its foreland basin. The formation of the West Carpathian thrusts was completed by the Miocene. The thrust front was still propagating eastwards in

  12. Barrel organ of plate tectonics - a new tool for outreach and education

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Broz, Petr; Machek, Matěj; Šorm, Zdar

    2016-04-01

    Plate tectonics is the major geological concept to explain dynamics and structure of Earth's outer shell, the lithosphere. In the plate tectonic theory processes in the Earth lithosphere and its dynamics is driven by the relative motion and interaction of lithospheric plates. Geologically most active regions on Earth often correlate with the lithospheric plate boundaries. Thus for explaining the earth surface evolution, mountain building, volcanism and earthquake origin it is important to understand processes at the plate boundaries. However these processes associated with plate tectonics usually require significant period of time to take effects, therefore, their entire cycles cannot be directly observed in the nature by humans. This makes a challenge for scientists studying these processes, but also for teachers and popularizers trying to explain them to students and to the general public. Therefore, to overcome this problem, we developed a mechanical model of plate tectonics enabling demonstration of most important processes associated with plate tectonics in real time. The mechanical model is a wooden box, more specifically a special type of barrel organ, with hand painted backdrops in the front side. These backdrops are divided into several components representing geodynamic processes associated with plate tectonics, specifically convective currents occurring in the mantle, sea-floor spreading, a subduction of the oceanic crust under the continental crust, partial melting and volcanism associated with subduction, a formation of magmatic stripes, an ascent of mantle plume throughout the mantle, a volcanic activity associated with hot spots, and a formation and degradation of volcanic islands on moving lithospheric plate. All components are set in motion by a handle controlled by a human operator, and the scene is illuminated with colored lights controlled automatically by an electric device embedded in the box. Operation of the model may be seen on www

  13. Plume-stagnant slab-lithosphere interactions: Origin of the late Cenozoic intra-plate basalts on the East Eurasia margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kimura, Jun-Ichi; Sakuyama, Tetsuya; Miyazaki, Takashi; Vaglarov, Bogdan S.; Fukao, Yoshio; Stern, Robert J.

    2018-02-01

    Intra-plate basalts of 35-0 Ma in East Eurasia formed in a broad backarc region above the stagnant Pacific Plate slab in the mantle transition zone. These basalts show regional-scale variations in Nd-Hf isotopes. The basalts with the most radiogenic Nd-Hf center on the Shandong Peninsula with intermediate Nd-Hf at Hainan and Datong. The least radiogenic basalts occur in the perimeters underlain by the thick continental lithosphere. Shandong basalts possess isotopic signatures of the young igneous oceanic crust of the subducted Pacific Plate. Hainan and Datong basalts have isotopic signatures of recycled subduction materials with billions of years of storage in the mantle. The perimeter basalts have isotopic signatures similar to pyroxenite xenoliths from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath East Eurasia. Hainan basalts exhibit the highest mantle potential temperature (Tp), while the Shandong basalts have the lowest Tp. We infer that a deep high-Tp plume interacted with the subducted Pacific Plate slab in the mantle transition zone to form a local low-Tp plume by entraining colder igneous oceanic lithosphere. We infer that the subducted Izanagi Plate slab, once a part of the Pacific Plate mosaic, broke off from the Pacific Plate slab at 35 Ma to sink into the lower mantle. The sinking Izanagi slab triggered the plume that interacted with the stagnant Pacific slab and caused subcontinental lithospheric melting. This coincided with formation of the western Pacific backarc marginal basins due to Pacific Plate slab rollback and stagnation.

  14. Multiple subduction imprints in the mantle below Italy detected in a single lava flow

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nikogosian, Igor; Ersoy, Özlem; Whitehouse, Martin; Mason, Paul R. D.; de Hoog, Jan C. M.; Wortel, Rinus; van Bergen, Manfred J.

    2016-09-01

    Post-collisional magmatism reflects the regional subduction history prior to collision but the link between the two is complex and often poorly understood. The collision of continents along a convergent plate boundary commonly marks the onset of a variety of transitional geodynamic processes. Typical responses include delamination of subducting lithosphere, crustal thickening in the overriding plate, slab detachment and asthenospheric upwelling, or the complete termination of convergence. A prominent example is the Western-Central Mediterranean, where the ongoing slow convergence of Africa and Europe (Eurasia) has been accommodated by a variety of spreading and subduction systems that dispersed remnants of subducted lithosphere into the mantle, creating a compositionally wide spectrum of magmatism. Using lead isotope compositions of a set of melt inclusions in magmatic olivine crystals we detect exceptional heterogeneity in the mantle domain below Central Italy, which we attribute to the presence of continental material, introduced initially by Alpine and subsequently by Apennine subduction. We show that superimposed subduction imprints of a mantle source can be tapped during a melting episode millions of years later, and are recorded in a single lava flow.

  15. Plate Tectonics on Earth-like Planets: Implications for Habitability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noack, L.; Breuer, D.

    2011-12-01

    Plate tectonics has been suggested to be essential for life (see e.g. [1]) due to the replenishment of nutrients and its role in the stabilization of the atmosphere temperature through the carbon-silicate cycle. Whether plate tectonics can prevail on a planet should depend on several factors, e.g. planetary mass, age of the planet, water content (at the surface and in the interior), surface temperature, mantle rheology, density variations in the mantle due to partial melting, and life itself by promoting erosion processes and perhaps even the production of continental rock [2]. In the present study, we have investigated how planetary mass, internal heating, surface temperature and water content in the mantle would factor for the probability of plate tectonics to occur on a planet. We allow the viscosity to be a function of pressure [3], an effect mostly neglected in previous discussions of plate tectonics on exoplanets [4, 5]. With the pressure-dependence of viscosity allowed for, the lower mantle may become too viscous in massive planets for convection to occur. When varying the planetary mass between 0.1 and 10 Earth masses, we find a maximum for the likelihood of plate tectonics to occur for planetary masses around a few Earth masses. For these masses the convective stresses acting at the base of the lithosphere are strongest and may become larger than the lithosphere yield strength. The optimum planetary mass varies slightly depending on the parameter values used (e.g. wet or dry rheology; initial mantle temperature). However, the peak in likelihood of plate tectonics remains roughly in the range of one to five Earth masses for reasonable parameter choices. Internal heating has a similar effect on the occurrence of plate tectonics as the planetary mass, i.e. there is a peak in the probability of plate tectonics depending on the internal heating rate. This result suggests that a planet may evolve as a consequence of radioactive decay into and out of the plate

  16. Seismic velocity structure of the slab and continental plate in the region of the 1960 Valdivia (Chile) slip maximum — Insights into fluid release and plate coupling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dzierma, Yvonne; Rabbel, Wolfgang; Thorwart, Martin; Koulakov, Ivan; Wehrmann, Heidi; Hoernle, Kaj; Comte, Diana

    2012-05-01

    The south-central Chilean subduction zone has witnessed some of the largest earthquakes in history, making this region particularly important for understanding plate coupling. Here we present the results of a local earthquake tomography study from a temporary local seismic network in the Villarrica region between 39 and 40°S, where the largest coseismic displacement of the 1960 Valdivia earthquake occurred. A low-velocity anomaly and high Vp/Vs values occur under the coastal region, indicating mantle serpentinisation and/or underthrusting of forearc material. Further east, a high-velocity anomaly is observed, interpreted as "normal" high-velocity mantle. Under the active volcanic arc a low-velocity anomaly together with high Vp/Vs ratios (1.8 and higher) likely images fluid ascent beneath the volcanoes. Close to the subducting Valdivia Fracture Zone, the coastal low-velocity anomaly extends further inland, where it interrupts and shifts the high-velocity anomalies associated with "normal" fast mantle velocities. This may indicate enhanced fluid presence along this part of the margin, probably caused by a stronger hydration of the incoming plate along the Valdivia Fracture Zone. This is consistent with geochemical fluid proxies (U/Th, Pb/Ce, Ba/Nb) in young volcanic rocks displaying peak values along the volcanic front at Llaima and Villarrica Volcanoes, and with recent GPS measurements, which suggested a local reduction in plate coupling in this region. The shift in the high-velocity anomaly underlying the central part may be caused by a north to south decrease in plate age and hydration across the Valdivia Fracture Zone, and may explain why a Central Valley is absent in this segment of the margin. The low La/Yb ratios in the volcanic rocks from Villarrica and Llaima suggest that the high slab-derived fluid flux causes elevated degrees of melting beneath these volcanoes, providing an explanation as to why these are amongst the most active volcanoes in South

  17. A global census of continental rift activity since 250 Ma reveals a missing element of the deep carbon cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brune, Sascha; Williams, Simon; Müller, Dietmar

    2017-04-01

    The deep carbon cycle connects CO2 concentrations within the atmosphere to the vast carbon reservoir in Earth's mantle: subducted lithosphere carries carbon into the mantle, while extensional plate boundaries and arc volcanoes release it back to Earth's surface. The length of plate boundaries thereby exerts first-order control on global CO2 fluxes on geological time scales. Here we provide a global census of rift length from the Triassic to present day, combining a new plate reconstruction analysis technique with data from the geological rift record. We find that the most extensive rift phase during the fragmentation of Pangea occurred in the Jurassic/Early Cretaceous with extension along the South Atlantic (9700 km) and North Atlantic rifts (9100 km), within East Gondwana (8500 km), the failed African rift systems (4900 km), and between Australia and Antarctica (3700 km). The combined extent of these and other rift systems amounts to more than 50.000 km of simultaneously active continental rifts. During the Late Cretaceous, in the aftermath of this massive rift episode, the global rift length dropped by 60% to 20.000 km. We further show that a second pronounced rift episode starts in the Eocene with global rift lengths of up to 30.000 km. It is well-accepted that volcanoes at plate boundaries release large amounts of CO2 from the Earth's interior. Recent work, however, highlights the importance of deep-cutting faults and diffuse degassing on CO2 emissions in the East African Rift, which appear to be comparable to CO2 release rates at mid-ocean ridges worldwide. Upscaling measured CO2 fluxes from East Africa to all concurrently active global rift zones with due caution, we compute the first-order history of cumulative rift-related CO2 degassing rates for the last 250 Myr. We demonstrate that rift-related CO2 release in the Early Cretaceous may have reached 400% of present-day rates. In first-order agreement with paleo-atmospheric CO2 concentrations from proxy

  18. Hydrodynamics of a flexible plate between pitching rigid plates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Junyoung; Kim, Daegyoum

    2017-11-01

    The dynamics of a flexible plate have been studied as a model problem in swimming and flying of animals and fluid-structure interaction of plants and flags. Motivated by fish schooling and an array of sea grasses, we investigate the dynamics of a flexible plate closely placed between two pitching rigid plates. In most studies on passive deformation of the flexible plate, the plate is immersed in a uniform flow or a wavy flow. However, in this study, the flexible plate experiences periodic deformation by the oscillatory flow generated by the prescribed pitching motion of the rigid plates. In our model, the pitching axes of the rigid plates and the clamping position of the flexible plate are aligned on the same line. The flexible plate shows various responses depending on length and pitching frequency of rigid plates, thickness of a flexible plate, and free-stream velocity. To find the effect of each variable on the response of the flexible plate, amplitude of a trailing edge and modal contribution of a flapping motion are compared, and flow structure around the flexible plate is examined.

  19. Fit to Forgive: Effect of Mode of Exercise on Capacity to Override Grudges and Forgiveness

    PubMed Central

    Struthers, C. Ward; van Monsjou, Elizabeth; Ayoub, Mariam; Guilfoyle, Joshua R.

    2017-01-01

    Forgiveness is important for repairing relationships that have been damaged by transgressions. In this research we explored the notion that the mode of physical exercise that victims of transgressions engage in and their capacity to override grudges are important in the process of forgiveness. Two exploratory studies that varied in samples (community non-student adults, undergraduate students) and research methods (non-experimental, experimental) were used to test these predictions. Findings showed that, compared to anaerobic or no exercise, aerobic and flexibility exercise facilitated self-control over grudges and forgiveness (Studies 1 and 2), and self-control over grudges explained the relation between exercise and forgiveness (Study 2). Possible mechanisms for future research are discussed. PMID:28533758

  20. Arc-continent collision and the formation of continental crust: A new geochemical and isotopic record from the Ordovician Tyrone Igneous Complex, Ireland

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Draut, Amy E.; Clift, Peter D.; Amato, Jeffrey M.; Blusztajn, Jerzy; Schouten, Hans

    2009-01-01

    Collisions between oceanic island-arc terranes and passive continental margins are thought to have been important in the formation of continental crust throughout much of Earth's history. Magmatic evolution during this stage of the plate-tectonic cycle is evident in several areas of the Ordovician Grampian-Taconic orogen, as we demonstrate in the first detailed geochemical study of the Tyrone Igneous Complex, Ireland. New U-Pb zircon dating yields ages of 493 2 Ma from a primitive mafic intrusion, indicating intra-oceanic subduction in Tremadoc time, and 475 10 Ma from a light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched tonalite intrusion that incorporated Laurentian continental material by early Arenig time (Early Ordovician, Stage 2) during arc-continent collision. Notably, LREE enrichment in volcanism and silicic intrusions of the Tyrone Igneous Complex exceeds that of average Dalradian (Laurentian) continental material that would have been thrust under the colliding forearc and potentially recycled into arc magmatism. This implies that crystal fractionation, in addition to magmatic mixing and assimilation, was important to the formation of new crust in the Grampian-Taconic orogeny. Because similar super-enrichment of orogenic melts occurred elsewhere in the Caledonides in the British Isles and Newfoundland, the addition of new, highly enriched melt to this accreted arc terrane was apparently widespread spatially and temporally. Such super-enrichment of magmatism, especially if accompanied by loss of corresponding lower crustal residues, supports the theory that arc-continent collision plays an important role in altering bulk crustal composition toward typical values for ancient continental crust. ?? 2009 Geological Society of London.

  1. Estimation of continental precipitation recycling

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brubaker, Kaye L.; Entekhabi, Dara; Eagleson, P. S.

    1993-01-01

    The total amount of water that precipitates on large continental regions is supplied by two mechanisms: 1) advection from the surrounding areas external to the region and 2) evaporation and transpiration from the land surface within the region. The latter supply mechanism is tantamount to the recycling of precipitation over the continental area. The degree to which regional precipitation is supplied by recycled moisture is a potentially significant climate feedback mechanism and land surface-atmosphere interaction, which may contribute to the persistence and intensification of droughts. Gridded data on observed wind and humidity in the global atmosphere are used to determine the convergence of atmospheric water vapor over continental regions. A simplified model of the atmospheric moisture over continents and simultaneous estimates of regional precipitation are employed to estimate, for several large continental regions, the fraction of precipitation that is locally derived. The results indicate that the contribution of regional evaporation to regional precipitation varies substantially with location and season. For the regions studied, the ratio of locally contributed to total monthly precipitation generally lies between 0. 10 and 0.30 but is as high as 0.40 in several cases.

  2. Lithospheric Structure across the Alaskan Cordillera from Surface Waves and Receiver Functions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ward, K. M.; Lin, F. C.

    2017-12-01

    The long awaited Transportable Array (TA) deployment in Alaska and western Canada is nearing its final deployment stage. With only one more deployment season, most of the TA station locations have been occupied and begun providing data. These TA stations combined with upgraded existing locations have provided enough high-quality data to begin investigating the crustal and upper mantle structure across the entire Alaskan Cordillera. From a tectonic standpoint, many interesting questions remain unanswered. For example, how does the transition from oceanic-oceanic subduction to continental-oceanic normal subduction to continental-oceanic "flat-slab" subduction to strike-slip conservative plate motion affect the deformation/uplift of the overriding plate and mantle geodynamic characteristics? How does the long and completed terrene accretion process partition stress/strain in the crust? On more local scales, are there any significant mid-crustal magmatic systems as observed in other sections of the American Cordillera, and if so, what is there role in uplift and crustal deformation? Our approach to investigating these questions is though surface wave imaging from ambient noise and earthquake generated sources along with Rayleigh wave ellipticity paired with Ps receiver functions. Our preliminary tomography results agree with previous studies but expand the spatial coverage showing additional detail. Our ellipticity results show a heterogeneous but spatially consistent anisotropic shallow crust. Although the complete TA data set has not yet been collected, we have jointly inverted surface waves with receiver functions for a 3-D shear-wave velocity model across the entire Alaskan Cordillera. Key features of our velocity model include a high-velocity feature in the upper mantle associated with the subducting Pacific plate that extends north of the seismicity used to contour the geometry of the slab and mid-crustal low-velocity zones associated with the active volcanics in

  3. Madagascar's escape from Africa: A high-resolution plate reconstruction for the Western Somali Basin and implications for supercontinent dispersal

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phethean, Jordan J. J.; Kalnins, Lara M.; van Hunen, Jeroen; Biffi, Paolo G.; Davies, Richard J.; McCaffrey, Ken J. W.

    2016-12-01

    Accurate reconstructions of the dispersal of supercontinent blocks are essential for testing continental breakup models. Here, we provide a new plate tectonic reconstruction of the opening of the Western Somali Basin during the breakup of East and West Gondwana. The model is constrained by a new comprehensive set of spreading lineaments, detected in this heavily sedimented basin using a novel technique based on directional derivatives of free-air gravity anomalies. Vertical gravity gradient and free-air gravity anomaly maps also enable the detection of extinct mid-ocean ridge segments, which can be directly compared to several previous ocean magnetic anomaly interpretations of the Western Somali Basin. The best matching interpretations have basin symmetry around the M0 anomaly; these are then used to temporally constrain our plate tectonic reconstruction. The reconstruction supports a tight fit for Gondwana fragments prior to breakup, and predicts that the continent-ocean transform margin lies along the Rovuma Basin, not along the Davie Fracture Zone (DFZ) as commonly thought. According to our reconstruction, the DFZ represents a major ocean-ocean fracture zone formed by the coalescence of several smaller fracture zones during evolving plate motions as Madagascar drifted southwards, and offshore Tanzania is an obliquely rifted, rather than transform, margin. New seismic reflection evidence for oceanic crust inboard of the DFZ strongly supports these conclusions. Our results provide important new constraints on the still enigmatic driving mechanism of continental rifting, the nature of the lithosphere in the Western Somali Basin, and its resource potential.

  4. Continental transform margins : state of art and future milestones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basile, Christophe

    2010-05-01

    Transform faults were defined 45 years ago as ‘a new class of fault' (Wilson, 1965), and transform margins were consequently individualized as a new class of continental margins. While transform margins represent 20 to 25 % of the total length of continent-ocean transitions, they were poorly studied, especially when compared with the amount of data, interpretations, models and conceptual progress accumulated on divergent or convergent continental margins. The best studied examples of transform margins are located in the northern part of Norway, south of South Africa, in the gulf of California and on both sides of the Equatorial Atlantic. Here is located the Côte d'Ivoire - Ghana margin, where the more complete data set was acquired, based on numerous geological and geophysical cruises, including ODP Leg 159. The first models that encompassed the structure and evolution of transform margins were mainly driven by plate kinematic reconstructions, and evidenced the diachronic end of tectonic activity and the non-cylindrical character of these margins, with a decreasing strike-slip deformation from the convex to the concave divergent-transform intersections. Further thermo-mechanical models were more specifically designed to explain the vertical displacements along transform margins, and especially the occurrence of high-standing marginal ridges. These thermo-mechanical models involved either heat transfer from oceanic to continental lithospheres across the transform faults or tectonically- or gravity-driven mass transfer in the upper crust. These models were far from fully fit observations, and were frequently dedicated to specific example, and not easily generalizable. Future work on transform continental margins may be expected to fill some scientific gaps, and the definition of working directions can benefit from the studies dedicated to other types of margins. At regional scale the structural and sedimentological variability of transform continental margins has

  5. The kinematic evolution of the Macquarie Plate: A case study for the fragmentation of oceanic lithosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, Hakkyum; Kim, Seung-Sep; Dyment, Jérôme; Granot, Roi; Park, Sung-Hyun; Hong, Jong Kuk

    2017-11-01

    The tectonic evolution of the Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR), and in particular of its easternmost edge, has not been constrained by high-resolution shipboard data and therefore the kinematic details of its behavior are uncertain. Using new shipboard magnetic data obtained by R/VIB Araon and M/V L'Astrolabe along the easternmost SEIR and available archived magnetic data, we estimated the finite rotation parameters of the Macquarie-Antarctic and Australian-Antarctic motions for eight anomalies (1o, 2, 2Ay, 2Ao, 3y, 3o, 3Ay, and 3Ao). These new finite rotations indicate that the Macquarie Plate since its creation ∼6.24 million years ago behaved as an independent and rigid plate, confirming previous estimates. The change in the Australian-Antarctic spreading direction from N-S to NW-SE appears to coincide with the formation of the Macquarie Plate at ∼6.24 Ma. Analysis of the estimated plate motions indicates that the initiation and growth stages of the Macquarie Plate resemble the kinematic evolution of other microplates and continental breakup, whereby a rapid acceleration in angular velocity took place after its initial formation, followed by a slow decay, suggesting that a decrease in the resistive strength force might have played a significant role in the kinematic evolution of the microplate. The motions of the Macquarie Plate during its growth stages may have been further enhanced by the increased subducting rates along the Hjort Trench, while the Macquarie Plate has exhibited constant growth by seafloor spreading.

  6. Episodic vs. Continuous Accretion in the Franciscan Accretionary Prism and Direct Plate Motion Controls vs. More Local Tectonic Controls on Prism Evolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dumitru, T. A.; Ernst, W. G.; Wakabayashi, J.

    2011-12-01

    blocks in olistotromes and the bulk of the terrane may be mid-Cretaceous trench sediments. (4) New data from the Central mélange belt are pending. (5) Detrital zircon ages suggest much of the voluminous Coastal belt was deposited in a short, rapid surge in the Middle Eocene, coincident with major extension, core complex development, volcanism, and erosion in sediment source areas in Idaho-Montana. Rapid Tyee Fm deposition in coastal Oregon occurred at virtually the same time from the same sources. (6) Exposed post-Eocene Franciscan rocks are rare. It is tempting to ascribe subduction zone tectonic events directly to changes in relative motions between the subducting and overriding lithospheric plates. However, in modern subduction zones, varying sediment supply to the trench appears to be a more important control on accretionary prism evolution and this seems to be the case in the Franciscan as well. Franciscan accretion was apparently influenced primarily by complex continental interior tectonics controlling sediment supply from the North American Cordillera (which may in part reflect plate motion changes), rather than directly by changes in the motions of tectonic plates.

  7. Seismotectonics and crustal stress across the northern Arabian plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    yassminh, R.; Gomez, F. G.; Sandvol, E. A.; Ghalib, H. A.; Daoud, M.

    2013-12-01

    The region encompassing the collision of northern Arabia with Eurasia is a tectonically heterogeneous region of distributed deformation. The northern Arabia plate is bounded to the west by the subducting Sinai plate and the left-lateral Dead Sea transform. This complexity suggests that there are, multiple competing processes that may influence regional tectonics in northern Arabia and adjacent areas. Earthquake mechanisms provide insight into crustal kinematics and stress; however, reliable determination of earthquake source parameters can be challenging in a complex geological region, such as the continental collision zone between the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The goal of this study is to investigate spatial patterns of the crustal stress in the northern Arabian plate and surrounding area. The focal mechanisms used in this study are based on (1) first-motion polarities for earthquakes recorded by Syrian earthquake center during 2000-2011, and (2) regional moment tensors from broadband seismic data, from Turkey and Iraq. First motion focal mechanisms were assigned quality classifications based on the variation of both nodal planes. Regional moment tensor analysis can be significantly influenced by seismic velocity structure; thus, we have divided the study area into regions based on tectonic units. For each region, a specific velocity model is defined using waveform-modeling technique prior to the regional moment tensor inversion. The resulting focal mechanisms, combined with other previously published focal mechanisms for the study area, provide a basis for stress inversion analysis. The resulting deviatoric stress tensors show the spatial distribution of the maximum horizontal stress varies from NW-SE along the Dead Sea Fault to the N-S toward the east. We interpret this to reflect the eastward change from the transform to collision processes in northern Arabia. Along the Dead Sea Fault, transposition of the sigma-1 and sigma-2 to vertical and horizontal

  8. Inverse models of plate coupling and mantle rheology: Towards a direct link between large-scale mantle flow and mega thrust earthquakes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gurnis, M.; Ratnaswamy, V.; Stadler, G.; Rudi, J.; Liu, X.; Ghattas, O.

    2017-12-01

    We are developing high-resolution inverse models for plate motions and mantle flow to recover the degree of mechanical coupling between plates and the non-linear and plastic parameters governing viscous flow within the lithosphere and mantle. We have developed adjoint versions of the Stokes equations with fully non-linear viscosity with a cost function that measures the fit with plate motions and with regional constrains on effective upper mantle viscosity (from post-glacial rebound and post seismic relaxation). In our earlier work, we demonstrate that when the temperature field is known, the strength of plate boundaries, the yield stress and strain rate exponent in the upper mantle are recoverable. As the plate boundary coupling drops below a threshold, the uncertainty of the inferred parameters increases due to insensitivity of plate motion to plate coupling. Comparing the trade-offs between inferred rheological parameters found from a Gaussian approximation of the parameter distribution and from MCMC sampling, we found that the Gaussian approximation—which is significantly cheaper to compute—is often a good approximation. We have extended our earlier method such that we can recover normal and shear stresses within the zones determining the interface between subducting and over-riding plates determined through seismic constraints (using the Slab1.0 model). We find that those subduction zones with low seismic coupling correspond with low inferred values of mechanical coupling. By fitting plate motion data in the optimization scheme, we find that Tonga and the Marianas have the lowest values of mechanical coupling while Chile and Sumatra the highest, among the subduction zones we have studies. Moreover, because of the nature of the high-resolution adjoint models, the subduction zones with the lowest coupling have back-arc extension. Globally we find that the non-linear stress-strain exponent, n, is about 3.0 +/- 0.25 (in the upper mantle and lithosphere) and a

  9. Sandbox Simulations of the Evolution of a Subduction Wedge following Subduction Initiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brandon, M. T.; Ma, K. F.; DeWolf, W.

    2012-12-01

    Subduction wedges at accreting subduction zones are bounded by a landward dipping pro-shear zone (= subduction thrust) and a seaward-dipping retro-shear zone in the overriding plate. For the Cascadia subduction zone, the surface trace of the retro-shear zone corresponds to the east side of the Coast Ranges of Oregon and Washington and the Insular Mountains of Vancouver Island. This coastal high or forearc high shows clear evidence of long-term uplift and erosion along its entire length, indicating that it is an active part of the Cascadia subduction wedge. The question addressed here is what controls the location of the retro-shear zone? In the popular double-sided wedge model of Willet et al (Geology 1993), the retro-shear zone remains pinned to the S point, which is interpreted to represent where the upper-plate Moho intersects the subduction zone. For this interpretation, the relatively strong mantle is considered to operate as a flat backstop. That model, however. is somewhat artificial in that the two plates collide in a symmetric fashion with equal crustal thicknesses on both sides. Using sandbox experiments, we explore a more realistic configuration where the upper and lower plate are separated by a gentle dipping (10 degree) pro-shear zone, to simulate the initial asymmetric geometry of the subduction thrust immediately after initiation of subduction. The entire lithosphere must fail along some plane for subduction to begin and this failure plane must dip in the direction of subduction. Thus, the initial geometry of the overriding plate is better approximated as a tapered wedge than as a layer of uniform thickness, as represented in the Willett et al models. We demonstrate this model using time-lapse movies of a sand wedge above a mylar subducting plate. We use particle image velocimetry (PIV) to show the evolution of strain and structure within the overriding plate. Material accreted to the tapered end of the overriding plate drives deformation and causes

  10. Imaging megathrust zone and Yakutat/Pacific plate interface in Alaska subduction zone

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Y.; Abers, G. A.; Li, J.; Christensen, D. H.; Calkins, J. A.

    2012-12-01

    We image the subducted slab underneath a 450 km long transect of the Alaska subduction zone. Dense stations in southern Alaska are set up to investigate (1) the geometry and velocity structure of the downgoing plate and their relation to slab seismicity, and (2) the interplate coupled zone where the great 1964 (magnitude 9.3) had greatest rupture. The joint teleseismic migration of two array datasets (MOOS, Multidisciplinary Observations of Onshore Subduction, and BEAAR, Broadband Experiment Across the Alaska Range) based on teleseismic receiver functions (RFs) using the MOOS data reveal a shallow-dipping prominent low-velocity layer at ~25-30 km depth in southern Alaska. Modeling of these RF amplitudes shows a thin (3-6.5 km) low-velocity layer (shear wave velocity less than 3 km/s), which is ~20-30% slower than normal oceanic crustal velocities, between the subducted slab and the overriding North America plate. The observed low-velocity megathrust layer (with Vp/Vs ratio exceeding 2.0) may be due to a thick sediment input from the trench in combination of elevated pore fluid pressure in the channel. The subducted crust below the low-velocity channel has gabbroic velocities with a thickness of 11-15 km. Both velocities and thickness of the low-velocity channel abruptly increase as the slab bends in central Alaska, which agrees with previously published RF results. Our image also includes an unusually thick low-velocity crust subducting with a ~20 degree dip down to 130 km depth at approximately 200 km inland beneath central Alaska. The unusual nature of this subducted segment has been suggested to be due to the subduction of the Yakutat terrane. Subduction of this buoyant crust could explain the shallow dip of the thrust zone beneath southern Alaska. We also show a clear image of the Yakutat and Pacific plate subduction beneath the Kenai Peninsula, and the along-strike boundary between them at megathrust depths. Our imaged western edge of the Yakutat terrane, at

  11. Garnet pyroxenite from Nilgiri Block, southern India: Vestiges of a Neoarchean volcanic arc

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Samuel, Vinod O.; Kwon, Sanghoon; Santosh, M.; Sajeev, K.

    2018-06-01

    Southern peninsular India preserves records of Late Neoarchean-Early Paleoproterozoic continental building and cratonization. A transect from the Paleoarchean Dharwar Craton to the Neoarchean arc magmatic complex in the Nilgiri Block across the intervening Moyar Suture Zone reveals an arc-accretionary complex composed of banded iron formation (BIF), amphibolite, metatuff, garnet-kyanite schist, metagabbro, pyroxenite and charnockite. Here we investigate the petrology, geochronology and petrogenesis of the pyroxenite and garnet-clinopyroxenite. The pyroxenite is mainly composed of orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene with local domains/pockets enriched in a clinopyroxene-garnet assemblage. Thermobarometric calculations and phase equilibria modeling suggest that the orthopyroxene- and clinopyroxene-rich domains formed at 900-1000 °C, 1-1.2 GPa whereas the garnet- and clinopyroxene-rich domains record higher pressure of about 1.8-2 GPa at similar temperature conditions (900-1000 °C). Zircon U-Pb SHRIMP dating show weighted mean 207Pb-206Pb age of 2532 ± 22 Ma, with metamorphic overgrowth at 2520 ± 27 Ma and 2478 ± 27 Ma. We propose a tectonic model involving decoupling and break-off of the oceanic plate along the southern flanks of the Dharwar Craton, which initiated oceanic plate subduction. Slab melting eventually built the Nilgiri volcanic arc on top of the over-riding plate along the flanks of the Dharwar Craton. Our study supports an active plate tectonic regime at the end of the Archean Era, aiding in the growth of paleo-continents and their assembly into stable cratons.

  12. Intermediate crust (IC); its construction at continent edges, distinctive epeirogenic behaviour and identification as sedimentary basins within continents: new light on pre-oceanic plate motions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Osmaston, Miles F.

    2014-05-01

    Introduction. The plate tectonics paradigm currently posits that the Earth has only two kinds of crust - continental and oceanic - and that the former may be stretched to form sedimentary basins or the latter may be modified by arc or collision until it looks continental. But global analysis of the dynamics of actual plate motions for the past 150 Ma indicates [1 - 3] that continental tectospheres must be immensely thicker and rheologically stiffer than previously thought; almost certainly too thick to be stretched with the forces available. In the extreme case of cratons, these tectospheric keels evidently extend to 600 km or more [2, 3]. This thick-plate behaviour is attributable, not to cooling but to a petrological 'stiffening' effect, associated with a loss of water-weakening of the mineral crystals, which also applies to the hitherto supposedly mobile LVZ below MORs [4, 5]. The corresponding thick-plate version of the mid-ocean ridge (MOR) process [6 - 8], replacing the divergent mantle flow model, has a deep, narrow wall-accreting axial crack which not only provides the seismic anisotropy beneath the flanks but also brings two outstanding additional benefits:- (i) why, at medium to fast spreading rates, MOR axes become straight and orthogonally segmented [6], (ii) not being driven by body forces, it can achieve the sudden jumps of axis, spreading-rate and direction widely present in the ocean-floor record. Furthermore, as we will illustrate, the crack walls push themselves apart at depth by a thermodynamic mechanism, so the plates are not being pulled apart. So the presence of this process at a continental edge would not imply the application of extensional force to the margin. Intermediate Crust (IC). In seeking to resolve the paradox that superficially extensional structures are often seen at margins we will first consider how this MOR process would be affected by the heavy concurrent sedimentation to be expected when splitting a mature continent. I reason

  13. Plate tectonics, habitability and life

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spohn, Tilman; Breuer, Doris

    2016-04-01

    The role of plate tectonics in defining habitability of terrestrial planets is being increasingly discussed (e.g., Elkins-Tanton, 2015). Plate tectonics is a significantly evolved concept with a large variety of aspects. In the present context, cycling of material between near surface and mantle reservoirs is most important. But increased heat transport through mixing of cold lithosphere with the deep interior and formation of continental crust may also matter. An alternative mechanism of material cycling between these reservoirs is hot-spot volcanism combined with crust delamination. Hot-spot volcanism will transport volatiles to the atmosphere while delamination will mix crust, possibly altered by sedimentation and chemical reactions, with the mantle. The mechanism works as long as the stagnant lithosphere plate has not grown thicker than the crust and as long as volcanic material is added onto the crust. Thermal evolution studies suggest that the mechanism could work for the first 1-2 Ga of planetary evolution. The efficiency of the mechanism is limited by the ratio of extrusive to intrusive volcanism, which is thought to be less than 0.25. Plate tectonics would certainly have an advantage by working even for more evolved planets. A simple, most-used concept of habitability requires the thermodynamic stability of liquid water on the surface of a planet. Cycling of CO2between the atmosphere, oceans and interior through subduction and surface volcanism is an important element of the carbonate-silicate cycle, a thermostat feedback cycle that will keep the atmosphere from entering into a runaway greenhouse. Calculations for a model Earth lacking plate tectonics but degassing CO2, N, and H2O to form a surface ocean and a secondary atmosphere (Tosi et al, 2016) suggest that liquid water can be maintained on the surface for 4.5Ga. The model planet would then qualify as habitable. It is conceivable that the CO2 buffering capability of its ocean together with silicate

  14. Volatile components and continental material of planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Florenskiy, K. P.; Nikolayeva, O. V.

    1986-01-01

    It is shown that the continental material of the terrestrial planets varies in composition from planet to planet according to the abundances and composition of true volatiles (H20, CO2, etc.) in the outer shells of the planets. The formation of these shells occurs very early in a planet's evolution when the role of endogenous processes is indistinct and continental materials are subject to melting and vaporizing in the absence of an atmosphere. As a result, the chemical properties of continental materials are related not only to fractionation processes but also to meltability and volatility. For planets retaining a certain quantity of true volatile components, the chemical transformation of continental material is characterized by a close interaction between impact melting vaporization and endogeneous geological processes.

  15. Is a 50 Ma Event Recorded in the Absolute Plate Motion of Africa?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maher, S. M.; Wessel, P.; Müller, R.; Harada, Y.

    2012-12-01

    There is considerable evidence for a global plate tectonic reorganization at ~Chron 21, as suggested by observed changes in global relative plate motion (RPM). The timings of these events appear to coincide with the age of the Hawaiian Emperor Bend (HEB), i.e., ~47-50 Ma. This 120° bend has traditionally been the poster child for the fixed hotspot hypothesis, suggesting the Pacific plate underwent a change in absolute plate motion (APM) as it moved over a more or less stationary Hawaiian hotspot. However, palaeomagnetic evidence favors southward motion of the Hawaii hotspot during the Emperor stage, limiting the amount of APM change required. In the Indo-Atlantic realm, RPMs involving Africa all seem compatible with a change in Africa APM around ~50 Ma. If this global plate reorganization took place there should also be physical evidence on the Africa plate itself due to the change in Africa APM. A candidate for such evidence may be the Réunion-Mascarene bend, which exhibits many HEB-like features. However, the Réunion hotspot also created the Chagos-Laccadive ridge as it encountered (and later crossed) the Carlsberg Ridge, and the oldest Mascarene section closest to the Seychelles may be continental in origin; thus there is some uncertainty in how to interpret the geometry. Furthermore, published APM models have had difficulty modeling this abrupt change in orientation. To reexamine this problem we derived a new Africa APM model that goes back to ~65 Ma using the Hybrid Polygonal Finite Rotation Method. The modeling incorporates the geometry and ages of seamount chains on the Africa plate and their associated hotspots as suitable constraints on an Africa APM model. The present as well as earlier positions of hotspots can be adjusted to get the best fit for the model. We examine how models with or without a ~50 Ma bend satisfy the geometries and age progressions of hotspot chains on the Africa plate and how well the predictions match observed paleolatitudes.

  16. The role of high-pressure metamorphic rocks in collisional processes with a microplate involved

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Massonne, Hans-Joachim

    2013-04-01

    High-pressure (HP: p >10 kbar) rocks, especially easily recognizable eclogite lenses, are markers of a collision of major continental plates in Phanerozoic times, but how about a collison with a microplate? To answer this question, petrological studies were undertaken on garnet-bearing metamorphic rocks. Especially pressure (P) - temperature (T) pseudosections were calculated to reconstruct the P-T path of such rocks. Areas in the Andes and their eastern foreland (Argentina, Ecuador) and the Carboniferous realm of western and central Europe were studied, where microplates either had collided with the South American plate or had been located between colliding Laurussia and Gondwana. The following features resulted: (1) laterally extended zones of HP rocks mark collisional sutures, but eclogite lenses are virtually absent; (2) these HP rocks are dominantly metapelites which have experienced pressures as high as 1.2 to 1.5 GPa; (3) these pressures were reached between 450 to 550°C, followed by a P release at increasing T; (4) the T peak in the range of 500-650°C at P between 0.5 and 0.8 GPa is often characterized by the blastesis of plagioclase occasionally together with staurolite; (5) this event was pre-dated by two deformational events. The second deformation occurred during the early exhumation. Considering the regional geology of the study areas, these features are interpreted as follows: Prior to the collision a basin, extending over at most some hundred kilometers perpendicular to the basin axis, existed between the colliding microplate and the major plate. Eventually, a rifting event had caused the separation of the microplate from the major continental plate. The basin, which was opened by this event and filled with sediments, could have developed further to a back-arc basin. Then, the extensional regime turned to a compressional one. During compression the basin sediments on top of thinned continental crust were buried beneath the overriding major plate

  17. Buoyancy-Driven, Rapid Exhumation of Ultrahigh-Pressure Metamorphosed Continental Crust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ernst, W. G.; Maruyama, S.; Wallis, S.

    1997-09-01

    Preservation of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) minerals formed at depths of 90-125 km require unusual conditions. Our subduction model involves underflow of a salient (250 ± 150 km wide, 90-125 km long) of continental crust embedded in cold, largely oceanic crust-capped lithosphere; loss of leading portions of the high-density oceanic lithosphere by slab break-off, as increasing volumes of microcontinental material enter the subduction zone; buoyancy-driven return toward midcrustal levels of a thin (2-15 km thick), low-density slice; finally, uplift, backfolding, normal faulting, and exposure of the UHP terrane. Sustained over ≈ 20 million years, rapid (≈ 5 mm/year) exhumation of the thin-aspect ratio UHP sialic sheet caught between cooler hanging-wall plate and refrigerating, downgoing lithosphere allows withdrawal of heat along both its upper and lower surfaces. The intracratonal position of most UHP complexes reflects consumption of an intervening ocean basin and introduction of a sialic promontory into the subduction zone. UHP metamorphic terranes consist chiefly of transformed, yet relatively low-density continental crust compared with displaced mantle material--otherwise such complexes could not return to shallow depths. Relatively rare metabasaltic, metagabbroic, and metacherty lithologies retain traces of phases characteristic of UHP conditions because they are massive, virtually impervious to fluids, and nearly anhydrous. In contrast, H2O-rich quartzofeldspathic, gneissose/schistose, more permeable metasedimentary and metagranitic units have backreacted thoroughly, so coesite and other UHP silicates are exceedingly rare. Because of the initial presence of biogenic carbon, and its especially sluggish transformation rate, UHP paragneisses contain the most abundantly preserved crustal diamonds.

  18. Buoyancy-driven, rapid exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure metamorphosed continental crust.

    PubMed

    Ernst, W G; Maruyama, S; Wallis, S

    1997-09-02

    Preservation of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) minerals formed at depths of 90-125 km require unusual conditions. Our subduction model involves underflow of a salient (250 +/- 150 km wide, 90-125 km long) of continental crust embedded in cold, largely oceanic crust-capped lithosphere; loss of leading portions of the high-density oceanic lithosphere by slab break-off, as increasing volumes of microcontinental material enter the subduction zone; buoyancy-driven return toward midcrustal levels of a thin (2-15 km thick), low-density slice; finally, uplift, backfolding, normal faulting, and exposure of the UHP terrane. Sustained over approximately 20 million years, rapid ( approximately 5 mm/year) exhumation of the thin-aspect ratio UHP sialic sheet caught between cooler hanging-wall plate and refrigerating, downgoing lithosphere allows withdrawal of heat along both its upper and lower surfaces. The intracratonal position of most UHP complexes reflects consumption of an intervening ocean basin and introduction of a sialic promontory into the subduction zone. UHP metamorphic terranes consist chiefly of transformed, yet relatively low-density continental crust compared with displaced mantle material-otherwise such complexes could not return to shallow depths. Relatively rare metabasaltic, metagabbroic, and metacherty lithologies retain traces of phases characteristic of UHP conditions because they are massive, virtually impervious to fluids, and nearly anhydrous. In contrast, H2O-rich quartzofeldspathic, gneissose/schistose, more permeable metasedimentary and metagranitic units have backreacted thoroughly, so coesite and other UHP silicates are exceedingly rare. Because of the initial presence of biogenic carbon, and its especially sluggish transformation rate, UHP paragneisses contain the most abundantly preserved crustal diamonds.

  19. Convective thinning of the lithosphere: A mechanism for rifting and mid-plate volcanism on Earth, Venus, and Mars

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Spohn, T.; Schubert, G.

    1982-01-01

    Thinning of the Earth's lithosphere by heat advected to its base is a possible mechanism for continental rifting and continental and oceanic mid-plate volcanism. It might also account for continental rifting-like processes and volcanism on Venus and Mars. Earth's continental lithosphere can be thinned to the crust in a few tens of million years by heat advected at a rate of 5 to 10 times the normal basal heat flux. This much heat is easily carried to the lithosphere by mantle plumes. The continent is not required to rest over the mantle hot spot but may move at tens of millimeters per year. Because of the constant level of crustal radioactive heat production, the ratio of the final to the initial surface heat flow increases much less than the ratio of the final to initial basal heat flow. For large increases in asthenospheric heat flow, the lithosphere is almost thinned to the crust before any significant change in surface heat flow occurs. Uplift due to thermal expansion upon thinning is a few kilometers. The oceanic lithosphere can be thinned to the crust in less than 10 million years if the heat advection is at a rate around 5 or more times the basal heat flow into 100 Ma old lithosphere. Uplift upon thinning can compensate the subsidence of spreading and cooling lithosphere.

  20. From Tethyan Oceans to the Western Mediterranean I - Plate reconstructions from the Present back to the Early Mesozoic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmid, Stefan; Handy, Mark; Bousquet, Romain; Kissling, Eduard; Bernoulli, Daniel

    2010-05-01

    A new reconstruction of the branches of Alpine Tethys combines available plate kinematic models of Africa-Europe motion with a wealth of new geological and geophysical data (seismic tomography and paleomagnetics) to shed light the evolution of the Western Mediterranean-Alps system, from sea-floor spreading through subduction to collision. Unlike previous models which relate the fate of Alpine Tethys solely to relative motions of the African plate with respect to Europe during opening of the Atlantic, our reconstruction invokes motions and rotations of four additional and temporarily independent microplates: Adria, Iberia, Alcapia and Alkapecia. Translations and rotations of these microplates with respect to Europe are constrained in the following way: (1) The retro-translations of Adria back to 94 Ma are obtained from shortening estimates in the Alps along geological-geophysical transects of the Alpine orogen and from geobarometric estimates of subduction depth in tectonic units that underwent high-pressure and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism. Rotations are based on paleomagnetic data of Márton et al. (in press); (2) Iberia follows the motion paths of Savostin et al. (1986), based on magnetic anomalies in the Central and Northern Atlantic; the Corsica-Sardinia block later rifted from Iberia leading to Burdigalian opening of the Liguria-Provençal basin (Serranne 1999). (3) The Alcapia microplate, whose name is derived from the acronym ALCAPA (Alps-Carpathians-Pannonian Basin), separated from Adria in Cretaceous times. Its movement with respect to Adria was absorbed by Cretaceous orogeny in the Eastern Alps, constrained by the Adria-Europe displacement and rotation path; later, during Cenozoic orogeny in the Alps, associated with the closing of the Alpine Tethys, it became part of the Adria microplate again. (4) The introduction of an independent Alkapekia continental fragment and independent microplate during the Late Cenozoic only (Alboran

  1. Plate boundary deformation at the latitude of the Salton Trough - northern Gulf of California (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stock, J. M.

    2013-12-01

    Along the Pacific-North America plate boundary zone, the segment including the southern San Andreas fault to Salton Trough and northern Gulf of California basins has been transtensional throughout its evolution, based on Pacific-North America displacement vectors calculated from the global plate circuit (900 × 20 km at N54°W since 20 Ma; 460 × 20 km at N48°W since 11 Ma). Nevertheless, active seismicity and focal mechanisms show a broad zone of plate boundary deformation within which the inferred stress regime varies locally (Yang & Hauksson 2013 GJI), and fault patterns in some regions suggest ongoing tectonic rotation. Similar behavior is inferred to have occurred in this zone over most of its history. Crustal structure in this region is constrained by surface geology, geophysical experiments (e.g., the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), USGS Imperial Valley 1979, PACE), and interdisciplinary marine and onland studies in Mexico (e.g., NARS-Baja, Cortes, and surveys by PEMEX). Magnetic data (e.g., EMAG-2) aids in the recognition of large-scale crustal provinces and fault boundaries in regions lacking detailed geophysical surveys. Consideration of existing constraints on crustal thickness and architecture, and fault and basin evolution suggests that to reconcile geological deformation with plate motion history, the following additional factors need to be taken into account. 1) Plate boundary displacement via interacting systems of rotating blocks, coeval with slip on steep strike slip faults, and possibly related to slip on low angle extensional faults (e.g, Axen & Fletcher 1998 IGR) may be typical prior to the onset of seafloor spreading. This fault style may have accommodated up to 150 km of plate motion in the Mexican Continental Borderland and north of the Vizcaino Peninsula, likely between 12 and 15 Ma, as well as explaining younger rotations adjacent to the Gulf of California and current deformation southwest of the Salton Sea. 2) Geophysical

  2. Absolute plate motion of Africa around Hawaii-Emperor bend time

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maher, S. M.; Wessel, P.; Müller, R. D.; Williams, S. E.; Harada, Y.

    2015-06-01

    Numerous regional plate reorganizations and the coeval ages of the Hawaiian Emperor bend (HEB) and Louisville bend of 50-47 Ma have been interpreted as a possible global tectonic plate reorganization at ˜chron 21 (47.9 Ma). Yet for a truly global event we would expect a contemporaneous change in Africa absolute plate motion (APM) reflected by physical evidence distributed on the Africa Plate. This evidence has been postulated to take the form of the Réunion-Mascarene bend which exhibits many HEB-like features, such as a large angular change close to ˜chron 21. However, the Réunion hotspot trail has recently been interpreted as a sequence of continental fragments with incidental hotspot volcanism. Here we show that the alternative Réunion-Mascarene Plateau trail can also satisfy the age progressions and geometry of other hotspot trails on the Africa Plate. The implied motion, suggesting a pivoting of Africa from 67 to 50 Ma, could explain the apparent bifurcation of the Tristan hotspot chain, the age reversals seen along the Walvis Ridge, the sharp curve of the Canary trail, and the diffuse nature of the St. Helena chain. To test this hypothesis further we made a new Africa APM model that extends back to ˜80 Ma using a modified version of the Hybrid Polygonal Finite Rotation Method. This method uses seamount chains and their associated hotspots as geometric constraints for the model, and seamount age dates to determine APM through time. While this model successfully explains many of the volcanic features, it implies an unrealistically fast global lithospheric net rotation, as well as improbable APM trajectories for many other plates, including the Americas, Eurasia and Australia. We contrast this speculative model with a more conventional model in which the Mascarene Plateau is excluded in favour of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge rotated into the Africa reference frame. This second model implies more realistic net lithospheric rotation and far-field APMs, but

  3. Comments on the Parameters and Processes that Affect the Preservation Potential and Style of Oblique-Divergent Plate Boundaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Umhoefer, P. J.

    2014-12-01

    Oblique-divergent or transtensional zones present particular challenges in ancient belts because of the poor preservation potential of the thinned continental crust and young oceanic crust. Many oblique belts will preferentially preserve their boundary zones that lie within continents rather than the main plate boundary zone, which will be at a much lower elevation and composed of denser crust. Zones of tectonic escape or strike-slip overprinting of arcs or plateaus deform continental crust and may be better preserved. Here I highlight parameters and processes that have major effects on oblique divergent belts. Strain partitioning is common, but not ubiquitous, along and across oblique boundaries; the causes of partitioning are not always clear and make this especially vexing for work in ancient belts. Partitioning causes complexity in the patterns of structures at all scales. Inherited structures commonly determine the orientation and style of structures along oblique boundaries and can control the pattern of faults across transtensional belts. Regionally, inherited trends of arcs or other 1000-km-scale features can control boundary structures. Experiments and natural examples suggest that oblique boundary zones contain less of a record of strike-slip faulting and more extensional structures. The obliquity of divergence produces predictable families of structures that typify (i) strike-slip dominated zones (obliquity <~20°), (ii) mixed zones (~20° - ~35°), and (iii) extension dominated zones (>~35°). The combination of partitioning and mixed structures in oblique zones means that the boundaries of belts with large-magnitude strike-slip faulting will commonly preserve little of no record of that faulting history. Plate boundaries localize strain onto the main plate boundary structures from the broader plate boundary and therefore the boundary zones commonly preserve the earlier structures more than later structures, a major problem in interpreting ancient belts

  4. A new GPS velocity field in the south-western Balkans: insights for continental dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Agostino, N.; Avallone, A.; Duni, L.; Ganas, A.; Georgiev, I.; Jouanne, F.; Koci, R.; Kuka, N.; Metois, M.

    2017-12-01

    The Balkans peninsula is an area of active distributed deformation located at the southern boundary of the Eurasian plate. Relatively low strain rates and logistical reasons have so far limited the characterization and definition of the active tectonics and crustal kinematics. The increasing number of GNSS stations belonging to national networks deployed for scientific and cadastral purposes, now provides the opportunity to improve the knowledge of the crustal kinematics in this area and to define a cross-national velocity field that illuminates the active tectonic deformation. In this work we homogeneously processed the data from the south western Balkans and neighbouring regions using available rinex files from scientific and cadastral networks (ALBPOS, EUREF, HemusNET, ITALPOS, KOPOS, MAKPOS, METRICA, NETGEO, RING, TGREF). In order to analyze and interpret station velocities relative to the Eurasia plate and to reduce the common mode signal, we updated the Eurasian terrestrial reference frame described in Métois et al. 2015. Starting from this dataset we present a new GPS velocity field covering the south western part of the Balkan Peninsula. Using this new velocity field, we derive the strain rate tensor to analyze the regional style of the deformation. Our results (1) improve the picture of the general southward flow of the crust characterizing the south western Balkans behind the contractional belt at the boundary with Adriatic and (2) provide new key elements for the understanding of continental dynamics in this part of the Eurasian plate boundary.

  5. Plate tectonic constraints on the cessation of subduction beneath the Baja California peninsula, Mexico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stock, J. M.

    2007-05-01

    I review published models, existing global plate tectonic data and published marine geophysical observations west of Baja California to assess the timing and conditions under which subduction ceased along the W margin of Baja California. The relative motion of the Farallon microplate fragments can be reconstructed using Pacific- North America global plate motions (from the Pacific-Antarctica-Nubia-North America plate circuit) added to the local velocities of the microplates with respect to the Pacific plate. Because the Pacific plate was moving obliquely away from North America, the time at which subduction stopped has often been taken to be the time at which the microplates joined the Pacific plate (the ages of dead spreading centers preserved west of North America on the Pacific plate). The timing of cessation of subduction west of what is now northern Baja California is not recorded by a dead ridge offshore but is inferred to be coincident with extension and rotation in the continental borderland (early-middle Miocene). The Arguello microplate stopped spreading relative to the Pacific plate at about 13 Ma, providing a younger age limit on the cessation of subduction in the sector N of the Shirley transform fault. The time of cessation of spreading of the Magdalena-Pacific (M-P) ridge has been proposed by Michaud et al. (2006 Geology) to be as young as 8 Ma. However, the clockwise rotation of the M-P ridge before it ceased, and its inferred slow spreading rate away from the Pacific plate implies transcurrent motion with virtually no convergence between the Magdalena microplate and the North America plate during the last stages of activity of the M-P ridge. Subduction can occur by motion of forearc fragments without any convergence of the major bounding plates (e.g., the modern South Shetland Trench), but this may be ruled out for Baja California due to the small spatial scale of the microplates compared to the scale of the stable Baja California peninsula block

  6. Magma-maintained rift segmentation at continental rupture in the 2005 Afar dyking episode.

    PubMed

    Wright, Tim J; Ebinger, Cindy; Biggs, Juliet; Ayele, Atalay; Yirgu, Gezahegn; Keir, Derek; Stork, Anna

    2006-07-20

    Seafloor spreading centres show a regular along-axis segmentation thought to be produced by a segmented magma supply in the passively upwelling mantle. On the other hand, continental rifts are segmented by large offset normal faults, and many lack magmatism. It is unclear how, when and where the ubiquitous segmented melt zones are emplaced during the continental rupture process. Between 14 September and 4 October 2005, 163 earthquakes (magnitudes greater than 3.9) and a volcanic eruption occurred within the approximately 60-km-long Dabbahu magmatic segment of the Afar rift, a nascent seafloor spreading centre in stretched continental lithosphere. Here we present a three-dimensional deformation field for the Dabbahu rifting episode derived from satellite radar data, which shows that the entire segment ruptured, making it the largest to have occurred on land in the era of satellite geodesy. Simple elastic modelling shows that the magmatic segment opened by up to 8 m, yet seismic rupture can account for only 8 per cent of the observed deformation. Magma was injected along a dyke between depths of 2 and 9 km, corresponding to a total intrusion volume of approximately 2.5 km3. Much of the magma appears to have originated from shallow chambers beneath Dabbahu and Gabho volcanoes at the northern end of the segment, where an explosive fissural eruption occurred on 26 September 2005. Although comparable in magnitude to the ten year (1975-84) Krafla events in Iceland, seismic data suggest that most of the Dabbahu dyke intrusion occurred in less than a week. Thus, magma intrusion via dyking, rather than segmented normal faulting, maintains and probably initiated the along-axis segmentation along this sector of the Nubia-Arabia plate boundary.

  7. Gas hydrates of outer continental margins

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kvenvolden, K.A.

    1990-05-01

    Gas hydrates are crystalline substances in which a rigid framework of water molecules traps molecules of gas, mainly methane. Gas-hydrate deposits are common in continental margin sediment in all major oceans at water depths greater than about 300 m. Thirty-three localities with evidence for gas-hydrate occurrence have been described worldwide. The presence of these gas hydrates has been inferred mainly from anomalous lacoustic reflectors seen on marine seismic records. Naturally occurring marine gas hydrates have been sampled and analyzed at about tensites in several regions including continental slope and rise sediment of the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Gulf ofmore » Mexico. Except for some Gulf of Mexico gas hydrate occurrences, the analyzed gas hydrates are composed almost exclusively of microbial methane. Evidence for the microbial origin of methane in gas hydrates includes (1) the inverse relation between methane occurence and sulfate concentration in the sediment, (2) the subparallel depth trends in carbon isotopic compositions of methane and bicarbonate in the interstitial water, and (3) the general range of {sup 13}C depletion ({delta}{sub PDB}{sup 13}C = {minus}90 to {minus}60 {per thousand}) in the methane. Analyses of gas hydrates from the Peruvian outer continental margin in particular illustrate this evidence for microbially generated methane. The total amount of methane in gas hydrates of continental margins is not known, but estimates of about 10{sup 16} m{sup 3} seem reasonable. Although this amount of methane is large, it is not yet clear whether methane hydrates of outer continental margins will ever be a significant energy resource; however, these gas hydrates will probably constitute a drilling hazard when outer continental margins are explored in the future.« less

  8. Origin of Volcanic Seamounts Offshore California Related to Interaction of Abandoned Spreading Centers with the Continental Margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, A. S.; Clague, D. A.; Paduan, J. B.; Cousens, B. L.; Huard, J.

    2007-12-01

    The numerous NE-SW trending volcanic seamounts at the continental margin offshore central to Southern California owe their existence to the complex tectonics that resulted when small spreading ridge segments intersected and partly subducted beneath the continental margin during the Miocene plate reorganization. A limited number of dredged samples had indicated multiple episodes of coeval, alkalic volcanism at geographically widely separated sites (Davis et al., 2002, GSA Bull. 114, 316-333). 450 new samples were collected from 8 seamounts from 37. 5°N to 32.3°N with MBARI's ROV Tiburon. Ar-Ar ages for 50 of these samples extend the ages of volcanism from 18 Ma to 2.8 Ma. The dominant whole rock compositions are differentiated alkalic basalt, hawaiite, and mugearite, but include minor benmoreite, trachyte, and rare tholeiitic basalt. This entire range of compositions is also present in glassy margins or in volcaniclastic breccias, except for the trachyte, which had no glassy margins. Trace element abundances and ratios (e.g. REE, Zr, Nb, Ta, Th, Ba, etc.) are typical for ocean island basalt, whether the seamount is located on the Pacific plate (e.g. Pioneer, Gumdrop, Guide, Davidson, San Juan, San Marcos) or on the continental slope (Rodriguez) or within the Southern Continental Borderland (Northeast Bank). Nine samples, predominantly from Rodriguez Seamount, show a calc-alkaline trend with lower Nb, Ta, and higher Th. These samples may be erratics (Paduan et al., 2007, Marine Geology, in press). Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic compositions plot within the Pacific N-MORB field for the northern seamounts (Pioneer, Gumdrop, Guide) but suggest progressively more radiogenic sources southward. There is considerable scatter at each site, especially with regard to 87Sr/86Sr, despite severe acid-leaching of the samples. Isotopic and trace element compositions indicate sources that are heterogeneous at a small scale. Chondrite-normalized Ce/Yb suggest smaller degree of melting and

  9. U-Pb Geochronology of Devonian Granites in the Meguma Terrane of Nova Scotia, Canada: Evidence for Hotspot Melting of a Neoproterozoic Source.

    PubMed

    Keppie; Krogh

    1999-09-01

    U-Pb isotopic analyses of monazite and zircon from six granitic plutons in the Meguma Terrane yield nearly concordant ages of 373+/-3 Ma, interpreted as the time of intrusion. U-Pb analyses of euhedral zircons with thick rims overgrowing cores, which were abraded to remove all or most of the rim, plot on chords between 370+/-3 and 628+/-33 Ma (Larrys River and Halfway Cove plutons), 372+/-3 and approximately 660 Ma (Shelburne pluton), and 373+/-2 and approximately 732 Ma (Barrington Passage pluton). The upper intercepts are interpreted as the age of magma source, correlatives of which are present in the Avalon Composite Terrane to the north. This basement may be either in depositional or tectonic contact with the overlying Cambro-Ordovician Meguma Group. Other zircons in the granites are generally irregular-euhedral with thin rims, and most U-Pb isotopic analyses fall between two chords from 373-2040 and 373-2300 Ma, with a few lying outside this field. These zircons are probably derived from the country rock (Goldenville Formation), which a previous study has shown contains detrital zircons with concordant U-Pb ages of 3000, 2000, and 600 Ma, and numerous intermediate discordant ages. These new ages, along with published data, document a relatively short (5-10 m.yr.) but voluminous period of magmatism. This age is approximately synchronous with intrusion of mafic rocks and lamprophyre dikes and regional low-pressure metamorphism and was followed by rapid denudation of 5-12 km. These observations may be interpreted in terms of shallowly dipping subduction and overriding of a mantle plume that eventually penetrates through the subducting plate to melt the overriding continental plate. Subsequent northward migration of the plume could explain both the approximately 360 Ma magmatism in the Cobequid Highlands (Avalon Composite Terrane) and the mid-Carboniferous plume-related intrusions around the Magdalen Basin.

  10. Titanium isotopic evidence for felsic crust and plate tectonics 3.5 billion years ago.

    PubMed

    Greber, Nicolas D; Dauphas, Nicolas; Bekker, Andrey; Ptáček, Matouš P; Bindeman, Ilya N; Hofmann, Axel

    2017-09-22

    Earth exhibits a dichotomy in elevation and chemical composition between the continents and ocean floor. Reconstructing when this dichotomy arose is important for understanding when plate tectonics started and how the supply of nutrients to the oceans changed through time. We measured the titanium isotopic composition of shales to constrain the chemical composition of the continental crust exposed to weathering and found that shales of all ages have a uniform isotopic composition. This can only be explained if the emerged crust was predominantly felsic (silica-rich) since 3.5 billion years ago, requiring an early initiation of plate tectonics. We also observed a change in the abundance of biologically important nutrients phosphorus and nickel across the Archean-Proterozoic boundary, which might have helped trigger the rise in atmospheric oxygen. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

  11. Compression-extension transition of continental crust in a subduction zone: A parametric numerical modeling study with implications on Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Cathaysia Block

    PubMed Central

    Chan, Lung Sang; Gao, Jian-Feng

    2017-01-01

    The Cathaysia Block is located in southeastern part of South China, which situates in the west Pacific subduction zone. It is thought to have undergone a compression-extension transition of the continental crust during Mesozoic-Cenozoic during the subduction of Pacific Plate beneath Eurasia-Pacific Plate, resulting in extensive magmatism, extensional basins and reactivation of fault systems. Although some mechanisms such as the trench roll-back have been generally proposed for the compression-extension transition, the timing and progress of the transition under a convergence setting remain ambiguous due to lack of suitable geological records and overprinting by later tectonic events. In this study, a numerical thermo-dynamical program was employed to evaluate how variable slab angles, thermal gradients of the lithospheres and convergence velocities would give rise to the change of crustal stress in a convergent subduction zone. Model results show that higher slab dip angle, lower convergence velocity and higher lithospheric thermal gradient facilitate the subduction process. The modeling results reveal the continental crust stress is dominated by horizontal compression during the early stage of the subduction, which could revert to a horizontal extension in the back-arc region, combing with the roll-back of the subducting slab and development of mantle upwelling. The parameters facilitating the subduction process also favor the compression-extension transition in the upper plate of the subduction zone. Such results corroborate the geology of the Cathaysia Block: the initiation of the extensional regime in the Cathaysia Block occurring was probably triggered by roll-back of the slowly subducting slab. PMID:28182640

  12. The initial superposition of oceanic and continental units in the southern Western Alps: constraints on geometrical restoration and kinematics of the continental subduction wedge

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dumont, Thierry; Schwartz, Stéphane; Matthews, Steve; Malusa, Marco; Jouvent, Marine

    2017-04-01

    older in the oceanic rocks (Malusà et al. 2015). Finally, further SE, the Voltri massif shows a huge volume of serpentinized mantle which locally overlies continental basement (strongly metamorphosed), and is interpreted as an exhumed remnant of the subduction channel (Federico et al., 2007). In all these localities the transport directions during initial pulses of stacking were consistently oriented generally towards the NW to N, taking into account the subsequent Oligocene and younger collision-related deformation (complex folds, thrusts, backfolds and backthrusts, and block-rotations). It is thus possible to attempt reconstructing an early stage continental subduction wedge involving these different elements from the subduction channel to the most frontal part of the accretionary complex. However, this early Alpine orogen which was active throughout the Eocene is interpreted to have propagated generally towards the NW to N, prior to subsequent pulses of more westerly directed deformation from the Oligocene onwards within the southern part of the Western Alps arc. It is therefore essential to continually improve high-resolution 3D geophysical imaging to facilitate a better understanding of the complex western termination of the Alpine orogen. References: Dumont T., Schwartz S., Guillot S., Simon-Labric S., Tricart P. & Jourdan S. (2012), Structural and sedimentary record of the Oligocene revolution in the Western Alpine arc. Jour. Geodynamics, doi:10.1016/j.jog.2011.11.006 Federico L., Crispini L., Scambelluri M. & Capponi G. (2007), Ophiolite mélange zone records exhumation in a fossil subduction channel. Geology, 35, p. 499-502 Malusà M.G., Faccenna C., Baldwin S.L., Fitzgerald P.G., Rossetti F., Balestrieri M.L., Danišík M., Ellero A., Ottria G. & Piromallo C. (2015), Contrasting styles of (U)HP rock exhumation along the Cenozoic Adria-Europe plate boundary (Western Alps, Calabria, Corsica). Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. ,16, p. 1786-1824 Tricart P. & Schwartz S

  13. Latent heat effects of the major mantle phase transitions on low-angle subduction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Hunen, Jeroen; van den Berg, Arie P.; Vlaar, Nico J.

    2001-08-01

    Very low to zero shallow dip angles are observed at several moderately young subduction zones with an active trenchward moving overriding plate. We have investigated the effects of latent heat for this situation, where mantle material is pushed through the major mantle phase transitions during shallow low-angle subduction below the overriding plate. The significance of the buoyancy forces, arising from the latent heat effects, on the dynamics of the shallowly subducting slab is examined by numerical modeling. When a 32-Ma-old slab is overridden with 2.5 cm/yr by a continent, flat subduction occurs with a 4-5 cm/yr convergence rate. When latent heat is included in the model, forced downwellings cause a thermal anomaly and consequently thermal and phase buoyancy forces. Under these circumstances, the flat slab segment subducts horizontally about 350 km further and for about 11 Ma longer than in the case without latent heat, before it breaks through the 400-km phase transition. The style of subduction strongly depends on the mantle rheology: increasing the mantle viscosity by one order of magnitude can change the style of subduction from steep to shallow. Similarly, an overriding velocity of less than 1 cm/yr leads to steep subduction, which gradually changes to flat subduction when increasing the overriding velocity. However, these model parameters do not change the aforementioned effect of the latent heat, provided that low-angle subduction occurs. In all models latent heat resulted in a substantial increase of the flat slab length by 300-400 km. Varying the olivine-spinel transition Clapeyron slope γ from 1 to 6 MPa/K reveals a roughly linear relation between γ and the horizontal length of the slab. Based on these results, we conclude that buoyancy forces due to latent heat of phase transitions play an important role in low-angle subduction below an overriding plate.

  14. Farallon slab detachment and deformation of the Magdalena Shelf, southern Baja California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Brothers, Daniel S.; Harding, Alistair J.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, Antonio; Holbrook, W.S. Steven; Kent, Graham M.; Driscoll, Neal W.; Fletcher, John M.; Lizarralde, Daniel; Umhoefer, Paul J.; Axen, Gary

    2012-01-01

    Subduction of the Farallon plate beneath northwestern Mexico stalled by ~12 Ma when the Pacific-Farallon spreading-ridge approached the subduction zone. Coupling between remnant slab and the overriding North American plate played an important role in the capture of the Baja California (BC) microplate by the Pacific Plate. Active-source seismic reflection and wide-angle seismic refraction profiles across southwestern BC (~24.5°N) are used to image the extent of remnant slab and study its impact on the overriding plate. We infer that the hot, buoyant slab detached ~40 km landward of the fossil trench. Isostatic rebound following slab detachment uplifted the margin and exposed the Magdalena Shelf to wave-base erosion. Subsequent cooling, subsidence and transtensional opening along the shelf (starting ~8 Ma) starved the fossil trench of terrigenous sediment input. Slab detachment and the resultant rebound of the margin provide a mechanism for rapid uplift and exhumation of forearc subduction complexes.

  15. Regional magnetic anomaly constraints on continental breakup

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    von Frese, R.R.B.; Hinze, W.J.; Olivier, R.

    1986-01-01

    Continental lithosphere magnetic anomalies mapped by the Magsat satellite are related to tectonic features associated with regional compositional variations of the crust and upper mantle and crustal thickness and thermal perturbations. These continental-scale anomaly patterns when corrected for varying observation elevation and the global change in the direction and intensity of the geomagnetic field show remarkable correlation of regional lithospheric magnetic sources across rifted continental margins when plotted on a reconstruction of Pangea. Accordingly, these anomalies provide new and fundamental constraints on the geologic evolution and dynamics of the continents and oceans.

  16. Drift of continental rafts with asymmetric heating.

    PubMed

    Knopoff, L; Poehls, K A; Smith, R C

    1972-06-02

    A laboratory model of a lithospheric raft is propelled through a viscous asthenospheric layer with constant velocity of scaled magnitude appropriate to continental drift. The propulsion is due to differential heat concentration in the model oceanic and continental crusts.

  17. Reconciling the geological history of western Turkey with plate circuits and mantle tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.; Kaymakci, Nuretdin; Spakman, Wim; Torsvik, Trond H.

    2010-09-01

    occurred ~ 15 Myr ago, after which overriding plate compression and rotation accommodated ongoing Africa-Europe convergence. Slab break-off was accommodated along a vertical NE trending subduction transform edge propagator (STEP) fault zone, accelerating southwestward slab retreat of the Aegean slab. The SE Aegean slab edge may have existed already since early Miocene times or before, but started to rapidly roll back along the southeastern Aegean STEP in middle Miocene times, penetrating the Aegean region in the Pliocene.

  18. Reconciling the geological history of western Turkey with plate circuits and mantle tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaymakci, N.; van Hinsbergen, D. J.; Spakman, W.; Torsvik, T. H.

    2010-12-01

    ~15 Myr ago, after which overriding plate compression and rotation accommodated ongoing Africa-Europe convergence. Slab break-off was accommodated along a vertical NE trending subduction transform edge propagator (STEP) fault zone, accelerating southwestward slab retreat of the Aegean slab. The SE Aegean slab edge may have existed already since early Miocene times or before, but started to rapidly roll back along the southeastern Aegean STEP in middle Miocene times, penetrating the Aegean region in the Pliocene.

  19. Cenozoic oblique collision of South American and Caribbean plates: New evidence in the Coastal Cordillera of Venezuela and Trinidad

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Speed, R.C.; Russo, R.M.; Foland, K.A.

    The hinterland of the Caribbean Mts. orogen in Trinidad and Venezuela contains schist and gneiss whole protoliths are wholly or partly of continental provenance. The hinterland lies between the foreland thrust belt and terranes. The terranes are alien to continental South America (SA) and may have proto-Caribbean or Caribbean plate origins. The hinterland rocks were widely thought to come from sediments and granitoids of Mesozoic protolithic ages and to be of Cretaceous metamorphic age. Such rocks are now know to be of at least two or more types, as follows: (1) low grade, protoliths of pre-Mesozoic basement and shelfal covermore » of uncertain age range, inboard locus, Oligocene to mid-Miocene metamorphic ages younging eastward (Caracas, Paria, and Northern Range belts), and (2) higher grade including high P/T, varies protoliths of uncertain age range, Cretaceous and ( )early Paleogene metamorphic ages (Tacagua, Araya, Margarita). The geometry, protoliths, structures, and metamorphic ages of type 1 parautochthoneity and an origin as a thickened wedge of crust-cored passive margin cover. The wedge grew by accretion between about 35 and 20 Ma during oblique transport toward the foreland. The diachroneity of metamorphism implies, as does the timing of foreland deformation, that the wedge evolved in a right-oblique collision between northern SA and terranes moving wholly or partly with the Caribbean plate since the Eocene. Type 2 rocks probably came with the terranes and are products of convergent zone tectonics, either in the proto-Caribbean plate. The hinterland boundaries are brittle thrusts that are out of sequence and imply progressive contraction from mid-Cenozoic to the present.« less

  20. An updated stress map of the continental United States reveals heterogeneous intraplate stress

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levandowski, Will; Herrmann, Robert B.; Briggs, Rich; Boyd, Oliver; Gold, Ryan

    2018-06-01

    Knowledge of the state of stress in Earth's crust is key to understanding the forces and processes responsible for earthquakes. Historically, low rates of natural seismicity in the central and eastern United States have complicated efforts to understand intraplate stress, but recent improvements in seismic networks and the spread of human-induced seismicity have greatly improved data coverage. Here, we compile a nationwide stress map based on formal inversions of focal mechanisms that challenges the idea that deformation in continental interiors is driven primarily by broad, uniform stress fields derived from distant plate boundaries. Despite plate-boundary compression, extension dominates roughly half of the continent, and second-order forces related to lithospheric structure appear to control extension directions. We also show that the states of stress in several active eastern United States seismic zones differ significantly from those of surrounding areas and that these anomalies cannot be explained by transient processes, suggesting that earthquakes are focused by persistent, locally derived sources of stress. Such spatially variable intraplate stress appears to justify the current, spatially variable estimates of seismic hazard. Future work to quantify sources of stress, stressing-rate magnitudes and their relationship with strain and earthquake rates could allow prospective mapping of intraplate hazard.

  1. A Treatise on Equivalent-Plate Stiffnesses for Stiffened Laminated-Composite Plates and Plate-Like Lattices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nemeth, Michael P.

    2011-01-01

    A survey of studies conducted since 1914 on the use of equivalent-plate stiffnesses in modeling the overall, stiffness-critical response of stiffened plates and shells is presented. Two detailed, comprehensive derivations of first-approximation equivalent-plate stiffnesses are also presented that are based on the Reissner-Mindlin-type, first-order transverse-shear deformation theory for anisotropic plates. Equivalent-plate stiffness expressions, and a corresponding symbolic manipulation computer program, are also presented for several different stiffener configurations. These expressions are very general and exhibit the full range of anisotropies permitted by the Reissner-Mindlin-type, first-order transverse-shear deformation theory for anisotropic plates. The expressions presented in the present study were also compared with available, previously published results. For the most part, the previously published results are for special cases of the general expressions presented herein and are almost in complete agreement. Analysis is also presented that extends the use of the equivalent-plate stiffness expressions to sandwich plates.

  2. Plate boundary reorganization in the active Banda Arc-continent collision: Insights from new GPS measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nugroho, Hendro; Harris, Ron; Lestariya, Amin W.; Maruf, Bilal

    2009-12-01

    New GPS measurements reveal that large sections of the SE Asian Plate are progressively accreting to the edge of the Australian continent by distribution of strain away from the deformation front to forearc and backarc plate boundary segments. The study was designed to investigate relative motions across suspected plate boundary segments in the transition from subduction to collision. The oblique nature of the collision provides a way to quantify the spatial and temporal distribution of strain from the deformation front to the back arc. The 12 sites we measured from Bali to Timor included some from an earlier study and 7 additional stations, which extended the epoch of observation to ten years at many sites. The resulting GPS velocity field delineates at least three Sunda Arc-forearc regions around 500 km in strike-length that shows different amounts of coupling to the Australian Plate. Movement of these regions relative to SE Asia increases from 21% to 41% to 63% eastward toward the most advanced stages of collision. The regions are bounded by the deformation front to the south, the Flores-Wetar backarc thrust system to the north, and poorly defined structures on the sides. The suture zone between the NW Australian continental margin and the Sunda-Banda Arcs is still evolving with more than 20 mm/yr of movement measured across the Timor Trough deformation front between Timor and Australia.

  3. Cold plate

    DOEpatents

    Marroquin, Christopher M.; O'Connell, Kevin M.; Schultz, Mark D.; Tian, Shurong

    2018-02-13

    A cold plate, an electronic assembly including a cold plate, and a method for forming a cold plate are provided. The cold plate includes an interface plate and an opposing plate that form a plenum. The cold plate includes a plurality of active areas arranged for alignment over respective heat generating portions of an electronic assembly, and non-active areas between the active areas. A cooling fluid flows through the plenum. The plenum, at the non-active areas, has a reduced width and/or reduced height relative to the plenum at the active areas. The reduced width and/or height of the plenum, and exterior dimensions of cold plate, at the non-active areas allow the non-active areas to flex to accommodate surface variations of the electronics assembly. The reduced width and/or height non-active areas can be specifically shaped to fit between physical features of the electronics assembly.

  4. Collision and Break-off : Numerical models and surface observables

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bottrill, Andrew; van Hunen, Jeroen; Allen, Mark

    2013-04-01

    The process of continental collision and slab break-off has been explored by many authors using a number of different numerical models and approaches (Andrews and Billen, 2009; Gerya et al., 2004; van Hunen and Allen, 2011). One of the challenges of using numerical models to explore collision and break-off is relating model predictions to real observables from current collision zones. Part of the reason for this is that collision zones by their nature destroy a lot of potentially useful surface evidence of deep dynamics. One observable that offers the possibility for recording mantle dynamics at collision zones is topography. Here we present topography predictions from numerical models and show how these can be related to actual topography changes recoded in the sedimentary record. Both 2D and 3D numerical simulation of the closure of a small oceanic basin are presented (Bottrill et al., 2012; van Hunen and Allen, 2011). Topography is calculated from the normal stress at the surface applied to an elastic beam, to give a more realist prediction of topography by accounting for the expected elasticity of the lithosphere. Predicted model topography showed a number of interesting features on the overriding plate. The first is the formation of a basin post collision at around 300km from the suture. Our models also showed uplift postdating collision between the suture and this basin, caused by subduction of buoyant material. Once break-off has occurred we found that this uplift moved further into the overriding plate due to redistribution of stresses from the subducted plate. With our 3D numerical models we simulate a collision that propagates laterally along a subduction system. These models show that a basin forms, similar to that found in our 2D models, which propagates along the system at the same rate as collision. The apparent link between collision and basin formation leads to the investigation into the stress state in the overriding lithosphere. Preliminary

  5. Cyclic formation and stabilization of Archean lithosphere by accretionary orogenesis: Constraints from TTG and potassic granitoids, North China Craton

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Wei; Cawood, Peter A.; Liu, Shuwen; Guo, Rongrong; Bai, Xiang; Wang, Kang

    2017-09-01

    Accretionary orogens are major sites of modern continental growth, yet their role in the development of Archean continental crust remains enigmatic. Diverse granitoid suites from tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) to potassic granitoids appeared during late Archean, representing a period of major continental formation and stabilization. In this study, whole-rock geochemical and zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotopic data are reported for Neoarchean granitoid gneisses from the Northern Liaoning Terrane, northeastern North China Craton (NCC). Older granitoid gneisses ( 2592-2537 Ma) define three magmatic zones migrating from southeast to northwest, each showing a common magmatic evolution from high-pressure TTGs to medium-/low-pressure TTGs and potassic granitoids. They have depleted zircon ƐHf(t) of +0.5 to +8.7. Younger 2529-2503 Ma potassic granitoids and TTGs occur throughout the terrane, which are marked by variable zircon ƐHf(t) of -4.7 to +8.1, and are coeval with regional high-grade metamorphism. Petrogenetic modeling and changing Sr/Y and (La/Yb)N of the granitoids suggest that the crust experienced episodic thickening and thinning and became progressively evolved through development of potassic granitoids and sedimentary successions. The metavolcanic basement to the granitoids display tholeiitic to calc-alkaline affinities, together with the top-to-the-northwest thrusting and associated volcanogenic massive sulfide-type Cu-Zn deposits, suggesting cyclic crustal formation of Northern Liaoning within an accretionary orogen with a SE-dipping subduction polarity. Cyclic crustal thickening and thinning is related to tectonic switching from advancing to retreating relations between the downgoing and overriding plate. After 2530 Ma, this accretionary system accreted to the ancient continental nucleus of NCC (Anshan-Benxi Terrane), signifying final lithosphere stabilization.

  6. Geochemistry of continental subduction-zone fluids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Yong-Fei; Hermann, Joerg

    2014-12-01

    . Partial melting of the metasomatic mantle domains gives rise to a variety of mafic igneous rocks in collisional orogens and their adjacent active continental margins. The study of such metasomatic processes and products is of great importance to understanding of the mass transfer at the slab-mantle interface in subduction channels. Therefore, the property and behavior of subduction-zone fluids are a key for understanding of the crust-mantle interaction at convergent plate margins.

  7. Continental Basalts and Mantle Xenoliths

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zartman, Robert E.

    In this decade of the International Lithosphere Program, much scientific attention is being directed toward the deep continental crust and subadjacent mantle. The petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic signatures of basaltic magmas, which transect much of the lithosphere as they ascend from their site of melting, and of contained cognate and accidental xenoliths, which are found along the path of ascent, give us, perhaps, the best clues to composition and structure in the third dimension. Continental Basalts and Mantle Xenoliths provides an opportunity to sample the British school of thought on subjects such as differences between oceanic and continental basalts, effects of mantle metasomatism, and relationships between events in the subcontinental mantle and those in the overlying crust. This volume is recommended by the publisher as being of interest to senior undergraduates and postgraduate researchers; I would extend that readership to all scientists who seek access to a potpourri of recent findings and current ideas in a rapidly evolving field of research.

  8. An updated global earthquake catalogue for stable continental regions: Reassessing the correlation with ancient rifts

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schulte, S.M.; Mooney, W.D.

    2005-01-01

    We present an updated global earthquake catalogue for stable continental regions (SCRs; i.e. intraplate earthquakes) that is available on the Internet. Our database contains information on location, magnitude, seismic moment and focal mechanisms for over 1300 M (moment magnitude) ??? 4.5 historic and instrumentally recorded crustal events. Using this updated earthquake database in combination with a recently published global catalogue of rifts, we assess the correlation of intraplate seismicity with ancient rifts on a global scale. Each tectonic event is put into one of five categories based on location: (i) interior rifts/taphrogens, (ii) rifted continental margins, (iii) non-rifted crust, (iv) possible interior rifts and (v) possible rifted margins. We find that approximately 27 per cent of all events are classified as interior rifts (i), 25 per cent are rifted continental margins (ii), 36 per cent are within non-rifted crust (iii) and 12 per cent (iv and v) remain uncertain. Thus, over half (52 per cent) of all events are associated with rifted crust, although within the continental interiors (i.e. away from continental margins), non-rifted crust has experienced more earthquakes than interior rifts. No major change in distribution is found if only large (M ??? 6.0) earthquakes are considered. The largest events (M ??? 7.0) however, have occurred predominantly within rifts (50 per cent) and continental margins (43 per cent). Intraplate seismicity is not distributed evenly. Instead several zones of concentrated seismicity seem to exist. This is especially true for interior rifts/taphrogens, where a total of only 12 regions are responsible for 74 per cent of all events and as much as 98 per cent of all seismic moment released in that category. Of the four rifts/taphrogens that have experienced the largest earthquakes, seismicity within the Kutch rift, India, and the East China rift system, may be controlled by diffuse plate boundary deformation more than by the

  9. Anomalous Subsidence at the Ocean Continent Transition of the Gulf of Aden Rifted Continental Margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowie, Leanne; Kusznir, Nick; Leroy, Sylvie

    2013-04-01

    It has been proposed that some rifted continental margins have anomalous subsidence and that at break-up they were elevated at shallower bathymetries than the isostatic response predicted by classical rift models (McKenzie, 1978). The existence of anomalous syn- or early-post break-up subsidence of this form would have important implications for our understanding of the geodynamics of continental break-up and sea-floor spreading initiation. We have investigated subsidence of the young rifted continental margin of the eastern Gulf of Aden, focussing on the western Oman margin (break-up age 17.6 Ma). Lucazeau et al. (2008) have found that the observed bathymetry here is approximately 1 km shallower than the predicted bathymetry. In order to examine the proposition of an anomalous early post break-up subsidence history of the Omani Gulf of Aden rifted continental margin, we have determined the subsidence of the oldest oceanic crust adjacent to the continent-ocean boundary (COB) using residual depth anomaly (RDA) analysis corrected for sediment loading and oceanic crustal thickness variation. RDAs corrected for sediment loading using flexural backstripping and decompaction have been calculated by comparing observed and age predicted oceanic bathymetries in order to identify anomalous subsidence of the Gulf of Aden rifted continental margin. Age predicted bathymetric anomalies have been calculated using the thermal plate model predictions of Crosby and McKenzie (2009). Non-zero RDAs at the Omani Gulf of Aden rifted continental margin can be the result of non standard oceanic crustal thickness or the effect of mantle dynamic topography or a non-classical rift and break-up model. Oceanic crustal basement thicknesses from gravity inversion together with Airy isostasy have been used to predict a "synthetic" gravity RDA, in order to determine the RDA contribution from non-standard oceanic crustal thickness. Gravity inversion, used to determine crustal basement thickness

  10. Formation of Fe-Mn crusts within a continental margin environment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Conrad, Tracey A.; Hein, James R.; Paytan, Adina; Clague, David A.

    2017-01-01

    This study examines Fe-Mn crusts that form on seamounts along the California continental-margin (CCM), within the United States 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. The study area extends from approximately 30° to 38° North latitudes and from 117° to 126° West longitudes. The area of study is a tectonically active northeast Pacific plate boundary region and is also part of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre with currents dominated by the California Current System. Upwelling of nutrient-rich water results in high primary productivity that produces a pronounced oxygen minimum zone. Hydrogenetic Fe-Mn crusts forming along the CCM show distinct chemical and mineral compositions compared to open-ocean crusts. On average, CCM crusts contain more Fe relative to Mn than open-ocean Pacific crusts. The continental shelf and slope release both Fe and Mn under low-oxygen conditions. Silica is also enriched relative to Al compared to open-ocean crusts. This is due to the North Pacific silica plume and enrichment of Si along the path of deep-water circulation, resulting in Si enrichment in bottom and intermediate waters of the eastern Pacific.The CCM Fe-Mn crusts have a higher percentage of birnessite than open-ocean crusts, reflecting lower dissolved seawater oxygen that results from the intense coastal upwelling and proximity to zones of continental slope pore-water anoxia. Carbonate fluorapatite (CFA) is not present and CCM crusts do not show evidence of phosphatization, even in the older sections. The mineralogy indicates a suboxic environment under which birnessite forms, but in which pH is not high enough to facilitate CFA deposition. Growth rates of CCM crusts generally increase with increasing water depth, likely due to deep-water Fe sources mobilized from reduced shelf and slope sediments.Many elements of economic interest including Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, W, and Te have slightly or significantly lower concentrations in CCM crusts relative to crusts from the Pacific

  11. Tectono-magmatic relationships along an obliquely convergent plate boundary: Sumatra, Indonesia.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Acocella, Valerio; Bellier, Olivier

    2017-04-01

    The tectono-magmatic relationships along divergent and orthogonally convergent plate boundaries have been defined in several aspects. However, much less is known along obliquely convergent plate boundaries, where the strain partitioning promotes strike-slip structures along the volcanic arc. Here it is unclear if and, in case, how strike-slip structures may control arc volcanism, in terms of processes, distribution and size. To better define these features, we review the available tectonic, structural and volcanological data on Sumatra (Indonesia), which provides the ideal case study. The Sumatra volcanic arc consists of 48 major active volcanoes. Of these, 46% lie within 10 km from the dextral Great Sumatra Fault (GSF), which carries most of the strike-slip displacement on the overriding plate, whereas 27% of the volcanoes lie at >20 km from the GSF. Considering the volcanoes lying within 10 km from GSF, 76% show some possible structural relation to the GSF, whereas only 28% (7 volcanoes) show a clear structural relation to the GSF, being located in pull-apart or releasing bends between dextral segments. However, these localized areas of extension do not seem to promote the development of magmatic segments, similarly to orthogonally convergent plate boundaries. Many volcanoes lie to the west of the GSF, largely following the shallower portions of the slab, which reaches its average partial melting depth (130±30 km) more westward. There is a preferred volcano alignment and elongation along the N30-N40°E trend, almost parallel to the convergence vector; this trend coincides with the direction of the extensional structures found along the arc. Other volcanoes are elongated parallel to the GSF, possibly resulting from the co- and post-seismic across-arc extension, as observed during the 2004 mega-earthquake. Finally, there is no relationship between the slip rate along GSF and the erupted volumes along the arc: the highest productivity of Toba caldera may be

  12. Atlantic continental margin of the United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Grow, John A.; Sheridan, Robert E.; Palmer, A.R.

    1982-01-01

    The objective of this Decade of North American Geology (D-NAG) volume will be to focus on the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin, including the onshore coastal plain, related onshore Triassic-Jurassic rift grabens, and the offshore basins and platforms. Following multiple compressional tectonic episodes between Africa and North America during the Paleozoic Era that formed the Appalachian Mountains, the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras were dominated by tensional tectonic processes that separated Africa and North America. Extensional rifting during Triassic and Early Jurassic times resulted in numerous tensional grabens both onshore and offshore, which filled with nonmarine continental red beds, lacustrine deposits, and volcanic flows and debris. The final stage of this breakup between Africa and North America occurred beneath the present outer continental shelf and continental slope during Early or Middle Jurassic time when sea-floor spreading began to form new oceanic crust and lithosophere between the two continents as they drifted apart. Postrift subsidence of the marginal basins continued in response to cooling of the lithosphere and sedimentary loading.Geophysical surveys and oil-exploration drilling along the U.S. Atlantic continental margin during the past 5 years are beginning to answer many questions concerning its deep structure and stratigraphy and how it evolved during the rifting and early sea-floor-spreading stages of the separation of this region from Africa. Earlier geophysical studies of the U.S. continental margin used marine refraction and submarine gravity measurements. Single-channel seismic-reflection, marine magnetic, aeromagnetic, and continuous gravity measurements became available during the 1960s.

  13. The effect of plumes and a free surface on mantle dynamics with continents and self-consistent plate tectonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jain, Charitra; Rozel, Antoine; Tackley, Paul

    2014-05-01

    Rolf et al. (EPSL, 2012) and Coltice et al. (Science, 2012) investigated the thermal and dynamical influences of continents on plate tectonics and the thermal state of Earth's mantle, but they did not explicitly consider the influence of mantle plumes. When present, strong mantle plumes arising from the deep mantle can impose additional stresses on the continents, thereby facilitating continental rifting (Storey, Nature 1995; Santosh et al., Gondwana Research 2009) and disrupting the supercontinent cycle (Philips and Bunge, Geology 2007). In recent years, several studies have characterized the relation between the location of the plumes and the continents, but with contradicting observations. While Heron and Lowman (GRL, 2010; Tectonophysics, 2011) propose regions where downwelling has ceased (irrespective of overlying plate) as the preferred location for plumes, O'Neill et al. (Gondwana Research, 2009) show an anti-correlation between the average positions of subducting slabs at continental margins, and mantle plumes at continental/oceanic interiors. Continental motion is attributed to the viscous stresses imparted by the convecting mantle and the extent of this motion depends on the heat budget of the mantle. Core-mantle boundary (CMB) heat flux, internal heating from decay of radioactive elements, and mantle cooling contribute to this heat budget. Out of these sources, CMB heat flux is not well defined; however, the recent determination that the core's thermal conductivity is much higher than previously thought requires a CMB heat flow of at least 12 TW (de Koker et al., PNAS 2012; Pozzo et al., Nature 2012; Gomi et al., PEPI 2013), much higher than early estimates of 3-4 TW (Lay et al., Nature 2008). Thus, it is necessary to characterize the effect of increased CMB heat flux on mantle dynamics. In almost all mantle convection simulations, the top boundary is treated as a free-slip surface whereas Earth's surface is a deformable free surface. With a free

  14. Tectonic slicing of subducting oceanic crust along plate interfaces: Numerical modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruh, J. B.; Le Pourhiet, L.; Agard, Ph.; Burov, E.; Gerya, T.

    2015-10-01

    Multikilometer-sized slivers of high-pressure low-temperature metamorphic oceanic crust and mantle are observed in many mountain belts. These blueschist and eclogite units were detached from the descending plate during subduction. Large-scale thermo-mechanical numerical models based on finite difference marker-in-cell staggered grid technique are implemented to investigate slicing processes that lead to the detachment of oceanic slivers and their exhumation before the onset of the continental collision phase. In particular, we investigate the role of the serpentinized subcrustal slab mantle in the mechanisms of shallow and deep crustal slicing. Results show that spatially homogeneous serpentinization of the sub-Moho slab mantle leads to complete accretion of oceanic crust within the accretionary wedge. Spatially discontinuous serpentinization of the slab mantle in form of unconnected patches can lead to shallow slicing of the oceanic crust below the accretionary wedge and to its deep slicing at mantle depths depending on the patch length, slab angle, convergence velocity and continental geothermal gradient. P-T paths obtained in this study are compared to natural examples of shallow slicing of the Crescent Terrane below Vancouver Island and deeply sliced crust of the Lago Superiore and Saas-Zermatt units in the Western Alps.

  15. On causal links between flood basalts and continental breakup

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Courtillot, V.; Jaupart, C.; Manighetti, I.; Tapponnier, P.; Besse, J.

    1999-03-01

    Temporal coincidence between continental flood basalts and breakup has been noted for almost three decades. Eight major continental flood basalts have been produced over the last 300 Ma. The most recent, the Ethiopian traps, erupted in about 1 Myr at 30 Ma. Rifting in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and possibly East African rift started at about the same time. A second trap-like episode occurred around 2 Ma and formation of true oceanic crust is due in the next few Myr. We find similar relationships for the 60 Ma Greenland traps and opening of the North Atlantic, 65 Ma Deccan traps and opening of the NW Indian Ocean, 132 Ma Parana traps and South Atlantic, 184 Ma Karoo traps and SW Indian Ocean, and 200 Ma Central Atlantic Margin flood basalts and opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean. The 250 Ma Siberian and 258 Ma Emeishan traps seem to correlate with major, if aborted, phases of rifting. Rifting asymmetry, apparent triple junctions and rift propagation (towards the flood basalt area) are common features that may, together with the relative timings of flood basalt, seaward dipping reflector and oceanic crust production, depend on a number of plume- and lithosphere- related factors. We propose a mixed scenario of `active/passive' rifting to account for these observations. In all cases, an active component (a plume and resulting flood basalt) is a pre-requisite for the breakup of a major oceanic basin. But rifting must be allowed by plate-boundary forces and is influenced by pre-existing heterogeneities in lithospheric structure. The best example is the Atlantic Ocean, whose large-scale geometry with three large basins was imposed by the impact points of three mantle plumes.

  16. Continental volume and freeboard through geological time

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schubert, G.; Reymer, A. P. S.

    1985-01-01

    The consequences of approximately constant freeboard for continental growth are explored using a model that relates the volumes of isostatically compensated continents and oceans to the secular decline in terrestrial heat flow. It is found that a post-Archean increase in freeboard by 200 m requires continental growth of only 10 percent, while a decrease in freeboard by 200 m during this same period necessitates a crustal growth of 40 percent. Shrinkage of the continental crust since the end of the Archean can be ruled out. Changes of more than 10 percent in post-Archean crustal thickness are highly unlikely.

  17. Map of Distribution of Bottom Sediments on the Continental Shelf, Gulf of Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Evans, Kevin R.; Carlson, Paul R.; Hampton, Monty A.; Marlow, Michael S.; Barnes, Peter W.

    2000-01-01

    Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey has a long history of exploring marine geology in the Gulf of Alaska. As part of a cooperative program with other federal and state agencies, the USGS is investigating the relations between ocean-floor geology and benthic marine biohabitats. This bottom sediment map, compiled from published literature will help marine biologists develop an understanding of sea-floor geology in relation to various biological habitats. The pattern of sea-floor sedimentation and bottom morphology in the Gulf of Alaska reflects a complex interplay of regional tectonism, glacial advances and retreats, oceanic and tidal currents, waves, storms, eustatic change, and gravity-driven processes. This map, based on numerous cruises during the period of 1970-1996, shows distribution of bottom sediments in areas of study on the continental shelf. The samples were collected with piston, box, and gravity corers, and grab samplers. The interpretations of sediment distribution are the products of sediment size analyses combined with interpretations of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles. The sea floor was separated into several areas as follows: Cook Inlet -- Hazards studies in this embayment emphasized sediment distribution, sediment dynamics, bedforms, shallow faults, and seafloor stability. Migrating mega-sandwaves, driven by strong tidal currents, influence seabed habitats and stability of the seafloor, especially near pipelines and drilling platforms. The coarseness of the bottom sediment reinforces the influence of the strong tidal currents on the seafloor habitats. Kodiak Shelf -- Tectonic framework studies demonstrate the development of an accretionary wedge as the Pacific Plate underthrusts the Alaskan landmass. Seismic data across the accretionary wedge reveal anomalies indicative of fluid/gas vent sites in this segment of the continental margin. Geologic hazards research shows that movement along numerous shallow faults poses a risk to sea

  18. Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous continental convergence and intracontinental orogenesis in East Asia: A synthesis of the Yanshan Revolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dong, Shuwen; Zhang, Yueqiao; Zhang, Fuqin; Cui, Jianjun; Chen, Xuanhua; Zhang, Shuanhong; Miao, Laicheng; Li, Jianhua; Shi, Wei; Li, Zhenhong; Huang, Shiqi; Li, Hailong

    2015-12-01

    The basic tectonic framework of continental East Asia was produced by a series of nearly contemporaneous orogenic events in the late Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Commonly, the Late Mesozoic orogenic processes were characterized by continent-continent collision, large-scale thrusting, strike-slip faulting and intense crustal shortening, crustal thickening, regional anatexis and metamorphism, followed by large-scale lithospheric extension, rifting and magmatism. To better understand the geological processes, this paper reviews and synthesizes existing multi-disciplinary geologic data related to sedimentation, tectonics, magmatism, metamorphism and geochemistry, and proposes a two-stage tectono-thermal evolutionary history of East Asia during the late Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (ca. 170-120 Ma). In the first stage, three orogenic belts along the continental margins were formed coevally at ca. 170-135 Ma, i.e., the north Mongol-Okhotsk orogen, the east paleo-Pacific coastal orogen, and the west Bangong-Nujiang orogen. Tectonism related to the coastal orogen caused extensive intracontinental folding and thrusting that resulted in a depositional hiatus in the Late Jurassic, as well as crustal anatexis that generated syn-kinematic granites, adakites and migmatites. The lithosphere of the East Asian continent was thickened, reaching a maximum during the latest Jurassic or the earliest Cretaceous. In the second stage (ca. 135-120 Ma), delamination of the thickened lithosphere resulted in a remarkable (>120 km) lithospheric thinning and the development of mantle-derived magmatism, mineralization, metamorphic core complexes and rift basins. The Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous subduction of oceanic plates (paleo-Pacific, meso-Tethys, and Mongol-Okhotsk) and continent-continent collision (e.g. Lhasa and Qiangtang) along the East Asian continental margins produced broad coastal and intracontinental orogens. These significant tectonic activities, marked by

  19. A Facies Model for Temperate Continental Glaciers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ashley, Gail Mowry

    1987-01-01

    Discusses the presence and dynamics of continental glaciers in the domination of the physical processes of erosion and deposition in the mid-latitudes during the Pleistocene period. Describes the use of a sedimentary facies model as a guide to recognizing ancient temperate continental glacial deposits. (TW)

  20. A PILOT SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF EXTRASOLAR EARTH-ANALOG PLATE TECTONICS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jura, M.; Klein, B.; Xu, S.

    Relative to calcium, both strontium and barium are markedly enriched in Earth's continental crust compared to the basaltic crusts of other differentiated rocky bodies within the solar system. Here, we both re-examine available archived Keck spectra to place upper bounds on n(Ba)/n(Ca) and revisit published results for n(Sr)/n(Ca) in two white dwarfs that have accreted rocky planetesimals. We find that at most only a small fraction of the pollution is from crustal material that has experienced the distinctive elemental enhancements induced by Earth-analog plate tectonics. In view of the intense theoretical interest in the physical structure of extrasolar rocky planets,more » this search should be extended to additional targets.« less

  1. Present-Day Kinematics of the Dead Sea Transform and Internal Deformation within the Sinai and Arabian Plates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gomez, F. G.; Yassminh, R.; Cochran, W. J.; Reilinger, R. E.; Barazangi, M.

    2015-12-01

    An updated GPS velocity field along the Dead Sea Fault (DSF) provides a basis for assessing off-transform strain within the Sinai and Arabian plates along entire length of this left-lateral, continental transform. As one of the main tectonic elements in the eastern Mediterranean region, an improved kinematic view of the DSF elucidates the broader understanding of the regional tectonic framework, as well as contributes to refining the earthquake hazard assessment. Reconciling short-term (geodetic) measurements of crustal strain with neotectonic data on fault movements can yield insight into the mechanical and rheological properties of crustal deformation associated with transform tectonics. In addition to regional continuous GPS stations, this study assembles results from campaign GPS networks in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan spanning more than a decade. 1-sigma uncertainties on velocities range from less than 0.4 mm/yr (continuous stations and older GPS survey sites) to about 1.0 mm/yr (newer survey sites). Analyses using elastic block models suggest slip rates of 4.0 - 5.0 mm/yr along the southern and central DSF and slip rates of 2.0 - 3.0 mm/yr along the northern DSF, and fault locking depths also vary along strike of the transform. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of GPS observations permits analyzing residual strains within the adjacent plates, after plate boundary strain is removed. A key observation is horizontal stretching within the Sinai plate, which may be related to pull by the subducted slab of the Sinai plate. Within the Arabian plate, areas of horizontal stretching generally correlate with locations of Quaternary volcanism.

  2. Hue distinctiveness overrides category in determining performance in multiple object tracking.

    PubMed

    Sun, Mengdan; Zhang, Xuemin; Fan, Lingxia; Hu, Luming

    2018-02-01

    The visual distinctiveness between targets and distractors can significantly facilitate performance in multiple object tracking (MOT), in which color is a feature that has been commonly used. However, the processing of color can be more than "visual." Color is continuous in chromaticity, while it is commonly grouped into discrete categories (e.g., red, green). Evidence from color perception suggested that color categories may have a unique role in visual tasks independent of its chromatic appearance. Previous MOT studies have not examined the effect of chromatic and categorical distinctiveness on tracking separately. The current study aimed to reveal how chromatic (hue) and categorical distinctiveness of color between the targets and distractors affects tracking performance. With four experiments, we showed that tracking performance was largely facilitated by the increasing hue distance between the target set and the distractor set, suggesting that perceptual grouping was formed based on hue distinctiveness to aid tracking. However, we found no color categorical effect, because tracking performance was not significantly different when the targets and distractors were from the same or different categories. It was concluded that the chromatic distinctiveness of color overrides category in determining tracking performance, suggesting a dominant role of perceptual feature in MOT.

  3. Fuelling decisions in migratory birds: geomagnetic cues override the seasonal effect.

    PubMed

    Kullberg, Cecilia; Henshaw, Ian; Jakobsson, Sven; Johansson, Patrik; Fransson, Thord

    2007-09-07

    Recent evaluations of both temporal and spatial precision in bird migration have called for external cues in addition to the inherited programme defining the migratory journey in terms of direction, distance and fuelling behaviour along the route. We used juvenile European robins (Erithacus rubecula) to study whether geomagnetic cues affect fuel deposition in a medium-distance migrant by simulating a migratory journey from southeast Sweden to the wintering area in southern Spain. In the late phase of the onset of autumn migration, robins exposed to the magnetic treatment attained a lower fuel load than control birds exposed to the ambient magnetic field of southeast Sweden. In contrast, robins captured in the early phase of the onset of autumn migration all showed low fuel deposition irrespective of experimental treatment. These results are, as expected, the inverse of what we have found in similar studies in a long-distance migrant, the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), indicating that the reaction in terms of fuelling behaviour to a simulated southward migration varies depending on the relevance for the species. Furthermore, we suggest that information from the geomagnetic field act as an important external cue overriding the seasonal effect on fuelling behaviour in migratory birds.

  4. Link between the northward extension of Great Sumatra Fault and continental rifting in the Andaman Sea: new results from seismic reflection studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, S. C.; Moeremans, R. E.; McArdle, J.; Johansen, K.

    2012-12-01

    The Great Sumatra Fault (GSF) traverses the main land Sumatra from Sunda Strait in the southeast to Banda Aceh in the northwest for about 1900 km, and defines the present day plate boundary between the Sunda Plate in the north and Burmese Sliver Plate in the south. It is formed due to the oblique subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate beneath the Sunda Plate. It has been well studied on land but is poorly studied north of Banda Aceh in the Andaman Sea. Its study is further complicated by the presence of volcanic arc in its vicinity and its interaction with the West Andaman Fault (WAF) further north. Here we present deep seismic reflection images along the northward extension of the GSF over 700 km until it joins the Andaman Spreading Centre and interpret these images in the light of earthquake, gravity and bathymetry data. We find that the GSF has two strands between Banda Aceh and Nicobar Island: a transpression in the south and a deep narrow active rift basin in the north dotted with volcanoes in the center, suggesting that the volcanic arc is coincident with the rifting. Further north of Nicobar Island, an active strike-slip fault cuts through a deep rifted basin until its intersection with Andaman Sea Spreading Centre. The volcanic arc lies just east of the basin. The western margin of this basin seems to be a rifted continental margin, tilted westward flooring the Andaman-Nicobar forearc basin, which was once a part of Malaya Peninsula, suggesting that a significant parts of the Andaman-Nicobar forearc system is underlain by the Sunda continental crust. The Andaman-Nicobar forearc basin is bounded in the west by backthrusts, similar to the West Andaman and Mentawai faults bounding the Aceh and Mentawai forearc basins in the south. The cluster of seismicity after the 2004 great Andaman-Sumatra earthquake just north of Nicobar Island coincides with the intersection of two NW-SE and N-S trending strike-slip fault systems. Some of hypocentre of these earthquakes

  5. Tectonics of the Philippine Sea plate before and after 52 Ma subduction initiation to form the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ishizuka, O.; Tani, K.; Harigane, Y.; Umino, S.; Stern, R. J.; Reagan, M. K.; Hickey-Vargas, R.; Yogodzinski, G. M.; Kusano, Y.; Arculus, R. J.

    2016-12-01

    Robust tectonic reconstruction of the evolving Philippine Sea Plate for the period immediately before and after subduction initiation 52 Ma to form the Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) arc is prerequisite to understand cause of subduction initiation (SI) and test competing hypotheses for SI such as spontaneous or induced nucleation. Understanding of nature and origin of overriding and subducting plates is especially important because plate density is a key parameter controlling SI based on numerical modeling (e.g., Leng and Gurnis 2015). There is increasing evidence that multiple geological events related to changing stress fields took place in and around Philippine Sea plate about the time of SI 52 Ma (Ishizuka et al., 2011). For our understanding of the early IBM arc system to increase, it is important to understand the pattern and tempo of these geological events, particularly the duration and extent of seafloor spreading in the proto arc associated with SI, and its temporal relationship with spreading in the West Philippine Basin (WPB). IODP Exp. 351 provided evidence of SI-related seafloor spreading west of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge (Arculus et al., 2015). Planned age determination of the basement crust at Site U1438 will constrain the timing and geometry of SI-related spreading and its relationship to variation in mode of spreading in the WPB including rotation of spreading axis. Some tectonic reconstructions suggest that part of the IBM arc could have formed on "young" WPB crust. Dredging of the northern Mariana forearc crust and mantle in 2014 aimed to test this hypothesis. Preliminary data indicates that early arc crustal section of the N. Mariana forearc is geochemically and temporally similar to that exposed in the Bonin and southern Mariana forearcs. New tectonic reconstructions for the nascent IBM system will be presented based on these observations.

  6. Stress Orientations and Strain Rates in the Upper Plate of a `Locked' subduction zone, at southernmost North Island, New Zealand

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evanzia, D. A. D.; Lamb, S. H.; Savage, M. K.

    2017-12-01

    The southern North Island, New Zealand is located at the southern Hikurangi Margin, where the Pacific Plate is obliquely subducting westward underneath the Australian Plate. The orientations of the principle stresses in the overriding plate are determined from microseismic focal mechanisms detected and located using the temporary SAHKE and permanent GeoNet seismic array operating during 2009-2010. The microseismic earthquakes are located with the NonLinLoc method, using a New Zealand specific 3D velocity model; only those earthquakes located above the modelled subduction plate interface are used. Strain rate parameters calculations are calculated using cGPS velocities from 56 stations located from the central North Island to the northernmost South Island, New Zealand. In the region west of the Tararua-range-bounding Wairarapa fault (the Western region), the orientations of stresses indicate a normal regime (S1: vertical; S2 & S3: horizontal), with SHmax trending ENE. In the Central Basin region (east of the Wairarapa fault) the orientations of the stresses indicate a reverse regime (S3: vertical; S1 & S2: horizontal), with SHmax orientated NW. The low seismicity rates in the Eastern region make the results unreliable. There is a distinct difference between the strain rate and vorticity on either side the Wairarapa fault. Strain rate and vorticity rates increase west and decreased east of the Wairarapa; this correlates well with the pattern of observed seismicity. The southern North Island is predominately contracting, except for a region on the West coast, where some expansion is occurs. This pattern of expansion in the West and contraction in the center of the study area, calculated from cGPS, is similar the stress inversion results calculated from focal mechanisms. These similarities suggest that the present stress and strain rates are collinear, as occurs in isotropic media.

  7. Estimating long-wavelength dynamic topographic change of passive continental margins since the Early Cretaceous

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Müller, Dietmar; Hassan, Rakib; Gurnis, Michael; Flament, Nicolas; Williams, Simon

    2017-04-01

    The influence of mantle convection on dynamic topographic change along continental margins is difficult to unravel, because their stratigraphic record is dominated by tectonic subsidence caused by rifting. Yet, dynamic topography can potentially introduce significant depth anomalies along passive margins, influencing their water depth, sedimentary environments and geohistory. Here we follow a three-fold approach to estimate changes in dynamic topography along both continental interiors and passive margins based on a set of seven global mantle convection models. These models include different methodologies (forward and hybrid backward-forward methods), different plate reconstructions and alternative mantle rheologies. We demonstrate that a geodynamic forward model that includes adiabatic heating in addition to internal heating from radiogenic sources, and a mantle viscosity profile with a gradual increase in viscosity below the mantle transition zone, provides a greatly improved match to the spectral range of residual topography end-members as compared with previous models at very long wavelengths (spherical degrees 2-3). We combine global sea level estimates with predicted surface dynamic topography to evaluate the match between predicted continental flooding patterns and published paleo-coastlines by comparing predicted versus geologically reconstructed land fractions and spatial overlaps of flooded regions for individual continents since 140 Ma. Modelled versus geologically reconstructed land fractions match within 10% for most models, and the spatial overlaps of inundated regions are mostly between 85% and 100% for the Cenozoic, dropping to about 75-100% in the Cretaceous. We categorise the evolution of modelled dynamic topography in both continental interiors and along passive margins using cluster analysis to investigate how clusters of similar dynamic topography time series are distributed spatially. A subdivision of four clusters is found to best reveal end

  8. Composite and Component Plates, Plate Non-rigidity, and the Steadiness of Plate Motion From Marine Geophysical and Space Geodetic Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gordon, R. G.; Argus, D. F.; DeMets, C.

    2017-12-01

    Plate tectonic theory has evolved since its birth 50 years ago. In particular, we now recognize that some of the originally proposed plates such as the Indo-Australia plate, the Africa plate, and the America plate are what we term "composite" plates—entities that contain no traditionally defined narrow plate boundaries, but are composed of multiple approximately rigid regions, which we term "component" plates, separated by diffuse plate boundaries. The best example of a composite plate is the Indo-Australia composite plate, which consists of the India, Capricorn, Australia, and Macquarie component plates and multiple intervening diffuse oceanic plate boundaries. The poles of relative rotation between component plates tend to lie in their mutual diffuse plate boundary. Outside of diffuse boundaries, plate rigidity has proven to be an excellent approximation, but the non-closure of some plate circuits indicates that stable plate interiors have a small but significant non-rigidity that may add up to 1 to 2 mm/a across any individual plate and may be partly due to horizontal thermal contraction of oceanic lithosphere. The greatest observational challenge to plate rigidity is posed by the Pacific-Cocos-Nazca plate circuit, which fails closure by 15 ±4 mm/a. The most rapid deformation of the plates observed with space geodesy is generated by solid Earth's viscous response to unloading of the late Pleistocene ice sheets. Differences between different realizations of global plate velocities from space geodesy appear in some cases to be due to differing assumptions about the motion of the geocenter, which affects estimated plate relative angular velocities and estimated vertical motion at geodetic sites. Comparison of space geodetic and marine geophysical plate motion rates and directions has demonstrated that plate motion is nearly steady, which allows plate boundary conditions to be applied to inter-seismic strain accumulation due to locking of specific faults. In

  9. Distribution of long-lived radioactive iodine isotope (I-129) in pore waters from the gas hydrate fields on the continental margins: Indication for methane source of gas hydrate deposits

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tomaru, H.; Lu, Z.; Fehn, U.

    2011-12-01

    Because iodine has a strong association with organic matters in marine environments, pore waters in high methane potential region, in particular gas hydrate occurrences on the continental margins, are enriched significantly in iodine compared with seawater. Natural iodine system is composed of stable and radioactive species, I-129 (half-life of 15.7 Myr) has been used for estimating the age of source formations both for methane and iodine, because iodine can be liberated into pore water during the degradation of organic matter to methane in deep sediments. Here we present I-129 age data in pore waters collected from variety of gas hydrate occurrences on the continental margins. The I-129 ages in pore waters from these locations are significantly older than those of host sediments, indicating long-term transport and accumulation from deep/old sediments. The I-129 ages in the Japan Sea and Okhotsk Sea along the plate boundary between the North American and Amurian Plates correspond to the ages of initial spreading of these marginal seas, pointing to the massive deposition of organic matter for methane generation in deep sediments within limited periods. On the Pacific side of these areas, organic matter-rich back stop is responsible for methane in deep-seated gas hydrate deposits along the Nankai Trough. Deep coaly sequences responsible for deep conventional natural gas deposits are also responsible for overlying gas hydrate deposits off Shimokita Peninsula, NE Japan. Those in the Gulf of Mexico are correlative to the ages of sediments where the top of salt diapirs intrude. Marine sediments on the Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Australian Plate are likely responsible for the methane and iodine in the Hikurangi Trough, New Zealand. These ages reflect well the regional geological settings responsible for generation, transport, and accumulation of methane, I-129 is a key to understand the geological history of gas hydrate deposition.

  10. A geodynamic constraint on Archean continental geotherms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bailey, R. C.

    2003-04-01

    Dewey (1988) observed that gravitational collapse appears to currently limit the altitudes of large plateaus on Earth to about 3 to 5 km above sea level. Arndt (1999) summarized the evidence for the failure of large parts of the continental crust to reach even sea-level during the Archean. If this property of Archean continental elevations was also enforced by gravitational collapse, it permits an estimation of the geothermal gradient in Archean continental crust. If extensional (collapse) tectonics is primarily a balance between gravitational power and the power consumed by extensional (normal) faulting in the upper brittle crust, as analysed by Bailey (1999), then it occurs when continental elevations above ocean bottoms exceed about 0.4 times the thickness of the brittle crust (Bailey, 2000). Assuming an Archean oceanic depth of about 5 km, it follows that that the typical thickness of Archean continental brittle crustal must have been less than about 12 km. Assuming the brittle-ductile transition to occur at about 350 degrees Celsius, this suggests a steep geothermal gradient of at least 30 degrees Celsius per kilometer for Archean continents, during that part of the Archean when continents were primarily submarine. This result does not help resolve the Archean thermal paradox (England and Bickle, 1984) whereby the high global heat flow of the Archean conflicts with the rather shallow crustal Archean geotherms inferred from geobarometry. In fact, the low elevation of Archean continental platforms raises another paradox, a barometric one: that continents were significantly below sea-level implies, by isostasy, that continental crustal thicknesses were significantly less than 30 km, yet the geobarometric data utilized by England and Bickle indicated burial pressures of Archean continental material of up to 10 kb. One resolution of both paradoxes (as discussed by England and Bickle) would be to interpret such deep burials as transient crustal thickening events of

  11. Earthquakes, gravity, and the origin of the Bali Basin: An example of a Nascent Continental Fold-and-Thrust Belt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCaffrey, Robert; Nabelek, John

    1987-01-01

    We infer from the bathymetry and gravity field and from the source mechanisms and depths of the eight largest earthquakes in the Bali region that the Bali Basin is a downwarp in the crust of the Sunda Shelf produced and maintained by thrusting along the Flores back arc thrust zone. Earthquake source mechanisms and focal depths are inferred from the inversion of long-period P and SH waves for all events and short-period P waves for two of the events. Centroidal depths that give the best fit to the seismograms range from 10 to 18 km, but uncertainties in depth allow a range from 7 to 24 km. The P wave nodal planes that dip south at 13° to 35° (±7°) strike roughly parallel to the volcanic arc and are consistent with thrusting of crust of the Bali Basin beneath it. The positions of the earthquakes with respect to crustal features inferred from seismic and gravity data suggest that the earthquakes occur in the basement along the western end of the Flores thrust zone. The slip direction for the back arc thrust zone inferred from the orientation of the earthquake slip vectors indicates that the thrusting in the Bali Basin is probably part of the overall plate convergence, as it roughly coincides with the convergence direction between the Sunda arc and the Indian Ocean plate. Summation of seismic moments of earthquakes between 1960 and 1985 suggests a minimum rate of convergence across the thrust zone of 4 ± 2 mm/a. The presence of back arc thrusting suggests that some coupling between the Indian Ocean plate and the Sunda arc occurs but mechanisms such as continental collision or a shallow subduction of the Indian Ocean plate probably can be ruled out. The present tectonic setting and structure of the Bali Basin is comparable to the early forelands of the Andes or western North America in that a fold-and-thrust belt is forming on the continental side of an arc-trench system at which oceanic lithosphere is being subducted. The Bali Basin is flanked by the Tertiary Java

  12. Pb-Sr-Nd-O isotopic characterization of Mesozoic rocks throughout the northern end of the Peninsular Ranges batholith: Isotopic evidence for the magmatic evolution of oceanic arc–continental margin accretion during the Late Cretaceous of southern California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kistler, Ronald W.; Wooden, Joseph L.; Premo, Wayne R.; Morton, Douglas M.

    2014-01-01

    contaminated magmatic arc. The Peninsular Ranges batholith magmatic arc was initially an oceanic arc built on Panthalassan lithosphere that eventually evolved into a continental margin magmatic arc collision zone, eventually overriding North American cratonic lithosphere. Our Pb-Sr-Nd data further suggest that the western arc rocks represent a nearshore or inboard oceanic arc, as they exhibit isotopic signatures that are more enriched than typical mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB). Isotopic signatures from the central zone are transitional and indicate that enriched crustal magma sources were becoming involved in the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith magmatic plumbing. As the oceanic arc–continental margin collision progressed, a mixture of oceanic mantle and continental magmatic sources transpired. Magmatic production in the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith moved eastward and continued to tap enriched crustal magmatic sources. Similar modeling has been previously proposed for two other western margin magmatic arcs, the Sierra Nevada batholith of central California and the Idaho batholith.Calculated initial Nd signatures at ca. 100 Ma for Permian–Jurassic and Proterozoic basement rocks from the nearby San Gabriel Mountains and possible source areas along the southwestern Laurentian margin of southern California, southwestern Arizona, and northern Sonora strongly suggest their involvement with deep crustal magma mixing beneath the eastern zones of the Peninsular Ranges batholith, as well as farther east in continental lithospheric zones.Last, several samples from the allochthonous, easternmost upper-plate zone, which are considerably younger (ca. 84 Ma) than any of the rocks from the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith proper, have even more enriched average Sri, 206Pbi, 208Pbi, and εNdisignatures of 0.7079, 19.344, 38.881, and −6.6, respectively, indicative of the most-evolved magma sources in the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith and similar to radioisotopic

  13. Geomorphology and Neogene tectonic evolution of the Palomares continental margin (Western Mediterranean)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gómez de la Peña, Laura; Gràcia, Eulàlia; Muñoz, Araceli; Acosta, Juan; Gómez-Ballesteros, María; R. Ranero, César; Uchupi, Elazar

    2016-10-01

    The Palomares continental margin is located in the southeastern part of Spain. The margin main structure was formed during Miocene times, and it is currently part of the wide deformation zone characterizing the region between the Iberian and African plates, where no well-defined plate boundary occurs. The convergence between these two plates is here accommodated by several structures, including the left lateral strike-slip Palomares Fault. The region is characterized by sparse, low to moderate magnitude (Mw < 5.2) shallow instrumental earthquakes, although large historical events have also occurred. To understand the recent tectonic history of the margin we analyze new high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data and re-processed three multichannel seismic reflection profiles crossing the main structures. The analysis of seafloor morphology and associated subsurface structure provides new insights of the active tectonic features of the area. In contrast to other segments of the southeastern Iberian margin, the Palomares margin contains numerous large and comparatively closely spaced canyons with heads that reach near the coast. The margin relief is also characterized by the presence of three prominent igneous submarine ridges that include the Aguilas, Abubacer and Maimonides highs. Erosive processes evidenced by a number of scars, slope failures, gullies and canyon incisions shape the present-day relief of the Palomares margin. Seismic images reveal the deep structure distinguishing between Miocene structures related to the formation of the margin and currently active features, some of which may reactivate inherited structures. The structure of the margin started with an extensional phase accompanied by volcanic accretion during the Serravallian, followed by a compressional pulse that started during the Latemost Tortonian. Nowadays, tectonic activity offshore is subdued and limited to few, minor faults, in comparison with the activity recorded onshore. The deep Algero

  14. Slip Behavior of the Queen Charlotte Plate Boundary Before and After the 2012, MW 7.8 Haida Gwaii Earthquake: Evidence From Repeating Earthquakes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hayward, Tim W.; Bostock, Michael G.

    2017-11-01

    The Queen Charlotte plate boundary, near Haida Gwaii, B.C., includes the dextral, strike-slip, Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF) and the subduction interface between the downgoing Pacific and overriding North American plates. In this study, we present a comprehensive repeating earthquake catalog that represents an effective slip meter for both structures. The catalog comprises 712 individual earthquakes (0.3≤MW≤3.5) arranged into 224 repeating earthquake families on the basis of waveform similarity and source separation estimates from coda wave interferometry. We employ and extend existing relationships for repeating earthquake magnitudes and slips to provide cumulative slip histories for the QCF and subduction interface in six adjacent zones within the study area between 52.3°N and 53.8°N. We find evidence for creep on both faults; however, creep rates are significantly less than plate motion rates, which suggests partial locking of both faults. The QCF exhibits the highest degrees of locking south of 52.8°N, which indicates that the seismic hazard for a major strike-slip earthquake is highest in the southern part of the study area. The 28 October 2012, MW 7.8 Haida Gwaii thrust earthquake occurred in our study area and altered the slip dynamics of the plate boundary. The QCF is observed to undergo accelerated, right-lateral slip for 1-2 months following the earthquake. The subduction interface exhibits afterslip thrust motion that persists for the duration of the study period (i.e., 3 years and 2 months after the Haida Gwaii earthquake). Afterslip is greatest (5.7-8.4 cm/yr) on the periphery of the main rupture zone of the Haida Gwaii event.

  15. Geometric figure–ground cues override standard depth from accretion-deletion

    PubMed Central

    Tanrıkulu, Ömer Dağlar; Froyen, Vicky; Feldman, Jacob; Singh, Manish

    2016-01-01

    Accretion-deletion is widely considered a decisive cue to surface depth ordering, with the accreting or deleting surface interpreted as behind an adjoining surface. However, Froyen, Feldman, and Singh (2013) have shown that when accretion-deletion occurs on both sides of a contour, accreting-deleting regions can also be perceived as in front and as self-occluding due to rotation in three dimensions. In this study we ask whether geometric figure–ground cues can override the traditional “depth from accretion-deletion” interpretation even when accretion-deletion takes place only on one side of a contour. We used two tasks: a relative-depth task (front/back), and a motion-classification task (translation/rotation). We conducted two experiments, in which texture in only one set of alternating regions was moving; the other set was static. Contrary to the traditional interpretation of accretion-deletion, the moving convex and symmetric regions were perceived as figural and rotating in three dimensions in roughly half of the trials. In the second experiment, giving different motion directions to the moving regions (thereby weakening motion-based grouping) further weakened the traditional accretion-deletion interpretation. Our results show that the standard “depth from accretion-deletion” interpretation is overridden by static geometric cues to figure–ground. Overall, the results demonstrate a rich interaction between accretion-deletion, figure–ground, and structure from motion that is not captured by existing models of depth from motion. PMID:26982528

  16. Magmatism at the Eurasian–North American modern plate boundary: Constraints from alkaline volcanism in the Chersky Belt (Yakutia)

    PubMed Central

    Tschegg, Cornelius; Bizimis, Michael; Schneider, David; Akinin, Vyacheslav V.; Ntaflos, Theodoros

    2011-01-01

    The Chersky seismic belt (NE-Russia) forms the modern plate boundary of the Eurasian−North American continental plate. The geodynamic evolution of this continent−continent setting is highly complex and remains a matter of debate, as the extent and influence of the Mid-Arctic Ocean spreading center on the North Asian continent since the Eocene remains unclear. The progression from a tensional stress regime to a modern day transpressional one in the Chersky seismic belt, makes the understanding even more complicated. The alkaline volcanism that has erupted along the Chersky range from Eocene through to the Recent can provide constraints on the geodynamic evolution of this continental boundary, however, the source and petrogenetic evolution of these volcanic rocks and their initiating mechanisms are poorly understood. We studied basanites of the central Chersky belt, which are thought to represent the first alkaline volcanic activity in the area, after initial opening of the Arctic Ocean basin. We present mineral and bulk rock geochemical data as well as Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopes of the alkaline suite of rocks combined with new precise K–Ar and 40Ar/39Ar dating, and discuss an integrated tectono-magmatic model for the Chersky belt. Our findings show that the basanites were generated from a homogeneous asthenospheric mantle reservoir with an EM-1 isotopic flavor, under relatively ‘dry’ conditions at segregation depths around 110 km and temperatures of ~ 1500 °C. Trace element and isotope systematics combined with mantle potential temperature estimates offer no confirmation of magmatism related to subduction or plume activity. Mineral geochemical and petrographical observations together with bulk geochemical evidence indicate a rapid ascent of melts and high cooling rates after emplacement in the continental crust. Our preferred model is that volcanism was triggered by extension and thinning of the lithosphere combined with adiabatic upwelling of the

  17. Magmatism at the Eurasian-North American modern plate boundary: Constraints from alkaline volcanism in the Chersky Belt (Yakutia).

    PubMed

    Tschegg, Cornelius; Bizimis, Michael; Schneider, David; Akinin, Vyacheslav V; Ntaflos, Theodoros

    2011-07-01

    The Chersky seismic belt (NE-Russia) forms the modern plate boundary of the Eurasian-North American continental plate. The geodynamic evolution of this continent-continent setting is highly complex and remains a matter of debate, as the extent and influence of the Mid-Arctic Ocean spreading center on the North Asian continent since the Eocene remains unclear. The progression from a tensional stress regime to a modern day transpressional one in the Chersky seismic belt, makes the understanding even more complicated. The alkaline volcanism that has erupted along the Chersky range from Eocene through to the Recent can provide constraints on the geodynamic evolution of this continental boundary, however, the source and petrogenetic evolution of these volcanic rocks and their initiating mechanisms are poorly understood. We studied basanites of the central Chersky belt, which are thought to represent the first alkaline volcanic activity in the area, after initial opening of the Arctic Ocean basin. We present mineral and bulk rock geochemical data as well as Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopes of the alkaline suite of rocks combined with new precise K-Ar and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating, and discuss an integrated tectono-magmatic model for the Chersky belt. Our findings show that the basanites were generated from a homogeneous asthenospheric mantle reservoir with an EM-1 isotopic flavor, under relatively 'dry' conditions at segregation depths around 110 km and temperatures of ~ 1500 °C. Trace element and isotope systematics combined with mantle potential temperature estimates offer no confirmation of magmatism related to subduction or plume activity. Mineral geochemical and petrographical observations together with bulk geochemical evidence indicate a rapid ascent of melts and high cooling rates after emplacement in the continental crust. Our preferred model is that volcanism was triggered by extension and thinning of the lithosphere combined with adiabatic upwelling of the underlying mantle

  18. Continental rift evolution: From rift initiation to incipient break-up in the Main Ethiopian Rift, East Africa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Corti, Giacomo

    2009-09-01

    The Main Ethiopian Rift is a key sector of the East African Rift System that connects the Afar depression, at Red Sea-Gulf of Aden junction, with the Turkana depression and Kenya Rift to the South. It is a magmatic rift that records all the different stages of rift evolution from rift initiation to break-up and incipient oceanic spreading: it is thus an ideal place to analyse the evolution of continental extension, the rupture of lithospheric plates and the dynamics by which distributed continental deformation is progressively focused at oceanic spreading centres. The first tectono-magmatic event related to the Tertiary rifting was the eruption of voluminous flood basalts that apparently occurred in a rather short time interval at around 30 Ma; strong plateau uplift, which resulted in the development of the Ethiopian and Somalian plateaus now surrounding the rift valley, has been suggested to have initiated contemporaneously or shortly after the extensive flood-basalt volcanism, although its exact timing remains controversial. Voluminous volcanism and uplift started prior to the main rifting phases, suggesting a mantle plume influence on the Tertiary deformation in East Africa. Different plume hypothesis have been suggested, with recent models indicating the existence of deep superplume originating at the core-mantle boundary beneath southern Africa, rising in a north-northeastward direction toward eastern Africa, and feeding multiple plume stems in the upper mantle. However, the existence of this whole-mantle feature and its possible connection with Tertiary rifting are highly debated. The main rifting phases started diachronously along the MER in the Mio-Pliocene; rift propagation was not a smooth process but rather a process with punctuated episodes of extension and relative quiescence. Rift location was most probably controlled by the reactivation of a lithospheric-scale pre-Cambrian weakness; the orientation of this weakness (roughly NE-SW) and the Late

  19. Oceanic-type accretion may begin before complete continental break-up

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geoffroy, L.; Zalan, P. V.; Viana, A. R.

    2011-12-01

    Oceanic accretion is thought to be the process of oceanic crust (and lithosphere) edification through adiabatic melting of shallow convecting mantle at oceanic spreading ridges. It is usually considered as a post-breakup diagnostic process following continents rupturing. However, this is not always correct. The structure of volcanic passive margins (representing more than 50% of passive continental margins) outlines that the continental lithosphere is progressively changed into oceanic-type lithosphere during the stage of continental extension. This is clear at least, at crustal level. The continental crust is 'changed' from the earliest stages of extension into a typical -however thicker- oceanic crust with the typical oceanic magmatic layers (from top to bottom: lava flows/tuffs, sheeted dyke complexes, dominantly (sill-like) mafic intrusions in the lower crust). The Q-rich continental crust is highly extended and increases in volume (due to the magma) during the extensional process. At the continent-ocean transition there is, finally, no seismic difference between this highly transformed continental crust and the oceanic crust. Using a large range of data (including deep seismic reflection profiles), we discuss the mantle mechanisms that governs the process of mantle-assisted continental extension. We outline the large similarity between those mantle processes and those acting at purely-oceanic spreading axis and discuss the effects of the inherited continental lithosphere in the pattern of new mafic crust edification.

  20. Pre-Cenozoic basement rocks of the Proto-Philippine Sea Plate: Constraints for the birthplace of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tani, K.; Ishizuka, O.; Horie, K.; Barth, A. P.; Harigane, Y.; Ueda, H.

    2016-12-01

    The Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc is widely regarded to be a typical intra-oceanic arc, with the oceanic Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Philippine Sea Plate, an evolving complex of active and inactive arcs and back-arc basins. However, little is known about the origin of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate, which existed along with the Pacific Plate at the time of subduction initiation in the Eocene. To investigate the crustal structures of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate, we conducted manned-submersible and dredge surveys in the Daito Ridges and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. The Daito Ridges comprise the northwestern Philippine Sea Plate along with what are regarded as remnants of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate. Submersible observations and rock sampling revealed that the Daito Ridges expose deep crustal sections of gabbroic, granitic, metamorphic, and ultra-mafic rocks, along with volcanic rocks ranging from basalt to andesite. Mesozoic magmatic zircon U-Pb ages have been obtained from the plutonic rocks, and whole-rock geochemistry of the igneous rocks indicates arc origins. Furthermore, mafic schist collected from the Daito Ridge has experienced amphibolite facies metamorphism, with phase assemblages suggesting that the crust was thicker than 20 km at the time. Similar amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks with Proterozoic zircons have been recovered in the southern Kyushu-Palau Ridge, indicating that such distinctively older basement rocks exist as isolated tectonic blocks within the present Philippine Sea Plate. These finds show that the parts of the Daito Ridges and Kyushu-Palau Ridge represent developed crustal sections of the Pre-Cenozoic arc that comprises part of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate, and, together with the tectonic reconstruction of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate (Deschamps and Lallemand 2002, JGR), they suggest that subduction of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc initiated at the continental margin of the Southeast Asia.

  1. 78 FR 32184 - Importation of Fresh Apricots From Continental Spain

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-29

    .... APHIS-2011-0132] RIN 0579-AD62 Importation of Fresh Apricots From Continental Spain AGENCY: Animal and... United States of fresh apricots from continental Spain. This action will allow interested persons... importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh apricots from continental Spain into...

  2. Three-Dimensional Numerical Modeling of Crustal Growth at Active Continental Margins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, G.; Gerya, T.; Tackley, P. J.

    2011-12-01

    Active margins are important sites of new continental crust formation by magmatic processes related to the subduction of oceanic plates. We investigate these phenomena using a three-dimensional coupled petrological-geochemical-thermomechanical numerical model, which combines a finite-difference flow solver with a non-diffusive marker-in-cell technique for advection (I3ELVIS code, Gerya and Yuen, PEPI,2007). The model includes mantle flow associated with the subducting plate, water release from the slab, fluid propagation that triggers partial melting at the slab surface, melt extraction and the resulting volcanic crustal growth at the surface. The model also accounts for variations in physical properties (mainly density and viscosity) of both fluids and rocks as a function of local conditions in temperature, pressure, deformation, nature of the rocks, and chemical exchanges. Our results show different patterns of crustal growth and surface topography, which are comparable to nature, during subduction at active continental margins. Often, two trench-parallel lines of magmatic activity, which reflect two maxima of melt production atop the slab, are formed on the surface. The melt extraction rate controls the patterns of new crust at different ages. Moving free water reflects the path of fluids, and the velocity of free water shows the trend of two parallel lines of magmatic activity. The formation of new crust in particular time intervals is distributed in finger-like shapes, corresponding to finger-like and ridge-like cold plumes developed atop the subducting slabs (Zhu et al., G-cubed,2009; PEPI,2011). Most of the new crust is basaltic, formed from peridotitic mantle. Granitic crust extracted from melted sediment and upper crust forms in a line closer to the trench, and its distribution reflects the finger-like cold plumes. Dacitic crust extracted from the melted lower crust forms in a line farther away from the trench, and its distribution is anticorrelated with

  3. Tsujal Marine Survey: Crustal Characterization of the Rivera Plate-Jalisco Block Boundary and its Implications for Seismic and Tsunami Hazard Assessment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bartolome, R.; Danobeitia, J.; Barba, D. C., Sr.; Nunez-Cornu, F. J.; Cameselle, A. L.; Estrada, F.; Prada, M.; Bandy, W. L.

    2014-12-01

    During the spring of 2014, a team of Spanish and Mexican scientists explored the western margin of Mexico in the frame of the TSUJAL project. The two main objectives were to characterize the nature and structure of the lithosphere and to identify potential sources triggering earthquakes and tsunamis at the contact between Rivera plate-Jalisco block with the North American Plate. With these purposes a set of marine geophysical data were acquired aboard the RRS James Cook. This work is focus in the southern part of the TSUJAL survey, where we obtain seismic images from the oceanic domain up to the continental shelf. Thus, more than 800 km of MCS data, divided in 7 profiles, have been acquired with a 6km long streamer and using an air-gun sources ranging from 5800 c.i. to 3540 c.i. Furthermore, a wide-angle seismic profile of 190 km length was recorded in 16 OBS deployed perpendicular to the coast of Manzanillo. Gravity and magnetic, multibeam bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler data were recorded simultaneously with seismic data in the offshore area. Preliminary stacked MCS seismic sections reveal the crustal structure in the different domains of the Mexican margin. The contact between the Rivera and NA Plates is observed as a strong reflection at 6 s two way travel time (TWTT), in a parallel offshore profile (TS01), south of Manzanillo. This contact is also identified in a perpendicular profile, TS02, along a section of more than 100 km in length crossing the Rivera transform zone, and the plate boundary between Cocos and Rivera Plates. Northwards, offshore Pto. Vallarta, the MCS data reveals high amplitude reflections at around 7-8.5 s TWTT, roughly 2.5-3.5 s TWTT below the seafloor, that conspicuously define the subduction plane (TS06b). These strong reflections which we interpret as the Moho discontinuity define the starting bending of subduction of Rivera Plate. Another clear pattern observed within the first second of the MCS data shows evidences of a bottom

  4. Tectonic escape in the evolution of the continental crust

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burke, K.; Sengor, C.

    1986-01-01

    The continental crust originated by processes similar to those operating today and continents consist of material most of which originated long ago in arc-systems that have later been modified, especially at Andean margins and in continental collisions where crustal thickening is common. Collision-related strike-slip motion is a general process in continental evolution. Because buoyant continental (or arc) material generally moves during collision toward a nearby oceanic margin where less buoyant lithosphere crops out, the process of major strike-slip dominated motion toward a 'free-face' is called 'tectonic escape'. Tectonic escape is and has been an element in continental evolution throughout recorded earth-history. It promotes: (1) rifting and the formation of rift-basins with thinning of thickened crust; (2) pervasive strike-slip faulting late in orogenic history which breaks up mountain belts across strike and may juxtapose unrelated sectors in cross-section; (3) localized compressional mountains and related foreland-trough basins.

  5. Implementing real-time GNSS monitoring to investigate continental rift initiation processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, J. R.; Stamps, D. S.; Wauthier, C.; Daniels, M. D.; Saria, E.; Ji, K. H.; Mencin, D.; Ntambila, D.

    2017-12-01

    Continental rift initiation remains an elusive, yet fundamental, process in the context of plate tectonic theory. Our early work in the Natron Rift, Tanzania, the Earth's archetype continental rift initiation setting, indicates feedback between volcanic deformation and fault slip play a key role in the rift initiation process. We found evidence that fault slip on the Natron border fault during active volcanism at Ol Doniyo Lengai in 2008 required only 0.01 MPa of Coulomb stress change. This previous study was limited by GPS constraints 18 km from the volcano, rather than immediately adjacent on the rift shoulder. We hypothesize that fault slip adjacent to the volcano creeps, and without the need for active eruption. We also hypothesize silent slip events may occur over time-scales less than 1 day. To test our hypotheses we designed a GNSS network with 4 sites on the flanks of Ol Doinyo Lengai and 1 site on the adjacent Natron border fault with the capability to calculate 1 second, 3-5 cm precision positions. Data is transmitted to UNAVCO in real-time with remote satellite internet, which we automatically import to the EarthCube building block CHORDS (Cloud Hosted Real-time Data Services for the Geosciences) using our newly developed method. We use CHORDS to monitor and evaluate the health of our network while visualizing the GNSS data in real-time. In addition to our import method we have also developed user-friendly capabilities to export GNSS positions (longitude, latitude, height) with CHORDS assuming the data are available at UNAVCO in NMEA standardized format through the Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP). The ability to access the GNSS data that continuously monitors volcanic deformation, tectonics, and their interactions on and around Ol Doinyo Lengai is a crucial component in our investigation of continental rift initiation in the Natron Rift, Tanzania. Our new user-friendly methods developed to access and post-process real-time GNSS

  6. Seismicity During Continental Breakup in the Red Sea Rift of Northern Afar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Illsley-Kemp, Finnigan; Keir, Derek; Bull, Jonathan M.; Gernon, Thomas M.; Ebinger, Cynthia; Ayele, Atalay; Hammond, James O. S.; Kendall, J.-Michael; Goitom, Berhe; Belachew, Manahloh

    2018-03-01

    Continental rifting is a fundamental component of plate tectonics. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of magmatic activity in accommodating extension during late-stage rifting, yet the mechanisms by which crustal thinning occurs are less clear. The Red Sea rift in Northern Afar presents an opportunity to study the final stages of continental rifting as these active processes are exposed subaerially. Between February 2011 and February 2013 two seismic networks were installed in Ethiopia and Eritrea. We locate 4,951 earthquakes, classify them by frequency content, and calculate 31 focal mechanisms. Results show that seismicity is focused at the rift axis and the western marginal graben. Rift axis seismicity accounts for ˜64% of the seismic moment release and exhibits a swarm-like behavior. In contrast, seismicity at the marginal graben is characterized by high-frequency earthquakes that occur at a constant rate. Results suggest that the rift axis remains the primary locus of seismicity. Low-frequency earthquakes, indicative of magmatic activity, highlight the presence of a magma complex ˜12 km beneath Alu-Dalafilla at the rift axis. Seismicity at the marginal graben predominantly occurs on westward dipping, antithetic faults. Focal mechanisms show that this seismicity is accommodating E-W extension. We suggest that the seismic activity at the marginal graben is either caused by upper crustal faulting accommodating enhanced crustal thinning beneath Northern Afar or as a result of flexural faulting between the rift and plateau. This seismicity is occurring in conjunction with magmatic extension at the rift axis, which accommodates the majority of long-term extension.

  7. Constraints of subducted slab geometries on trench migration and subduction velocities: flat slabs and slab curtains in the mantle under Asia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, J. E.; Suppe, J.; Renqi, L.; Lin, C.; Kanda, R. V.

    2013-12-01

    The past locations, shapes and polarity of subduction trenches provide first-order constraints for plate tectonic reconstructions. Analogue and numerical models of subduction zones suggest that relative subducting (Vs) and overriding (Vor) plate velocities may strongly influence final subducted slab geometries. Here we have mapped the 3D geometries of subducted slabs in the upper and lower mantle of Asia from global seismic tomography. We have incorporated these slabs into plate tectonic models, which allows us to infer the subducting and overriding plate velocities. We describe two distinct slab geometry styles, ';flat slabs' and ';slab curtains', and show their implications for paleo-trench positions and subduction geometries in plate tectonic reconstructions. When compared to analogue and numerical models, the mapped slab styles show similarities to modeled slabs that occupy very different locations within Vs:Vor parameter space. ';Flat slabs' include large swaths of sub-horizontal slabs in the lower mantle that underlie the well-known northward paths of India and Australia from Eastern Gondwana, viewed in a moving hotspot reference. At India the flat slabs account for a significant proportion of the predicted lost Ceno-Tethys Ocean since ~100 Ma, whereas at Australia they record the existence of a major 8000km by 2500-3000km ocean that existed at ~43 Ma between East Asia, the Pacific and Australia. Plate reconstructions incorporating the slab constraints imply these flat slab geometries were generated when continent overran oceanic lithosphere to produce rapid trench retreat, or in other words, when subducting and overriding velocities were equal (i.e. Vs ~ Vor). ';Slab curtains' include subvertical Pacific slabs near the Izu-Bonin and Marianas trenches that extend from the surface down to 1500 km in the lower mantle and are 400 to 500 km thick. Reconstructed slab lengths were assessed from tomographic volumes calculated at serial cross-sections. The ';slab

  8. Time variability in Cenozoic reconstructions of mantle heat flow: plate tectonic cycles and implications for Earth's thermal evolution.

    PubMed

    Loyd, S J; Becker, T W; Conrad, C P; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C; Corsetti, F A

    2007-09-04

    The thermal evolution of Earth is governed by the rate of secular cooling and the amount of radiogenic heating. If mantle heat sources are known, surface heat flow at different times may be used to deduce the efficiency of convective cooling and ultimately the temporal character of plate tectonics. We estimate global heat flow from 65 Ma to the present using seafloor age reconstructions and a modified half-space cooling model, and we find that heat flow has decreased by approximately 0.15% every million years during the Cenozoic. By examining geometric trends in plate reconstructions since 120 Ma, we show that the reduction in heat flow is due to a decrease in the area of ridge-proximal oceanic crust. Even accounting for uncertainties in plate reconstructions, the rate of heat flow decrease is an order of magnitude faster than estimates based on smooth, parameterized cooling models. This implies that heat flow experiences short-term fluctuations associated with plate tectonic cyclicity. Continental separation does not appear to directly control convective wavelengths, but rather indirectly affects how oceanic plate systems adjust to accommodate global heat transport. Given that today's heat flow may be unusually low, secular cooling rates estimated from present-day values will tend to underestimate the average cooling rate. Thus, a mechanism that causes less efficient tectonic heat transport at higher temperatures may be required to prevent an unreasonably hot mantle in the recent past.

  9. Time variability in Cenozoic reconstructions of mantle heat flow: Plate tectonic cycles and implications for Earth's thermal evolution

    PubMed Central

    Loyd, S. J.; Becker, T. W.; Conrad, C. P.; Lithgow-Bertelloni, C.; Corsetti, F. A.

    2007-01-01

    The thermal evolution of Earth is governed by the rate of secular cooling and the amount of radiogenic heating. If mantle heat sources are known, surface heat flow at different times may be used to deduce the efficiency of convective cooling and ultimately the temporal character of plate tectonics. We estimate global heat flow from 65 Ma to the present using seafloor age reconstructions and a modified half-space cooling model, and we find that heat flow has decreased by ∼0.15% every million years during the Cenozoic. By examining geometric trends in plate reconstructions since 120 Ma, we show that the reduction in heat flow is due to a decrease in the area of ridge-proximal oceanic crust. Even accounting for uncertainties in plate reconstructions, the rate of heat flow decrease is an order of magnitude faster than estimates based on smooth, parameterized cooling models. This implies that heat flow experiences short-term fluctuations associated with plate tectonic cyclicity. Continental separation does not appear to directly control convective wavelengths, but rather indirectly affects how oceanic plate systems adjust to accommodate global heat transport. Given that today's heat flow may be unusually low, secular cooling rates estimated from present-day values will tend to underestimate the average cooling rate. Thus, a mechanism that causes less efficient tectonic heat transport at higher temperatures may be required to prevent an unreasonably hot mantle in the recent past. PMID:17720806

  10. Riparian area management: themes and recommendations

    Treesearch

    David J. Welsch; James W. Hornbeck; Elon S. Verry; Andrew Dolloff; John G. Greis

    2000-01-01

    The end results of most of our management actions are reflected by the health of our rivers, streams, and lakes." Michael Dombeck, Chief, USDA Forest ServiceIn this final chapter [of Riparian Management in Forests of the Continental Eastern United States], we consider the overriding themes of riparian area management and list...

  11. Performance optimization of plate heat exchangers with chevron plates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Muley, A.; Manglik, R.M.

    1999-07-01

    The enhanced heat transfer performance of a chevron plate heat exchanger (PHE) is evaluated employing (1) energy-conservation based performance evaluation criteria (PECs), and (2) the second-law based minimization of entropy generation principle. Single-phase laminar and turbulent flow convection for three different chevron-plate arrangements are considered. The influence of plate surface corrugation characteristics and their stack arrangements on the heat exchanger's thermal-hydraulic performance is delineated. Based on the different figures of merit, the results show that the extent of heat transfer enhancement increases with flow Re and chevron angle {beta} in laminar flow, but it diminishes with increasing Re in turbulentmore » flows. With up to 2.9 times higher Q, 48% lower A, and entropy generation number N{sub s,a} {lt} 1, relative to an equivalent flat-plate pack, chevron plates are found to be especially suitable in the low to medium flow rates range (20 {le} Re {le} 2,000). Also, there appears to be no significant advantage of using a mixed-plate over a symmetric-plate arrangement.« less

  12. Magnesium Isotopic Compositions of Continental Basalts From Various Tectonic Settings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, W.; Li, S.; Tian, H.; Ke, S.

    2016-12-01

    Recycled sedimentary carbonate through subduction is the main light Mg isotopic reservoir in Earth's deep interior, thus Mg isotopic variation of mantle-derived melts provides a fresh perspective on investigating deep carbon cycling. Here we investigate Mg isotopic compositions of continental basalts from various tectonic settings: (1) The Cenozoic basalts from eastern China, coinciding with the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone revealed by seismic tomography; (2) The Cenozoic basalts from Tengchong area, southwestern China, which comprises a crucial part of the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian plates; (3) The Permian basalts from Emeishan large igneous province, related to a mantle plume. The Cenozoic basalts from both eastern China and Tengchong area exhibit light Mg isotopic compositions (δ26Mg = -0.60 to -0.30‰ and -0.51 to -0.33‰), suggesting recycled sedimentary carbonates in their mantle sources. This is supported by their low Fe/Mn, high CaO/Al2O3, low Hf/Hf* and low Ti/Ti* ratios, which are typical features of carbonated peridotite-derived melt. The Tengchong basalts also show high 87Sr/86Sr, high radiogenic Pb and upper crustal-like trace element pattern, indicating contribution of recycled continental crustal materials. By contrast, all Emeishan basalts display a mantle-like Mg isotopic composition, with δ26Mg ranging from -0.35 to -0.19‰. Since the Emeishan basalts derived from a mantle plume, their mantle-like Mg isotopic composition may indicate limited sedimentary carbonated recycled into the lower mantle. This is consistent with a recent experimental study which concluded that direct recycling of carbon into the lower mantle may have been highly restricted throughout most of the Earth's history.

  13. Predicting and testing continental vertical motion histories since the Paleozoic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Nan; Zhong, Shijie; Flowers, Rebecca M.

    2012-02-01

    Dynamic topography at the Earth's surface caused by mantle convection can affect a range of geophysical and geological observations including bathymetry, sea-level change, continental flooding, sedimentation and erosion. These observations provide important constraints on and test of mantle dynamic models. Based on global mantle convection models coupled with the surface plate motion history, we compute dynamic topography and its history for the last 400 Ma associated with Pangea assembly and breakup, with particular focus on cratonic regions. We propose that burial-unroofing histories of cratons inferred from thermochronology data can be used as a new diagnostic to test dynamic topography and mantle dynamic models. Our models show that there are currently two broad dynamic topography highs in the Pacific and Africa for the present-day Earth that are associated with the broad, warm structures (i.e., superplumes) in the deep mantle, consistent with previous proposals of dynamical support for the Pacific and African superswells. Our models reveal that Pangea assembly and breakup, by affecting subduction and mantle upwelling processes, have significant effects on continental vertical motions. Our models predict that the Slave craton in North America subsides before Pangea assembly at 330 Ma but uplifts significantly from 330 Ma to 240 Ma in response to pre-Pangea subduction and post-assembly mantle warming. The Kaapvaal craton of Africa is predicted to undergo uplift from ~180 Ma to 90 Ma after Pangea breakup, but its dynamic topography remains stable for the last 90 Ma. The predicted histories of elevation change for the Slave and Kaapvaal cratons compare well with the burial-unroofing histories inferred from thermochronology studies, thus supporting our dynamic models including the development of the African superplume mantle structure. The vertical motion histories for other cratons can provide further tests of and constraints on our mantle dynamic models.

  14. Thick deltaic sedimentation and detachment faulting delay the onset of continental rupture in the Northern Gulf of California: Analysis of seismic reflection profiles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martín-Barajas, Arturo; González-Escobar, Mario; Fletcher, John M.; Pacheco, Martín.; Oskin, Michael; Dorsey, Rebecca

    2013-09-01

    transition from distributed continental extension to the rupture of continental lithosphere is imaged in the northern Gulf of California across the obliquely conjugate Tiburón-Upper Delfin basin segment. Structural mapping on a 5-20 km grid of seismic reflection lines of Petroleos Mexicanos demonstrates that ~1000% extension is accommodated on a series of NNE striking listric-normal faults that merge at depth into a detachment fault. The detachment juxtaposes a late-Neogene marine sequence over thinned continental crust and contains an intrabasinal divide due to footwall uplift. Two northwest striking, dextral-oblique faults bound both ends of the detachment and shear the continental crust parallel to the tectonic transport. A regional unconformity in the upper 0.5 s (two-way travel time) and crest erosion of rollover anticlines above the detachment indicates inversion and footwall uplift during the lithospheric rupture in the Upper Delfin and Lower Delfin basins. The maximum length of new crust in both Delfin basins is less than 40 km based on the lack of an acoustic basement and the absence of a lower sedimentary sequence beneath a wedge-shaped upper sequence that reaches >5 km in thickness. A fundamental difference exists between the Tiburón-Delfin segment and the Guaymas segment to the south in terms of presence of low-angle normal faults and amount of new oceanic lithosphere, which we attribute to thermal insulation, diffuse upper-plate extension, and slip on low-angle normal faults engendered by a thick sedimentary lid.

  15. Thick deltaic sedimentation and detachment faulting delay the onset of continental rupture in the Northern Gulf of California: Analysis of seismic reflection profiles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martin, A.; González-Escobar, M.; Fletcher, J. M.; Pacheco, M.; Oskin, M. E.; Dorsey, R. J.

    2013-12-01

    The transition from distributed continental extension to the rupture of continental lithosphere is imaged in the northern Gulf of California across the obliquely conjugate Tiburón-Upper Delfín basin segment. Structural mapping on a 5-20 km grid of seismic reflection lines of Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) demonstrates that ~1000% extension is accommodated on a series of NNE-striking listric-normal faults that merge at depth into a detachment fault. The detachment juxtaposes a late-Neogene marine sequence over thinned continental crust and contains an intrabasinal divide due to footwall uplift. Two northwest striking, dextral-oblique faults bound both ends of the detachment and shear the continental crust parallel to the tectonic transport. A regional unconformity in the upper 0.5 seconds (TWTT) and crest erosion of rollover anticlines above the detachment indicates inversion and footwall uplift during the lithospheric rupture in the Upper Delfin and Lower Delfin basins. The maximum length of new crust in both Delfin basins is less than 40 km based on the lack of an acoustic basement and the absence of a lower sedimentary sequence beneath a wedge shaped upper sequence that reaches >5 km in thickness. A fundamental difference exists between the Tiburón-Delfin segment and the Guaymas segment to the south in terms of presence of low angle normal faults and amount of new oceanic lithosphere, which we attribute to thermal insulation, diffuse upper-plate extension, and slip on low angle normal faults engendered by a thick sedimentary lid.

  16. The Two Subduction Zones of the Southern Caribbean: Lithosphere Tearing and Continental Margin Recycling in the East, Flat Slab Subduction and Laramide-Style Uplifts in the West

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levander, A.; Bezada, M. J.; Niu, F.; Schmitz, M.

    2015-12-01

    The southern Caribbean plate boundary is a complex strike-slip fault system bounded by oppositely vergent subduction zones, the Antilles subduction zone in the east, and a currently locked Caribbean-South American subduction zone in the west (Bilham and Mencin, 2013). Finite-frequency teleseismic P-wave tomography images both the Atlanic (ATL) and the Caribbean (CAR) plates subducting steeply in opposite directions to transition zone depths under northern South America. Ps receiver functions show a depressed 660 discontinuity and thickened transition zone associated with each subducting plate. In the east the oceanic (ATL) part of the South American (SA) plate subducts westward beneath the CAR, initiating the El Pilar-San Sebastian strike slip system, a subduction-transform edge propagator (STEP) fault (Govers and Wortel, 2005). The point at which the ATL tears away from SA as it descends into the mantle is evidenced by the Paria cluster seismicity at depths of 60-110 km (Russo et al, 1993). Body wave tomography and lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) thickness determined from Sp and Ps receiver functions and Rayleigh waves suggest that the descending ATL also viscously removes the bottom third to half of the SA continental margin lithospheric mantle as it descends. This has left thinned continental lithosphere under northern SA in the wake of the eastward migrating Antilles subduction zone. The thinned lithosphere occupies ~70% of the length of the El Pilar-San Sebastian fault system, from ~64oW to ~69oW, and extends inland several hundred kilometers. In northwestern SA the CAR subducts east-southeast at low angle under northern Colombia and western Venezuela. The subducting CAR is at least 200 km wide, extending from northernmost Colombia as far south as the Bucaramanga nest seismicity. The CAR descends steeply under Lake Maracaibo and the Merida Andes. This flat slab is associated with three Neogene basement cored, Laramide-style uplifts: the Santa Marta

  17. Evaluation of finger plate and flat plate connection design.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2016-01-01

    This project investigates the cause(s) of premature deterioration of MoDOT finger plate and flat plate expansion devices : under high traffic volumes and then uses that information to design new Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) : finger plate...

  18. Observations at convergent margins concerning sediment subduction, subduction erosion, and the growth of continental crust

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    von Huene, Roland E.; Scholl, D. W.

    1991-01-01

    At ocean margins where two plates converge, the oceanic plate sinks or is subducted beneath an upper one topped by a layer of terrestrial crust. This crust is constructed of continental or island arc material. The subduction process either builds juvenile masses of terrestrial crust through arc volcanism or new areas of crust through the piling up of accretionary masses (prisms) of sedimentary deposits and fragments of thicker crustal bodies scraped off the subducting lower plate. At convergent margins, terrestrial material can also bypass the accretionary prism as a result of sediment subduction, and terrestrial matter can be removed from the upper plate by processes of subduction erosion. Sediment subduction occurs where sediment remains attached to the subducting oceanic plate and underthrusts the seaward position of the upper plate's resistive buttress (backstop) of consolidated sediment and rock. Sediment subduction occurs at two types of convergent margins: type 1 margins where accretionary prisms form and type 2 margins where little net accretion takes place. At type 2 margins (???19,000 km in global length), effectively all incoming sediment is subducted beneath the massif of basement or framework rocks forming the landward trench slope. At accreting or type 1 margins, sediment subduction begins at the seaward position of an active buttress of consolidated accretionary material that accumulated in front of a starting or core buttress of framework rocks. Where small-to-mediumsized prisms have formed (???16,300 km), approximately 20% of the incoming sediment is skimmed off a detachment surface or decollement and frontally accreted to the active buttress. The remaining 80% subducts beneath the buttress and may either underplate older parts of the frontal body or bypass the prism entirely and underthrust the leading edge of the margin's rock framework. At margins bordered by large prisms (???8,200 km), roughly 70% of the incoming trench floor section is

  19. Details: Elevation of Plate Typical Bay, SectionThrough Plate Typical Bay, ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Details: Elevation of Plate Typical Bay, Section-Through Plate Typical Bay, Section-Through Plate Center Bay, Elevation of Plate Center Bay - Contoocook Covered Bridge, Spanning Contoocook River, Hopkinton, Merrimack County, NH

  20. Automotive Test Rig Final Design Report. Volume 1. Design and Fabrication.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-01-01

    when the ATR overrides a three inch diameter tree . The force generated in accomplishing this is estimated as 500 lbs. The initial hull configuration...and tree , hut does not alter the fact that the contact point is along the welded joint of two hull plates. In the initial analysis, as discussed in R...the current nose structure is more than adequate to withstand the overriding of a three inch diameter tree . 2.8.5 Shock Factor Diagram In conjunction