Formation of the orogen-foredeep system: A geodynamic model and comparison with the data of the northern Forecaucasus

Abstract

The disturbance of mechanical and thermal equilibria in the upper shell of the Earth as a result of mantle or local within-plate processes related to periodic tectonic activity gives rise to the formation of convective flows in the low-viscosity asthenosphere. These flows affect the lithosphere and create domains of subsidence and uplift, which can continue to develop long after the cessation of active periods. If the density of the lithosphere does not decrease with depth, then small-scale flows increase uplift in zones of compression of the continental lithosphere and create domains of extension at their margins. In our opinion, small-scale convection is the main geodynamic factor that forms foredeeps. The results of detailed numerical modeling of foredeep formation at the margins of adjoining orogens are presented in the current paper. In order to set the initial conditions for the stage of continental collision, the precollision stages of the foldbelt evolution are considered, including the stage of trough formation on the thinned continental crust or on the oceanic lithosphere and the stage of sedimentary basin formation; depending on the degree of extension, this can be an inner sea or a passive continental margin. Such initial conditions were used in modeling of the compression stage (continental collision), when the orogen-foredeep system is formed. The parameters of the model and the tectonic processes are chosen so as to bring the results of numerical computation in line with the data on the Greater Caucasus and northern Forecaucasus, including the thickness of the crustal layers and sedimentary cover, structure of the foredeeps, rate of tectonic subsidence, heat flow, etc. Comparison of the numerical modeling results with the formation history of the Caucasus foredeeps confirms that the first stage of regional compression of the Greater Caucasus took place before the deposition of the Maikop sediments. At least three compression stages followed: 16.6–15.8 Ma (Tarchanian), 14.3–12.3 Ma (Konkian-early Sarmatian), and 7.0–5.2 Ma (Pontian). The next stage of regional compression is apparently occurring at present.