Middle Proterozoic to Cambrian Rifting, Central North America

Abstract

The 1100 Ma Midcontinent Rift System in central North America, with its exposed Keweenawan volcanic and plutonic rocks in the Lake Superior region, is one of the major rift‐related magmatic provinces in the world. Recent geophysical, petrologic, and geologic studies of the rift and related rocks have made the system one of the best studied structures of this type.Middle Proterozoic To Cambrian Rifting, Central North America contains an introduction, an overview, and 17 new contributions arising from the 10th International Basement Tectonics Conference held at the University of Minnesota‐Duluth in August 1992. The conference focused on Proterozoic rifting in central North America, with an emphasis on the Midcontinent Rift System, and the papers in this volume reflect that emphasis. Thirteen papers deal specifically with the Midcontinent Rift System, while the remaining papers address other rift‐related igneous and sedimentary rocks in the central United States. This volume is the first major overview of the Midcontinent Rift System since the 1982 Geological Society of America (GSA) Memoir 156, Geology and Tectonics of the Lake Superior Basin, edited by R. J. Wold and W. J. Hinze. It should be a welcome addition to the library of anyone working on this subject or working with related rocks and processes.