Deformation Of Continental Crust Research Articles

Basement-involved thin-skinned and thick-skinned tectonics in the Alps

AbstractThe deformation of continental crust during continental collision by folding and thrusting follows three types of structural styles: (1) in a true thin-skinned style only cover rocks are involved; (2) in the case of a thin-skinned basement-involved style, thin slabs of crystalline basement rocks are piled up into a nappe stack; (3) in a true thick-skinned style, the entire upper crust is involved in the deformation. In the Alps all three styles can be recognized. The Helvetic nappes and parts of the Penninic nappes exhibit true thin-skinned style tectonics. Triassic evaporites, Jurassic shales and Cretaceous marls acted as detachment horizons. Basement-involved thin-skinned tectonics is typical for the Penninic nappes in the core of the orogen. The thickness of the basement thrust sheets is controlled by the effects of Mesozoic rifting, by deep burial and heating of the subducting crust and by the presence of Late Palaeozoic structures. Thick-skinned style is observed in the more external parts of the orogen, the external massifs and the Southalpine nappe system. It occurred in the late phase of collision and involved the entire upper crust. The basal detachment occurred possibly along phyllonites generated by the breakdown of load-bearing feldspar. Considering the Alpine orogen as a whole, the lower crust deformed seemingly independently from the upper crust. The detachment of the cover units by thin-skinned tectonics occurred prior to thrusting related to basement-involved thin-skinned tectonics. Thrust faults of both types were overprinted by ‘post-nappe folding’.

Deformation of continental crust along a transform boundary, Coast Mountains, British Columbia

New structural, paleomagnetic, and apatite (U-Th)/He results from the continental margin inboard of the Queen Charlotte fault (~54°N) delineate patterns of brittle faulting linked to transform development since ~50 Ma. In the core of the orogen, ~250 km from the transform, north striking, dip-slip brittle faults and vertical axis rotation of large crustal domains occurred after ~50 Ma and before intrusion of mafic dikes at 20 Ma. By 20 Ma, dextral faulting was active in the core of the orogen, but extension had migrated toward the transform, continuing there until <9 Ma. Local tilting in the core of the orogen is associated with glacially driven, post-4 Ma exhumation. Integration with previous results shows that post-50 Ma dextral and normal faulting affected a region ~250 km inboard of the transform and ~300 km along strike. Initially widespread, the zone of active extension narrowed and migrated toward the transform ~25 Ma after initiation of the transform, while dextral faulting continued throughout the region. Differential amounts of post-50 Ma extension created oroclines at the southern and northern boundaries of the deformed region. This region approximately corresponds to continental crust that was highly extended just prior to transform initiation. Variation in Neogene crustal tilts weakens interpretations relying on uniform tilting to explain anomalous paleomagnetic inclinations of mid-Cretaceous plutons. Similarities to the Gulf of California suggest that development of a transform in continental crust is aided by previous crustal extension and that initially widespread extension narrows and moves toward the transform as the margin develops.

Introduction: the deformation of continental crust and Mike Coward's impact on its understanding

Introduction: the deformation of continental crust and Mike Coward's impact on its understanding

Partial melting and flow of orogens

A comparison of large orogenic belts formed at convergent plate boundaries indicates that orogenic evolution comprises a period of crustal thickening followed by the formation of a continental plateau and commonly syn- to post-convergence extension and thinning of the previously thickened crust. The instantaneous and finite strain patterns recorded in orogenic belts do not appear to be linked in a simple way to plate kinematics. These patterns suggest that deformation of continental crust is not solely controlled by horizontal compression due to plate convergence and that gravity-driven flow is likely to play a significant role on the deformation of thickened crust. Geophysical data in southern Tibet, an actively convergent orogen, and geologic data of the exhumed mid-crustal core of eroded orogens reveals that orogenic crust is affected by widespread partial melting. Partial melting of thermally mature zones of thickened crust results in the generation of a layer of low-viscosity rocks that may affect the behaviour of the orogenic belt. In particular, the presence of this layer favours mechanical decoupling between the subducting plate and the overlying thickened orogenic crust, resulting in flow of the crust driven by contrasts in gravitational potential energy.