•

Geologica l Structures and

•
Moving Plates

A.G. PARK, SSe. PhD

t' Read er i n Geo log y
U nive rsity 01 Keele

Blackie
Glasgow an d Lon don

Pub li shed in the USA by

Chapman and Hall
New York
 Black ie Ilt Son Lid
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<0 1988 Btackie Ilt 50rl lid

Fir51 published 1988

All rights reserved

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British Libr ary Cataloguing in Publicat ion Dat a

Par k, R.G.
Geological su uclures and moving plates.
1. Prospecting 2. Plate tec to nics
I, Til le
• 622' , 15 TN2 70
ISBN ()'2 16-92249-6
ISBN o-216-92250-X Pbk

libra ry of Cong ress Calaloging-in.f'ubliution Dat a

Park, R.G. IR. Grahaiml
Geological st rUClures and mo ving platn.
Bibliography : p .
Incl ude s index.
1. Geology, St rUChHa J. 2, Plate tectcmcs.
I. Titl e.
OE601.PJ 45 1987 551.1'36 87-6390
ISBN 04 12-0 162 14
ISBN 04 12-01631-1 (pbk.)

Filmset by Best-set "rv oesener lid

Pri nted in Great Britai., by Tho m so n Lit ho LId., East Kilbr ide, Scotland

- __ - - - _ _ - - - - - - I/-
Preface
The great classical tectcnicians, such as Suess,
Argand and Wegener, att em pt ed (0 und ersta nd .
without the benefi t of th e plate tecto nic theory. the
workings of the Ea rt h engine as a who le, and the
part that deformation played in that who le. In my
student days, I deri ved great pleasure and benefit
from De Sitter's textbook on str uctura l geology
where the study of geo logical struct ures a nd maj or
Earth structure received more or less equal rreat-
ment. Since then, until relatively recently, there has
been a tendency for str uctu ral geology to become
more parochial an d inward-looking, despite the
enormous ad vances in und erstand ing that th e pla te
tectonic revolutio n has brough t ab o ut. I have long
felt the need, th erefo re, for a bo ok tha t wo uld give
students a tectonic overview in which geo logical
structures an d deformation could be seen in their
context as byproducts of the plate tectonic system.
This boo k att empts to integrate struct ural
geology and plate tectonics (often taught quite
separately) by dealing wit h the theo retical
background knowledge necessa ry to understand
plate movements an d plate interactions. Thus the
mechanical properties o f plates, sources o f stress
and stress dist ribution in thelithosphere, and the
causes of pla te mot ion , are examined first,
followed by a d iscuss ion o f the kinematic aspects
of relative-plate movements and interact io ns.
The seco nd part o f the book deals with so me
modern case st udies - examples where present-
day structures ca n be related wit h some degree of
confidence to plate movements, such as the Central
Asian co llisio n zo ne, th e Lesser Antilles
subduction zo ne in the Ca ribbea n, an d the
Rhine- Ruhr rift system. T hese are discussed in
terms of four main types of plate tecto nic regime:
divergent, convergent, str ike-slip, and intraplate.
In the th ird section o f t he book, example s of
class ical orogenic belts, o f bot h Phanerozoic a nd
Precam brian age, a re discussed a nd interpret ed in
the light of the principles established in the earlier
cha pters. Thus the Alps are discussed in terms o f
Africa n - Euro pea n plate interactions, and the
Cordillera n orogenic belt in terms o f Mesozo ic
subd uction and subsequent str ike-slip co llage
tectonics. A more speculative approac h is necessary
in the Precam brian examples, where the d iffering
tecto nic styles of, for example, the mid-Proterozoic
Gre nville P rovince an d the Archa ean greensto ne
belt terrains may reflect genuine d ifferences in
lit hosphere behavio ur.
T he boo k is ai med at readers who a re already
familia r with th e basic principles and nom en-
clature of geotectonics and structural geology, who
understand plate tectonic theor y a nd its su pport-
ing evide nce, an d who are familiar with its cent ral
role in modern geology.
In orde r to keep the book to a reaso nable
length, I have deliberately concent rated o n the
role o f geological st ructure in plate tecto nics and
resisted the temp tat ion to include more than
passing reference to ot her releva nt to pics, such
as petro genesis.
Finally, I am indebted, firstly, to two anonymous
reviewers who read the first draft of the manu script
and made a number o f helpful suggestions for its
improvement; secon dly, to the many a ut ho rs who
have allowed me to reprod uce dia gra ms from their
publi shed work (these are ind ividually acknow-
ledged in the figure captions); and thirdly, to my
wife, friends and co lleagues who have bo rne wit h
me thro ugh the tra uma of the writing o f t his work .
RG P
To those structural and tectonic geologists who, throu gh their stim ulating lectures and papers, ha ve
nourished my interest in geotet:tonics over the y ears, and prov ided the motivation 10 write this book

- - _ _ _ _ _ _ r
Cont ents
Introduction ~ Diverge nt (ext('nsion aIJ It'(( nnic regimes 73
The rl ~le -I(:l;l tmic ' rn ol ullOn'
The rok of the hlhol.phcrc ,, 4 , I T )pcs 01 <: lIl; n~(ln a l rCI:,mc
4,2 Ou:lIn ndgc ~
l ttl;m d
73
73
I'l.ate motion 2
Tbc lm f'Ol13ncc o f plate ooun.J...ri c s
Gcol ogical slruct urcs
3 43 Conllnellt"l, i!lS
The Afr~Ar ..hial\ nfl , )'\ tem
"',.1
3 K7
4 The: Keny.. Of Eir.lcrn Rlfl
Q ro go;: nic or mobile bel l' in lhe JCOlog lC al r asl
Tbe prohk m o f .he Prceamorian • The G ulf of Suez
Or igin or tbe n f. S~ lcm
'"
91

2 The lilhosphert': so me importa nt

Thc Rhine Rirt
4' Elllcnwna l rI OVlOC~ at cu nvcrgenl
"'3
proper ucs 5 houndilna
2. ' Lil~ rc . ~l hcnos~l(' ilnd mo:"''''phcl c s The B.1$in·a nd ·R an gc pnwlnCC "W,

2.2 Some sho rl-lc rm mcchanin l prcpcnes

Of l hc " l ~ rc , 4. '
RL'<.Um.:
B..cs -..rc SPlt....:!'"g N~ ins
S II UCIUICS i1sSQl;Iillcd w ,lh ( "<:",, io n,, 1
99
It"
Summ ary III
n:glmcs IUS
2. 3 Thcrmal sUIK'1 UfC o f Il'te Iilho..phc rc '01
Sum ma ry II
24 M.tnl lc con veclion : lhe" role o f Ihe" hl hO$phc rc IS 5 C on verge n t tec to nic r e gimes 112
5 I SuM uc, illn 11 2
Modclh ng ron veCllo n
Summa ry
2 ' SourCC$of,u~ in Ihc h 'hoophcre
"
22
24
Geomc lry o f t rcnch \ y, .eTm
Mor phol og y a nd str uct ure of ~I ..nd UC\
113
11 3
Pla te boundary forces 24 5.: i\ mil:it y and t he" mechamsm o f
l .oad i n g ~ ~ :.uhdUCl l()fl 11 3
No n·re nc:,.,ab lc 'He M socrces
AmplifICation o f ~. reu
"
27
52 Some
Stru ct ure of acc re tiona ry
;l(1 ' ~ subd uctioe zones
com f'1c 1~ 11 4
J22
Summary
2.6 11IC <k: lcrm inaTion o f Str CM in Th e ht hospbcrc
'"ae
29
11IC Pe r u Irc no.:h be l....c c n 1"· an d 14"5
The Barhados ridge lUmpkx
J22
125
Si rnli magn llu dc 29 T he M al rdn CO ml' le . 133
SlreM magni l uJc in the mantle JI 1ll<' Aegea n ar c ' JI
Su mma ry: U reu ma gnitu de J2 5.3 Cclhcon , 31>
SUn.$oricn lalion J2 Act i_e co lll,i. ," beus 119
Re g.onal pa ller ,..of st ress cnenranon JI G ro"s st ruc une o f collisio n Ilclb '40
In trapl ;lt e stress 37 Fl•• ke rccuoeics and onducnon ''I
Slress al pla te bou nda r ie s 37 Thr ust he lls
Inde n t..tion
'44
Su mma ry 41 ' 47
2.7 T he lo ng-te r m l t rc ngt h o r t he htbos phcrc 41 A m;,thematica l mode l o f a coi llsin n l one 147
ISO
Co m p reuioo al stre ng l h
Oce anic lithosp here
47
47 " Th e Hima b y;" a nd Ce ntral A,ia
T he Ce nt ra l Asia n collage IS'
[ vo lu lio n o f str e ngt h d unng litho sphe re Deep snuc t urc o f t he H ima layas and Tibet 154
u tc nsio n and co mpression : c rus ta l Str uct ur e o f t he Wc sle rn Hima la ya ' 54
th ick ne M 47 5.5 So ut heast Asia IS'
Evo lutio n o f str e ng t h in co m p ress ive A n mco mple tc co llage IS.
detor manon 4' Timor 10 '
Rh eo lo gica l co n t ro l o f
d e tach ment horizo ns 6 St r i ke -s l i p a n d o bllq ue-s tt p r e g imes 166
Summar y "" 0. 1 Ch ar a ctc ns uc s of st rike -slip regimes
Ca uses of geo me trica l co mp le xit y
'00
167
0.2 Drsptaccd or e xot ic te rranes 171
3 Plate m o vement a n d p lat e h ound a ri e s 5~ 0 .) The SOl n An dre as rauuac oc I7S
3.' Kine ma tic behaviour o f p lates 54 Sc ismici ty 177
Migfil io n o f p la te bou ndarjes now 177
Stahle a nd ulll>l ahlc mple j un Clions
3.2 T he influc nce o f pla te geo me try o n t he
"
51>
Sire )) and hca t
Displacem e n t gc o mclry
St ruc tu re o f Ihe SOIn l" ~b na d ill r;ct
In

k ifMOm atic patt e rn

"" ,.. Structure of thc Bil! Mc nd regio n '"
17.
A hwlu.c plale mol ion
13 T he d fccls o f rela live plal e moTio n. t p1alc
Ocenmc tr a nsfo rm f.. u lt ~
The Charl ie G ,lIn.. a nd Gloria It ect ure
I"
bounda ri"
Mo ve me nts across OIl ddor mahlc boundary
70
71
zoncs
Fasl-,liWlng fracl u rc zoees o n the f. aM
I'"
Summa r}' 72 Pacific r id ge ' 87

v
 GlOlOGICA I. S I I1 UCTU Ill'$ AND MOVING " I.Al k 'i

7 Intraplate tectonic rc~imes IXX S,-l The C;lk dnn i.." uru~en ie hell o f lhe Norl h
7 . 1 1)[...... "nd rh.. ,a(1eri'>l lOo or inl r" l'l ..lc Al l"nI 'e ro:.:,.. "
I{c gi" n..I "':lImS
' l UM1 u rc
D,·'.' Tmin.lhu" .. r'... .,.·nl \\:n tc;al '''' TC~I"nic ' ul"'I,\lI..... .., " f the B, ili.Ji 1 ~1c.."
The NW f"leI,lAd (l' m.,' I)
.....,,,,' mc nh in ['bh: in l..,ri..."
72 The R tr>....;a n pl"d.. rm : .. IY!"'-":Il tnlf,,('b I..- '''' ~t rud ,,'e: " f the M. '; ne th rLlSI b\..11
rq :ion'?
7.J InU" rbh: ......in..
11lc P",.\ h.l ..in
,.,
,~, 111c N" n h..- rn lI il!h1;>,""" le llanc: hUlle 2)
Tbe (j ' ;UUriol n I " ghla n.h. le" anc It ''nc: 3)
Tbc MKlt m,J Val k y ( l nnc 4 )
llJl: Mio.i liF-"''' O"..;n
11M:' T~,Utk n i M in
''''
l<,l:'i n l,' S.. " th'''ln Uf'l..noh ( Ztllle 5)
1 h,: SO Kllh ..... 11..'" the So l....a}' sul u re ( lOnc~
( higm "r IOlf;lp l;,lc "',,,in, ''''
'. 7 " -It)
11lc x an,J in"vi ,m C" k:..... n"J~ ""
,'"....
7. 4 Ell:Imrlc~ o f :ad'vc ma rine t><t..in. : the NOflh
So: a a nd lhc At lan l ic ....HlllrlCnlal m ;lrf:1lI " I" Ie:1''Clun ic inlc rpr " l ,ll itm "rtne North
nr lhc US A ,\ 11,,1111<,: ( ·"k:.kll1i.k s
Tbc Nort h Sea b asin ~"
21. 1
TIle A tI" JlI;C con tin enta l ma'!:in
(If the nor the rn USA
9 Orogeny in the Pre cambrian 269
7.5 Inlr.lpl;llc up lifl'
Th e Fen ntlso,: nm h an up lifl
""
20(,
207 9, 1
Precambria n eh ru ncJlogy
PI,.L! c move me nts in the Pre cam bnan
'69
27(1
Th e ( 'u lu rad u PlaIC;IU »7 Pretc nvcuc pl,ll,- Illtwem ,'n ls 27J
O rit:in " f i01wpl a lc up lift. 211l\ <;,2 LOl l,' Prnl e lUlt".' Pa n-A rn ean lw,' It- 272
l',t1I·Al ric''' 1 h i' l<lf y of Ihe A r;,hi;1I1 -
8 Phaueroz nic oro geni c bells : Nul ",," , hid <J 273
som e e xam ples 210 T ho: M" l .lm h i4 ue 1,...11 277
R. l The A lpmc " ,..g,'nil: beltof tile w cacrn
Mc-dih.:rrilnca fI 2111
\1 .3
Tho: D" m" r" " he ll in Nam il>ia
Thc Mi,j· I' ru l,·"..... i c G renville -
Svccon..r..·et:i,Lft 'Y"le m
''''
R(g i<.ln;.ol lcC1" nicc...nlc~1
l l l)lo ry of pi'll ': movcme nrs
21Z
214
The G rcn "i l!.: P",,,irK·C '"
'8'
S l ruel ur.. 1It am c ....m ~ uh hc A lp<
8. 2 Tht.. C" n:Jillcl .. n .... .,genic hell u ( Nm l h
2 15
Th c Sycc~ >rt,or" cgi;m hdl
f>I"l c -le,"1" llIc m tcrprO:la l ltlft 01 lho: '"
G r(' nvilk-S" ' 'C''Il<,r.. c~".n '~' l,·m
Americ:.. 221 'J.4 nr
Ea rly Pr..I,·w" »c 1....· 11, lhot.- N ,orlll A II;IIl1ic
Thc.' Cnulillc:nm ..... danc.l l h ru~1 he ll tn lhe rCt:" ,n
S, (".anad i:an !'o«l,)r 222 The l,.;ohrol<Jtor he ll

,.,,..
The we, l,·f n .:ul l:ogc te lOC of , u"P"! Tht: l<.'.. · ;"'i " n · N a~,-,ugl<"l ",h ,,,, '~ e nl : Ihe
IClTil nc:, 22(. " ~ (fn N"'p-lUgl<1...i.Ji:m
R J The Uc fcy nia n u rugen ic he la .lfWc ,...·rn 111c Lew.";an Ctllllpk:_
EulUpc and NUr1h Ameria. 2;N \1 _5 The AIl'h ,'can : '" <J ifkrenl kintl o r "ruge ny" 30 '
The Allc ghc nian belt m The Nor lll A lla nl ioc CU IO" ]<J2
The WOo l Eu rope a n !oC\.1 '"
The SW Dr i l i~h b les
231
2](,
G rcr n'h mc he ll' "r the S upc:flur Pruv inc c: sn
Pla tc -tcc tcmc in tc rp rcranon of lhe Refer en ces 3 13
A lla nlic H ercyn ian region 24 1 Indt"'\ 327
1 Introduction
The them e of this book is t he re lationship
bet ween geo logical struct ures and plat e tee-
to nic theory.
711t, plate-tectonic 'revolution'
le is no w un iver sally ac kno wledged tha t t he
plate tecto nic theo ry has bro ught abo ut a
revolution in our percepti on of geology in
almos t a ll its branches. In th e case of st ructura l
geology , the a pplications of the pla te tecto nic
model are par ticularly o bvio us. a nd ha ve affec-
ted in a funda men ta l wa y o u r interpret at io n
bo th of geologica l structures in the na rro w
se nse, and of o rogeni c be lts. T he two ke y
disciplines o f struct ural geo logy a nd plait' lee-
tonics (o r gf:ou! cum ;cs) a re usuall y ta ug ht se pa-
rately. and are o ften dealt with in diff erent
textboo ks. Yet t he g re at ex pa nsion in research
publica tio ns de a ling with th e a pplicat ions of
plate tecto nic t he o ry to oroge nic be lts. a nd to
the interpret a tio n 'I f geologica l st ruc ture s,
deman ds an in tegrated a pproac h which it is th e
aim of th is book to pro vide .
Classical geologicalt heorists we re fascinat ed
by o roge nic belt s a nd ot he r majo r ea rt h st ruc-
tures, a nd spec u lated wide ly o n their o rigin .
J;ISiigGi fres e nts an int e resting ove rview of the
evolution of classical ideas o n o roge nes is in th e
ope ni ng cha pte r of 'Orogeny' by Miyashir o et
(/1. (1982). This wo rk is a ve ry re ada ble account
of the WilY in which the co nce pt of o roge ny has
bee n tra nsfo rmed by pla te tecto nic theo ry. Th e
weakness in pre -1970 theo ry la y in th e a bse nce
of a ge nera lly acce pte d tec to nic mode l t hat
could sa tisfac to rily expla in nOI o nly geological
structures , but a lso th e dist ributio n a nd va ria-
tio n bo th o f igneo us an d met a morphic activity,
and of sedime nta ry fac ies. II is in t he successful
linkage bet wee n previo usly unrel ata ble phe no -
me na th a i t he st re ngt h a nd success o f th e plate
tectoni c mod el lie .
T he co nce pt o f p lates ar ose fro m the o bser -
vation t hat la rge a re as o f th e crust have
appa rently suffe red very lill ie la te ra l disto rtio n
a lth ough the y ha ve tra vel led sev era l tho usand
kilome tres. if the e vidence of con tinental d rift
is acce pted . T he det a iled a nd acc ura te ' jigsa w'
tit of th e o pposing coas tlines o f Am e rica and
Africa fo r exa mple . ..fte r ... ........ Jc'"
of d rift , testif ies to th is lac k of distort ion. In th e
oce ans a lso . a re fou nd reg ular linea r magne t ic
stripes a nd fau lts th a t have ma inta ined thei r
sha pe fo r le ns o f millions of yea rs . T his evi-
de nce re in fo rces the co nclusions re ached by
studyi ng th e d istri bu tio n o f tectoni c mo ve-
ments tha i there are large slab Ie a rea s (co n-
tinen tal c ra to ns a nd dee p oce a n bas ins) tha t
s uffe r lill ie inte rn al de fo rma tio n and ex hibit
o nly slo w vert ical mo vem ents , while at the
sa me time mov ing la tera lly as co he re nt units a t
ra tes 10 to toO limes faste r.
T he recogn it ion o f the lit hosphe re pla te as
the fundamental kinematic unit no w unde rlies
t he stud y o f a ll su rface te cto nic prec esses.
, ~ .",it jill"" Jut
........... II nd ' I ,
'4'!.......olJ.... a nd th is subdi visio n has re placed
the o ld dichot omy be twee n oroge nic and all-
orogenic re gion s o r acti vity .
m U 0.
T he vert ica l ex te nt of a plat e is defined by t he
base o f the ~ .. th e stro ng o ute r laye r
o f the Ea rth lhat res ts o n th e und e rlying
we ak e r _ _ ws;JLli4P. TIle lithosp her e in-
cludes both t he c rust a nd pa rt of th e uppe r
man t le , a nd has a n average thick ness of a ro und
IOO km (sec Figure 2. 1). Th e co nce pt of t he
plate is th er e fo re bo und up with the pro pe rt ies
a nd be haviou r o f th e lith osphe re a nd asth e no-
sphe re. discussed in Cha pte r 2.
. . .
o
(see
2.2 ). T he most use ful d istinctio n be tween th e
lithosphe re a nd th e unde rlying asthe nosphe re
is in terms o f the highe r viscos ity of th e for me r.
Since th e visco sity is co ntro lled by the te rn-
2 GEOL OGI CA L ST RUcrU RES AN D MOVIN G PLATI::S
Fp'nU' ; in o the r word s,
• and
~see 2.5). Th e study of the nature and
influence of forces or stresses on a bod y is
known as t ' .
(e.g.
plateau up lifts and ocean ridges). A numbe r o f
me tho ds are available fo r the dete rmina tion of
stress within th e lithosp here , part icularly in the
upper part of the crust, where stress can be
dire ctly measured (see 2.6). Th ese meth ods
yield a bewi lde ring vari ety of estimates, bot h
of th e act ual magnit ude of stress carried by the
lithosphere , and of t he stre ngth o f the litho-
sphere. The orientation of stress on the other
hand . usually hear s a simple relationship 10 the
more o bvious loc al stress so urces . Th e dist ribu-
tion of measured st ress can o nly be understood
by co nsidering th e lo ng-term strength of the
lithosphere , th at is, its stre ngth over periods of
the orde r o f ten s of Ma (see 2.7).
( the prin ciple of stress
amplification.). Thi s exp lains why the magni-
tudes of the availa ble st ress so urces are so
much s malle r th an act ual mea sured values near
the surface . Know ing the temperatu re st ruc-
ture o f a given piece o f lithosphere , and
assuming a like ly value for the magni tude of
the availab le stress so urces (fo rces) on it , it is
possible using numerical mod ellin g tech niqu es
to predict the st rengt h of that piece o f litho-
sphe re and the time tha t will elapse before
failure . In this way, we can ultimately estima te
the st ress cond itions acco mpanyi ng the forma-
tio n of geo logical struct ures , hath at plate
bo unda ries and also wit hin plates , at the time
whe n new plate bou ndaries are init iated .
Geological st ruct ures are co ntro lled bot h by
. - - (o r force) and by Th e
.; aic study of the co nditio ns under which
deforma tion takes place mu st be com plemen -
ted by th e study of th e relative mot ions of the
vario us plates o r blocks conce rned. T his type
of ap proach is termed br" 7 .#;. For al1
practical pu rposes, we can regard relati ve plate
motio n as ta king place at constant velocity.
T he accelera tions and decele ratio ns that occ ur
take pla ce o ver such lon g periods o f time th at
the forces ge ne rated are much too small to be
significant. Plat e movements at co nstant velo-
city do not of them sel ves create forces, o r
prod uce deform at io n. The forces associated
with re lative moti on a re created by resistan ces
across planar bo undaries o f relative moti on or
visco us dr ag be tween two o ppose d mo ving
bloc ks . In this way the kine matic and dy namic
app roaches to defo rma tio n are linked .
If it is accepted that plates can be regarded
as stro ng rigid shells, th eir relative moti on
across the surface o f the Ea rt h ca n be des-
cribed in term s of the simple ru les o f motio n on
a sphere . A ny relative mot ion betwee n two
plates o n t he surface of a sphe re becomes an
angular rotation abo ut an axis thro ugh the
centre of the Ea rth , wh ich intersects t he
Earth's surface at two poin ts ca lled the poles of
rotation. for that movem en t.
Th e direction o f movem ent at the surface of
the Earth is parallel to a set of small circles
abo ut th e axis o f rotat ion . As rea lized ori ginal-
ly by ' is classic pape r on
any such fault s displacing the
 INTROO UCI'IO N
boundary betwee n two plates must he pa rallel
to these small circles ; th at is, parallel to the
direction of relative mo lion betwee n the two
plates.
P ies (II"') Iii n:tIi I: ; , F 'tt ,r '_ ue.
T hey analysed the
direction of motio n from 5 p""" .llI'_
! ded uced from fi rst ·~ n studies of individual
and . . . .bo rde ring th e Paci-
fic plate , and sho wed that they gave . .......on•
..................u·. ..(see 3.1). T his d irection is
parallel to the small-circle arcs obtained from
the or ientatio n o f the San Andreas fault. ....
'i ' ,it• •
Relative plate velocities can be fou nd by
analysing the magnetic str atigrap hy, so that for
any plate pair sharing a spreading ridge , the
movement vecto r . can be fo und (see Figure
3.2).
a II 1 ,::d e wch'
n l ' .. , • • Ii ,.... II 1'. .....1:2 l . .ti,U .S
6:b ?5 0' I b e P'h?5 a . ,..... C8Z\?h• •k:ubatah
6 4iRJi4iian I In th is way the relative
motions of ali six major plates were dete r-
mined by , see Figure
3,1. The principles gove rning plate kinem atic
behaviour are d iscussed in 3. 1.
The obvious link between seismicity and pre-
sent-day tecton ic activity suggested that the
seismic zones must represent the bou ndaries of
the stable blocks, and that each block or plate
could be defined by a continuo us be lt of
seismic activity (Isacks et al., 19(8 ). Since the
seismic activity represe nts fault mo vements
with high strain rates, each plate must be in a
state of relative motio n with respect to each of
its neighbours, Ul~":::::::::::::::
~
are recognized : (i) :" ! ..~
where adjo ining plat es are mo ving ap art and
new plate is being created at ocean ridges; (ii)
f iil!fj ad. .. f :ria where adj oining plates
3
are mo ving toget her and plate mate rial is
be ing destroyed by subductio n at oce an tren-
ches ; ami (iii) _ ,; 7 'rsFllFhlM ' wher e
adjoi ning plates are mo ving later ally past each
o the r with a ho rizontal strike-slip sense o f
d isplacement along tra nsfo rm fault s. The sense
of di sp l ace m e n~ these bou ndaries can be
earthq uakes that in gene ral co nfi rm the re la-
tive move ments inferred fro m other evide nce
such as palaeomagnetism and magnetic strati-
gra phy.
Fo llowing th ese prin ciples, a networ k of
bo unda ries may be d rawn divid ing the prese nt ~
Eart h's surface into" (see
Figure 3. 1): . " , "' i ~ , ""
.__ . and .
toget her with a number of smaller plates
associate d main ly with de structive bo undaries ,
especially aroun d the margins of the Pacific
Ocean . Continenta l m U Qim nwy or ma y pm
co rrespond with c hlte bo undaries, T hose that
do , such as the weste rn margin o f the Ameri-
ca n contine nts, are ter med '
those that lie within pla tes a re termed j 'w_
T he position o f the plate bo undaries de te r-
mines the location of the mor e significant
tectonic activity, a nd the type of bounda ry
controls the natu re of th e tecto nic pro cesses
ope rat ing ther e , Th e three fold division into
constructive , destru ctive, and conse rvative
plate bou nda ries is reflected in the o rganiza-
tion o f this book. Structures of cur re ntly active
plate boundar ies are co nsidered in terms o f
th ree funda menta l types of tecton ic regime :
divergent regimes relating to co nstructive bou n-
d aries (Chapte r 4) ; con vergent regimes relat ing
to de structive bound aries (Cha pter 5); and
strike -slip and oblique regimes relatin g to con-
servative bo unda ries o r to those with a com-
pon e nt o f strike-para llel motio n (C hapte r 6),
Intraplate regimes are d iscussed in Cha pter 7.
Geological structures
It is assumed that the reader has an adeq uate
wor king know led ge of structura l geology. A
4 GEOL OG ICAL STRUC r URES A."JD MOVING I'LAHS
familiar ity with the va rio us types of geological
str ucture an d their o rigin is implicit in the de-
scription of struc tures in Chap ters 4-9 . In con-
sidering the relatio nship be tween geo logical
str uctures and plate mo vem ents. certain as-
pects of struct ura l geol ogy are o bviou sly mo re
relev ant th an othe rs. Orientation of majo r
structures (fo lds a nd faults), intensity of de-
forma tio n, magn itude a nd or ien tatio n of the
hulk st rain axes, an d st ruct ural sym me tr y a ll
convey import ant info rmation abo ut the way in
which the cr ust respo nds to re lative plate
move me nts at pla te bo und a r ies.
In assess ing t he region al tectonic significance
of geological st ruct ure the refo re , the orienta-
tion o f folds and fau lts is critica l. and also
particula rly the or ienta tio n of t he tran spo rt
d irection , since th is will be re lated to the
kinematic convergen ce (or dive rgence) direc-
tion. In high-st rain zo nes, this d irection will be
close to the maximum principal stra in axis.
In te rms of st rain , we are co nce rne d essen-
tially with bulk prope rties and bulk geo met ry,
and with how these re late to the large-scale
kinematic pattern . Fo r this purpose , a gco-
metr ical o verview o r ove r-simp lification of the
large-scale structural pa tt ern is more useful
tha n a co nside ration of the structura l detail. at
o utcrop sca le fo r e xample. The same pri nciple
applies to strain rates - a very impor tant co n-
t rol on deformation . Bulk st rain rates relating
to mo untain be lts o r la rge zo nes are cited, and
can be compared wit h theo retical strain rates
derived from th e mech anical behaviou r of
t he lithosphere , but str ain rates o n sma ller
sca les arc gene rally no t discussed .
Symme try is anot he r impo rtant aspect of the
la rge-scale str uct ure. The verge nce directi on .
o r facing d irection , of thrusts. ov er folds and
othe r asymmetric st ruct ures is of fundam ental
significance in understandin g the way in which
a piece o f crust has been defo rmed . So me
structural geo log ists wo uld ar gue th at move-
ments on low-an gle faults and she ar zo nes are
the dom inant mechan ism in the bulk defor ma-
tion of t he crust. Such st ructures impart an
obv ious asymme t ry to th e str uct ural pat tern .
Tectonic processes dri ven by simple shear are
favoured in co nvergen t regi mes because o f the
basic asymmet ry inherent in the subduction
process. A similar basic asy mme t ry charac-
terizes ,III strike -slip regimes . Rece nt studies
o f exte nsiona l reg imes indic at e that qu asi-
symmetrical fa ult-bloc k ar range ments a t high
crustal leve ls, by det achmen t at lowe r level s o n
low-ang le deco llement planes. a re pa rt o f an
asymmetrical system ove ra ll.
Orogenic or mobile helix in/he geological pas /
Tectonic effects o f great interest to the struc-
tural geo logist are produced in act ive conver-
gent regimes (see Chapte r 5). It is those that
provide worki ng models that ca n he used to
interpret the or oge nic belts. the co nve rgen t
regimes of the geological past. C hap te r 8 e x-
a mines a selection of such be lts o f Phane ro-
zoic age , com mencing with Mesozo ic-Cenozoic
exam ples where the plate-tecto nic se tt ing is
reaso nabl y well constrained . By showing how
vario us work ers have interprete d structure in
terms of plate tectoni c processes, the pr inci-
ples underlying the relationship betwee n plate
motion and st ruct ure may be illustrated .
The pro hlem of {he Precambrian
Examples of Precambrian mobi le belts are
discussed in C hapte r 9. Despite the fact th at
t he Precambrian occ upies approximate ly eight-
ninths of geo log ical time . remarkably lill ie is
known abo ut how t he plate tectonic process
o pera ted during th at period , o r indeed whet he r
it ope rated at all in the ea rlier part of Earth
histor y. T he examples discussed s how suf-
ficien t simila rity to Pha nerozoic syste ms from
the Early Prot erozoic o nwards to sugges t that
t he plate tecton ic mod el is probably a pplicable,
albei t in modified form , for the last 2500 Ma .
T here is as yet no gene ral co nse nsus co nce rn-
ing the type of plate regime in the Arc haean,
and even t hose indicat io ns that we have arc
biased towards t he later part of t he Archaea n.
lill ie o r no th ing is known abo ut large-scale
structure prior to abou t 3000 Ma ue.
2 The lithosphere: some important properties
2. 1 Lit hosphere, asthenosphere and
mesosphere
In his mod el of co ntinental dr ift , We gener
( IY29) o rigina lly visual ized pieces of continc n-
tal crust moving acr oss a pla stic ocea nic crust.
However this id ea was abandoned many YC <l fS
ago whe n it was realize d t hat ocea nic rocks
could not behave in a suffi cientl y ductile
manner near the surface . When the plate
tectonic model was bei ng dev eloped in th e
196()s, it was realized t hai t he moving plate s
included ocea nic as well as co nt inen tal crust.
The oceanic crust is only about 7 krn th ick and
cou ld not re main und istorted whe n subjected
10 the horizont al st resses associated with pla te
tectonic proc esses. Plates must he there fore he
conside ra bly thicker than the crust and include
part of the uppe r ma nt le as well.
The lithosphere is defi ned un seis molo gical
crite ria ;:IS the strong o uter layer o f the Ea rt h: it
can equ ally be regar ded as the coo l surface
layer of the Ea rt h's convective system. T his
convective syste m is d iscussed fur ther be low
(see 2.4) but it is importa nt at the outset 10
point out that the lithosph ere can no t he COII-
sidered in isola tion ; th e bo undary be twee n it
and the und erlying asthenosphere is tran si-
tional. and is continua lly changing; and there is
a consta nt interactio n be twee n the lithosphe re
and the other par ts of the co nvective syste m
(Figure 2. 1) .
Oe Ur uc t ion
}"iRurt 2. 1 A ~l hcnosphere -li thO"rhn .. - mc sos phc rc inrcra c1;on . Th e h lh""p her~ g;l i n~ ma le r;,,1 from the ;1~lh ~n<l~phcr~
;11constructive pl JIC bo u ndaries ';..luring platc• desu ucuon . mal ni al i~ 10 s1 by the Iithcsphcrc to lhe mesos phe re . und In rbc
asthen osphe re . Mat e ria l lines in the ' i l hu~p hne migr.nc 1"lerJUy rc tauv c In the sites o f construction ;mu dcstr ucnon
5
The base of the lithosphere is usually defined
o n the basis (If a relati vely rapid change in
se ismic wave ve locity (o f bot h P and S waves) ,
and specifically of a fall in the rate o f increase
of Vr an d V•• which takes place at de pth s of
around l OO-1 50 km within the upper mant le .
T his cha nge in ve locity is related to ch anges in
de nsity and rheo logy, which in turn arc re lat ed
to the geottverm - the profile of temperat ure
vari ation downwards throu gh the crust and
upper mantle . A ltho ugh there may be petro-
graphic differe nces be twee n t he lit hosph eric
a nd ust hcnospheric ma nt le , these arc no t the
mai n factor in diffe rentiating the IwO layers,
which a re dis ting uishe d most co nve nie ntly in
te rms of their viscosity , The viscosity of the
a S l he nos~ here is usua lly es timated to be aro und
102 1 _ 102 po ise in co nt rast wit h that in the
lower part of the lithosph ere which proba bly
varies from 102 .1 po ise upwa rds (see Me-
Kenzie . 1':167). It is this ra pid decrease in
viscosit y tha t ena bles the solid mate ria l of the
asthe nosphere to flow at a gcologicatty signi-
fica nt rate . ca rry ing the more viscou s and
therefo re stronge r lithosph e re above it.
T he relative plasticity of the asthe nosp here
is d ue mainly to the e ffect of e levated te mpe ra-
ture on the rheology of the material , which is
governed by a flow law in which the st ra in rate
is bo th te mperature- a nd st ress-de pe ndent (see
2.2 ). A significant fract ion of ast henosphe re
mat eri al is believed to be co mposed of mel t
C onSlru~tion
6 GEOLOGiC A L ST RUCTU RES AN O MOVING PLATES
(perhaps as much as 10% ) although th is may
decrease away from sites of upwelling convec-
tion curre nts.
Th e asthenosphe re is co ntinuo usly fed by
up rising mater ial fro m the underlying m eso-
sp here. Mesosphere is transfor med to astheno-
sphere simply by a change in rheol ogy - t he
same piece of man tle mat erial may commence
in the mesosphere. he changed into astheno-
sphe re at a site of convective upwelling, with a
decrease in viscosity and increase in now rate.
lt may subseq ue ntly be tra nsfor med again into
lithosphe re by a reve rsal of this process - by
cooling and a conseq ue nt rise in viscosity. In
addition. of course, there a rc material changes:
partial melting ca uses magmas to leave the
system and move up into the lithosphere ,
volatiles may enter and leave the system, etc.,
so that the composition of the asthenosphere
presumably varies significa ntly at the sites of
upwelling, but is proba bly much more unifo rm
be neat h stable plate interiors.
T he lithosphere grows at the expe nse of the
asthenosphere mainly at ocea n ridges. Here
new lithosphere is generated by the cooling of
asthc nospheric mat erial as it is carried laterally
away from the hotter ridge axes. Again the
syste m is very complex in detail, but can be
simplifie d in te rms of a model of continuous
accretio n of lithosphere alo ng an essentially
ther mal bounda ry in the flan king regions of an
ocean ridge (Figure 2. 1). As mate rial is carried
across this boundary, it changes from astheno-
sphere to lithosphere. T hus altho ugh new
material is be ing con tinuously emplaced below
the ridge, and is thereafte r being transpo rted
laterally away from the ridge axis, the actual
boundary to the lithosphere is statio nary with
respect to the upwe lling the rmal source, as
long as the thermal conditio ns are unchanged.
Material points within the lithosphere move al-
though the lithosphere bounda ries themselves
may remain fixed.
Away from the ridge , the cooling of ocea nic
lithosphere proceeds more slowly, although
differences can be detected in no rmal ocean
basin lithosphere thickness that are related to
its age (see 2.3). The older a piece of ocea nic I
lithosphere , the coo ler it will be , and the
deeper will be the the rmal bounda ry which
defines its base. It has bee n estimated that I
ocean-basin lithosphe re varies in thickness
from arou nd SOkm at the ridge crest to about
ISOkm in the oldest parts furthest from the I
crest. There is thus a simple relationship
between thickness a nd age that can be deter- I
mined fairly accu rately for most parts of the
ocean using the methods of magnetic strati-
graphy.
The oldest and cooles t parts of the oceanic
lithosphere are either attached to continents
and co ntinue to migrate later ally with them, or
form subducting slabs which desce nd through
the asthenosphere to merge indistinguishably
with the mesosphere. These slabs the n form
the cool downward-flo wing limbs of convective
'cells' . They sink because they are cooler and
therefore more dense than the surro unding
mat erial. An oceanic lithosphere plate may
thus exte nd from a ridge crest to a trench and
therefro m down to the base of the asthe no-
sphere (Figure 2.1). As it descends. it becomes
warme r and will lose mate rial to the astheno-
sphere by pa rtial melting. Al its base. it may
disappear. o r brea k into sectio ns, but the
material of which it is made will generally
descend, carried down by the coo l return limb
of the convective circulation. but indistinguish-
able seismically from t he adjacent mesospheric
material. It thus appea rs thai the lithosphere
plates, because of their strength and coo-
ttnulty, display a patte rn of movement which is
pa rt of a mo re fundament al mantl e circulatio n
to be discussed in 2.4.
2.2 Some short-term mechanical propert ies of
the lithosphere
The formation of geological structures is ulti-
mately dependen t o n the mechan ical proper-
ties of the material in which they are formed . It
is essen tial therefore to discuss the mechanical
properties of the lithosphere in o rder to dis-
cover how. and under what conditions, geo lo-
gical deformation is produ ced . The important
 rue LITHOSPHERE: SOMe IMPORTANT PROPERTIES
mecha nical properties which cont rol defo rma-
tion are elastici ty. viscosity, fract ure streng th
and yield st re ngth. Th ese properties var y with
rock compos ition , depth and tempe rature .
The infor ma tio n pr ovid ed by labor ator y ex-
periments on rock ma terials can provide esti-
mates for these mechanical par ame ters unde r
a limited ra nge o f co nd itio ns. Howe ver , a more
useful method o f stu dying the mechan ica l
behaviour o f th e lithosphere as a whole is to
make simplifying assumptions ab o ut bulk pro-
perties, and to use ma the mat ical mod els to
determine how th ese propert ies inte ract and
vary in changing physical co nditio ns (see 2.7).
The main so urce of inform atio n abo ut the
short-term mecha nica l pro perties o f litho-
sphere plates co mes fro m indirect geo physical
methods, part icularly the study o f seismic
waves. The velocity of se ismic waves provides
information abo ut the elastic prope rties of a
plate (elasticity a nd rigidity) a nd also , of
course, its effec tive thickness, as explained
above. Th e values of elasticity o r rigidity
derived from se ismic wave velocities define the
elastic prope rties of t ht:: lithosphere ove r very
short time period s (0 . 1s to 1 h). Howe ver the
lithosphere strength ca lculated in this way
(often called the ' instantaneous st rength') is
very much grea te r th an its stre ngth when
subjected to forces for periods o f te ns of Ma .
Useful informa tio n may also be gained from
the study of lateral va riatio ns in bot h P- and S~
wave velocity. Figur e 2.2A is a map o f t he
North American co ntine nt showing the varia-
tion in mean P,,-wave veloc ity (1' waves pro-
pagated in the up permost ma ntle ). Figure
2.28 shows in addition the variation in mean
crustal velocity togethe r with co ntours of crus-
tal thickness. T here is clea rly a crude re la-
tionship betwee n these ; most of the Pvwave
velocity variatio n in the crust app ea rs to be due
to the crustal th ick ness variat ions. Latera l
differences in t he lithosphere . however , are
more evide nt whe n the velocity o f t he P" waves
is studied (Figure 2. 28). Th e map shows a
decrease in P" veloci ty from abo ut 8.2 km/s o n
the North American crato n to below 7.8 km/s
7
in regions o f current or recent volcan ism a long
the cen tra l Cord illera n orogeni c belt (fo r ex-
ample in the Basin-an d-Range province and
the Cascades volcan ic arc) . T hese are regions
of warm er lithosphere with higher surface heat
flow an d stee per geotherma l grad ients (see 2.7)
which act to reduce Pcwave velocities in the
mantl e part of the lithosphere . Very similar
effects are see n in othe r curr ently o r recently
active regions. For example the velocity o f P"
waves beneath t he Japanese arc is 7.5-
7 .7 km/s co mpared with 8 .0 -8. 1 km/s fo r t hose
below the adjoining Pacific ocean . In con-
tinen tal rift zones and also at ocean ridges ,
the re is a co rres po nding reduct ion of P,,-wave
ve locity co mpa red with nearby stab le regio ns.
T hus the stu dy of t he regional va riat ion o f P,,-
wave velocity reveals zo nes of anoma lo usly
weak , warm lithosphe re which must pe rsist for
long per iods of time and are thus relevant to
the lo nger-te rm st rength prope rties of the
lithosphere as well as 10 its instantaneous
stre ngth.
SrI waves are S waves propaga ted in the
uppe rmost man tle . Like Pn waves, thei r ve lo -
city is affected by cha nge in elastic pro perti es.
U nlike P" waves though , th e S" waves do not
pe ne trate the low-velocit y zone du e to their
sho rt wave le ngth. The efficiency of tra nsmis-
sio n of th ese waves is shown o n a wo rld-wide
sca le in Figure 2.3 . It is clear that stab le plate
interiors are zones of efficie nt transmission.
whereas active tectonic zo nes (island arcs,
ocean ridges etc .) corres po nd to zo nes o f
inefficien t tran smission.
A not he r geophysical method of studying
lateral variatio ns in lithosp here stre ngth is
t hrough the study of the dispersion of surface
waves ( Rayleigh an d Love waves) . Dispersion
is a mea sur e of the spread in am plitude and
wavele ngth with in a wave tra in , an d occurs
because of the variation in elastic modul us and
density with distan ce from the so urce . T he
depth of pe netra tio n of a surface wave is
directly de pende nt on its wavelen gth . Thus if
the velocities are ca lculated as a funct io n of
wave lengt h. the rigidit y of the mater ial can be
8 GEOLOGIC A L ST RUCT U RES AI\'D MO VI NG PLAT ES

, .a

E stlm a' ed Pn y . foc U ~ e,

( k m/u c ) 1.9 8.0

"on ",u '.'

.... .",
>• .• , ../...
' .2 h , I . . .
n
< ..... o.~ .,. 1
< S. ' h,I..,
"'9011,
.... . . ,yo, .1
"'OO" r
< ' .2 8 oW• • •
<:"" to•• or
••••,.t .".b .
... ' . .. . 1 ' 0 , .
0
...."''''''''. .,".
COM ••• •
,-
r

te , . 1...1
~o< " " .... on " do or
•• I.. olt, < e k .., . ..

FiRllre 2.2 (A) Estimated P, seis mic wave veloc ity fo r uppe r man tic in the USA. Afl<:TWyllie ( 1 ~71 ), fro m Herrin ( 1969).
(8) Var iatio ns in cr ustal thickness, mea n crusta l velocity, and uppe r me nuc Icl\>cll y (see A) in the USA . After Wyllie
(197 1), from Paklser and Zie tz ( 1%5) .
 I Hi: LITHOSPHERE: SOME IMPORTANT PROPH n ES
E' fo e 'e nl transm.ssion
Inelt, cie n l
lransmi ss, on
H~u r~ 2.-' Regions of <)(Iicicnl and inefficienl propagation o f
Molnar and Oliver (1%'J ).
estimated as a functio n of dept h. Th is method
depends on the simu ltaneo us study of body
waves (e.g. P waves) a nd surface waves, and
reveals zones of anomalo usly weak man tle
below currently active volcanic region s co rres-
ponding to those revea led by P,; wave anal ysis.
Seismic wave attenuation is the red uction of
amplitude with dista nce and time due to e nergy
loss. and is measured by th e qu ant ity Q. The
amount o f att enuatio n Q is re lated to the
strength o f the ma te rial thro ugh which the
wave is pro pagated . T he ' tow-velo city zo ne'
(asthenosphere) is charac te rized by low values
of Q.
Further evidence as to the presen ce of
anomalo us zones co mes fro m the study o f elec-
tncal conductivity in the Ea rt h. Rocks arc
weak co nducto rs o f ele ctric curre nts. It is pos-
sible by study ing rapid variatio ns in t he Ea rt h's
magnetic field to isolate effec ts caused by
electric curren ts in th e Ea rth 's upper at mo-
9
l./
S~ seismic waves in lhc uppe r mantle (sec l e~t). Ar,el
sphere which are due to ch anges in the fl ow o f
radiation and charged pa rticles fro m the Su n.
Th e resulting magnet ic field induces e lectric
cur ren ts within the Ea rth. which in turn ca use
rapid ly cha nging modificatio ns to the magnetic
field. By isola ting the seconda ry va riation , the
stre ngth o f the e lectric curre nts , and he nce the
elec t rical co nductivity of t he Ear th , ca n be
est ima ted .
Ano malies in electrical co nd uctivity we re
foun d to be assoc iated with island arcs and
co ntine ntal rift zones (see e .g . Herman ce .
19R2). Th ese anoma lies are zo nes of poor
co nd uctivity t hat co rrelate with regio ns of
unusually warm lithosphe re . /
Thus seve ral inde pende nt geophysical
met hods indicate t hat active tecto nic zo nes
(volcan ic arcs, ocean ridges an d co ntinental
rifts) d isplay ano ma lous physica l properties
that co rres pond to those exhibited by the
asthenosp here . We may co nclude tha t such
10 GE O LOGICA L SlRUC1 URES AND MOVING P LATES

zones possess abno rmally low instantaneou s TaMe 2. 1 Mean hC;ll ftow fo r cc minc rna l ~ n d ocea nic
stre ngth and can be regarded as zones of region s.
anomalou sly thin and wea k lit hosphe re . Regio n N q S.D .

Von Herzrn Ulld Lt <'. J%Y

Sum mary
A Ucontinent s 255 1.49 0.54
For time pe riod s in the ran ge seco nds to hou rs, All oce ans 2329 1.65 1.14
A lt;llllic 4<~ 1.43 1.07
t he lithosphere gener ally beha ves ;IS a stro ng Indian J31 1.44 109
e lastic a nd rigid body wit h effec tively infin ite Pacific 12.' 2 1.71 1.24
viscosit y. Active tecto nic zones exhibit ano - A rct ic 29 J.23 0 .33
Mediterranea n se as 7J 1.33 o.es
malous physical prop e rties indicat ed by low P" Ma rginal scus 2/'1' 2. 13 0.6)
wave ve locity, grea ter surface-wave d ispe rsion,
lo w Q (high deg ree of atte nuat ion) , inefficient G irdlt,.1 % 7
prop aga tion of S, waves, and low electrical Africa I' 1.20 0.21
Ja pa n )R 2.2 1 2.73
co nd uctivity . Th e st rength of the lithosp heric
mantle in these anomalous zo nes is in many
A ustr alia '0 1.76 0.62
1.70
cases (c.g . Japan) co mparable with that in t he
Eu rope
NiAmcrica "
44
l. 9 1
1.26 U.57
ast henosphere. implying tha t the ' insta nta ne- N '" numhcr of oI>scrvalio"s ; q : ar;l hmel;c mn ll nl heal flo w ill
o us' t hickness of the lit hosphere is co nside r- /<cale m- 1 • ' (li FU); S.D . '" 5rand,,,d dcvial '"'' in IIFU (hear.
flow units) .
ably red uced . In simple terms, plates are
th inne r and wea ke r in active tecton ic zones. As
we shall now see , this is related to t heir thermal
st ructure . much mo re difficult than at sea because of
va rio us s urface e ffects, which arc minimized by
the blank eting effe ct o f the overlying water in
2.3 Th ermal structure of the lithosphere
the oce ans.
Th e ave rage total rate o f hea t loss through the II is necessary to d rill 10 depths of about
Ea rth's sur face is about 2.4 x Ityu cal/year. 300 m or mo re o n land to produ ce accurate rc-
T his represents an enormous loss o f ene rgy, sults. In general . estimates o f hea t flow in the
seve ra l orde rs of magnitude greater than the ocea ns arc accurate to within IOn;." but con-
to tal loss associa ted with earthq uake or vo l- tinental estima tes a rc very variable in their
canic activity. accuracy. Regio nal estimates of mean heat
Mean values of heat fl ow per unit surface fl ow based o n mo re than 10 observations a rc
area for t he differen t co ntinents and oceans arc believed to he accur ate 10 within 0.2 HFU .
shown in T able 2.1 . It is clear that the average Loca l depar tur es from these mean values of
continenta l and oceanic hea t fl ow is esse ntially mo re than th is amount arc co nside red to be
the same . It ap pear s that more than 9970 o f the significant.
Ea rth 's su rface has a ' no rmal' heat fl ow of Table 2.2 shows selected hea t fl ow values
around 1.5 HFU ( = 6OmW m- 2) , with ,10 0 - for the major types of tecto nic pro vince . from
rnalo us zo nes o f ve ry much higher heat now. which it may be see n that low mean heat fl ow
Note that 1 HF U = l llcal cm - 2s- 1 = 40mW values cha racteri ze the Precambri an shields
01 - 2. T hese localized zones ca n o nly be ex- and tha t high mean heat flows are associated
plain ed by the tra nsfe r of mate rial bringing with Ce nozo ic volca nic areas. High heal flows
thermal energy from deepe r so urces and co r- are also associated with ocea n ridges and island
respon d mostly to areas of curre nt o r recent a rcs. Pro fi les of heat fl ow values across the
volcanic activity, such as island arcs, major mid-At lantic ridge , and the Kur ile and Jap an
conti nenta l rift zo nes and oce an ridges . islan d arcs (F igure 2 .4) show very marked but
T he measurement of heat fl ow o n land is relatively narrow an omalies with a rather rap id
 THE ll TlWSP IiER E: SOME IMPORTANT PRO I'ERTIES 11
Table 2.1 Co ntinen ta l heat flow d ata d ivided ;010 s hield, with age of the ocea n floor ( Figure 2.5 C). Th e
intermediate (You nger Proterozoic to Pha ne rozoic' cr ust) hea t flow decreases steeply un til a n age of
and thermally act ive regions . After Kusznir a nd PMI<.
(1984). a bout 50 Ma , afte r which it bec o mes more or
less cons ta nt.
He at flow T he pro files acro ss the volcan ic a rcs s how
Regio n lIl W m - ~ Hf U
a noma lously low values a t the trenches as well
A Shll'/ d as high values ove r the a rcs. T he dist ribu tion o f
Supe rior Pfov i nee ~ ]4 ± 8 1I.,sS t hese zones o f high and low heat flow ar e
Wl~! AUS tU It;1 1 39 ± ,s 0.91\
WeS! A frica ( N igc r) ~ 0.50 s ho wn for the no rth a nd west Pacifi c region in
20 ± "
South lod ia 2 49 ± K 1.23 Figure 2.6A . T he relat ionship with tre nches
Mea n A rch aea n + olde r a nd vo lcan ic isla nd a rcs is ve ry clea r. Figure
P rll1{' rnzoi e~ ±
B . JI1It'fJnt'diu lt'
41
'" 1.03
2.6H illustra tes in pro file the depressio n
o f iso ther ms associa ted with the su bducting
Easte rn US A ~ 57 ± 17 1.43
England a nd Wal es~ 59 ± 23 1.48 slab .
Cenlta l Europe It ca n he see n from Ta ble 2.2 t ha t t he re is a
(Bohe mian m assi f)~ 73± 1.R.l
Nor1hern C hina '
Mean Yo unge r Prote rozoic '
75 ± 15
SO ± S
" 1.,s9
US
te nd e ncy fo r the hea l flow to increase with de-
crease in age of oroge ny for Pha ne rozo ic a nd
Mean Pa laeozoic ' 62 ± 20 1.55 Preca mbrian o rogen ic belts. but t he diffe r-
C Thermatiy active e nces a re sma ll in rela t ion to the e rro r. T his
Rhmc g tahen ' 101 ± 35 2.N! decr ease of continent al hea t flow with age was
{f1a n l<.s-R hc l1 i~ h massifl" (73 ± 20) (1 .83)
Baikal rif1' 97 ± 22 2.'0 in vestigated in mo re deta il by Vito re lJo a nd
(SE flank - Lo we r Patac o zoic p (55 ± 10) (Uil) POlI,lCk (19RO). Th e y showed ( Figu re 2.7) tha t
East Af rican rif1' IUS ± SI 2 .(,3 the decrease with te cto nic age (i.e . age since
(ft ~ n ks)-' (52 ± 17) (UU)
Basin-and-Runge Provinc e! 92 ± :n 2.30 t he last major tectonothe rmal eve nt) co uld be
(E . lbnk-Colo r;ldo c.la lca u)4 (611) (I. SO) a ppro xima tely filled to an e xpone ntial c urve
re prese nti ng the gradual decay of a tr a nsie nt
Il~ 'l 1\,_ data from 1'" llack and Ch41'man (19n ) ' , V,tn,d l" ""d
P"lbd (19!1U11, Mnrgan ( 19112'. 1910' , in I'w,~' )_ the rmal pe rt urba tio n together wit h a co m-
po ne nt o f heat loss due to gradu ai erosio n of
radi oge nic crust.

change with in a few 100k m to norma l regional

values.
Sctate r a nd Fra nche tca u (1970) co m pa red
the profile of ave rage measured heat flo w
values across the Ea st Pacific ridge with a
theore tical pro file e xpec ted fro m a 75 km-thick
cooting lithosph er e model (Fi gure 2.5A ). T he
close corres po nde nce was held to suppo rt the
ocean-floo r sprea ding model of th e growth o f
lithosphe re at t he r idge by add ition o f ne w
hot ma nt le mat er ial. As the new ocea n floo r
spreads awa y fro m the r idge axis. it coo ls from
the su rface downwards a nd gradually t hicken s
(see Figure 2.58 ) . T he dec rease o f hea t flow
with distilnee from the r idge axis is the refo re a
direct conse que nce o f a coo ling a nd thicke ning
lithosphe re plat e . This re la tio nship ma y be
checked by plo tti ng the va ria tio n o f hea t flow
Summary
Th e re is no significa nt d iffer ence bet ween
mea n co ntinental an d mea n ocea nic heat flow .
La rge hea t flow a no malies occur ove r very
nar row zo nes mak ing up less t ha n 1% of the
Ea rt h's surface a rea . Zones of high hea t flow
com prise the active tectonic reg io ns where
magm a has bee n introduce d into high levels in
the lit hospher e - t he active vo lca nic a rcs.
co ntine nta l rifts a nd ocea n ridges. Low hea t
flow zones ar e associa te d wit h t he tre nches .
Bo th ocean ic a nd co ntine nta l cru st sho w a
progressive decrease in heat flo w with incr ea se
in the rma l age . T hese va riation s in hea t Row
reflect variati on s in geot her mal gradie nt tha t
have impo rta nt implicat io ns fo r lithosphe re
stre ngth. as we sha ll see in 2.7.
 o 500 1000
9 r I I I
r r I

,
81-, -
,
71- -
,
, , -

~
- , -

4 I- -
,
-

~
3

,' , ,
1
, , ,-
1-.' '--'
, -..
, ,
75%
,
,
,
1 '''-,i; " , ,
• . -, . .. .. r
, . r r
,
r
""'r
,
25%
r r I
800 900 1000
,./
500 600 700

1 -
,
,
o o 1000 1000
'hi O,Uiloce " om trench .. "is. k m

J1cu rt 1... (. ) fl U l flow \,iJllOn " . d istance from the crat o f t he m......Al lanl>c ridge . Pcrttn l,lc: lu>c" enclose 75~ . SO"I.
a nd 2.~ " o f the: d ata rcspcdi\"d) . From Wyllie ( 197 1), .1(1<", Lee arnJ Uyeda ( I%." ) II>./") Heal nor.... profiles al;~ the
Kunl e a nd J :'!,,;111 a rcs . ",vc: n!!" d in 101l l m intc rv...... From Wyllie (I 97l ). «n cr Vacq uic r ('I "I. ( 1%1'»

12
 T H E UT HOS I'H EII:I,: SO ME I MI'ORTAt'JT PROPERTI ES 13

H eat fl ow in N orth Pac if ic

,
•
;0'0
o c 30
°0
•
0; ••
0 1\
i~
g a
0;
•
•• .Q• •
a 2.0
I
0•
0;
• • •
"•
20 C 1.0
E0
I
(I )

2000 4000 6000 BOOO 10,000

Distance fro m ridg e crest
(kilom eters)
A

~: ~PHERE
·~i~~;:i~~~:'
.....
1 .T ,;
-- I I
_"' -

I
'I
I
,
l "
' I'
Il I
II'
II" ,

'
~-_

,
.
-
~
-~ :;-::-:;:;':"i:z~
- .... _ _ ..
_
-

I ~ ' A STIHENO SPHERE "

' I 1 " "" "
\

,
/"
I1 I1 I I \
,I , \, '
B

'.0

c ' 00 '00

t'iJ:ure 2,5 (A ) Heat flo w profile from the Easl Pacific rid ge crest across the North Pacific. Mean obse rved value s (clo,;cd
circles) arc cumpatcd with a theore tica l pr()liIe ror " coo ling Ii l h()~phc re 'S km Ihid O pen circle s represen t mean va lues
increased hy 15% to allow for ,I possible hi;,s nca r Ihe ridge. From Uyeda ( 197X). (11) Schematic diagram showing male rial
flow lines (d ashed) and isother ms (so lid) al an oce a n ridge . T he solidus tempe rature 1~ is the isot her m rep resenting the
boundary betwee n the lithosphe re an d the ast he nosp he re . Af ter Uyeda (1 9711). (C) Vnn.uic n of ho.';\1 flow with ago.' of ocean
crust. showing cooling with incr easing age , After Sclutc r ( 1972 ),
14 G EOLOG ICAL SlKUCl'U ll.I"S A ND MOV1N(j I' LAI I::S

,;r
· --~=,,,,
·~
.•. .~ YJi.. o 80 0 600 400 20 0 200

f'yf~~
La
c:,y - -
-. 400

-
1 _ ....

r:-. ,,-
~, ,....- ,-
- _ '-
B

-0·

Fil:urc 2.6 (A) Simplified map "rheal flow distribution in

til.: Wc~l Pucinc sho wing dec rease d hea l nnw a t tren ches
,.nd incrc,[""d heal "ow 'Il volcanic ;H~ and hack-ar c
I _ 00' region s. From lJYCUil (1971'). (8) Schem atic pro file across
•• oj sot-duc uon zone shuw ing ...lc prcsscd isothe rms a lo ng the
su lxluCl i ng sla b . A ft cr W yllie ( 1971) ,
•

c a ,
000 "
ao
'" ""
"'"
"" '''' ,
-,
-, t"il:u rc 2.7 Decre ase (It co nt inen-
"- t;,1 heal fl"w with tec toni c age of
, c rust. T he up per c urve (visua lly
HUed ) is interpret ed ;IS ma de up

~
I o f thre e co mpo ne nts: I is radio -
genic heal [rom th e cruse II is
heal fru m a tra uaicntt hc rma l per -
o , turha tion associated wilh a tec-
ronorh c rmat cvc ru, a nd I II is
m back ground heat llow from a
deeper source. Dou hlc oa rs rc pre -
se nt the standa rd e rror, s ingle ba rs
the sl<l nd ard de viat ion, o f the
0 0' ,.c te ' 0
T ECT~tC f« (to' yearsl " mean s. Frnm Vitorcllo and Po l-
lack (J 9l'\U) .
 ra e U THOSI'HIC Kl.: : SOM I'. IMf-ORT-ANT I'ROt' !:.Kfl f.5
2,.1 ~I a ll tle convectio n: t he r ole of t he
lithosph er e
The Enn h is a hea t e ngine, a nd the ult imat e
source of almost all the e ne rgy requi red in
geological processes is Ihermal in origin: ~ris ­
tng out of the tra nsfe r of heat (part ly o riginal ,
partly radioge nic ) from the inter ior of [he
Earth 10 it" exterio r. A rt hur Holmes ( lY2lJ)
proposed ther mal convection c urre nts as the
oriving mecha nism fo r co ntine nta l dr ift , bu t
the sugges tio n was o nly se riously conside red by
most geologists t hirt y yea rs la te r. whe n enough
evidence h;IIJ accumu lated to convince the m
that continental dnft a nd oce a n-fluor spread ing
were viable hypo theses and that co nvec tion
was the onl y adeq uate ex planatio n for these
rn~c~~~ . . km. Below 650km the re is a majo r ch a nge in
It is now ge ne rally accepted thai the solid
material of the Earth is capab le of flow give n a
long enough time scale. The rat e of flow is
governed hy the effeclive viscosity of the mat e r-
ial. which is st rongly te mp era ture-depe ndent.
An estimate of the mean viscosity of the oute r
shell of the Ea rt h ca n be det e rmined from t he
isostatic respon se of t he lit hosphere . F~r e ~ ·
ample . the up ward move me nt of Sca~d m'l vla
in response 10 t he re mova l of th e Pleistoce ne
ia::sheCican he acc ur atel y measured by o bse r-
vations on raised be aches. whic h s how a
maximum elevatio n o f c.3OO m in 1I l()() yea rs.
This is e xtremely rapid in geo togicat terms an d
21
indicates a mea n viscosi ty of a bout 10 po ise .
This mean value rep resents a ran ge in visco-
sity thai m ust de crease downwa rds wit h in-
crease in tem perature .
Flow in the upp e r ma ntic has , until recently,
been assumed to he gove rned by du cti le cree p
in either dry or wet o livine. Flo w la ws ba sed
on dislocation c ree p have bee n p rov ided by
Kohtsted r and G oet ze ( 1974 ) and G oe tze
(1m) for dr y o livine . a nd by Post ( 1977) fo r
wet dunit e , based on labora tory da ta . These
now laws a re o f the for m
~ = A e xp BITols - 1
where t is str ain ra te . T te m pe rature a nd
15
si ress. A and B ar e constants ami arc st ro ngly
te m pe rat ure-de pe ncJc nt.
11 was o riginally tho ught that o livine was the
durnina nt mineral throu ghu ul t he upper man -
lie , a nd .....as replaced by a minera l with similar
co mpos ition hut with a spi nel st ruct ure (i.c . a
denser ph ase) in the lowe r mantle . How ever .
pe n o logists have mo re rece nt ly suggeste d a
mor e complex compositio nal structure . A nd e r-
so n a nd Bass ( 11)86) summa rize the e vidence
in fa vour of a het erogen eo us up pe r ma ntic
domi naled in the lowe r pa rr by clinopyroxene
a nd ga rne t. the base o f which ma y be com-
posed la rgel y o f subd ucted ma ter i.al, a nd sug-
ges t tha i olivine is domina nt o n l ~ I ~ th ~ uppe r
part o f the uppe r ma ntle . OilVille IS now
conside red 10 he unsta ble below a bo ut 400
physical pro perties which is e x pl a i ne~ as ~h e
result o f a cha nge to de nse pe rovskuc -fi kc
mine ral . Th e flow la ws fo r these ma te rials a rc
not know n . A lt hou gh it has been sugges ted
that the lower man tic ma y nor he ca pab le of
convecnve flow. the bala nce of opinio n no w is
in favou r of con vection in bot h upper a nd
lo we r man tle h ut proba bly not d irectly linked
in a la rge mantle-wide cell. .
Th e ground ru les fo r rhe pla te tectonic
theory ha ving bee n laid down in 1968 , the ke y
role of convect ion in t his new t heo ry was
analyse d in a cla ssic pape r by Mcken zie (1969)
e ntitled 'Speculations o n the co nseque nces a nd
ca uses of pla te moti o ns' . McK enzie po inted
OUI t hat lar ge-scale co nvect ion throu ghou t
at least the uppe r ma ntle , as o rigina lly e nvis -
aged by Holmes. provided the on ly adequa te
mec hani sm for pla te movem en ts. VI SCO US
forces we re required 10 couple the pla tes 10 the
moving ma ntle be low. a nd vertical mo ve me nts
of both hot a nd cold materia l mu st also be
involved to co mple te the co nvec tive ci rcula -
lio n. Plat e mo vem ents a re thu s se e n as pa rt o f
a la rge-scale convec tive process t ha t is in a
se nse bo th a co nseq ue nce and a ca use of the
mo ti on.
Th is co ncept was a t va ria nce with a sugges-
0
tion by Elsasse r (1967) that the motio n o f the
16 G EO LOGICAL STRUcr U I<ES AND MOVIN G PLA TES
pl ates was governed by the pull o f the cold
sinking slabs in subduction zones. Althoug h
the ' slab-pull' force is an importa nt cle me nt in
lithosphere dynam ics, it can eas ily be shown
tha t it is only one of severa l forces o f co mpa r-
ab le magn itu de acting o n the lit hosp he re , an d
thai much of the ocea nic lithosphe re is und e r
co m press io n ra the r than ten sion as req uired by
t he Elsasse r model (see 2.5, 2.6). T he implica-
t ion of Mcke nzie's ar gum e nt is tha t such fo rces
a re seco nda ry, t hat no single fo rce provides t he
d riving mecha nism fo r plate tectonics. a nd that
all suc h fo rces a rise from the co nvect ive flow
sys te m itsel f.
The early models of Holmes (1929) and
Ru ncorn ( 1962) ( Figure 2.8) implied a link be-
twee n ocean ridges (or mo re ge ne rally. con-
st ructive plate boun da ries) and rising currents
o n the one hand . and between subductio n
zo nes (o r destructive boundaries) and falling
cu rre nts on the other. It beca me apparent,
however, th at such a link could o nly be tra nsi-
tor y, since distances between ridges and tre n-
ches are continuously changing o n a geo logical
time-sca le. an d tha t all plate bo unda ries mi-
grate with respect to a fixed man tle referen ce
fram e .
It was co nsidered by Runcorn and othe rs
f igure 2.8 Th e Runcorn ( 1%2 ) mode l of ma ntic- co nvec-
tion . Fro m R unCOfIJ ( 1962).
that the position s of majo r convec tive upf t ows
and downttows in the ma ntle should be re-
fl ected in distortions of t he geoid. The geoid
(Figure 2.9) is the sea -leve l equi potential sur-
face of the gravity field of the Ea rth. and this
surface defines the depar tures from rad ial
symme try of the d ist ribut ion o f mass wit hin the
Earth. 11 is measur ed by ext reme ly accurate
satellite obse rvat io ns. The geo id su rface re-
veals departu res fro m a simp le sphero id of
flattening which are of seve ra l orders of magni-
tude . T he largest type of anomaly has a half-
wavele ngth of about 4000 km, and is compar-
ab le in dime nsions with the major plates. It
produ ces elevations and dep ressio ns o f the
o rder of 50- toO m o n the geo id surface .
Rath e r sma ller-scale disto rtio ns with hal f-
wavele ngths in the ran ge HX)()- 1500k m co r-
respo nd to t he majo r ocea nic ' swe lls' like those
o f Hawaii an d Bermuda . These a re acco m-
panied by positive geoi d anomalies of 6- 8 m.
A third scale of ano maly can be detected with a
ha lf-wave le ngth o f IUO- 250 km.
T he long-wavele ngth co mpone nts of the
Ea rth' s gravity fie ld are conside red to result
mainly from density co ntras ts associate d with
mant le convec tion. T hus a mass excess is asso-
ciated with a co ld dense downward current
(giving a geo id swell), a nd a mass deficiency
with a war m , less den se upward curre nt, giving
a geo id depression. However , t hese effe cts are
largely o ffset by the dynam ically main tained
defo rma tion of the surface to pography. (e.g.
ridges an d tre nches) that produ ces effects o n
the geo id that are o pposite in sign but co m-
parable in magnitude . In o ther wor ds. the exis-
te nce o f ge ne ral isostatic co mpensation in
these majo r to pogr aph ic structures redu ces the
net geo id an omaly to around zero , parti cularly
in the case of the ridges.
Th e lon g-wavelen gth anomalies probabl y
rela te to swells an d de press ions of perhaps
Fjgur e 2.9 The shape of Ihe geoid. Dilfe re nt views (a - n
of the geoid shape ( 5C(: tex t). Co ntours a l 20 m intervals
show de pa rtu res of the Smi thso nia n Sta ndar d Earth II
geoid from a sphe roid of f1a u.:ninS 1f29g.25. Positiv e ere-
vanon is shaded. Fro m Gough ( t977).
IHI:; I.Il'HO~I'HER E : SOME IMPOIUAN T PIWPLRflt:S 17
18 GEOLOGICA L STlWCTU RES AN D Mo v I NG PLATE S

several k m magni tude on the core -man tle
interface. tha t wo uld be associa ted wit h rising
and falling convec tive co lumns. Anomalies
with a deep so urce shou ld pr imarily re flect the
den sity imbala nce ; thus uptlows in the lowe r
mantle p rod uce nega tive and down llows posi-
tive anom alies. T he opposite appe ars 10 he
true of the shallow d isturba nces rooted in the
ast henosphere . whe re the ano malies reflect the
de for med shape of the lithosphe re ; fo r ex-
ample t he Hawaii swell is associated with a
positive anomaly .
Figure 2. 10 co mpares the Large-wavele ngth
a nomalies with the present plate bo undary
networ k. A ltho ugh ther e is a poo r cor relatio n
in genera l. and a total lack of correlat ion
be twe en ridges and negative ano ma lies, the
major subd uctio n zo nes a re situated in regions
o f posit ive ano ma ly. McKenzie ( 1969) pre-
su med that ridges must e xist over bo th falling
and rising curre nts. This was ex plai ned beca use
the creatio n o f lithosp he re at a ridge requires
a la rge vo lume o f ho t mant le ma terial that,
beca use it rises morc o r less adiaba tically,
co nvec ts little hea t except within the litho-
sphe re, an d so produces litt le d istor tio n of the
isot herms within the sub-lit hosphe ric mant le.
In subduction zo nes ho we ver. the op posi te is
the case . No change in tem perature structure
withi n the lithos phere occ urs until it cc m-
men ces its descen t into the ma ntle . This
motion d istorts the isothe rms by seve ral hun-
d red km throughout the upper mant le (see
Figur e 2.68 ). T hus the sub-lithos phe ric ma ntle
loses materia l be neat h ridges but loses heat
bene at h island arcs. Th e o pposite is true for
the lithosp he re , as ex plained in 2.1.
Mckenzie co ncluded tha t t he cold des ccn-
din g slabs prod uce large hor izon tal a nd ve rtical
temper ature gradients a nd sho uld therefo re
gove rn the position of the descending limb of
any co nvection ce ll. If the subd uction zone
moves, t he sinking curre nt sho uld move with
it.
Coo l oceanic lithospher e is able to sink
beca use it is den ser tha n ast bc nosphc ric rnan-

f
t
Figurt 2.10 Co mours at 10 m intervals of the height of the non-hydros tanc geoid com pared with the plate bou nd ary r
nelwork. Tr enches, hatched lines; ridges . dou ble lines; faults , single lines. Major trenches all occur in positive areas. Afte r
McKen zie ( 1969). I
 rHE LlT HOS PH E KE: SO ME IMPO Kr ANT PKOI'ERIIES
tic, desp ite the nega tive buoy ancy o f the
oceanic crus t , which is pro ba bly overcome by
the transfo rmation o f gabbro to ecl ogite as It
sinks. Con tinental lithosp he re , on the other
hand, has a muc h lowe r mea n de nsity tha n
oceanic lithosp here , since abo ut 20-30% o f
it is composed of crus tal ma te rial, compared
with only abo ut 5% in t he case o f ocea nic
lithosphe re . Con t inenta l lithosphe re will
therefore res ist subd ucti on , a nd con tinen ts,
once formed , will be very di fficult 10 destroy.
Dewey an d Bird ( 1970) showed how con-
tinent -island a rc a nd co ntinen t -con tinent col-
lisions arc t he inevita ble conseq ue nce o f con -
tinued subd uct ion, and how subd uct io n must
cease when co llision takes place . T he reafter ,
for continued convergence to occur, the site of
subduction must move away fro m the collisio n
zone in o rde r t hat further su hd uctio n of
oceanic materia l ma y take place . T he pa tte rn
of mantle convect ion must therefore depe nd to
a large exten t o n the position of the co ntinents
and must move wit h the conti nen ts , since t he
latter contro l the position o f the subd uction
zones. Howe ve r. convect ive cha nges ma y lag
behind the cont inen t move me nts becau se o f
the time take n fo r the old co ld slab below the
collision zo ne to wa rm up .
The lust maj or reo rga nizat io n o f t he convec-
tive patte rn was prob ab ly assoc iate d with the
continen tal ama lgam at ion that for med Pa n-
gaea. The supe rconti ne nt appea rs to have bee n
almost surro unde d by subd uctio n zo nes. T he
Pacific Ocea n o f t hat t ime for med a bo ut half
the surface a rea of the Earth (Fi gu re 3.5), a nd
probably poss esse d ,I simp le sy mme trical ridge
system that ma y reflect t he co nte mpo ra ry
rising convec tive limbs. Since that time . the
Pacific ridge sys te m has moved no rt hwa rds a nd
been overridd en by con tinen tal plate . pa rticu-
larly on its eastern side . Geo me tric co nse-
quences of pla te movem e nts ha ve thus te nded
10 move ridges a way from t heir longe r-lived
ma ntle roots. Howe ve r. the link be tween
fa lling cur re nts an d subd uctio n zo nes may ha ve
beenlonger-lasti ng . an d ma y pa rt ly ex plai n the
relationship be twee n geoid a noma lies an d
trenches see n on Figure 2. 10.
19
G ou gh (1977) has co mpared the shape of the
long-wavel e ngth an oma ly ( Figure 2.9) to the
two spi ral strips covering a tenn is ball. T he
high . or positive ano maly, has on e lobe cover-
ing the wes te rn Paci fi c with its t re nch system,
an d including most of Aust ralia , an d is joi ned
across the Ar ctic a nd no rthern A tlan tic regio n
to a second lob e cove ring the so uthe rn A tlan tic
a nd so uthe rn Ind ian ocea ns, ex ten d ing west -
wa rds ove r the A ndes. T he low, o r negat ive
a no ma ly, has o ne lobe cent red sou t h of India
an d cove ring m uch o f Asia and the Ind ia n
O cean , which is jo ined ac ross the A nta rct ic to
a second lobe cove ring t he eastern Pacific,
North Ame rica , the Bra zilian shield and the
weste rn A tlantic. T hus the low st rips surro und
the high lobes an d vice ve rsa . Gough a rgues
that this pa tte rn ma y ind icat e a glo bal single-
cell convective system whe re the up curren ts
pro ba bly unde rlie the low geoi d strip (a ltho ugh
the o pposite co uld be the case) .
Who le-ma ntle co nvec t io n ce lls were env is-
aged by earl ier worke rs (c.g. Hol mes, 1929;
R uncom . 19(2) a nd a re still advoca ted by
so me (e .g. Ke nyo n a nd T urcotte, 1983). How-
eve r, ma ny investiga to rs now bel ie ve t hat the
c ha nge in che mical a nd physical prope rt ies a t
650 km dept h, which prod uces t he seism ic
d iscontinuity se pa rat ing upper fro m lowe r
ma ntle , re prese nts a ba rr ier to comp lete cir-
cu lat ion . a nd tha t separate convect ive pa tte rns
ma y he inde pe nde nt o r on ly pa rtially coupled
(see e .g. Le Picho n an d Huchon . 1984) . It is
poss ib le tha t the rising currents a re cont rolled
by the te m pe rat ure dis tributio n at the base o f
the man tle . but arc unco upled fro m the lit ho-
sp he re at the surface , whe reas the fa lling
cu rre nts arc mo re strongly in fluen ced by lit ho-
sp he re move me nts. Figure 2. 11 sho ws dia-
gram matically ho w a poss ible ma ntle con vcc-
tivc sys te m might link with plate mo veme nts.
T he positio n o f ho t columns in the ma nt le is
go verned lar gel y by the sites of upwell ing
liq uid ou ter core mate rial.
An im po rta nt sou rce of informa tion on the
E ar th's convective syste m is provide d by t he
so-called ' ho t spots' or man tle plumes (Wilson,
1965; Mo rga n , 1972 ). T hese a re long-lived
 20 GEO LOGI CAL STR UCTUR ES AND MO VI NG PLATES
LITHOSPHERE
C~ T - eM , Q
TTI)\ G
' :~"""'N"'~
A ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
• • . • .
'I'. ~
.' ' ':·' ·· >:'::;:S' ':.• ~ .~ .~ . ~ . ~ ~
. . . -LOWER Ill ANTLE ' . . . . . . . . • . • • . . . • •
. . . .. . . . ) ' :../
'.!V CORE
i1" • ~y
UT HOSPHER~
l OOOKm
'-"
so urces of vo lca nic activity which arc 's tu-
tion ar y' . o r at le ast mo ve much more slowly
with respect ( 0 a fixed man tic referen ce fram e ,
than the plates. Co nseq ue ntly t hey lea ve a
linea r 'w ick' in t he form of a chain o f vol-
canoes on the surface of t he moving oce anic
pla tes. A goo d ex ample is the Hawaii- Empero r
chain in the Pacific O cean (Figure 3. 10).
Iceland is an o the r exam ple , actua lly situated
on a ridge , so that there is a symme trical
arran geme nt of linear ch ains running to wards
t he present position fro m each side . Morgan
used the ho t-spot frame o f refere nce to det er-
mine the ' a bso lute' mot io ns of the plat es
( Figure 3. 12).
T he oceanic hot spots are associated both
with topographic swells (wit h amplit udes of
ahout 1 km) and also wit h positive geoid
ano ma lies ( with amplitude s of around 10m) -
see Par son s et al. ( 1983) . T he to pograp hic
swells are ca used by wa rme r and less den se
lithosph ere similar to that o f th e oce an ridges .
Both swells and anomal ies are e lo ngated in the
direct ion of plate mo vement. It is be lieved that
the size and spacing of t he ho t spots indicates
the presence of a convective ci rcu latio n pattern
which is much sma ller in scale (l.e . with ,I
wavel ength of 2000- 3000 km) t ha n the majo r
circulation respo nsible for the pia te move-
men ts, and co mparable in size to the thickness
o f the up pe r mantle.
T
. .
~'; gu ~ 2.11 Car t'''lll rCl'rcsc ntiog I'0ssihk
mantle c onvccuvc II" ", patte rn s. A simple whole.
Illalil ic pnnc m (A 1 dege ne ra tes into pilrl ly.
linkc:<l up per and k,wcr Inilnl le system s .. ne r
so me pla te mo vement, in which the platc bo un-
<.l aries have migrat ed llway Irom their o riginal
" liml le roo ts ( R) . e M , ' <ln lin e nl ma rg in ; T.
tr e nch ; R. ridge ; C'i . co llisio n sulure; H. hOI
spot .
An even smalle r-scale convec tio n is sugges-
ted by the panem of short-wavelength (200-
500 km) undulatio ns of t he geoid obse rved in ~
the cent ral Pacific ocea n (F igu re 2. 12; Haxby
and Weissel, 1983). T hese featu res are elon-
gated paral lel with the ' a bso lute ' motion of th e
plates, like the hot -spo t chains , hut arc vo l-
canically quiet. Thi s pat tern is int er preted as
the resu lt o f small-scale instabilities in coo ling
o f the plate as it moves away from the ridge , C
and is thought to be assoc iated wit h now
patte rns with in the asth enosp here .
Modelling convection
Th ere have been many attempts is simulate
mantle co nvection by mean s of mod els of bo th
expe rime ntal a nd mat hematical type . Both
kinds of mod el a re highly artificial and give
only a rough guide to the way co nvect io n might
ope rate . A stimulating acco unt of the ph ysics
of the be haviour of the Ea rt h is prov ided by
E lder (1976) in his book , The Bo wels of the
Earth. T his acco unt se rves as a useful illustr a-
tion of bot h t he possi bilities an d limitation s of
mod ell ing the Earth 's internal be haviour . B
Elder shows that thermal co nductio n j S i~U1
totally inadeq ua te to e xplain the heat flow and y ~'I
tempe rature distributio n in the uppe rmos t cp ll
parts of the Eart h. and that convec tive flow is 'll~ :;
esse ntial to transpo rt the heaT and energy r rh.
 A

B
t"lItUIl' 2.12 (A) Gr avity 'IO nm~l y penc rn n"cr pan uf the Pacific ptate , obse rved as Ct'nl\lUf~ un the sea surface , measured
or
b)''''' tclliIC. ( B) Huthyr ucmc co nto urs lhe sa me regio n as (A ). plnll ell a~ rcxidnaldcpth (Ihe d iffe re nce hc [weco the
.k:p!hallrihulahk to elk,ling oce a nic plal e "noJ Ihe oh"c rwu .kl'lh). Bot h nl'1Jharc "mout hed In cl imin,lh: fluctuations with
u.dc nglhs ,,'",ncr than 5/.. 1km. Low s on h..111 mal'" ar,' dUlled. Slightly dung'l l.: pusi .;vc gC\li,j unom ahc s t:orrcl alc with
l"f"'!:lal'hic highs. The mups a rc oncn tcd s uch Ihill lhc mot ion "f [he plalCis [('win lls the lcft , in the d hecuon o f elongation
...r lilt- elliptical anom"lin . A lle r MI.-Ke nzie ( t9R.' ).

21
22 GEO LOGICA L Sn W CTU lI: 1:.S AN D MO VING PLATES
required fo r surface processes. Fur therm or e ,
t he re ma r ka ble similarity o ve r ge o logica l time
o f suites o f basic igneous rocks indica tes a well-
mixed (well-sti rred') source, which again indi-
ca tes convection.
Elder uses the pr inciples o f fl uid dynamics to
tre a t the Ea rth as an e xa mple of th e rm a l
turbule nce in a medium with va riable visco sity.
T he fundame ntal d riving mecha nism for co n-
vectio n is a ho rizo ntal te mp e ra ture g rad ient
which prov ide s cha nges in den sit y. T hese in
tu rn generate buo yancy for ces which init ia te
and maintain motio n. In an unstable syste m
above a critica l Rayleigh number, any small
pe rtur bation in th e te m pe ra ture field will be-
come amplified and generate mo tion . T he
Ra yleig h nu mbe r ( Ra ) is a me asure o f the
e ffective ness o f th e bu o yan cy fo rces ac ting
aga inst th e co mb ined re sist a nce to mo tion o f
visco sity a nd th e d iffusio n o f te mp e rature
varia tio ns by t he r ma l co nd uc tivity.
For a bod y o f give n sha pe an d bo unda ry
te mp e rature dist ribut ion . fhe Rayleigh n um ber
is g ive n by :
whe re y is the coefficient of cu bica l e xpa nsio n.
S is the loc al ac celera tio n d ue to g ra vity . b. T
t he t em perat ur e d iffe ren ce . h the wid th of t he
bo d y (rad ius of t he Eart h). k the th e rma l d if-
fusivit y an d v the kine mat ic viscosity. E lder
assum es t he follow ing va lues fo r these pa ra-
rneters- y « IOK . g = IO m s - 2• b. T:::: 25IK}K .
h = =
6370 km . k =: 1O- 6 m 2 s - l . a nd v 6.46 x
1016 m l s -l c m2s -l . giving a Ra yleigh nu mbe r
o f lOy. Co nside ra ble unce rta in ly a ttac he s to
t he va lue o f v, whic h ma y lie in th e r ange 10 1 ~ _
1O " lm 2 s - 1 fo r th e mant le . Ho we ve r, the re -
leva nt va lue s of t he kinema tic visco sity lie in
th e upper pa rt s o f the ma ntle a nd a re k now n
mo re acc ura te ly. Va lues fo r y, b. T a nd k are
pro bably accurate within a factor o f 2. Ho w-
eve r. it is clear that th e Ra yle igh number mu st
be la rge . Fo r bod ies with Ra ... lO5, vigoro us
non -ste ad y co nvectio n is indi ca ted , domi nated
by chao tic e dd ying mo tio n wit h e dd ies o f a
wide ran ge o f size. T his mo del is q uite d iffe rent
fro m t he re gu la r ce ll model o f Ru ncorn (1959)
bu t sim ila r to th e kind of mod e l infe rre d by
McK e nzie a nd ot he rs from the re latio ns hip be- c
twee n pl at e bounda ries and geoid anomalies.
El de r's model pred icts a the rm al sub -laye r ~
(co rre spo nd ing to th e lith osph e re ) wh ich is a t
co o led an d high ly visco us buffe r be twee n t he s
we ll-m ixed inte rior a nd th e co nstan t-te mpera- t.
tu re surface . T he thi ckness of this la ye r is a
function of th e Ra yle igh n um be r. Vigo ro us ti
in te rio r flo w te nds to th in the su b-laye r. which b
mu st pe riod ically ove rturn for convect ion to be n
ma int aine d . The beh aviou r of the sub -laye r is h
sim ulate d using a po t of ho t o il. broader th a n b
its depth , insulat ed o n its base and sides. P
a nd cooled fro m abo ve . T he co oled sub-laye r r
g row s to a maximum thick ness de ter mined by P
t he va lue o f Ra , then ove rturn s. Befo re it docs
so . it fo rms a se ries of ed d ies o f th e sa me
d ime nsion s as the dept h of t he sub-laye r •
(Fi gure 2.13A). These e ddi es prod uce lar ge
d istortions o f the ini tiall y ve rtica lly stra t ified
te mpe ra ture fiel d . Each edd y en tra ins coo l
fluid fro m t he sur face a nd br ings hot mat er ial
close r to the sur fac e . Eve n tually, blo bs o f cool
fluid fa ll out o f the sub-laye r into the inte rio r
a nd in itia te d isruptio n o f the su b-laye r. T his r:
process , which is e ffective ly ran dom , simulates
t he behavio ur of th e lith osphe re as it is '4
a tt acked by rid ges and plume s , a nd eve ntua lly
by su bd uctio n.
A further usefu l an a log ue o f Ea rt h be-
hav io ur is prov ided by e xpe rime nts simula ting
th e e ffec ts o f a contine ntal slab on th e co nvec-
tive syste m (Figur e 2. 138 ). Elde r finds that an
asym me trica l edd y is ge ne rate d by a co nu nc n- (
ta l edge ; this pro vides a la te ral force t hat co uld
act to propel the co ntine nt (d . the subdu ction
suction forc e, 2.5 ) . There is a stro ng upwell ing
imme d ia te ly beh ind t he le ad ing ed ge that
sim ula tes volca nic a rc produc tion. A ny th er-
mal pe rtu rbat ion be lo w th e co ntine nta l sheet -
would te nd to pro pel th e shee t late ra lly, unless
it we re ce nt ra lly situate d.
Summary W
~
T he st ud y of the geo id a no ma ly pa ttern sug- -
ge sts that the ma ntle co nta ins a t le ast th ree
sca les of co nvect ive circulatio n. The first , or
 II~ E Ll IH OSI'I~ ER E :
large-scale circula tio n is co mparable wi th the
dimensio n" o f the plates a nd r eturns materi al
from trenches to ridge s . T ilt' se cond . of in te r-
mediate sca le, is co mparabl e to the depth o f
Inc uppe r mant le in sca le , an d co nt ro ls th e ho t
spots. T he third has a smal l SC;11C co mpar a blc
to the widt h o f the a sth enosphe re ,
In terms of plntc kin e matics . ma n t le con vec-
tion docs nOI appear to p rov ide a direct link
between ustbc no sp hc rc no w a nd pla te mov e -
rncm . Any lar ge plat e would be e xpe c ted to
have differe nt d irec tio ns o f asth e nosph e re Ilo w
beneath it. T his o bse rvat io n is of c ritica l rm-
portance in e valu at ing t he mech an ism s of
plate move ment and the force s actin g o n th e-
plates. as we sha ll now sec (2 .5 ) .
() 0 00
I
w
SOME I MPORTAN T l' IWf>[Rfi ES 23
The co ncl usio ns th at can be d raw n fro m
Eld er 's mo del be a r an in teresting re se mblance
10 tho se o f McK e nzie , a nd ca n be s umm a rize d
as follo ws .
[i] Descen ding coo l currents (s ubd uction
zo nes ) ex e rt a majo r co ntro l on the co n-
ve ctive syste m
( ii) Con tinent s ge ne ra te thei r o wn sys te m of
sm a ll-sca le ed dies wh ic h ge ne ra te la te ra l
force s a nd vo lcani c ac tivity
( iii) Co nt ine n ta l plates d o no t ride passive ly
o n th e ba ck o f a ho rizo nta l ma nt le flow
(iv) T he re is no d irec t link be twee n as t he no-
sp he re Ho w a nd plate mo ve men t (pla te s
a re no t d rive n by 'm a ntic d rag ' )
A t"il:u rc 2. D (A) Laboratory simulunon
(using hUI nil cootc u fro m ;,ho ve) o f n>nvcc-
lio n in the uppe r man tle neil( " s l" liomuy
cu nlinl'lll ,,1 nI,u gin. T he «kerch shu w, the
dirc cuo n of fluid mol ion Fro", Elde r ( 1<)76).
U11 S~cl r h of co nvective ll,)W paucr n for an
i' ol ..1cd migr" ling (co nl ' Ol'nt"l) s hn' l with
nnuchcd. tr," lo ng o CCdnic c ru' l, hilsed Oil ;,
nu me ric..l simulation . Fw ru Elde r ( 1976),
E
24 GEOLOGICA L STRUCTU KES AN D MOVI NG I' L ATE S
(v) Plate move ment is not d irect ly co ntro lled
by upwelling curre nts (i.c . plates arc not
prima rily dr iven by ' ridge push') .
2.5 Sources or stress in the lithosphere
BC( ilUSe o f its co mpar ative st re ngt h, the lit ho-
sphe re can suppo rt s ubsta ntial de viat o nc
st resses . Estimates of maximum stress differ-
e nces produced by surface top ogra phy yield
values of 2{K)-300 M Pa ( = 2- 3 kiloba rs; I
MPa = 10 bars) in the uppe r cr ust (Birch,
1964: Jeffreys, 1( 70). However , such large
stress d iffe rences can no t be maintained in the
lowe r part of t he li thosphere or in the asrbcno-
sphe re because o f visco us cr ee p . Kuszni r a nd
Pa rk ( 19R4) es timate t ha t ave rage stress levels
within the present co nt ine ntal plates probably
lie within t he range - 25 to +25 MP a dis tr ib u-
ted ove r t he w ho le t hickness o f t he lit hosphere.
Intr a pla te exte nsio nal tectonic e ffects in the
form o f gra be n , rifts and sed ime ntary basins
are widespread in the maj or conunental plates,
b ut co mpressional intra plat e effects a ppear in
co ntras t to be rela tivel y uncommon . Th e de-
fo rma tio n o f oce anic plat es seems to be neithe r
per vasive nor exte nsive , being ge nerally co n-
fined to brittle deform at ion in the upper crust
associated with insignifican t str ains, o r 10 litho-
sphe re flexure associ ated with sedime nt o r
se amo unt loadin g (see Bod ine et ai. , 19K1).
T he mag nitude o f the stresses invo lved
within lithosph ere plat es must clea rly be large
enou gh to promot e frequ ent t ho ugh localized
exte nsio nal failure in co ntine ntal lithosphere ,
but too sma ll for co mpress io nal failure e xcep t
unde r exceptio nally favourab le circu msta nces.
T he so urces o f stress in the lit hosph ere have
been investigated by Forsyth and Uyeda ( 1975),
Turcotte and O xbur gh ( 1976). Richardson et
at. (1976) and Bott and Kusznir ( Il.JK4) (see
T able 2.3). Stress systems affect ing t he lit ho-
sphe re ca n be co nve niently d ivided into re-
newable and non-renewa ble type s (Ba tt.
19R2). Renewable stresses are those that pe rsist
as a res ult of the co ntinued presen ce or
rea pp lication o f the ca usa tive forces, even
alth ou gh the stra in ene rgy is progressive ly
dissipated . The two mai n exam ples are stresses 1
ar ising from plat e boun da ry forces and fro m r
isosta t ica lly co mpe nsated sur face load s. No n-
renewable stresses arc those tha t lire dissipated
by re lease o f the str ain en e rgy initia lly present.
Bending st resses, membrane st resses and ther-
mal stresses are exa mp les o f this type . T he s
value o f stress lit a ny po int in the lithosphe re
results fro m t he supe rimpos it ion of se veral s
diffe re nt stresses and is affected by local varia-
tions in mechanica l prope rt ies.
It is con venien t to treat the lit hosphere as a
single un it o f varying du ctility in which the
"
a pplied fo rces a re averaged o ver the whole
lithosp her e tbick ncss. Th is simplificatio n may
L
o nly be a pp lied to intraplate lit hosph ere . A t
plate bo unda ries. o r where majo r int e rnal
deform ation is takin g place . it will no longer be I.
a pplicab le.
I.
Plate boundary forces
As inert ial forces arc negligible , the dr iving 1.1
and res ist ive forces acting o n a moving plate
must be in yna mic equilibrium rc st ress: 11
distriliution within plates dcpcnas critically
u ~n whether the plates are dri ve n by force s M
o n thei r edges or by the underlying mant le
drug. The various types of dri ving and resist ive
forces that may act on a plat e have bee n SUIll -
marized by Fo rsyt h and U yed a (11)75) and Botr
and Kusznir (1984). T hese are as follows
(T ahle 2.3). (i) T he slah-pull '[orce ( Figure Sf
2. 14A ) acts o n a su bducting plate an d results Sl
fro m the negative buo yan cy o f the coo ler, d.
den ser lithosphere of the sinking sla b. T his Sl
force is po tentially Ih e largest o f the plat e (J
bou ndar y forces, hut is partl y cou nteracted by fr;
resistan ces prod uced by s ink ing, dow nbending C{
and co llisio n. Bo tt and Kusznir est imate a T
mag nit ude of 0- 50 MPa for th is force . (ii ) T he 01
.l"ulJel ucrion merion fo ret', origina lly recognized n.
by Elsasse r ( 197 1) and named the ' trench m
suction fo rce' , is cause d by the effect of sub- fa
du ction on t he ove rlying plate . and is estimated B.
to be around 20 MPa in magnitude . Both the as
slab-p ull and subd uct ion-suction forces will sn
prod uce tensiona l stresses in ad jace nt litho- A
 THE UT HOSP H I'; RE: SO MI'. IMPORTANT P ROI' E RT1 ~S 25
T~hle 2..' Summary of the principal mec h,lI1 i, m, of , lress ge ne ra lio n in the lithosphe re . wilh their mo re importa nt
propert ies amIes tima ted magnitudes. From Bo n and K.., znir ( 191\4 ).

Stre sses
Re newah ll' '" Ap p, o xlmale le vel suhJeel 10 St res ses
non -ren ewa ble ( '''Illprcssinn of , Ire" amplification signilic" ol
Mcchanem s tre sses or te nsion d iffe renc e effcct-, in tect onics

Suhdul1itln sla h pull T en sion

(plale houndary for ce )
Re ne wable
(norm.llly)
n. so MP" (? )' Y,', Yes

Suhd ud inn lrene h

T cnsi(l[l
~e !ln n Ren ewa hle ll- JIlM Pa ( ?) ' y" Yes
(no rmally)
[pluto hnundary for ce )
Ridg.: push
Renewable Compression 20 ~.'\O M P a Yes Yes
(plate b oundar y for ce)
M;tnl!c con vccno n or
Re newable Bo lh 1- :;U MP,1 Yo. Pro bably nOI
astheno spher e dr ag
BOlh
Luhosphercloudin g l~ MI'a • • (-<,,'lilly
{lIne,' mpcns"lcd)
Renewable (mai nly No per hap s
te nsio n]
hOlh
Lilhosphere load ing 5H MPa • •
Re ne wa ble (m ainly Yo. Locally yes
(compensa ted)
te nsion ]
Lilho,phe...: hcndin g
Non-re ne wa ble Bnr h U p 10 :;IMIMP" No No 0)
(dlle In IlI"ds)
N on-ren ew able
Lhb ospbcrc be ndin g
(due io subduct ion)
h UIco ntin ually BOlh Up to IIM MIM Pa No No (?)
ge ne rated
Thermal effects •
(C\loling and su b- Non-renew able BOlh U p to 5lMIMP" No No ('!)
(joclin~ lilhosph e re )

Membrane effects Non -re newable BOlh Up 10 IOOM P" No No (? )

'Ill~hl y _anahle in . pace and r,me ocu ""c " r _arml,,,n in rC';M a ncc~ , ~ lI hd uchon _d ocily, lcnglh of ~I " h, elC
· · ~nr 2km cle_alion.

sphere, provided (hat the resistance fo rces are
suffic iently lo w. Th ese resistances arc highl y
dependent o n the length and velo city of t he
subducting slab. (iii) Th e ridge-push Lore
(Figure 2.148) acts at ocea n ridges, he lping 10
fo rce the plates apa rt and causing lateral
compression within the adja ce nt ocea n prates.
This is a buoya ncy force arising fro m the mass
of hotter , less dense mate rial makin g up the
ridge, and is calculated to be 20- 30M Pa in
magnitude. [iv ] Th e mantle drag f orce. is the
force acting on the base of a movi ng plate .
Because of the re latively low viscosity of t he
asthenosphere , th is force is co nsidered to be
small compared to the plate bou nda ry fo rces,
According to Schubert et af. ( 197H) . the shear
stresses p rod uced by a major convect ive cel l of
the same dim ensions as the plate wou ld pro-
d uce a maximum st ress of ab o ut 40 MPa in the
lit hosp here . However , the evi de nce d iscussed
in 2.4 suggests that it is much mo re likely that
sma lle r co nvective cells underlie t he large
lit hosph ere plates, a nd tha t these will exe rt
shear forces in va rying directions, whose ef-
fects will probably large ly cancel out. It would
appear that pla tes are dr ive n mo re by edge
for ces th an by man tle dr ag. (v) Resistance
forces are prod uced at ocean ridges and at
transform faults. Th ese 'lppear to be small
co mpared with the resistance at converge nt
plate boundaries.
It is possible to calc ulate theo retical st ress
26 GE O l.OGI CAL STRUCTU RlS AN D MOVING PLATES
.. .. .
A. Tr enc h
~ ~
~
· · .' . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . .
·· . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .
·. .
.
. . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . .
..
B. Rid ge
· ·· . . .. .. . .. . . . . .. . ... .. , .. . .. . . . . . ..
. plat e boun dary shape . by variatio ns in physical
.. . . . . .
··· . . . . . . . geome trical inco mpatibilit ies of shap e as
C. Plat eau uplit t
Fi!:ur e 2.14 O rigin of th e main plat e d riving Ior ccs "Cling
on the lithosphe re , dcnvcd from dc n~;l ~ imbalnnccs and
gravilalio ll<.l l ioad ins_ 8 a nd C a rc ex amples o r to pographi c
loads iw sl" lically compe nsated hy II lower-density ",.
thcn ospbceic roo t. Th in a rrows , ho w gravitano nat and
isos tatic rorccs , an d thic k a rro ws show ller ivcd fo rces
acting parallel to the P!;' l":s . Litho , phe re . hl.lnk; usthcn o-
sphe re a nd mC$Oliphcrc . dOlled ; F.... s ubducnon-s uc no n
force ; f'f" sl"h- pull Iorce ; F. r • rid ge-push Iorcc ; ,..,... .
pl" h:;lu u plift for ce (sec T able 2.3) .
d istributions fo r ce rta in simplified plate seen-
aries. Ba tt and Kusznir co nside r t hree ( Figure
2. 15). (a) A plate wit h ocean ridges on bo th
sides should be in co mpressio n throu gho ut. An
ex ample is the prese nt Af rican plate with
ridges on three sides. (b ) A p late with an ocean
ridge o n one side and a subduct ion zo ne o n the
othe r might be expec te d to sho w a grad ation
fro m co mp ress ion near t he ridge to tension
nca r the subduction zo ne. altho ugh t he effect
of resistan ce might offset the te nsiona l fo rce .
An exa mple is the Pacific plutc , with a ridge o n
its sout heast side and tre nches O il its weste rn
an d nor thern sides ; anot her is the So uth
American plate with it ridge o n its ca st side an d
a subduction zone on its west. (c) A plate with
subduction zones on both sides might be
expected to be in te nsio n th ro ughout. A l-
though there is no present-day example of t his,
the early Mesozoic Pan gae a is pre sumed to
ha ve fo rmed a large con tine ntal plate o f t his
kind , with subd uctio n zones aro und the ma r-
gins. Tensional stresses genera ted by these
subduction zones, in conjunction with co n-
tine ntul hot -spo t activity. may have caused the
brea k-up o f Pan gaea.
It fo llows that widespread ext ensional effec ts
may be con fined to circumsta nces like those of
case (c). and would be rep laced as soo n as
splitt ing and rifting co mmenced by grada tio nal
stress syste ms of type (b). /,
Loca l modificatio ns of the stress system
wit hin plates may be caused by irreg ula rit ies of
prop e rties . by lines of weakness. a nd by
plat es evolve , all of which Illay cause st ress
co ncentr atio ns that tend to localize defo rma-
tion if it occurs.
L VlIdillg .\f r('.HCS
Local stress fields arc prod uced when t he litho-
sphe re is loade d hy surface topog rap hy (e .g.
mo untain ran ges) or hy lateral density va ria-
tio ns. Small to pographic load s. less than abou t
50 km wide . produce insignifican t stresses.
Loads greate r tha n 50 km tha t Me no l isosta ti-
cally co mpe nsated will pro duc e ben ding stresses
(see below) . However. significant stresses
are prod uced where a large topographic load
is isostatica lly com pensated by lower-de nsity
material at depth. for exa mple the thicke ned
continen tal crust below a mou ntain ran ge . o r
an ocean ridge. which is co mpensa ted by less
dense asthe nosphe ric ma ntle. T he co mbined
effec ts of t he su rface load a nd the upthrust of
the low-density compensating material pro-
 THE LlnI OSPHERE : SOME IMPORTANT PROPERTIES
Oce an ridge L.itt109phefe in C<lrrCJl'essioo
;:;>"~:'7· ·'." :···:··'· ." ':'· ·." :'· ""':''''~<:::
Cootinemal aust Utt'Iosphere
,a l
Tension (?l -- - - - - - - - - - - -
Tension (1)
'liansion_ - - - - - - - - - ~ Ioo
. :::.,':, ' ,.: ... .,.': ::::Bb
tel
duce ho rizo ntal deviato nc tension in the regio n
betwee n the lo ad an d the co mpe nsatory mass
(Figure 2. 14C) . Such a stress system will cause
a piece o f con tinenta l crust in reg ions o f moun-
tain ranges o r plateau uplift to be in tensio n
relative to adj oi ning regio ns, with stress d iffer-
ences of the orde r of 50 MPa. C rust in the
adjoining regio ns wo uld suffer corres ponding
compre ssio n. T he same effect will occur at
passive con ti ne ntal ma rgins.
Non-renewable stress sources
Several diffe re nt so urces of stress exist that
theore tically can pro duce large stress d iffer-
cnces in the crust, giving initial strains of 1%
or more . Howeve r, becau se they arc non -
27
Oceanic au8l
Corr1>ression
Figu rt 2. 15 E xam ples of simple str ess
systems in lithosphe ric plates ge ne rated
by pla te bou nda ry forces. (0 ) R idge -push
terce developed ;11 r idges on opposite
sidL"S of a con tine nta l plate, ca using the
whole plate to be in co mpression; a n
exam ple is the p rese nt A frican plusc . (b)
Rid ge-p ush fo rce on n ne stdc o f a pla te
and subd ucnon suctio n force o n lhe
other, causing a srress sysle m grad ing
from compression at the rillgc to te nsion ,
posvibly , a t the tre nch ; a n exa mple is the
pres ent Sou th A me rican plate. (el Rid ge -
push force on one side of a pla te a nd slab -
pull on the ethe r, ca using a gradation a l
strcss syste m as in (b) ; a possible example
is Ca rbo niferous basi n fo rma tiun in Bn-
la in. (,I) Subd ucricn s uction lin bot h side s
of a contine ntal pla te , produc ing te nsio n
t hr oughou t: an poss ible exa mple is Pan-
ilaea immedia tely p rior 10 its b rea k-up .
F"" ridge -pus h; F"" slab-pull; F.u • sub-
ducnon suc tion; R md • ma n tic drag. Fro m
eo« a nd Kusznir ( 191l4 ).
ren ewable , they will be subs tantia lly relieved
by creep and brill le failure over geo logically
rathe r sho rt pe riods o f time . Such sources will
never prod uce large stresse s o ver the whole
th ickness of the lithosp here , since they will be
partly relieved before they are able to reach
their theoret ical value. Exa mples of t his kind
of stress are bend ing st resses. membr ane
stresses and thermal stresses.
Be nd ing stresses arise from flexure of the
lithosphe re resul ting fro m unco mpen sated loads
and downbend ing at subd uctio n zon es. Hori-
zontal compression occurs on the co ncave side
of the ben d . and te nsion o n th e co nvex side .
Because the lithosphere shows visco-e lastic
behaviou r over geo logical time periods, t he
init i al~ sses calculated using an elastic model
--.
 28 G EOLOG ICAL STRUCTU RES A N D MOVING PL,AU:S
(et . walcott. 1970) of around 500 MPa for a
load of about 500 km width , would ra pidly
decay t~ about half that value in the up per part
o f the lithosp here and totall y disappear in the
lower part , if the visco-elastic behavio ur of the
lithosphe re is. ta ken into account (Kusznir and
Karn er. 1985). Th is problem is considered 411
~rea le r length in 2.7. Because the stress system
IS non -renewa ble , it is nOI compa rable with
Ihe plare bou nda ry fo rces in its lon g-ter m
effects.
M~m.h ran~ stresses are caused by changes in
the radius of curvature of a plate as it migra tes
from the pole to the eq uator o r vice versa
(Turcotte , 1974a ). However , in a very similar
way to bending stresses , mem bra ne stresses
will neve r reach their theo retical maximum
(calculated at aro und IOOMPa oy Turcou e )
beca use of continuo us visco us rela xation in Ihe
long time pe riod take n for the plate 10 move 10
its new positio n.
A third common so urce o f no n-renewable
stress is ca used by te mperature cha nges with in
the lithospher e that give rise 10 thermal stresses.
These are most impo rtant in the ocea nic litho-
sphere as it cools afte r fo rmat ton 411 a ridge,
and again as it beats up after subduction.
Tensile stresses para llel to the ridge axis o f up
to 400 MPa are calculated by Tu rcott e (1974b)
and both comp ressive and rensite stresses o f
the o rder o f 600 MPa in su bducting lithosph er e
are suggested by Ho use a nd Jacob ( 1982). Like
the o ther non -renewable stresses , however , it
appears unlikely that they play an important
role in tectonic defo rmation. although they
may have a signifi cant local weake ning e ffect
on the lithosph ere .
Other sou rces of stress include changes in
volume associated with phase transitio ns in
the mantle , eros ion (surface unloading) , which
is locally impo rta nt in joint form al ion , tida l
de fo rmatio n, which yie lds negligible stresses.
a ~ lateral v~ r ~at io ns in stre ngth ca used by
majo r compos itional bo unda ries (e .g. mar gins
o f magma chambers o r of sed imentary basins).
None o f these is a possible sou rce o f maj or
tectonic deformatio n.
•
A mplificatiQI/ 0/ stress
The stresses gener ated by the majo r plate
bou nda ry and klitd ing forces have bee n calcu-
lated as applying to tbe whole thickness o f the
hthosphere . However , because the lithos phere
beha ves as a visco-elastic body. stress will
decay in rbe lower. warmer, a nd less viscous
pa rt, a nd become concentrated in the upper
pa rt wher e clastic/brittle behaviour is more
important. In the case o f renewable stresses.
since the fo rce is constantly app lied , and
retains the same value , the e ffective stress can
be do ubled if the effective thickness o f the
lithosphere is halved . Kusznir and Bolt ( 1977)
and Kusznlr and Par k ( 19R4) have deve loped a
model which investigates mathematically how
a visco-elastic lithosphere with downwa rd
var iati on in viscosity responds to a co nstant
applied fo rce. They show that. depending o n
the tem peratu re structure of the lithosp her e
and on the size of the applied fo rce . there is an
a mplification of the stress in the upper pa rt
of the lithosphere of abou t x 2 for coo l con-
tinen tal shield regio ns after I Ma. a nd abo ut
xg for very warm lithosphere . like tha t o f the
Basin-a nd-Range province o f the USA. after
only 1000 years . With larger initial stresses o r a
longer time of application, the lithospher e fails
complete ly. when the strength of the stron-
gest part is overcome. and large strains can
de velop .
Th is principle o f stress amplification is criti-
cally impo rta nt in explaining how the relat ively
small forces available from renewable plate
bo undary so urces (giving stresses in the ra nge
1O- 30MPa when applied over the who le
thickness of the co ntinental lithosphere) a rc
nevertheless able to ove rcome the known
strength o f rocks in the middle and upper crust,
which is in the range 100-400 MPa .
Summary
The sources of stress in the lithospher e that
a re likely to be o f tectonic significance arc re-
ne wable buoyancy fo rces arising from de nsity
 TH E Ll TH OS P H E ~E :
contrasts acting at plate boundaries. T hese
buoyancy forces pro vide th e principal dynamic
ope rati ng me ch an ism of the p late sys tem. T hey
arc o pposed by various resistance for ces du e
10 subduction and co llisio n, and alo ng tra ns-
form fau lts. Ma nt le dr ag forces may assist or
oppose them . Buoyan cy for ces also arise fro m
isostatically co mpensated loads on the litho-
sphe re . Co ntine nts, platea u uplif ts ami moun-
tain ran ges all ge ner ate their own interna l
tensional st resses and produce co rre spo ndi ng
compressional stres ses in the ad join ing litho-
sphe re.
These fo rces co mbine to p roduce ave rage
stresses in the lit hosp here that are pro bab ly in
the range - 25 to +25 MPa . Howeve r, because
of the visco-ela stic prope rties of the lit ho-
sphere, these ra the r small st resses become
amplified ove r pe riods of 10"_1011 years to
levels tha t are capable of loca lly ov erco ming
the strength of the lithosphere and causing
geologically sign ificant strains . T he ex te nt to
which this happens dep ends on th e loca l
strength of the lithos phe re . which is in turn
controlled by the geothermal gradi ent. Thi s
subject is explored in mor e de tail in 2.7 .
Many ot he r sources o f stress ex ist that arc
not considered to be of tecto nic significance .
Examples o f these are no n-re newa ble forces.
which give theoretically large va lue s, such as
thermal, be nding and memb ran e stresses. How-
ever, the st resses produ ced by these effects
will be, in geologica l te rms, rapid ly dissipated
by viscous cre ep and , being no n-re ne wable ,
will not produce important lon g-term fo rces.
2.6 The determinati on of stress in the
lithosphere
There are num ber of ways of o btain ing esti-
mates o f the present state of stres s in the
lithosphere . So me melhod s provide measu re-
men ts of both the magn itude and the or ie nta -
tion of the principal str esses; othe rs measure
orientation o r magnitude on ly.
Direct measure me nt of the magnitude and
orienta tion of the princip al stress axes (0 1)
SOME IMPORTANT PROPERTIES 29
0 2, 0)) in the up pe rmost cru st (in -situ srress )
is carried out by several different me thods.
Some em ploy a strain Kauge , wh ich recor ds
small elastic st rains prod uced within rock
across a cavit y. Measurem ent s are made eithe r
at the surface o r at de pth , in mines or bore-
ho les. O vercoring with a large-d iamete r dr ill
bit is employed to relieve the stress aro und the
st rain gaug e. Flatjaek measurem ents arc also
widel y used . The flatjack is a t hin hyd raulic-
pre ssure cell in which the pressure is in-
creased un til it cance ls the s train disp lace -
ments created by cutt ing a hole or slot in the
roc k. Both overcoring an d flatja ck techni qu es
employ the principle of stress relief. A n alter-
native type of method is the hydrofracture
techniqu e in which hydraul ic fracturing is
induced arti ficially in the rock, in a bore hole
sec tion .
Str ess magnitude
Ncar-surface measurements o f in-situ stress
give widel y va rying ma gnitudes (T ab le 2.4).
Th e use of the hydr ofracturc techniq ue ap -
pears 10 have given mo re co nsiste nt resu lts
tha n the st ress-re lief met hods. Available hy-
dr ofra cture dat a suggest st resses of seve ral
hund red bars (tens of MPa ) to dep ths of
several km (Haimson , 11J77; McGarr and Ga y,
1978). McGarr (1980) sho ws, o n the basis o f
determinatio ns from North A merica , southe rn
Africa and Au str alia , that, o n average . ma xi-
mu m she ar stress increa ses linearly with de pt h
at a rate of 38 M Pa/km in so ft rock s and
6.6M Pa/km in ha rd rock s.
Brace and Kohlstedt (1980) poin t o ut that
the limits of upper lithosphere stress can be
de te rmine d on the assum ptio ns (i) that rock s
are fract ured . and that friction on the fractures
co ntrols the stress at shallow depths, an d (ii)
t hat upper crustal st ren gth is based o n the
strength of quart z. AI a given depth , depe nding
o n the temperat ure grad ient , stren gth beco mes
dependent on the cree p properties of mine rals ,
particularly quartz, o livine and feldspa r (see
2. 7). Fo r dr y rock s. the maximum strength in
30 GEO LOGICA L ST RUCTURES AND MOVING PLATES

Tablt 2.4 Som e str ain-relie f in-situ stress measure me nts in No rt h A me rica. A lIef Sb;tr :",d Syh-,; ( 1973), Data source s:
J, Hoo ker ami Jo hnso n ( 19M ) ; 2, Hoo ke r and Joh nso n (1967) ; J . Se llar s (1%9 ); 4, Obcn ( 1%2); !i. Moru 7.i ( 196R) ;
fl, Eisbacher and Bid enstci n ( 197 J) ; 7. Agarwal [ unpubt.}.

Q, 0., Depth ,
Location ( ba rs) (ba rs) if > SO m ",la, T rend of <1 , Reference Rock type

N. 14" E. 1
Barre. Vermont
Proctor , v ermom "'
~1 "
35
22
2.6 N. 4° W .
N. ZO W.
1
1
Gr an ite
Dolomite:
Tewksbury. Massachuse tts
W. Chelmsford. M as....acn uscu s
R1
145 "" I. '
1., N . ~W E . 1
Pa ragn eiss
Granitc
Nyack. New Y or k
51.Peters, Pennsylvania ,.
12 5
23
2.4
2.'
N. 2° E.
N.1 4°E.
2
1
Diabase
NUTtle
N. flOE . 1
Rapidan. Virginia
Mr. Airy. No rth Ca ro lina "'
'" "
R1
1.2
2.1
1.5
N . l\7" E.
N. H"E.
1
1. 7
Diabase
Granite
G ranite
U thoni a, G eo rgia
Litho nia. Georgia
Douglasville , G eorg ia
102
11 1
35
"
64
19
1.7
I. '
N. 4'J" E.
N . M~ W .
1, 7
I, 7
G neiss
G ne iss
23 N . 07" E . 1
Ca rthage . Missou ri
G ran ite ville , MisM'lur i
217
73 "
53 I.,
2.1
N. 2"E.
N. Xol " w.
1
1
Limeston e
G ra nite
G ra nite
Teoy. Ok laho ma
M..rhle F..Us. T e ra s
Niagar" Falls. New Yo rk
73
l SI
(~
"
lUI
- 0.7'
l.5 N . :W W.
N. SS" C J
1 Granite
Dolom ite
Harbcnon, O h io 440 230 RSll 1., N . 90" W.
•5 Limesto ne
Sudb ury , Ont a rio 510 - 440' ENE .
Elliol l.<ike . O nta rio 210 180 300- 400 ' 2 E. 0 Sand sto ne
370 200 ,~ 0 Sa nds ton e

Mo rgamow n. Pen nsylva nia

370
510 '".0 700
7fXl
"
' 0
13.0
N E.
NE.
N. 27' E .
1.
7
Sa ndstone
Diabase

the crust is given by a '"linear friction law, A nother app roac h in estimat ing stress mag-
Byerlee's law (Bye rlee . 1968) which gives: nitudes in the upper lithosphe re is th rough
labo rator y measurements of common rock
T = 0.85 On, fo r 3 < On < 200 MPa ,
stre ngths (see Ta ble 2.5). The se can give us
and T = 60 ± JO + 0.6 0" fo r on > 200 MPa
minimum estimates of the strength of frac-
where T and On a re the shearing and norma l tu red uppe r crust. Many regions exhibit upper-
stresses respective ly at which friction is o ver- crustal te nsile fractur ing but no evide nce of
come on a fracture. Brace and Kohlsted t find , co mpressio nal failure. in which case the ava il-
using mainly hydrofracture stress measure-
ments, that Byerlee's law appears to pred ict Ta hle 2.5 U niaxial com pressive str ength. Cu. fo r a
horizontal stresses satisfacto rily down to about n u~ bc r of roc ks. Mult iply by 100 to co nvc nrc MPa ,
4 km. In dry rocks the maximum stre ngth is
Rock COl (k b ars) Re fe re nce:
considered 10 be 850 MPa in com pression and
300MPa in extensio n. The influence of pore - G ra nite , w e » ... rly 2.29
Brace ( l964b)
fluid pressure is impo rtant, and the values of Ou anz ue , Chesbirc 4 .(J()
Walsh ( l %5c )
Dia base , Fr ederick 4.K7
stress obtained assum ing that the po re- fluid
pressure is hydrosta tic, are redu ced to 600 MPa Mar b le , Te nnessee 1.52
Coo k ( 1965 )
G ra n ite , Ch arcoa l 1.73
for compression and 200 MPa fo r exten-
sion. These results app ly dow n to a level of Sha le , w itwate rsran d 1.72 Coo k ri a l.
Gran ite Aplite (Chert) 5.87 ( IlX..(,)
about 25 km. below which a tempe rature-
O ua n ane , Witwat e rsrand 2.00
dependent flow law will become increasingly Do lerite. Ka rroo 3.3 1 Wiebolst'l a l.
important. Th e calculatio n of stre ngth distn- Ma rble , Wom hc ya n o.n ( 19M)
butio n with depth . and the influence o f the Sa nds to ne , Go sro rd 0.37
Lime stone , So len hofen 2.24
thermal grad ient on it, are dea lt with in 2.7.
 TH E LITHO SP H ERE: SO ME IMPORTANT PROI' ERTIES
able stress levels are bracke ted by the values
of com pressive and tens ile stre ngth of the
approp riate materia ls.
These ligures may be contrasted with the
strength estimates ca lculated from vario us
topograp hic loads (mountains, sea mounts,
erc.) supported by bo th co ntine ntal and
ocea nic crust, which yield stre ngth estimates
of aro und 100MPa (Hea rd, 1976 ; McN utt ,
19RO) . It is clea r that the values o f stress
magnitude ob tained in these various ways give
us no indicatio n of the rea l long-term stre ngth
of the lithosp here as a who le , as explained in
2.4.
Stress m agnitude in the manlie
Estimates of stress magnitude at various
depths in the lithospheri c mantle and below
have been made by studying sub-grain size and
31
dislocat ion density in samples o f mantle
peridotit e brought to the surface as xeno liths
in lavas, kimherlites , etc. Recrystallizatio n at
high temperatures and stresses takes place by
grain-bounda ry migratio n, and by sub-gr ain
rot ation at low temperatures, or lo w stresses .
o r bot h (Sellars, 1978; G uillopc and Po irier,
1979). Since both processes are highly stress-
dependen t, analysis o f o livine gra in size may
be used to estimate stress magnitude . Plots of
grain size against depth o f or igin show a pro-
minent grain-size discontinuity at a critical
depth that can be interp reted as the leve l
o f change-over from the sub-grain rota tion
mechanism to grain-bo undary migration. T he
system can be calibra ted in terms o f stress
using the piezo meter (stress meier ) deve loped
by Ross et al, ( 19HO). co nsisting o f a n experi-
mentally derived grain-size/stress relatio nship.
Th e results of th is method are applied to

ec I ,
•
'" r.
po
:;;
ec
-+--
ra
- ;f
-tI-
+,=-q::. =:JF4=
~ - ,.. f-
-d
1 -lIt
I -- -- sc :,/,
ec I '-
'::
§ --
ec

ax --
{So.I!hom Mrial l
rc ~E."""'z."..
(9otin <rd 1blqI, USA.!

'" ec

, 0 , 0 e eo 0 eo so eo so eo

A B
F'ilu~ 2.16 Stressestimates for infra-crato nic mantle (southe rn Africa) (A ). and for a continental exte nsion zone (Basin-
and-Range Province. USA) (8 ). based on the olivine grain-size piezo meter. Estimates fo r shallow samples (above the
da~1\ed lirte) arc based on the SGR piezometer (Mercie r, t9RU) and those for the deep samples on the piezome ter of Ross t'l
al. 1I9llO). Fro m Mercie r ( 191l0).
32 GeO LOGICAL STI/.UCTUll:f.S AND MOVING I'LATES
vanous tectonic provinces by Me rcier ( 1980)
in the fo rm of stress- depth curves ( Figur e
2. 16). T hese may be co mpared with the theo re-
tica l stress- de pth curves give n by Kusznlr and
Pa rk (see 2.7) . T he re ar e significan t diffe r-
ences between the stress - de pth profiles for the
relatively coo l co ntine ntal shield lit hosphere .
o f southern Africa ( Figure 2.16A) and t he
wa rme r Basin -and -Ra nge lithosphere (Figure
2. 168 ) - compare Figure 2.26.
T he st ress estimates for the infra-crat oni c
mantle below so ut hern A frica vary from
15 MPa a t BO km de pth to 5 MPa a t 140 km .
the n decre ase ver y slowly with de pth to 4 MPa
at 240 kru, indi ca ting a lithospher e base a t
aro und 140km . T he lo w stress in the asthen o-
sphe re is a useful co nfirmation o f the minor
ro le of the ma ntle d rag force in plate dynam ics.
T he stress estimates for the mantle below t he
Basin-and-R ange province re veal a much thin-
ner lithosphe re with a base around 56 krn, a
co mp arab le va lue o f asthen osphere stress, but
a much highe r va lue of stress in the litho-
s phe re - up to 70 MPa.
• was one of th e impo rta nt criteria used by
Sum mary: stress magni tude
Es timates for the uppe rmost crust vary widely
but ar e o f litt le significance for bulk litho-
sphe re st rengt h. The st ronges t part o f the
lithosp here fo r average geo the rmal grad ients
lies at mid-crustal levels ( aro und 20 -25 km)
and dep ends on the shea r strength of qu art z.
Fo r roc ks with hyd rosta tic fluid pressures. the
maximum st rengt h would be around 600 MPa
in compress io n and 300 MPa in ex tensio n.
Intrapla te st ress levels mu st co mmo nly be
bracketed by these values, but will rarely
excee d the high er.
Below the zo ne o f ma ximum stre ngth. t he
strengt h depends on te mpera ture-d ependent
flow laws for minerals such as quar tz, feldspa r
and o livine, a nd stress leve ls decrease with
depth to le vels of 4- 5 MPa in the s ub-litho-
spheric mantle .
The long-term strength of the lit hosphere is
clearly much lower than these stress esti ma tes
suggest , as indicated by estimates o f l OOMPa
fro m the effects of to pograp hic load ing. A
rea listic mod el of lithosphere stre ngth must
ta ke account o f stress , de pth , tem per ature
grudie nt and t ime . a nd a model of this type
de velo pe d by Kusznir a nd Park is discussed in
2.7 .
S tress orientati on
Mea sur em ent s o f stress o rientation are mo re
di rectly relevant to tectonic anal ysis than are
magnitud e estimat es since they can be mor e
easily rela ted bo th to visible st ructures and to
the kinematic pattern . The most widely used
method for o btaining stress orientation data is
by analysing earthquake focal mechanisms.
A n individua l fau lt-plane so lutio n gives a
choice o f two possible vecto rs. o ne of which
lies in the fault plane . an d t he ot he r pe rpen di-
cula r to it. Whe re the o rientation of the fault
pla ne is known . the refor e , a unique determin e-
tion of the slip vecto r is possible. Some areas
s ho w rema rkable consiste ncy o f slip vectors
ove r a large area, and the orientation of slip
vecto rs around the va rious plate bou ndarie s
McKenzie and Parke r ( 1967) an d by Isack s et
at , ( 1968) to demonstr ate the rigid be haviour
of plates (see 3. 1).
The calculat ion of the orientation o f the
prin cipa l stress tensors requires more infor-
mation than th e slip vectors . If the shea r plan e
respo nsible for t he earthquake was initiated by
the s tress syste m be ing invest igated . and not
by so me previou s eve nt, the stress or ientation
can be ca lculated ap proximately by assuming
a value for t he angle be twee n the stress
o rie ntation and t he she ar plane . O ver la rge
a reas . the meth od may give satisfacto ry and
co nsiste nt resu lts. Fo r example. the co mpres-
sive stress distri but ion in the region o f the
Ja panese arc gives results which a re gene rally
co nsiste nt with a mode l where the horizon tal
co mpo ne nt of pr incipal stress acts parallel to
the direction of relat ive plate motion (Figure
2. 17). Where fau lt planes with varying o rienta-
tion exist. however . the method gives a re-
giona lly va rying st ress orientatio n. which seems
unl ikel y.
Ge phart and Fo rsyth (1985) have discussed
 IH E LITHOSP H E RE; SO ME IMI' ORTANT PMO I' J::: RTl ES
• t
, , ' ~rP ~ "'"
EU
". .
~
PA
3 ~ ' ..
- L.
..~
: PH
• /
, o rie ntations determined from fabric eleme nts
uu' ~ ' 3 ~ "e " O'~ ~ .( I~O ' E
t·i ~u rt 2. t 7 Dircenons uf ma xim um honzon tnl Clll11preS-
,j,m;!1strcvs fu r intc rmcd ra te and <J eep e unh q ua kcs in the
Japanese are system. Toothed lines. tr en ch e s; T- T,
ImnsfllTm Iault ; fA , Pa cifi c plat e : PH , Philipp ine p l<l h: ;
zu. Eurasian p l;lIe . Art e r Uyed a (197/1).
this problem in relation to the focal mechan-
ism pattern of recen t ea rthquake s in New
England . T hey show that. if the eart hquakes
arc assumed to result from movem ent s on a
set of variably o riented pla nes of weakn ess. a
mean o rienta tio n fo r the principa l stress axes
can be found . T hey use a method deve loped
by Angelier (1979) for de termining principa l
stress directions fro m sticke nside o rie ntatio ns
on a set of fault s urfaces o f wide ly varying
orientatio n. Gep hart and Fo rsyth show tha t
their data (Ire consiste nt with a single regio nal
stresso rientatio n with EN E-WSW to NE -SW
maximum co mpressive stress. and ncar -verti-
cal minimum st ress. which is co nsisten t with
estimates from othe r so urces .
A met hod o f d etermining in-situ st ress o rie n-
lations from borehole wall fract ures (b o r('h o/~
breakolds) is descr ibed by Go ugh and Bell
(1982). Brea kouts were fi rst ide ntified in oil
wells in weste rn Ca nada by Cox ( 1970) as
borehole inte rvals wit h e longate cross-sec-
33
tio ns, who se 10 l1g axes were aligned region ally
in a NW -SE direc tion. Gough and Bell explain
t he break outs as zone s of spelling along shear
fract ures . develo ped beca use of the increa sed
st ress d ifference caused by the boreho le. T he
bre ako uts are arranged in pa irs at 1800 to each
other and de fine a n azimut h par allel to the
smaller horizontal principal stress. T hey ge n-
era lly le ngthen the diameter by 8- 10%. T he
au thor s discuss results Irom three se parate
area s; the Rangely o ilfield. Co lorado . t he east
Texas basin , an d the Norman Wells area in
No rt hwest Te rrito ries. Ca nada . At the Ra nge-
ly oilfi eld . breakout stres s o rientat ions show
good agree ment with direct measurem ents
made by induced hydra ulic fracturing . and
with eart hqua ke focal mechani sm solu tio ns.
Dula ( 198 1) co mpa res t he in-situ stress de ter-
minat ions in t he Ra ngely basin with stress
(e.g . q uartz de fo rmatio n lamellae and micro-
fracture o rientatio n] o f Lar amide age and
co ncludes that the presen t W NW- ESE or ien -
tatio n o f 01 may have been co nstant since late
Laramide times.
A large numbe r of b reakout d ata in the ea st
Texas basin co llated by Brown et al, (1980)
show a consistent patt ern (Figure 2. 18) inter-
p reted by Go ugh and Bell as the result o f a
NE -SW maximum horizont al stress . A t No r-
man We lls. breako ut data fro m two wells show
good agreem ent with fracture o rienta tio n and
indicate a NE -SW maximum hor izontal co m-
pressive st ress also . Thi s directio n see ms to be
unifo rm over a large part o f the No rt h Ame ri-
can crato n (see Figure 2.20).
Stress mea su rements using this tech nique
have also been mad e in the oceanic crust at
holes dr illed in the Deep-Sea Drilling Program .
New ma rk et al . ( 1984) describe two examples
in the East Pacific. Th e fi rst is o n the Nazca
plate west of the Peru - C hile t rench (Figure
2. 19A ) and indicates a maximum ho rizontal
principa l stress orie nted NE - SW. T he min i-
mu m ho rizontal stress is nea rly parallel to the
pre dic ted tensio nal stre ss ca used by the slab -
pu ll force at the t rench. Th e second e xample is
fro m the Pacific plate to the west o f the last
example an d IBOO km west of the Ea st Pacifi c
34 Gt-.O LOGICA L ST KUcr UII.ES AND MOVI :-O G PLAT ES
ridge (Figure 2.198 ). Here the maximum hori-
zontal compressive stress indicated by the
breakout data has an azimuth of 1200 (NW -
SE) whic h agrees well wit h the focal-plan e
solutions of local tra nsform faults. T hese are
or iented WNW-ESE with a strike-slip se nse,
par allel to the relative plate move me nt vecto r.
Thi s resu lt is int erpreted as co nfirmation tha t
t he stress syste m in an ocea nic p late near the
ridge is do minated by the co mpressive ridge-
push force.
Regional pattern ofstress orientation
The most co mplete regiona l data co verage is
of North America . Zo back and Zoback ( 1980)
present a gene ralized stress map (Figure 2.20)
based on over 200 measureme nts. Several
distinct stress prov inces can be distinguished
which can readily be correlat ed with the well-
known tecto nic prov inces. T he most important
of these are as follows.
(i) Mid-continent o r stable continental in-
terior: NE - SW compression.
(ii) Atlantic coastal province (Appalachian
Fil:urr 2, 18 Mea n o ne nta tio ns of
borehole b rc,lk,oUIS, in sand-
stones of the Schuler Iormano n of
E. Texas, in rctaricn 10 the local
ex tensio nal faul t pa tte rn . The
break-o ur unentaticns indica te a
unifor m N E-SW ma ximum bo n-
zonta ! com press ive stress. After
Gough and Bell (1982).
orogen ic belt): NW- SE to WNW- ESE
compression.
(iii) Gulf coast province: exte nsio n perpen-
dicular to co ntinental margin.
(iv) Cordillera n o rogenic pro vince : this is a
co mplex zo ne co ntaining several sub-
provinces, but the most co nsistent stress
patte rn is the E- W extensio n see n in the
active tectonic areas of the Basin-and-
Range . Rio G rande rift and no rthern
Rocky Mou ntains.
The transition between the stress provinces
in the west is relatively sharp (less than about
75 km typically) but more gradual in the east ,
part icularly between the mid-continen tal and
Atlan tic coastal provinces. Within each of
these provinces, the stress o rientation is uni-
form to within abou t ± 15°. T he co rres pon-
dence be tween the dat a derived from the re-
latively shallow borehole measureme nts and
those from earthquake focal mechan ism solu-
tions (from depths in the runge 5- J5 km)
suggests that this unifo rm stress field is repre-
sentative of the whole of the strong upper
crust.
 TH E LITHOS PH ERE: SOME IMPORTANT PRO PERTIES 35
F; g ur~ 2.19 (A) Stress o rie nt ation determined
lrom borehole hn:;lk<Jul~ nca r silt: 504, be tween
th e Cocos ridge ;lO d lh~' Pcru -c Ctulc Hench. The
longer Mrow s rcptcscut the maximum , and
lhe shor le r Ihe min imum , prin <.:i pal horizontal
'tre~,. Fro m Ne wmark ,'I ul. (1<)1l4) . (8) Stress
"Tlenl alion delerminl'd Irorn breakou t drrcc-
lio llS at hole 5<)7c, we~1 " f the Erst Pacific ridg e .
Heavy aHOW., indicate ma ~i mum, a nd ligh t short
arrows min imu m . principal hunzouta! st ress
(tirecl iolls. Llghl I"ng arro"" imJk,ll e Ihe , Iire\'·
til,n o [ relative Pacific - Nazca plate moti on .
Afte r Newmark CI (,I. ( J'J1l4).

A
... .,. 00'

Hawaii
r1 6 0" Me xi c o

10'

0'

Mi o c en e

30'

B
 W
0\

ce - "'0' .,. ' 0'

.,. 00' ".

' J.
,,'

o
m
' 0'
, 0' o
5o
()
r
>-
C/l
.....;
;<:
JJ' ,,' c
Q
c
;<:
f]
>-
z
,0'
o
Jo· :s:
o
'00 l OO )?O ·,, ~ ( S
sz
~."'O "( T I "S o
"
r
>-
,,' -;
m
.,. C/l

'20 ' II!!- lOS- 100· se- '0' .,. ' 0' ".

Figure 2.20 Generalized stress map of the USA . The least principal stress is always horizontal, but may be either extens iona l (o utward pointin g) or
compressional (inward-point ing). Stress provinces. bound ed by heavy lines. <Ire <IS follows: PNW, Pacific NW; NRM. N. Rocky Mountain s; SA . San
Andreas fault zonc ; SN, Sierra Nevada; NBR , N. Basin-and-R ange: SBR , S. Basin-and-Rang e: CPo Co lorado Plateau ; RGR . Rio Grande Rift; SGP .
S. Gre at Plains. Fro m Zoback and Zob ack ( 1980).
 TH E U THOSPH ERI'. : SOME IMPORTANT PROPi: RTlf. S
T he stress-field changes at so me bou nda ries
merel y involve a swa pping o f stress axes. Fo r
example , in the change fro m mid-continenta l
through Co rdille ran to San A nd rea s pro vinces,
0 \ changes on ly slightly in o rientati on altho ugh
it varies from compress io nal to exte nsio nal.
Th is co mple x st ress field can be bro ken
down into three simple clemen ts: (i) a weste rn
or Pacific supcrpro vince re lated to Pacific
plate-boundary processes; (ii) a ce nt ral sta ble
intraplate field co ntro lled by bo th Pacific and
Atlantic plate bou ndary forces; and (iii) t he
marginal fields of the A tlantic and Gu lf co ast
provinces , which probabl y repr esent local
modifications of the intrapl ate field The ex-
tensional G ulf Co ast field is attributed 10 the
effect of the passive contine ntal ma rgin (see
2.5). T he co mpressio nal Atlantic pro vince field
may possibly reflect an o riginal NW -S E ridge-
push force during the earlier phas es of Atlantic
opening.
It is con veni ent 10 co nside r int rapl ate
stress fie lds and pla te bo undar y stress fields
, separately.
• vincing analysis, the evide nce so far sugges ts
Intraplate stress
The mid-conti nent pro vince discussed ab o ve.
and its exte nsion into Canada, ma y be re-
garded as a typical co ntine ntal intra plat e re-
gion. Th is was shown o riginall y by Sba r and
Sykes (1973) who demonst rated the co nsisten t
NE-SW to E- W max imum st ress ori entatio n
pauem using data derived from over cor ing.
hydrofraeture and focal-rn echanisrn met hod s.
'lhe stress magnitudes obtained from the in-
situ measurem ents show a wide ra nge , from 10
to 600 bars ( 1- 60 MPa) , but the reg ion ove rall
is one of high horizo ntal co mpressive stress .
A similar rema rkable regularity o f al o rien-
tation is de mon stra ted by Froid cvaux et al .
(1980) in a study of eight sites in F rance using
the fl atjack met hod . Th e NW - SE 01 orient a-
tion obtained by them compar es closely with
the results for the Rhine - Ruhr rift system
(see Figure 4 .168).
Richardson a af. ( 1976) and Solomo n et at.
(1980) present a compilation of wor ld-wide
37
intraplate stress or ientation data o btained
pr imarily from earthq uake foca l-me chani sm
a nalysis ( Figure 2.21A ) . Th e most reliable
results co me fro m Eu ro pe and Nort h Am e rica ,
as we have see n. In these areas the foca l-pla ne
solu tions ca n be checked by in-situ measure-
ment s. T he So uth A me rican co ntine nt shows a
similar o rientalion 10 North A me rica. No te
also the N -S to NNE-SSW compression in
India and t he E - W co mp ressio n in sout he rn
A frica . Most ocea nic lithosphe re o lde r than
abo ut 20 Ma also appear s to be in horizonta l
co mpression.
T he au thors comp are this stress distri but ion
with a num ber of theo retica l models making
differen t assum ptio ns abou t the vario us dri v-
ing fo rces available (see 2.5 , Table 2.3). Th e
most success ful fi t is obtai ned using a model
(F igure 2.2 18) which employs equa l ridge-
push an d slab- pull driving forces , ignor es the
subduction-suction force , and has a very low
value for the drag force res isting plate mo tion .
Al thou gh the mea suremen ts o f intrapla te
st ress arc not nearly good enough for a co n-
th at intrapla te stress can be explained to a fi rst
app roximation by the simp le inte ractio n o f
th ese two ma in driving fo rces , slab-pull and
ridge-push .
Stress at rime boundaries
Oli ver et 01. (1973) investigated the stress
o rientat ion in sinking slabs for fou rte en dif-
ferent subduction zones, using earthquak e
focal mechan ism data . Th ey fo und thai in the
grea t major ity of cases there was a major
co mpone nt of either down-dip co mpress ion or
down -dip exte nsion, pa rallel to the inclinat ion
of the slab (Figure 2.23). Moreo ver the exten -
sio nal so lutio ns were co nfined to high-leve l
ea rthquak es in slabs where eithe r t he re were
no deep earthq uakes o r there was a gap
between the upper and lower eart hquak e
zo nes . Compressio nal so lutio ns were associa-
ted eithe r with the lower part s o f the slab , o r
with the whole slab, where se ismicity was
co ntinuous. T his distri but ion was exp lained by
38 GEOl.OGl CAL STRUcr URES AND MOVING PLATES
" axis. Fro m Solo mon ('I al .
B ( I'JXU ), with permission
Oli ver et al , on the basis of the relative
strengths o f the slab-pull fo rce , which exerts a
down-dip te nsion on the slab, and an opposing
resistance force. The resistance produces a
co mpressional stress which becomes lar ge r as
the slab sinks dee per into the mesosphen c
mantle with its increased strength (Figure
2.238 ). This work W:l S very infl ue ntial in
persuad ing geologists that plate motion could
not be simply explained either by slab-pull o r
by ridge-push, but was co ntrolled by the
interaction of several primary forces (see 2.5) .
The o rientat ion of the maximum horizontal
stress across subduction zones generally shows
a consistent parallelism with the convergence
FIgure 2.2 1 (A) Wo rld distr t-
hution uf pri ncipal horizont al
dcvimonc stresses inferred
fru m mi,j-plate ea rthq uake
mccbanisms. 'Fnang jes re pre-
sent th rust f;lU lt mechanisms,
square s normal fauIL . and cu -
cles strik e-s lip. Ar ro ws de note
the ho nzc nta l projection of the
inlcrred stress axes. From
Richa rds on 1'1 ul. ( 197fl), with
permissio n. (8 ) Principal hori-
zonral dcviatoric st resses in the
lithosph e re fo r a mode l o f
plate driving Iorces (sec text] :
Axe s without arrows indica te
co mpre ssi on and those with
a rrows . te nsio n. Rela tive mag-
nitude ind ica ted hy le ngth of
direction . Th is regular patte rn is seen for
example in both the Aleut ian arc and the
Japanese arc (Figure 2. 17) (Nakamura and
Uyeda . 1980). However the compressive stress
fi eld is oft en confi ned to the volcanic arc itself,
and is replaced by an extensiona l stress fi eld in
the back -arc regio n. Nak amu ra a nd Uyeda
suggest that whe re there is no active ope ning o r
spreading of the back-arc region (e .g. in the
Peru- Chile. Japan and Kurile zones) the com-
pressive stress associated with the subduction
zone may be transmitt ed directly to the interior
of the ove rriding plate . Whe re back-arc exten -
sion is o ccurr ing, however , either the 01 stress
weakens and swaps over to become 03 without
 T HE. l.ln l OSI' H EIl.I::: SOME. IMI'OR rANT PR01'ERTIE S 39
, - u-- ,,-c"'"', --- - --- - , 00 "

:»-/?kt> ,"
'\ .....
'{ . "

• • .. "
I
.. 00 '

Jo'igur e 2.22 Extensional and strik c-slip focal mechan ism solutions tor ca rl hquakes in the A frican rifl syslc nl . Aftcr
Fairhead and G ird ler (1':17 1).

any cha nge in directio n, or the re may be II
grad ual swing in d irect io n o f at , as see n in the
Aleutian ar c.
T he o rienta tion o f the maxim um ho rizon tal
stress at co llisio na l boundaries is ge ne ra lly
perpe ndicu la r [Q th e bo undary o r in th e di rec-
tion of rela tive plate mo tion . T he focal-plan e
solutions to sha llow e a rthq uakes bo t h in the
nor the rn pa rt of th e India n pla te an din Ce ntr a l
Asia no rth of the India- Asia co llision sutu re
show a co nsiste nt NN E - SSW o rie nta tion (Pi-
gure 2.2I A ).
The stress o rien tation a t constructive boun-
daries (i.e . ocea n ridges and maj or co nt ine nta l
rift zo nes) is we ll esta blished fro m e a rthq ua ke
foca l-mech anism stud ies . T hese s how pre do-
minant ly no rma l fa ult mo vem ent wit h a sub-
ho rizo ntal e xte nsio na l stress parallel to th e
direct io n of rela tive pla te mo tion . as dem on-
stra red by Sykes (1967) fro m mo re tha n 50
focal -pl ane so lut ions for the world rift system.
Fa irhead a nd Girdle r ( 1971) show bo th ex te n-
sio nal a nd strike-sl ip so lutions fo r t he A frica n
rift syste m (Fig ure 2.22). T he ex te nsio nal
stresses a re a pproxima te ly par a lle l to the re la-
tive pla te mov ement vecto rs: NE - SW in t he
Re d Sea and NW - SE in the A fr ica n rifts. T he
lo we r pa rt of the Re d Sea shows predomina nt-
ly st rike-s lip sol ut io ns.
Conservative boundaries. Tra nsform faults
a re associated with e a rthquakes with a strike-
slip se nse of movemen t , o ppos ite to the direc-
lion o f a ppa re nt displace me nt (Tuzo Wilso n .
1963). Sykes ( 1967) sho ws a good e xampl e
fro m the G ulf of Ca liforn ia (Figure 6. to). Th e
o rie nta tio n o f th e principa l stress axes ca nno t
be sim ply derived fro m t he slip vectors , how -
40 GEO LOG ICA L ST RUcrU KES A t'o!D MOVlf'JG PLAT ES

o c
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c
o
o
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N
o
'i'

~
• ,
OC •c •
100

200
•
o·0
• 0
0
~
c

i'"
. ~,. •
: ~
L
• •
~
0

0
0

300 0
~

~
e 0 0
~

:; 400 0 ~
a 0
~
C) 500 I-
;, 0
f?9 -

~D~ D
0 ~

600 I-

700 L
""'t, La
8: GJ

A
A B c 0

L -_ _....
. ~•
••
I ~~,
.~ .
,-~~== ~~
. LJ
o
••
I ~---"
o
c
0
0
c
c
_ _ _ ~~~ reng th _

Inc reasin g streng th

-- --High--strength
-- --- - --- - --- - - - - - - - - -
B
Figure 2.23 (A ) Down-dip stress ploued as a funct io n of dept h fo r fou rteen subduction w iles. Filled circles. do wn-dip
extension; open circles. compression. Cn lSSCs rep resent ocher oriemauons. Small symbols represent tess accurate
determinatio ns. Th e enclose d rectang ular area s rep resen t the a pprox imate detrib ution or eart hquakes in the sl " h~ . ( 8 )
D iagram sho wing poss ible explanation or the distribution of mess types in (A l. Sla bs which just pe netrate the asth eno -
sphere milf he characte rized o nly by down -dip exte nsion (I ); as the slahl; penetrate (utlh el into the higher-strength
mesosphere, they arc subjected (0 ccmn ression in their lower pHI (2) and eventually thro ughout (3) . Break -up o f the slab
is envisaged in (4). From Uyeda ( 1978) . alter lsaeks and Molnar ( I%'J).

ever. since a uniqu e solutio n ca nnot be pro - ge nerally oblique to active transform fracture
vided from a set of para llel fault s. Examina tion zone s in accorda nce with classical fault th eo ry.
of the stress orientation o n intraplate sea fl oo r A similar ar rangement can be dem onst rated in
(see e. g. Figure 2. 19A , B) suggests that (11 is contine ntal strike-slip zones which form plate
 T H~ LlIH O S I> H ~ H : SO M ~
boun da r ies. Fo r instance . in the Sa n A nd reas
fa ult zo ne . the a rrange men t of fa ults and o f
indi vidual slip vecro rs is very complex in de tail,
hu t the overa ll stress field appear s to be mo re
uni fo rm. with a N E -SW 0, o rientati on. o bli-
qu e to the t rend of the Sa n And reas fa ult. as
sho wn in Figu re 2.211 {Zo bac k and Zo beck,
19R1J) .
Summary
The ra ther sparse datu available fo r intrapl at e
stress fields sho w co nside rable regula rity.
Stress o rien ta tions ca n he explained to a first
appro xima tio n hy the co mhi ned effects of
ne ighbouring plate boun dary forces. The im-
portant forces appea r to he a sym me trical
ridge-p ush fo rce a nd a symmet rical ' tre nch -
pull' for ce co m bi ning the effec ts o f sla b pull.
su bd uctio n suction. and the va rious o pposi ng
resista nces.
Stress data fo r the plat e bo unda ries them-
se lves a re a bunda nt a nd sho w a consis te nt
pa ue m o f e xtension al stress p urullcl to d iver-
gent motio n, com pressiona l stress pa ra llel to
conve rge nt mot io n . and obliq ue stress fields
across tr a nsfo rm fau lts. Ext ensio na l stress
fields a t dive rge nt bou nda rie s a re restrict ed 10
the region of th e rift zo ne . a nd a re ra pid ly
replaced by co m pressive intra pla te stresses o n
eithe r side . Co mpressive st ress fie lds il l co n-
vergen t hou nd a ries Me replaced by exte n-
sional stress fie lds in ma ny hack-arc regio ns o n
the upper pla te . hut no rma lly co nt inue int o the
typical co m pressive intrapla te st ress field o n
the ocean ic subduct ing plate .
Stress d istribu tio ns in subduct ing sla bs co n-
fi rm the pictu re o btained by world-w ide st ress
modelling. o f a com hi ned sla b-pull/ ridge- push
driving mecha nism for plat e mo tio n , wit h
exte nsion al st resses confined to t he up pe r parts
of slabs o nly in the ea rly stages of subd uctio n.
The effect of the mantle d rag fo rce aprea rs to
be minimal.
2.7 The tong-term st rengt h of th e lith osphere
The stre ngth of the lithosp he re co ntrols both
the initia tion a nd subseq ue nt evolutio n of
majo r zo nes of deform at ion . T he res po nse of a
lMPORTA!"T PR O PEJl.TI~S 41
piece o f lithos phe re to a n a ppl ied tect o nic
fo rce is depende nt o n the vertic al d ist ribution
of both duct ile und britt le stre ng th. which in
turn is co ntrolled by the va rying r heo logy wi th
de pth shown by lithosphere mat e rial. Whereas
brittle st reng th is co ntrolled prima rily by litho -
stati c pressure a nd increases with de pth, du c-
tile stre ngth is co ntrolle d by te mperat ure a nd
decrea ses with depth beca use of the geo-
the rmal gradie nt.
In tectonically sta ble lit hosp he re subjected
to an a pplied fo rce . an upper regio n of brittle
defo rm at ion a nd a lowe r region o f du ctile
deformat ion will be se pa ra ted by a stro ng
co mpe tent clas tic region (Figure 2.24A) . If we
ca n assume that the various la yers of the
lithosphe re a re welded toge t he r. th e stre ngth
o f this elastic region cont rols the bulk strength
o f the who le lithosp he re a nd o nly very sm all
st rains ca n occu r initially. If the a pplied fo rce
is increased . or me rely with the passage of tim e
unde r a co nstan t applied fo rce . the region of
bntt!e deformat io n will exte nd dow nwa rds.
and the regio n of du ct ile deform ation will
e xle nd upwa rds. eve ntuall y redu cing the co m-
pe te ", elast ic core to zero . Whe n this ha ppe ns.
a rapid inc rease in stra in ac ross t he who le
thickness o f the lit hosphe re ca n ta ke p lace ,
produ cin g geo logica lly significa nt le ve ls o f
de formation ( Figure 2.24 8) . T his process has
been te rmed whole-lithosph ere [ailure ( Kusz-
nir , 19H2). T his process will be accel era ted if
the geothe rm al gradie nt becom es steepe r. be-
ca use of the temperature con tro l ove r du ctile
stre ngth .
T he vert ica l distribution of stress whic h re-
sults from a n applied force is co ntro lled by the
va riation of both britt le a nd d uct ile st re ngth
with de pt h. This va riation in strength is the re-
fore c ritically impo rta nt in defining the va lue o f
the force which m ust be a pplied to t he litho-
sphe re in o rde r 10 produce significan t de fo rma -
t ion. E vidence fo r the va ria tion of stre ngth
with de pt h is pro vided by the stress-dep th
curves of Mer cie r (l 9RO) discu ssed earlie r (see
Figure 2. l h).
Kuszni r a nd Par k (.1982. 1984a ,b ) use a
ma them aticnt mod el to calculat e this stress
d ist ribut ion ass uming Ma xwell visco-elastic
42 GEOLOGICA L STRu c r U RES AND MOVIN G PLA TES

p ro perties for the lithosphe re . Det ails of the
mode l are give n in Figure 2. 24. Importan t as-
sumpt ions are tha i the total horizontal force
ari sing fro m the initial applied force is co n-
se rved , an d that the lithosp here unde rgoe s a
uni form st rain with depth.
Because of the siliceo us nature of most
upper-crusta l rocks. and the relativel y low
st rength of qu artz , it is assum ed tha t defor -
mation in the upper crust is co ntrolled by the
behaviou r of this mine ral (see White . 1976).
Th e rheol ogy of the lowe r crust is un certain ,
but it appea rs likel y thai, in view of the
proba ble importan ce of basic mate rial, defe r-

A TIME OR STRESS OR HEA T Fl O W

)

,, , ' -
, , - ,
I SRlnLE I DUCTI LE
, T RA N S ITI O N
tw
c
DUCTILE

ASTHENOSPHERE
•

STRESS

- -- -

Fjgure 2. 24 (A ) Th e regio ns of brill le, d uctile and elastic be haviou r in the lithosph ere shown diag ra mmatjcatly. Given a
large eno ugh applied str ess, th e clastic core will reduce to zero with time as the brit tle an d duct ile deformation spreads
downwards and up ward s respect ively. WLF (Whole-lithos phe re failure ) occ urs when the elast ic region di'\.a ppears_
Increasing heat no w has the same effect as increasing stress . (8) Schematic re prese ntatio n of lithosphere respo nse to an
appli ed ho rizo nt al stress. ( I ) Initial ela stic respo nse causes uniform distr ibut ion of strain and stress with depth . (2) Ductile
cre ep in the lo we r lithosp here causes st ress deca y there , and results in st ress amplification in the uppe r lithosphere ,
sufficient to ca use fractur e in the up permost parts. (3) Further stress amplification results in stres s levels in the stro ng
upper part of th e lithosphere sufficient to ca use com plete failure an d conseq ue ntial la rge strains. From Kusznir and Park
(1984).
 T H E L1T HOS PlI f, ll.E: SOMI; IMPORT ANT PRO PERTI ES 43
MOlhpmOllcul m ode! fOT lilhwl'here di'jormOfion
Lithos phe re of initia l th ic kness L is su hJccl~(1 10 an initia l ap plie d ho nz on tal stress , II", in the A dire ction. Pla ne slra in
(U1 = 0) is assu med in the pe rpe nd icula r horiz ont ul drrccnon and the rcsullin!,: vc o i\,,,1 stress " , is assume d lu be l ew ,
Co nserva tion o f horiz on ta l forc e and the acsu mpuons. tha t lhe vanous laye rs of the lithosphe re <HC welded ro o ne anothe r
pro vide the addi lio na l equations:

f' "
iI, d z
de,
O "nd - "' U
J,
where o, is borizonta l s tress, r, is lotal hm izu nta l s lr;,in a nd z is d e pth .
T hese eq ua lions , toge the r with the constitutive c quauons Ior a viscoelast ic ma terial , allow the f" llo wlng mtc gral
e q ua tion to he Io rrn ulatc d , gi~' i ns (l~ as a fu nct io n o f ti,nc " nu dc plh :

0" = dl ' - ±J fI': I dz + <1','

"
wher e

11,(2 ~ v ) - 0 .( I - 2v)
k "- I ~ ,,! .lndl
"'I
where E is Yo u ng's mudulu s, v Poisson's ratio a nd II apparent viscos,ty.

A simila r equ atio n c os ts for 0, . Fracture h<ls hee n p red icted using G rillilh f;lilllre the or y a nd releas e can he inco rporated
in the mod el using the ini ti,,1st ress te rms, II", Th e de tailed Ionn ulation ur tli" , eq uatio ns and the stress- and te mp e ra tu re -
dependent rheolog y a rc desc ribe d h y Kusznir ( I':IX2l. T he fol lowing param et er valu es have be en used : £ '" III' MI' H, " '"
0.25; ten sile strength :; 20 MPa and)l (coe fficie n t n f friction ] = U.5.
T he followi ng rct anon ships a rc used In derive Ihe cree p slr" in rille , Th e e q u ; l l i\ln~ lor the cree p rale~ for o ilville urc ta ke n
from Bo d ine et ol , ( 191'1) a nd rep resc nl a en lllpl<lmi,e tc rwccn the dr y ol ivine creep rates o f G oe tze 11'f71\) alld tbc wei
dunitc creep rates or P" SI ( I Qn) .
Dislocauon cree p:
•
t '"
7 x III e xp ( -- :'-T
i ~o.
- ~-tl) ( II I - 0.,) , "
lo r (a , - 0.1) < 2 kba r
Durn Law :

t "
.. X
10'""'XI' ( - 55550
T
( I _ (a, 1\
- all) ' )
5 s ,

for (a, - 0 ) ) > 2 kha r

whe re (a, - all is in kb ar ( I kha r = 1110 MPa ).

The d ucti le d efor ma tion o f q uart z wilhin the cr ust is assum ed to correspo nd to tha t of dislocati on cree p. Creep rate s in
qcanz are co ntro lled stro ngly by the a mo un t o f wate r. Th e co nt ine n ta l up pe r c rust is assum ed to de form acco rd ing 10 a
WCI q uartz rheology with 50% quartz . T he lowe r crus t is assu med 10 defor m acco rding to a dr y q uartz rheolo gy wilh
HI'x' q uar tz , or a pla gioclase rheo logy wilh 411'Y" o r .~ O 'Y" plagio clilsc . C reep rilles for wei and d ry quar tz arc ha, cd o n the
expe nme nta l ","o rk o f Koc h et al. ( 19110).
Wei quartz:

t """ 4" e xp (-193

..'" - -T-32)(
- 0 , - 01 ) 2 '
00
S- I

Dry qua rtz:

c s, , x IW, exp ( -- 21\7XX)

-T- (a , - 01) "- S ,

where (0 , - a,l is in kba r.

44 GEO LOG IC A L ST RU crU KES A N D MOVI i'-G r LII H .$

marion is co ntro lled by the ductile beh av iour
of plagioclase , which de forms mo re readily
than pyroxene or ol ivine . Flow curves plott ing
strain-rate against temperature for various
appropriate minera ls and rocks are compa red
on Figure 2 .25. Th e role of water is critical;
wei quartz is mu ch weaker than dry, and
whereas wet quartz may he assum ed 10 co nt rol
uppe r-cru sta l rheology, we might expect a
mid-crusta l region of essentially gra nito id co m-
position to he cont rolled hy d ry quartz defor-
mation . Ku szn ir an d Par k investiga te two
cru sta l st rength models . on e with a 50'Yu wet
qua rtz rheo logy overlying a 50% plagiocla se
rheology. and the o ther a three -laye r mod el
comprising a 50% we t q uar tz laye r ove rlying a
50% dry qua rt z laye r ov erl ying a 40'X, plagio -
clase layer. The rheology o f the up per ma nt le
is assumed to he cont ro lled hy t he behaviou r o f
dry olivin e .
T he critical tempe ratu res req uired to ge n-
erate significant stra in rates for these differen t
rheo logies a rc reac hed at depths tha t a re
depe ndent o n the geo thermal gradie nt. Dif-
ferent geothe rmal grad ien ts may be cburacrcr -
ized by the sur face heat flow , q. Figure 2.26A
shows calculated st ress-dl.'pth (o r strengt h-
depth] pro fi les at various times afte r the initial
appl icat ion of a ten sile force of JOl 2 N/m (i.e .
eq uivalent to a fo rce of 1.5 x 1017 N ap plied
ove r the who le thickness o f the litho sphe re) .
Thi s force is applied to co nt inental lithosphere
with a sur face heat now q = 6OmWm - 2 (cor -
respo nding to the continental ave rage - see
T ab le 2 . 1). As tun c prog resses, duc tile cree p in
the lowe r lithosphe re rl'sull'i in dissipation of
stress there an d its transfer upwards to the
coo ler no n-d uctile up per lithosphere , where il
becom es amphlicd 10 a level sufticien r to
ge nerate brittle fail ure in the topmost levels of

T EMPERA T URE, roc

•
200 4 00 800 1000 120 0
//

10
,
w 12
w
>-
-c 14
a:,
z
-c 16
a:
>-
'D
o 18
a
-'
20

22

t"ij1,ur e 2.25 Vanaricn in log struin ra te with tc r npc ruru re for n ll11 nlhcr ,.1 minera ls an d rocks imponunt in ductil e
lithosph c rc def orma tio n. T he cu rves a rc de rived fro m expcnmc mat da tu Iromthc full< ming s...urcc s: quartz ( xoc f d al. ,
1')110 ): anorthosit e (Shelton and T ullis. 1911 1): d iopsid c and websterite (A .'': Lll hunem. 197Xj. FWIl> Ku szrur and Park
( 19X7)
 THE L1T HOS I' H ERE: se ve IMPO RTANT PROPERHES 45

A 0 . ',,",PaJ
o
a,(MPa)
., .,
a .IMP.}
eo , - -- --"
" UPO~' CtuS!
We t o....., ll

Lo",e, CtVSI

.:

10 ' y'

'--_ _---.J reo

'"

B •
0.""'.
," 0.""" ,,,
, '" o eo reo

'00 ' 00
f• • lO"Nlm

.·ii:ur~ 2.26 (A) Stress plotted agains t de pth et various limes afte r the application of a tens ile tecto nic fo rce of IU ' 2 Ntm
to conuucrnat li thosphere with a surface heal flow of 61) rn w m - :. Note the development of low-st ress (low-s trength)
regions above composuionat (and the re fo re rheological] boundunes. (8) Suess ploncd 'tgainSI depth for ,t range of
geothermal gra dients, co rres pon ding 10 sur face heal flows of 45 mOO mW m - !, ill I Ma after the apphcanon of the same
tensile force <IS in (Al Note that in t his, and in subsequentfigu res . applied force is given in newtons per unit leng th o f a
sccno n o ttuhosphcre plate (N m . , ) rat her than as a st ress ap plied to unit area oflit hosphe re. In hr hosphere l():)km lhick ,"
stress of 10MP" = I N m". Data from numeric.. 1 model ; from KUSl nir lind P~rk (191':7) .
46 GEO LOGIC.... L STRUCl"l JIU3S AND MOVING !'LAreS

the lithosph e re . T wo major stress -de pth dis-
con tin uit ies a re ap pa re nt a t th e changes in
rheol ogy bet ween upper and lower crust. and
betwee n c rust and man tic . Th ese ar e lr npor-
Ian ! wea k zon es whi ch wo uld assume critica l
tecto nic importan ce if large strains were 10
occ ur.
T he effect of differ e nt te mpera ture gra dients
o n the st ress-de pth rel a tio nship is illustra te d in
Figur e 2.268, fo r the sa me init ial ten sile force
ap plied fo r a pe riod o f I Ma. Ve ry litt le uppc r-
lithosphe re stress increase is evide nt in the
coolest lithosph e re mod el (co rrespond ing to
a verage co ntine ntal shie ld wit h q == 45 m W
m- 2 ) . Howe ver . as the geo the rm al grad ient
steepens, th e regio n of duc tile de formatio n
e xte nds progressivel y up wa rds , co nccn tru nn g
th e st ress in th e uppe r lithosp he re . For he at -
flow leve ls of SO a nd 90 mW m - 2 • co rres po n-
ding to the hottest regio ns of the co ntine nta l
litho sphe re (c .g. the Basin-a nd-Ra nge pro-
vince of the western US A) the stress is en tirely
confined ttl th e crust , and the st rength d is-
con tinu ity a t the m id-cr usta l rheo logy cha nge
is st ill ev ident. At c/"=
90 m Wm - 2 , whole-
lith osphe re fail ure is a bo ut to la ke place as the
el as tic co re has been red uce d to zero (sec
Figure 2.24A).
T hese results may be co nvenient ly summa r-
ized by e mp loying the concept o f critica l st ress,
define d as that level o f stress req uired to
produ ce whole- lith osphe re failure within 1 Ma ,
a nd which wo uld the refor e be e xpected to
produce geo log ica lly sign ificant de format ion .
Figure 2.27 shows critical st ress plo tte d aga inst
he a t flow fo r exte nsional a nd com press ive
stress co mpa red with the theo ret ica l st ress
levels ca lcula ted fo r va rio us stress so urces (see
T a ble 2.3 ). Figure 2.27A shows the cr itical
st ress/ hea t flow curve for exte nsio n, to ge th e r
with t heo ret ical maximu m stress le vels pro-
d uced by platea u up lift (50 M Pa ) a nd subd uc-
tio n suct ion (30 M Pa), the two mos t im po rta nt
so urces o f lith osph e re exte nsion a l stress (see
2.5). A th eo ret ica l ma ximum ne t e xte nsional
stress of ROMl' a cou ld he produced by co m-
bin ing th e two e ffects. Howe ver , as disc ussed
earlier. a mo re re a listic ma ximum net stress is
co nside red to be abo ut ± 25 M Pa . Suc h a
stress inte rsect s the critica l st ress curve a t a
he a t flow va lue o f a bo ut 70 mw m -2. defining a
re gio n of po te nt ial defo rma tio n.

,,,
reo
'"
R.oge push (rna .)
•
~ 20 P'Ob2bllt "'..._ M I ao P'_ ble ma•. net sl'lt$) . , . ....
sl ' U S
"":::! I I I
10
I " I I
""i I I I
g 5 I s
I I
5
a
EXTENSION
, COMPRESSION I I
I

c as 50 75 10 0 t 25 '.5 0 0 25 50 75 10 0 125 150

HEAT FL OW (0) mW
-a
A B
figurt 2.27 Curves <If cnucat stress v. lithosphere heat lIo w Io r lensio nal ( A ) amI comp ressional ( B) ap plied SIres:;, com ·
pared "..ilh vario us possible stress sources and with prob ab le maximum net SUC!lS levels . The region nf potential defo r-
mat ion is stippled . Nume rical mod el; alte r Kusznir and Pa rk ( 1<J!l7).
 H l l:: Ll ftlOSrH I::I~E: SO ME IMl'ORlAN T PROr'ERnl::S
These result s demo nstra te tha t . fo r re a -
so nable esti mates o f th e likely a vai lab le e x-
te nsio nal fo rce , sign ifican t e xtensiona l defor-
ma rio n ma y be expec ted in lithosp he re wit h
heat -flo w levels fo und for exam ple in typ ica l
re gion s o f Pa lae o zo ic o rogenic c rus t (see Ta ble
2.2). Th is confo rms with the Obse rved occ u r-
ren ce of intra plat e exte nsional zo nes in suc h
regio ns.
Comp ressiona l strength:
Beca use rocks a re mu ch st ronger und e r co m-
p re ssio n th a n und e r te nsio n , t he co mpressive
st re ngth of the litho s phe re as a who le is co n-
side rably g re ater than its ex te ns io nal stre ng th .
Figu re 2.27 B s ho ws tha t for a he a t flo w q of
HO mW m - 2 . suffic ien t to p romote sign ificant
ex tens ion wit h a st ress of a ro u nd 20 M Pa . a
stress of o ve r 40 M Pa would be req ui red to
produce sig nifica n t co mp ressio na l d eform at io n
- a va lue t ha t is o u tside the ra nge of norrnul
com pressive stress so u rces . The p roba ble ma xi-
mum a va ila ble ne t stress of 25 M Pa re q uires a
heat flo w o f o ver 90 m\\' m- 2 10 pr o du ce sign i-
fican t deforma tio n. Suc h a high he at flo w is
curre nt ly found on ly in th e honest re gio ns .
which a rc curre ntly un dergo ing e x te ns ion.
rather tha n co mp ressio n. T he mod e l there fo re
pred icts t ha t major co mp ressio na l de fo rma tio n
shou ld not normall y o ccu r with in plates a nd we
might e xpec t it 10 be re str ict ed to conve rge n t
plat e boundaries where la rge co llision resis-
tance fo rces can occ ur. That intraplate co m-
pressio nal d e forma tion is uncom mon is wid e ly
acknowledge d . The fe w cases where it see ms
10 occu r need to be exa mined clo se ly. Pe rhaps
the litho spher e il> unusually we ak in suc h
zones .
Oceanic lithosp he re
Althou gh ocea nic lithosph e re is muc h thinne r
than contine nt a l. its co mposit ion re nd e rs it
significa ntly stro nger . since its rheo logy is
contro lled almost e nt irely by th e d eforma t io n
of olivine. T he crit ica l stress c u rve fo r typica l
ocean- bas in litho sph ere the ref ore cor res po nds
to that fo r an a ll-o livine litho sp he re . W ith
47
typi cal ocea n-b asi n bear Ho w val ues in th e
ra nge 40 - 50m W m - 2 (sim ilar to t he con -
tinen ta l shield va lues ) . it ca n be seen fro m
Fig u re 2.2711 tha t a n unre a listicall y high val ue
o f c rit ical stress wou ld be re q uired to p ro d uce
de fo rma tion. No likel y so u rce o f st ress e xists,
t he refore. tha t will produce significant co m-
p re ssio na l intraplate deformatio n - ind ee d
the re is no e vidence of such de forma tion in the
ocea n ba sins at p resen t.
Evolution uf.wrenglh du ring lithosphere
extension and com pression : crustal thickness
Be ca use of the significa nt di ffe ren ce s in rheol-
o gy between the q uu rtzo -feldspathic ma te rial
o f the c r us t and the oli vine -rich ma te rial of the
m a nt le . the b ulk strength o f the lit ho sph e re
de pe nds ve ry muc h on the relative p ropo rtio ns
o f these two di fferen t ma te ria ls . an d thus o n
crusta l thickness . Figu re 2.2XA sho ws st ress -
d e pth p ro files. calcula te d fro m th e Ku szni r -.
Pa rk lit hos phere defo rma tion model . fo r lith o -
sp he re wit h cr usta l th ick ne sse s o f 2tJ. 35 an d
60 km . T hese sho w ve ry sig mficnr ud iffe ren ce s .
T he thin-crust mod el is st ronge r o ve ra ll a nd
sho ws no stre ng th d isco n tinu ities . Th e thick-
c rus t mo del sho ws mo re th an twice t he st ress
level . bu t the stress is co nce ntra te d in the
up pe r crust. T hese res ults are fo r a n ave rage
geothe rmal gradien t a nd a force of to N/m
a fte r 1 Ma . Fo r high e r he a t flows . t he thi n-
c rust mo d e l is 3- 4 ti me s st ro nge r tha n aver-
age cr ust.
T he a bov e re la tio nship assum e s tha t the
geot he rm al gradien t is co ns tan t d urin g t he
a pplicat ion of the force. If. how e ve r . t he
c rusta l t hick ness cha nges as a resul t o f de-
format io n. fo r exa m ple by exte nsio na l t hin-
ning . th e pr oce ss itse lf changes the the r ma l
st ruc tu re of the lit ho sp he re . T his sit uat io n has
been inves tiga ted in a modified ver sio n of the
lith o sp he re mod e l de scribed a bo ve ( Kusz nir
an d Pa rk . 1987 ) which co nside rs the cv ol u-
tion o f litho sphere st re ng th du ring exte ns ion.
ta king accou nt o f the c ha ngi ng tempe rature
st ructu re.
T he p ro ce ss of lit ho sp her e ex tensio n re su lts
 A O~ MPa O.MP OI o ......
0 ec 0 eo 0 ec eo
0
'0
WO
"
.............. .

, '" . .'".
o
...... --
..... .. ....
.. ..........
r . --- --- -
••
w
0
'0

60 O usr.1 1'hIcknns
. . -. . -- - .. .
2O<m 3!:okm 6O>m
Q_60 m Wm "
A

.. F. tO
"
, 0 ~~
.
c; 10
., N / ...

!
· "
••
·
•
<
·
o·•
" - fi,.u" 2.18 (A) Sire» ploued against
<Jcplh for mtltJd~ wilh c l us lal Ihicknc$.."C'S
of 2(1, 3~ and flOkm ,,1 1 M. af ler .hc
o ap p lica liu o of a lc nf>ile force or 10 ' 1 Nlm
10 lilhu!Orhcr c w u h he al flow, q '" 60mW
o '00 rso m ! . Numeri c...l modc:l ~ fro m Kusznir and
1'(1 . 1 lI ow ( Q! ..... m'2 Par k (I~K7) . (H) Conluu ~ or lithosphe re
exte nsio nal strcnglh (the cri lkal fo rce
req uired to gene rate WLF in I Mal in "
cru~ l a l Ihickncwoul tIow plo t. Schema-
tic trajectories indicate last, slow and
inte rmediate lithosp he re ex te nsio n rat es.
The evofunon of cr u~ I ;Ll stre ngth ;n com-
B pression molY be visual ized by ex te nding
lhe inte rmed iate U lcnsion rate u pwar ds
'i<l lhal lhc crust is thicke ned (lioCe hat ched
20 line) . Numerical mode l. after Kuszni r
Thermal Ag. and Pa rk (1<,1117) . (Cj PIOI of hth c sphe re
10M • ••••••. . • strength (sho wn ai ap plied force) against
,2s
-" ,.
5 0 "1. __ lilhOlillhere e~tension Iactor, fl. rOl'" s tra in
ratt's or 10 I~ and 10 " , lind for warm er
. .... and (:tinier lithos phe re (thermal ages of
.... ..... 10 and SO Ma re~ i vel y ) . Note Ihal as
•• .... .... o::xtension proceeds, the )tre nglh depe nds
& ...... mili,dy o n the strllin rille ralhe r thi n o n
the initial the-rmal sU'uc ture •• nd th aI a
o ..,....,::. .._.._ t -IO'" high $train rate in cool lithosphc re wo uld
, , .
, , require an un reillist ically la rle Iorce .
Nun>encal mode l; from KUSlllir and Par k
c ( 1987).

48
 IHl L11HOS I'I! EIlE : SOME IMI'OIl IA Nl" I'KOPfX ll lS
in two o pposi ng effec ts: [ i ] a steepening o f the
georherm b rough t a bo u t by bri nging the hotte r
asthen osp he re ne ar e r to the su rface . wh ich
we a ken s t he lith osph ere ; and (ii) a thin ning o f
the cr ust whic h, as we hav e se e n . will act 10
strengt he n t he lit ho sp he re . T h us the litho-
sp here ma y s ho w ei the r a ne t weak e nin g o r a
ne t stren gt hening d uring extension dependi ng
o n wh ich effect do mina te s .
If th e e xtensio n rakes p lace slow ly. the
geot be rm ma y ha ve t ime to rc -cq uitib ratc . that
is, th e base o f the litho sph e re W I ll mo ve
do wn war d s to co m pensate fur the thin ning
effect as the e xtra hea l is lo vt, Slow rates of
ex te ns ion wilt th e re fo re re sult in a ne t strcng-
the ning (ts trai n ha rde n ing ' ) of the lithos phe re
because th e crus ta l th inn ing effect is dom i-
nan t. Ra pid ex tensio n o n the ot her ha nd will
lead to ne t we a ke n ing , si nce th e temperatu re
rise wi lt mo re th an ba la nce the effect o f crus ta l
th inn ing. Fig ure 2.2H B SIl\l WS co nto urs o f litho -
sp he re stre ngth in a c rustal thickness / he a t
no w plo t. T raje cto ries o f cha nging crustul
thick ne ss at co nst a nt hea t flo w clea rly lend to
an incre ase in stre ngt h. T rajec to rie s whic h
sho w a la rge change in he a t flo w (co rres po n-
ding to a fasl extensio n rute) p ro d uce a
decre ase in strength. A n int e rme dia te rat e o f
exte nsio n wo u ld Cau se no or ve ry litt le ne t
change .
Figur e 2.2RC sho ws the q ua nti ta tive re su lts
of the lit ho sp he re st re ng th mo del mo d ified to
take acco u nt o f c hangi ng te m pe rat u re struc-
ture . T he resu lts a re sho wn in the form o f a
plot o f litho sp he re st re ng th (cr itica l fo rce )
against beta va lue ({3 ) fo r ex tensiona l strain
rates of 10- 14 a nd 10.- 1\ - I , and ' the rmal ages'
of 10 a nd 50 Ma . Not e th at {3. th e lit ho sp he re
stre tching factor ( Mc Ke nz ie, 1\}7&1) is e qu i-
vale nt to the streng m » ( 1 + e ) . whe re e is th e
extension , in th e terminolo gy used in struc-
turul ge o logy. Thu s a val ue o f fJ :=: 2 co rres-
pond s to a d oubl ing of the origina l widt h and a
hal ving o f the o rigi na l th ick ne ss o f th e lit ho -
sphere segme n t in q ues tion . T he th erma l age
is define d as the time since the last majo r
tecto notherma l e ve nt (oroge ny ).
The ev o lut io n o f e xte ns io nal stren gth is
stro ngly de pe nde n t o n the initia l therm al
49
state . T he fas te r str ai n rat e in the wa rmer
litho sph e re p rod uce s appro xima te ly co ns ta nt
stre ngth. wh ereas the slowe r ra te cau ses ra pid
strum harde ning after {3 :=: 1.5 . F ast stra in ra te s
ca nno t be ini tia ted in the coole r lithos p he re
mo d el (the rma l age o f 50 M,1 ) beca use of th e
u nre ali sti call y h igh in itial strengt h re q uired .
Th e mod el t here fore p red icts . firstl y, that
fast e xte ns ion ra tes (~ 1O-1 4 S -I ) a re on ly
possibl e for hot . ther mally yo u ng litho sphe re
thu t will p ro d uce lo ca lly in te nse e xten siona l
defo rmurion. with str ain softeni ng. le ad ing 10
la rge {3 va lues a nd ult im atel y, if the fo rce
pe rsists , to t he co mp le te rift ing of the co n-
t ine nt al cr us t and the fo rmatio n of a n ocean .
Seco ndly, s lower exten sion ra te s ( $ IO - l ~S -I )
wi ll p ro duce stra in h a rd en ing a nd ge ne ra te a
fin ite fJ va lue o f a ro u nd 1.5 . A s e ach section
of lith osphere ha rde ns . the lo cus o f inte nse
d efo rm ation would be e xpect ed to sp re ad
late rally to invo lve a m uch wider re gio n of e x-
te ns iona l de fo rma t ion (see Figu re 2.29).
This c ritica l f1 value of 1.5 is in re ma rka ble
agre e me nt with the es timated {3 va lues fro m a
wide ra nge of intr a-co ntin e ntal exte nsio nal
b asi ns (Table 2.6) wh ic h sho w a n average {3
value o f 1.4 - 1.5 .
Evo lutio n ofslrenglh in compressive
deform atio n
T he pro gr e ssive increa se in c rust a l th ick ne ss
whi ch re su lts fro m co m pr essive d eformat io n
the o re tically p rod uce s th e re verse situ a tio n to
·L . llIe 2.6 Es tima te d vdlues o f CX ICllsinn in vMious con -
line nl., ! h dSlns . Fro m Ku sznrr and PMk ( 19H7) (u; lIi1 frum
G D. Karner ].
p
Nor th SC<l B..sin
CClllr,i1 Gr;JIJC n I 55- I.Y
Flu nks 1,2-1.3
Rh ine G ruben 1.1-1.3
P,m no n;dn Bils in I ,H- 2.7
Acgc, m 14
Vie nna e Ol sin 1,0- 1.11
P'l fis Basin U
W~·"M·!{ B;) ~; ll 1 1- 1.25
w o rcest e r e..
si n 1.2
Bass Basin 1.25-1 .5
Gippsland l3<1 sin
"
50 GEOL OGIC A L STRUcrUR E.<; AND MOVING PLAT ES

,., ~ ... A

e g 10 -"

..,..,
...,
I
....

..-.[i~ ~ l j l:+1 I I I I

F I $! S t. a ln Rale B
• •

_-----.ln~_
la r g e jl • n Ig h Q

S lo w Str ain Ra , a

• DC . C D

sm all ft - lo w Q
 TH E U1HOSI' H ERt:: : SOM E IM PORTA NT PII.OPEII.T1ES
that JUSI describ ed for ext en siona l dcform a-
no n . That is , fast strain ra tes prod uce stra in
softening, whereas slo w strain rates produ ce
struin hardening. However , fast st rain ra tes arc
proh ibited by the high initial for ce req uired
(see Figure 2.28) and realistic strain rat es will
produce stra in harde ning a fter the crust has
thicken ed beyo nd abou t 50 km, tha t is , after a
finite amount o f sho rte ning (pe rhap s 50'Y... ) has
taken place.
Compressive deforma tion of t he lithosp he re
is therefore a se lf-limiting p rocess, in co ntrast
to extensio nal defor mation .
Rheological control ofdetachment horizons
We have seen that th e stre ngth d ist ribution
wi th depth de pends in de tail on the position of
major rheo logical ch anges in the lithosphere ,
and particularl y in the crust. Kusznir an d Park
consider two crusta l mod els, bo th o f which
have appare nt co unter pa rts in natu re . Th e first
(sec Figure 2 .26) is a two-layer crust with a
granod iorite rheolo gy, co nt rolled by wei qua rtz
deforma tion , ove rlying a gab hroic rheo logy
controlled by plagioclase defo rma tio n. Th is
type of crust may co rrespo nd to ma ny parts of
the stable co ntine ntal lithosp he re with a well -
developed Conrad se ismic disconti nuit y at c. 17
kill depth . T he seco nd is a three- layer crus t
wit h a middle-crustal layer of broadly granitic
composition co ntrolle d by dr y-qua rtz de for-
mation (Figur e 2.30). T his type of cru st ma y
correspo nd to that o f the no rthe rn Scot lan d
Caledonian terrain as sho wn o n the L1SPB
seismic refractio n line ( Ba mfo rd, 1979). Othe r
types of crust undoubtedl y exist with a mu ch
more complex laye red st ructu re and seve ral
significan t rheo logical changes.
Major rheo logical changes of th is t ype form
51
zo nes of low du ctile stre ngth, as sho wn in
Figure 2.30, which wou ld be e xpec ted to
pro vide detachm ent hori zo ns du ring major
lithos phere dc formano n. T he imp orta nce of
th e various zo nes of pote ntial low st reng th
depe nds very much on the temperature gra-
die nt. Figu re 2.30A shows that for a three-
layer cru st in extension, all three zones are well
developed on ly for inte rmediate hea t-flow
reg imes (q - 70 mW m- 2 ) . AI higher hea t
flows , o nly the up pe r zo nes arc significant.
Thus we might expect thut a major detach -
ment horizon would be most like ly to develo p
:11 mid - to uppe r-crustal levels for wa rm
lithosph e re like that of the Basin-and -R an ge
province .
Blundell et al. ( 1985) show t hat in the UI RPS
' M OlS I" de ep -re flectio n line across northern
Scot land (Br ewer et at., 1984) the majo r
Mesozoic extensiona l fau lts flatten out a rou nd
the 20 krn-dce p horizon correspo nding to the
base of the middle-c rusta ! laye r ident ified by
Bamford ( 1979) from the U SPtl profi le ( Figure
2.30ll ). III this case therefore, we migh t co n-
clude that the geother mal grad ien t was not
unu sually Slee p and that hea t-flow leve ls per-
hap s co rresponded to those o f present-day
Hercynian orogenic region s in Europe, wit h a
thermal age o f c.200 Ma. It is inter est ing that
the e xte nsional fau lts pen et rate much deepe r
in t he Precambrian shield regio n west of the
C aledonian fron t where the lithosphe re would
have bee n much coo ler during the early Meso-
zo ic exte nsio n.
Summary
The rheo logy and stre ngth of the lithosphere
ca n only he understoo d in a precise quantita-
tive way by mean s of mat hematica l modell ing.

Fij(urt 1.19 Ca rtoo n erostal models sho wing Ihe differen t styles of eXle n, illn;11Jdl,r l1la t;on expected with fast an d slow
rates of lithospher e exte nsion. A t fast rate s (e .g. [U" '~) srrain so ltc ning might be expected 10 localize u~ lo rma l ~on ncar the
orieinal sire 01 WL F, cau sing prn grcs.,ive narrowin g and mtcnssficanon of the al'lIve de formatio n, leading to high P values
and el'enlua lly ' " n usl;.l se par atio n . Al slo w strain ra tes (c .g. 10- ':') loc al. st rain harden ing mighl be e XflCcte~ 10 I ranS ~e r
ddurm<ll inn latc rully to previou sly undcfo rmcd are as. thus progressively widenin g the zone of actrve dclo rmanon . bu t with
a limitingp value 01 aro und J.5. Note the usc of de tachment horizon s in the .slow.slrain model 10 traesrer ~h e de form aricn.
(8) Summary model o r the effect o r slow and Iast stram rate s on the whole hlhml'h( re . ;lOd the rc tauonship of /1 value and
hci1111" ..... . q . From Kusznsr and Park (1987) .
 A Ox MPa O x MPa O x MPa
Ox MPa VI
N
80 0 40 80 0 40 80
0 40 80 0 40

or WO
~. . . . .. 1 .. . .. . . . . . . . . ~ . . ~. . . . .. ~ . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .

~o ~ r.>Q An
I~ • • • • • · · ' · · · · · '

__ ,- - - - - - Moho- ------- --. - - -- -- - ----- - - - - --- - - - - --

o
AO 01 C'I'l
0
r
E 0
.:t: o
o)-
J: r
I-
fb0 vO ::j
'"c
Q
c
'"
C'I'l
Vl
~O r
l l ~
)-
z
60 mWm- 2 70 mWm- 2 80 mWrr.- 2 0
Q=50 mWm- 2
:s::
0
<

1°° ~
Z
o
"'"
B , k rn
20 -------1 OIF LISPS ~
:ri
Vl

E
.x.lj,o~J.-l.
J:

AOL-~~~~-==
I-
o,
w
o I
 T H F. LITH OSPHERE: SO ME IMPORTA:" T PROPERTI ES
T here ex ists a critical and co mplex inte rp lay
of ap plied force , therma l sta te, strengt h and
strai n-rate tha t de termi nes how de formation
is initialed and ho w it proceeds. T he res ults
of the particular mode lling exe rcise just de-
scribed give precise es timates of the strength of
the lithosphere under differ ent t he rma l re-
gimes. Th ese estima tes are in close ag ree men t
with obse rvatio ns of tecto nic behavio ur and
hea l Ro w at t he pr ese nt lim e , and with theo re-
tical es timates (see 2.5) of the likely fo rce
levels avai la ble to defo rm the lithosphe re . A
modificat io n o f the model allo ws the evo lutio n
of lit hosp he re str ength during ex tens ion and
compressio n to be exam ined . T he model pre-
dicts that fast initial st rain rat es e ~ 1O- 14 S- 1
and wa rm lithosphe re are necessar y 10 pr o-
duce large exte nsio ns, and eve ntually oceans;
thai strain rates of c. IO - 15 S- 1 will produce
broad zo nes o f ex te nsiona l deformatio n with a
finite limi tin g f3 va lue of a bout t .5 (correspon -
di ng clo se ly with o bse rva tions); an d finally
53
that initial strain rates o f Io- I(, s - I o r slower
will never succeed in ac hieving any sign ificant
level of e xte nsion.
In the case of compress ive deformation .
much higher level s of a pplied force are re -
quired to Initiate defo rmati on than would
no rma lly be e xpec ted away from plate bo un-
da ries. and realist ic str ain rat es are predi cted
to ca use st rain har de ning afte r a finite amo unt
of sho rtening , possibly 30 -50%).
D uring ex ten sion a l o r co mp ressio nal de-
form ation . major rh eological bounda ries in the
lithosphere (espe cially at mid -cru sta l leve ls)
fo rm important zo nes of low du ct ile str ength.
T hese zones may prov ide det achm ent ho rizons
during the defo rmation . Wh ich detach menI
zon e is selec ted de pe nds o n t he tempe rature
gradie nt; higher detachment levels are favou red
in warme r lithosph er e with a you ng the rma l
age . w hereas lower levels are favoured in
cooler lithosp he re with an old er t he rmal age.

~'i~u r~ 2.30 (A ) Stress plotted againsl dep th for 11 three-la yer crusta ! mode l with a ra nge of sur face heat flows. sho wing the
development of low-str en gth zones in th e middl e and lower cruvt. The st ress-depth distributions correspond to I Mil after
the a ppliealion of a ten sile fo rce of 1 (J I ~N m ' . Th e lo w-strength regio ns re present the probable sites of detachm en t
ho rizo ns. wO . wet q uartz ; DO. t.lry quartz. An . unonbosite ; 0 1. ol ivine . Nu mericalmo del; fro m Kuszuir and Park (19&7).
(8 ) Mo t.le! o f the MOI ST profile across no rth Scotla nd. afte r Blundell t r QI. ( 19K5 ). showing the th ree main crustal layer s
recognized in the L1 SPB profile hy Ila mfo rt.l <I al. (197'>1 ). I . lower crust (7 km s ' I. "basic gra nulite }; 2. middle cru st
(6.4 km 5- 1• inte rmediate, granuluc -facics Lcwisian ); 3, ul'pcr crust (6. IS km s - ' . amp hiho lite-fae lcs Caled onian meta -
morphics}. Th e uppe rmost (o nnrnilmented) layer co rres po nds with unmet arnorphoscd sedim en ts ho rn Tcrridonien to
Mesozoic in age . Ff ', R annan 'f"ull' ; OI F, Out er Isles Iault. Note that most of the majo r lo w-angle exte nsional fll ulls sole
o ut alo ng th e to p o f laye r I at a bou t 211 km depth . whi\·h ther efor e represe nts 11 ke y deta chm ent ho rizo n d uring po st-
Caledonian ex tension. Th e Iaults in Ihe W'; SI, how ever. includin g a branch of th-e O uter Isles Iault, appe ar to detac h along
the Moh o. Fro m Kusznir and Park ( 19S71.
3 Plate movement and plate boundaries
3. 1 Kinema tic beh a viou r of plates
A majo r implicatio n of the pla te tec ton ic
model is that cru sta l deformation is ultimately
co nt ro lled by the relative movemen ts o f the
lithosphe re pla tes. We have seen thai the
pla tes ha ve co nside rable la te ra l stre ngth a nd
suffer litt le late ral d isto rtio n over lime pe riod s
o f le ns o r e ven hundreds of Ma, and that they
can tr a nsmi t ho rizo nta l stresses th ro ugh long
dist ances in a regu la r fas hion . We obse rve that
large re lative move ments are co nfined to piaIe
bo undaries, where crustal deformation is t here-
fore concentrated. Th e d eterminu tion , bot h
qualita tively a nd q ua ntitative ly, of t he rela tive
mo tio n be twee n two adjoining plates a t t he ir
co mmo n bo unda ry is therefore essen tial in
und e rstand ing the de format io n that ta kes
place the re . The co nve rse is equa lly important :
a knowledge of the deforma tion al structure a t
a plate bou ndary ca n provide usef ul informa-
tio n a bo ut re lat ive plate mo vem ents, especially
in pre-Mesozoic time when e vide nce from
oceun-tloor stratigra phy, so vita l in interpre -
ting more rece nt pla te tec ton ic histo ry, is
lacking .
T he pri nciples gove rn ing t he merion of
plat es ove r a sphe rical surface we re first
ex plained by Mc Kenzie and Pa rke r ( 1967),
Mo rga n (1968) . Le Pic ho n (1968 ) and lsac ks er
al , ( 1%8) . By usin g t he ori e ntat ion of t rans-
form fa ults. slip vec to rs fro m earthquake foca l-
me chanism so lutions and sprea di ng ra tes o n
rid ges, rel a tive mov e me nt vec to rs ma y be
fo und for the five majo r plates in re lat ion to a n
ar bitra rily sta tio na ry Anta rct ic plate ( Figure
3. 1). The magnitude of these velocity vectors
varies fro m 2 to 17 ern/ye a r.
Using known re lat ive mo veme nt vectors, the
direct io n a nd a mount of relati ve mo veme nt at
a ny plat e bou ndar y ca n be fo und by co nstruc-
tin g a vecto r tria ngle (Fi gure 3.2) . Althou gh
the d irection a nd speed of angula r ro ta tio n is
uniform, as measured o n a sphe rica l surface.
ma p proj ectio n ind icat es differe nces in the
54
linear (i.e . tangential) ve locit y vect ors, whic h
can be co nside ra ble over la rge a reas. T he first
ste p ther efore in a na lysing the structures a t
a ny active or rece nt pla te bo unda ry is to
dete rm ine th is rela tive ve loci ty vec to r.
It is co nve nie nt in ge ne ral te rms to dis-
tinguish th ree main types of rela tive mot io n:
divergent, convergent a nd strike-s lip , a nd
these types correspond in t urn to t he ma in
types of tectonic regime a rising respectively
from co nst ructive, destructive a nd con se rva-
tive plate boundar ies. However we must re-
cog nize tha t the rel ative move men t vecto r may
mak e a ny an gle with the plat e bounda ry and
tha t, in ge neral terms, most vectors will be
ob lique.
Th us, in practice , a dive rgen t or a co nver-
gent boundary may a lso ex hibit a co mpo ne nt
of strike-slip motion whic h will im pose a
simple-shea r st ress ac ross t he bo undary. Be -
ca use new plat e is crea ted at d ive rgen t boun-
dari es, a nd old plate destro yed at convergent
bounda ries , obliq ue relative motion ca n ea sily
be accommoda ted. Howe ver , since plate is
conse rved a t transfo rm fau lts , the move me nt
there should theoret ically be pure str ike-s lip
with no ob lique compon e nt. Th is co nd itio n
is viola ted whe n a c ha nge in rela tive pla te
mo tio n occurs, in which case o ld tra nsfo rm
fault s may suffe r e xte nsional or co mpres-
sio nal move me nts. Good examp les o f suc h
c hanges in pla te motion have bee n stud ied in
t he Indian a nd easte r n Pacific oceans (se e
Figures 3.6. 3.8).
Mi!:rarion of plate boundaries
O ne of the co nseq ue nces of re lat ive plat e
mo tion is that plate boundaries th em selves
ma y migrat e in rel ation to o ne a no ther. T he
prese nt plate bo undar y network as shown in
Figure 3. 1 is a tran sie nt one, and ma ny of th e
bounda ries shown a re mo ving at a de te r-
mina ble ra te . Th e simples t exa mp le which
de mo nstrat es thi s is rhe bou nda ry o f t he
 PL AT E Mo v t:M EN T A 1'< O PLA TE OOU/'oi OA RIE S 55
16 0 ' 160' 120' 50' ' 0' 80 '
80'
' 7

50'

'"
' 0'

0'

zo

~
---') - '\~- 1
, -
50' Anta,cliC PlatU·- - • .-1
({
~il:"rr J . I l1lc '" m;IJ'" rJa,c.,. "od Ihe ir hound"r..:". """ h "1'f" ",imAlc VCk'C lly vectors rc ta nvc 1<> . he Antarctic
plalc . aed rolc~ of ro l"t i" n fm "ix p[,,11: p"i l~ : I, Am<:rlca-Africa ; 2, A "W:I;C" , PdCl lk ; .1, An,,,rCl ica -PiIC ,foc; 4. A mcnca -
India ; 5. Afl it'd·lmJi••; 6, A(lI;!TClic,,-A lnc;1 Kit lgL~ . (jouhlc hoes: ucnct........ ~nglc hiles ; transfo rm Iauhs , tlitsht.'d lines.
Arler Vine ..oJ Hc ~ ( 11I1I1).

----"

pille 8
p lal e C

~
, <:;J
•. v
~ vc",
I
•

plale A
A

~
<r:~
,, Figure J .2 De termina tio n or the re lativ e ve locity vecto rs
or th ree pl.. lc:!> meetin g at a Irir le junl:tion . (A ) Th ree
pleulB plat es A , B and C a rc hou nd ed by rid ges. The velocuy o f R
pl ate A
re tat ive 10 A (V /l<") is pa ra llel to tra nsfo rm fa ults o n the
A lB Ixluooltry , "n J Inc m"s"il ooc ca n be d Clc rminc d from
1m, sp reilding ra te " nl! is re p rese me d by OP in thc vecto r
diag ra m . Simila rly VOIO is re p rese nted by PQ . The
u nknow n VC'ClOI VNI"" is represent ed by the line QO . (B)
Th is Iriple june lio n involves a tr ansfor m fau lt . II , idse an d
ridge a Irc nett . VII<" ca n be J e te rm ined in the 'Same wlY u in
(A), and the d irec lio n o f the CIS vector is give n by lhe
............. trunch
oric nla lion o f the Ira nsform Iauh . VA l (" ca n be dc:tc, mined
Irlns/ orm 1""lt if the o rie nlation is known (by the Ori1: nlal ion o f tfansform
B Iau hs CUlli ng 11K' lre nch ) o r if the ma gnilude o f V o " can be
de te rmined .
56 GEOLOG ICAL STRUCTURES AN D MOVING PLAT ES
Anta rctic plate. Th e movemen t vectors o f
Figure 3.1 were co nstructed assuming a sta-
tiona ry Antarctic pla te . Ho wever t his pla te is
completely surro unded by r idges 'o ff set by
tra nsfo r m faults . and new plat e mat e ria l is
bei ng cre a ted at each. It follo ws th ai the
Antarctic plate is gro wing in size and that. with
refere nce 10 a fixed Antarctic co ntine nt, all
th e co nstructive bou ndaries surro unding t he
Anta rctic plat e must be mo ving outwards. A
simi la r argume nt ma y be a pp lied to the
Am e rican and Eur asian plates. Since both
these pla tes are grow ing by the addition o f
oceanic material along t he mid-Atl antic ridge .
eit he r the destructive west Pacific bo und a ry
must migra te e astwa rds. o r th e destruc tive/
transfo rm c as t Pacific bounda ry must mig ra te
westw a rds , o r both . In o the r wo rds. the Paci fic
plate must be shrink ing . a nd the destr uctiv e
bo unda ries o n its NW and SE sides ar e
a pproach ing each ot he r.
Stahle and un stable triple junctions
It was recognized e a rly in the evolutio n of
p la te te cto nic theory by McK enzie a nd Morgan
(1 969) th a t the re must be poi nts o n the Ea rth's
su rface wher e th ree pla tes me e t. Such poi nts
we re te r me d triple jU1lctions . Th e y di vide d
triple junctio ns into ty pes accord ing to th e
natu re of th e bounda ries invo lved . T hus if R
sym bolizes ridge . T tre nch , a nd F t ra nsfo rm
fa ul t. a n RTF junctio n is o ne invo lving rhe
meeting o f all th ree ty pes of bo unda ry. Simi-
la rly we may have RRR , T IT , 'IT R junctio ns.
a nd so o n . Mc Ke nzie a nd Mo rga n (eco~o i ze 16
poss ible types o f triple junctio n and discuss t he
sta bility o f e ac h. A j unc tion is sta ble if it
mai nta ins its shape t hro ug h ti me (disrega rd ing
its absol ute moti o n). Some e xa mpl es a re im-
medi at e ly o bvio us: an RRR j unctio n will a l-
wa ys be stable . A good exam ple of a n RRR
"junct Io n IS whe re t he Galapa cos rj~ge meets
t he E . Pacific rid e west of Ce ntra l America
( Figure .8A ). se pa ra ting t he srna cos p a e
in the no rth east fro m t he Pa cific plate in the
west a nd th e Nazca plat e in the so ut h. It is
cle ar th at co ntinued spre ad ing o n all thre e
ridges will no t affect the bas ic geo me try of the
triple junct io n. In co ntras t , XFF a nd RRF
junctions will a lways he unsta b!! . Th e sli' b jlj! ~
of th e rem ,lining tv pes IS depe nde nt o n the
geo me t ry.
T he kinematic behaviou r a nd sta bility of a
give n trip le ju nctio n ma y be det e rmined by
d ra wing the ap prop riate vecto r tria ngle (se e
Figure 3.2). T he sum of the rela tive ve loci ties
o f the three plat es m ust be zc nU l.e . V illA +
" V CIII + V A l(' = 0, where V HiA is t he velocity o f
B rela tive to A , e rc. ) provided that the plates
a re rig id. T he le ngths 0 1'. PQ. an d QO o f t he
vecto r tr ian gle represent th e velo c ities V RIA ,
Vo n an d V A l e respectivel y. If we kno w V Ql4
gnd Von , V A I C ca n he dl;lerm jned. No w
co nside r tile mo vem ent of a po int o n a boun-
dar y. If we ta ke t he RR R case (Figu re 3.3A) , a
point P o n the ridge axis AB will mo ve with
respect to A and is represented by th e m id -
po int of A ll in th e velocity tria ngle . Simila rly
po ints Q a nd R o n ridge axes BC a nd CA will
be re prese nte d by the mid -point s o f BC a nd
CA respectively. T he ve locity of a ll po ints P
o n the A lB ridge axis IS re prese nt e d by t he
da sh e d line ah paralle l to the AIIl rid ge a xis ,
that of a ll po ints Q hy he paralle l to th e BIC
ridge axis , and that o f all poin ts R by en par a lle l
to the CIA ridge axis. T he condition fo r stability
is tha t ab . b e and ca meet at a point. Th is po in t
re presen ts the velocity o f the t riple junctio n,
which fo r co nve nience we sha ll assu me is
stat io nary. In th e R R R case, a lthough the
geometry is alw ays stable . the tr iple junct ion
will migrate if t he sprea ding ra tes o n the ridges
a re no t equal (co mpa re Figu res 3.3A a nd B ).
Co nside r now th e TIT e xa mple give n by
Mc k enzie a nd Mor gan (Fig ure 3 .3C). He re ,
plate A is stat io na ry, plate B is subd uct ing
be low pla tes A a nd C. a nd pla te C is sub-
d ucting be lo w pla te A . T he rela tive mo tion
vectors a re sho wn , a nd a re o f co urse diff er ent
fo r e ac h bo unda ry. Figur e 3.3C(2) shows the
pos itio n of plates B and C at so me la te r tim e ,
as if th e y we re allowed to proce ed hor izon ta lly
inste ad o f be ing subd ucte d . The trench BC has
migrate d up the A lB bo undary beca use it is
co ns uming plate B a nd no t plat e C; tha t is , th e
ma rgin of plate C with B is fixed to plat e C a nd
must migr a te with it. On e co nseq ue nce of thi s
is the o bv io us geo me tric cha nge of th e t riple
 PLAT " MOV e M ENT AND PL ATE BOUN D ARIES 57

""
, ,

' 0

c
A c

",,
, J e ,
,
a

I
--',
-
0_

c ' 0

c
B
,,
, , , ,
,,,
,
>-
... - - - -
/ ,
l C
• C ----
C
.,,
1
.., 2
e
,, - e ,,
,<- - ,,
,- j - -

c
. ' 0
.c " 'tS7
•
"
-11_ _ b': __
II
c
- -

0 E
Ftgure 3.3 Stable and unst able triple Ju nClio ns. ( A . B) RR R ju nclio ns. The ~e loeilY or a point /' on the ridge a xis A B
moves with rcspcc t m A "I h" lr th e Vc!'II;;ly " r pl.uc fJ. 11 is the re fore re pfl:~<'nteu hy the mid-pointof All . Similarly . Q
anU R represe ntthe vctocuics or poi nts on ridge axe s He and AC rcspc c nvclv <lh. he ,lIlu uc fe p re~ent the I<lI;i "r " II suc h
p oims. aod art' para llel 10 inc ilpp w pr i' lle ridge a xes. Jr th ese loci Inee t "I ;1poilu. lhe junc tion rs sl'lhk. If the spread ing
rates on the thre e rid ges a re eq ua l ( A) . ob, be a nd ec me et at the centroid o f the vector triangle A RC. thaI is. m e RR R
junctio n is statio na ry with respect to the th re e pla tes. In (B ). the spreading tate on the Be ndgc is gre ate r than on the
other lWO. a nd ah , bc and ac mu st meet a t a poi n t , that is run her fro m A than From H and C. indicating tha t the tr iple
[unction is mo ving to war ds A . Th e geome try o f the ju nctio n is, however, stable. (C.D ) TIT ju nctio ns . T he positio ns or
plates B and C a fte r a give n lime arc sho wn in (2 ) by the d<tshed line , assu ming th'll no suhd ucl i" n la kes place . Since tbc
He trench is fixed 10 pla te C, a nd the A C trenc h is fixed 10 plat e A , the BC tren ch n' ust migra le wilh plate C. audtbc
lriple juncuo n must co nseq ue n tly mo ve along the AB bo undary . T he TIT ju nctio n or C(l l;s ther efo re un stable , as
sho.... n in the vec tor triangle ( D ) . Such a [u nc tio n wo uld o nly be stab le jf the vector AC were parallel to the tre nch BC.
Th e ne w uipte-ju ncrion co nflgura tkm of 0 2) is, ho we ve r, stable , as shuwn in ( E ).
58 GEOLOG ICAL ST RUcrU II.E$ AND MQVl f'J (j PL ATES
ju nctio n itse lf; a nothe r is th e relunve mo ve-
me nt vector a t a po int such as .r, originally o n
the A lB bo unda ry. T he mo tio n pe rcei ved o n
pla te A u nde rgoes a n abrupt c ha nge as th e Be
ho undary mo ves past the point x , T his cha nge
is di achro no us a nd pro gressive ly reaches a ll
po ints o n th e A ll bo und ar y give n e nough time .
It is e as y no w 10 visua lize the condi tion for
sta bility of thi s type of trip le junct io n (sec
Figure 3.3 D ,£::). Since poi nts on the AB
bo und a ry do no t mo ve re lat ive to A , line ab is
drawn throu gh A in th e velocity tr ian gle . Line
lie is d rawn thro ugh A for the same reaso n. and
lin e be must be drawn thro ugh C. T herefore
ab obe a nd co will o nly mee t if be is pa ra llel to
A C ( Figure 3.3 D), tha t is, if t he CA mo ve me nt
vec to r is pa ralle l 10 the DC bo undary. In that
case , th e bou ndary will nOI m igrat e a nd t he
tr iple j unctio n will be sta ble . No te t ha t th e new
confi g ura tio n of the triple junctio n in Figure
3.3C(2) is ac tua lly stab le (sec Figure 3.3E)
a ltho ugh it is migrating with re ference to its
origina l position .
In Figure 3.4 a n ex a m ple give n by Mc Ke nzie
a nd Pa rker ( 1967) "fro m the N E Pacif ic is
sho wn . T he presen t pla te geo mc try is shown in
Figure 3.4A (4) . Plat e vel oc ities a re show n wit h
refere nce to a st a tio nar y Am e rica n plate .
The re a re two triple junct io ns: an FIT in the
no rth (Fi gure 3.4B) an d an R IT in the sou th
(Fi gure 3.4C) . Bot h j unc t ion s involve three
plates , A me rica n , Pacif ic a nd Fa rallo n (th e
Fa ra llo n plate is now d ivided into se pa ra te
pa rts a nd par tly inco rporated into o the r
pla tes) . Th e evolution of t he plate sys te m is
sho wn in Figu re 3.4A( 1- 4). Since the Pacific
pla te is moving nort hwestwards a nd the Fural-
Io n pla te nort he ast , a ny ma te rial poi nt on th e
ridge (such as th e inte rse ctio n with t he Murra y
tra nsform ) is mo ving appro xima tely no rt h-
wa rds. A s t he easte rn ridg e - t ran sfo rm junctio n
t ra ve ls no rth , it e nco unters t he trenc h o n th e
no rtheast s ide of the Fa rallon pla te to fo rm a
triple ju nction . Im medi a te ly th e Pacific pla te
co mes int o co ntac t wit h the A merican plat e ,
the rela tive mo ve me nt vecto r beco mes no rth-
west , cha nging th e boundary to a tra nsfo rm
fa ult. T hus the so uthe rn RT F tri ple ju nction is
fo rme d . Since th e ridge ax is is st ill mo ving
north , plate s F a nd P togeth e r with the ridge
itsel f arc bei ng co ns umed by th e t re nch.
Ho wever , the pos ition o f the tri ple junc tio n is
sta tion a ry with respe ct to t he A me rican pla te.
As mor e of the Pac ific plate is co nsumed , the
transfo rm fa ult le ngthe ns and the no n hero
FIT triple junction m igrates alo ng t he mar gin
o f th e A merica n plat e , progressivel y co nver-
ting tren ch to tra nsform . Thus bo t h triple
ju nctio ns posse ss sta hle geo me try but ar e
mo ving relative to eac h o thcr. If the San
And re as fa ult we re no t para lle l to th e Pacific!
Am e rican mo veme nt vecto r, th e ju nctio ns
wo uld not be stable (se e Fig ure 3.4B) .
A very co mmo n type o f inte rsect io n occu rs
whe re a fau lt mce t'i j! rjdl:.c , initia lly fo rming a n
R RF juncllon .M cK e nzie a nd Morga n show
th at such a triple junctio n is a lways un sta ble
and evolves in to a n R,FF type . A good e xa mple
occurs in the ce nt ra l A tlantIC , at the jun ct io n o f
thc A me rica n, Eur asia n a nd Africa n plates ,
whe re the m id-Atla nt ic ridge mee ts t he Azo res -
G ibra lta r fra cture zone (Figur e 3.1). A nothe r
e xa mple is t he junction o f t he C hile fract ure
zo ne wit h th e East Pacific ridge , a t th e SW
co rne r of the Naz ca pla te (Figure 3.8A ). A
t hird is th e yo ung tr ip le ju nctio n fo rmed a t th e
mee ting of the Carlsberg ridge a nd the Owen
fractu re zone in the NW Ind ian O ce a n, du e to
th e breakaway o f the A rabia n plat e (Figure
3.( 8). This ty pe of ju nc tio n is sta ble if th e two
fau lts lie on the same s ma ll circl e (i .c . a re
ef fective ly a single fa ult) .IS is the case in these
e xa mp les.
Th e evolution o f both the Pacific a nd t he
Indian ocea ns th ro ugh Meso zoi c- Tert ia ry
time pro vides usef ul illust rat io ns of th e kine-
ma tic evolutio n of pla te structure . In broad
te r ms , th e evolut ion o f world-wide pla te struc-
ture since th e e a rly Mesozoic is brought a bo ut
by mea ns of t he bre a k-up of Pa nga ea thro ugh
the opening of the A tla ntic a nd Indi a n oce ans,
a nd th e co nseq ue nti al shrinking o f the Pa cific
(Figure 3.5). Th e open ing of th e At la ntic
invo lved a re lative ly simple seq ue nce of move-
me nts that result ed in a ne t co nve rge nce of
the Am er ica n a nd Eurasia n plat es a cro ss the
Pacific.
T he initia l stage too k place d uring the
 "'lATE MOVEMENT AND PLAn :; UO UNO AIHf-S 59

A
~OS ANG H E S

"'~<""'('~

,
A loI E A IC A N P l A T E

B
P AClf ' C P l A TE / "'0.,.
'j
f AAA ~ lO N

1 P~ AT E
"
\\
\\
A

, P~,o, A NGE lES

p Ip - - ,'
F
D ,,
P \\
p,
+ \'"
P
2 )-

\ IF
• l OS 4<N G El E S
c
+P ~" S A N AH O A EA S
TRA NSfOli lol f A U l l
Ip 1
pa 1

3
F

p
P'\/VF
, 1

- A
,
,
1
1
I
\ ~ l at

4
~'ig u rc 3.4 Imuunon nnd cvolunon of the mplc junction, of rhe Sa il Andrea f" ult ( A, 1- 41, four s'agcs in the evolution
o f the pla te boundary system in th e reg ion or the San An dr eas fau lt ill ~3 Ma. 30 Ma. In Ma OP, and lhe present , assu ming a
sraucnary A me rican pla te , a fte r A twat e r ( 1970). Whe n the Pacific plat e mee ts the Ame rica n pl" tc (2), two triple juoctio ns
arc fo rmed . joi ned t>y the San A ndrc; ls tra nsform (;lull, wh ic h gr;ulu"lly le ng the ns <IS IIlOr" o ( the p"cirlC plate is subd uct ed.
Th e north e rn is if T FF j unct io n ( If ), wh ich is stable beca use the Iault and trenc h arc para llel , and arc fixed to th e Am e rica n
plate _T he pos ition o f the ju nctio n. bowcvcr . migrate s along the bounda ry of the Amer ican pla te . T he so uther n ju nct io n is
a RT F type (C ). T his a lso is s tab le for the sa me re aso n. but is stationary re la tive tn uc Am e rican pla te .

Jurassic. betwee n 200 and 17UMa IW. with the la nd an d Gibraltar in t he north , and be twee n
opening of t he Ce ntral A tlantic (Figure 3.5A . the Bahamas a nd G uinea in the so uth. T hus
B). Th is mo veme nt was bounded on both sides while So uth Am e rica and A frica remained
by major transfor m faults , bet ween Newfound - unified to the sout h , and No rt h A merica and
60 GEOLOGICA L ST RUCTU IH, S AN D MOVING PLATES
 I'L A n " M O V EM I'.N r AS D PL A I t:: II 0 U S [) A It 1l,S
Euro pe to che no rth . there was a crockwisc
rota ria n of the lane r ilway fro m Gondwa na-
la nd thai re sult e d in a sinistra l dis pla cem en t
thro ug h the Me dite rra nean a nd a co nve rge nce
across T et hys .
The second stage to o k place ma inly during
the Cret ace o us . betwe e n 170 and 65 Mit. whe n
the So ut h A tla nt ic open e d abou t a rot atio n
axis in the Ce nt ra l At la nt ic, in ad dit ion to
co ntinued spre ad ing the re . The se mo vem ents
hroughl about a furthe r ro ta tio n of North
Ame rica - Eura sia a nd a co nseq ue ntial co nve r-
gence ac ross T e th ys ( Figure 3.5 e) . By the m id-
Cretaceo us . ;1 ne w rift a p pe a red th ro ug h the
L abrado r Se a a nd across the Arctic O ce a n ,
splitting La ura sia into two se pa ra te plat e s
(Figure 3.5D) . In the e a rly Ce no zo ic (65 M••
UI'). this spre a d ing axis was re placed hy t he
presentl y act ive ridge t h ro ug h Icela nd . se par a-
ting Gree nla nd fro m no rt hwe st Europe ( Figure
3.5£). T his third stage wa s a cco mpa nied by th e
complete clos ure of the T e t hys oce a n .
The evolution o f th e Ind ia n O ce a n is mo re
complex ( Figur e 3.6 ). A mode l for t he pla te
tectonic ev ol utio n of t he regio n wa s put fo r-
ward hy Mck e nzie a nd Scluter ( 197 1). T hey
suggest that the e a rlie st mo veme nt s loo k place
along a rift se pa ra ting th e Ind ian fro m the
African co nt ine nts ( Figure 3.5 e) . Ho we ver ,
the magnetic reco rd o f t his mo veme nt has bee n
largely o blite rat ed . A r a ro und 90Ma ag o , in
the tate Cre tace o us . the mo ve me nt of Ind ia
changed d ramaticall y. a nd a no rt hwards mo ve -
ment comme nce d d ue to a fa st-sp re a di ng rid ge
between the Indi a n a nd A ust ra lia -A nt a rct ica
continents ( the n joi ned ) ( Figure 3.5 /)) .
This movem e nt was accom mo da ted to th e
north by su bd uc tio n of T e thys ocea n plate
along the so uthe rn ma rgin o f E urasia. M uch o f
this no rthwa rd move me nt wa s con strai ned
tlll,u n 3.5 Palaeomagn etic reconsl ruct io n of lhe con -
l illC nt~ illuslraling the b re ak-u p o f Pa ngaea in Mcstlzuk -
C(1I01oi( time. Lam bert eq ual-area S· po lar stctcogra phic
prlljn 1111fl!; 'II : (A ) 2m Ma ur ( hll e T rias..s ic); ( H) 1411 MOl IIf
(!.Jle Jur",,"sic): ( C) . IIIO Ma liP ( m;J ·Crel ;I~'lUS ) ; (l» . W
M~ liP (l'al a< 'OCcnc) ; ( E ). 211 Ma liP (c a rly M iuccn.: ); iloo
(Fl. P"",,-·m. Frum Sm ilh ,ill tJ Bride n (1 'J77)
61
be tween two majo r N - $ tra nsfo rm faul ts . the
Chagos a nd N inet y-E ast rid ge s. At about
45 Ma ago , the spreadi ng rid ge e xte nd e d east-
wa rds . ca us ing the se pa ration o f A ust ra lia
fro m An tarctica ( Fig ure 3.5 E) . T he re cord o f
t his phase of mo vem e nt , wh ich la ste d un til
a bou t 35 M a ago , ca n he se e n in the NW Ind ia n
O ce an , IS a set of mag ne tic stripes an d inac tive
t ra ns fo rm fault s tha t are o blique 10 the p re -
se nt ly a cti ve rid ge a nd tra ns fo rm syste m ( Fi-
gure 3.6) . T he third major cha nge in kinem at ic
pa ttern was rel at e d to a cha nge in spre a d ing
dir ect io n of ab ou t 45°, accompa nie d by a
fu rt he r e xte ns io n a t th e N W e nd o f t he o ld
ridge into the G ul f o f Ade n . T his marke d
kine mat ic cha nge appears to he d iac hro no us .
co m me ncing Mo und 35 MOl lll' a t an o ma ly 12 in
t he ce nt ra l urea an d p ro gressing no rt hwe st -
wa rd s un til ubo ut IOM a Il l' whe n the Gul f of
Ad e n o pe ning co mmenced. T he ch a nge in
dir ectio n is re flecte d in the ocean fl oor in a
d isco rdance th a t re prese nts a ve rt ica l ' uncon-
formity' with ne w stripes c utting: o ld stri pes and
o ld tran sfor ms ( Figure 3.( 8 ). l t ha s bee n
suggested that the kine ma tic cha nge is re la te d
to th e co llision be tween the Ind ia n a nd E ura -
sian con tine nts . T he e ffec t of t his co llision ma y
have bee n to bring ubout a c ha nge in th e
re la tive mov em e nt vec tor be twe e n the Ind ia n
a nd Eurasia n plat es .
T he evo lution o f the Pacific O cea n can be
reco nst ructed hy e xam ining t he Me so zo ic m ag-
ne tic stripe pa tte rn. La rso n an d Pitma n ( 1972 )
pre se nt an inre rp rcuuion o f the pla te struc ture
within the Pacific in e a rly Cret ac eo us t ime
(Figure J .7A ). A t th a t lime, the rid ge sys te m
a p pea rs to ha ve bee n much more sy mme t ri-
ca lly a rranged . with two RRR tr iple junctio ns
se para ting fo ur oce a nic pla tes : the Kula pla te
in th e no rth . the Fa ra llon plate in th e north -
eus t . the Pacific plate in the so ut hwes t and th e
Phoeni x pla te in t he so uthea st. S ubductio n
zo nes fo rme d a n a lmosl co ntinuo us rim a ro und
t he Pacific O ce a n of th a t time (the ' pro to -
Pa cific ' . we mighl ca ll it) . Accordin g to Pitm a n
a nd Hayes ( 196R). th er e ha s been a co ntin uo us
no rth wa rds mo vem ent of the no rt hern pa rts
o f this p rot o-Pac ific Ocea n since th e e a rly
62 GEOLOGICA L S'I IWCTURES A ~D MOVING PLAT ES

I'i gurl' 3.6 ( A ) Pre ....-nr-duy I'lJ~i li"I1' of the G on d wanaland

co nt ine nts. with si'''l''lilictJ di, I, ihUlIllll of occ.ur rid ges. ma g-
netic smpc I"' llcrns ,,,,d In,",r.' rm ra ulis. MA R, mid-A tlantic
rid ge ; AA R , A tl'Lnli!:-A nlarcti<; nd gc ; SW lR . SW Indi an
O cea n ridge; Sl; IR , SE Indian O cean mlge ; ClR , central
l mhan Ocean ridge . (H) Sin' plifi.:d mar "r the we stern Indian
O cean reg io n ~htlwil1g. the dl\CUUJ ,lI\(C III magne lic anomaly
puucr ns and !rim ,form d irec tions OI l am)JIl;lly S (.'3 Ma lIP)
ca used hy a cha n~c in the Ind;.tn - A nlilfClic pl.uc vec tor.
Af ter La ughton 1'/ <II. {197.lJ

AI,;can plate I •
Mesozo ic. With spreadi ng occurring on all fi ve
I .;: :.:
ridges. the northe rn RRR junction would
I migrate nort h relative ( 0 the southe rn. When
subd uction ceased alo ng the Antarctic margin.
f--t--(-;f-;,~~-
'J--"" no rth wa rd movement o f the so uthe rn RRR
, '<§ ,"'.." . . " jun ction would lake place relative to a fi xed
f-t''--- - -;>( An tar ctica . causing the whole proto- Pacific
Antarct ic plat e syste m to migrate nor thwards. The Kula plate
~ta t;onary) /." .~, was ra pidly subdueted throughout Cre taceous
time aro und the no rth and no rthwest Pacifi c
rim, according to the Pitman and Hayes recon-
struction. They show four stages in this process
in the Alaskan region (Figure 3.78 ). By ea rly
Palaeocene time (li(l Ma ago ). the Kula piare
 PI.ATE M OV EM ~ NT AND PLATE IJOl;NOAIl IES 63

Kula Plate

"
~.
-
Pacific Plate

". "
A

B
Alask a

a Lale Oelaceous b l4le Cretaceous

(about 75 million YNfI, ~l (aboul 70 million years 8QO )

C Ea.ly Paleoce ne d hrly Pliocene

(about 60 mill ion years~ ) (about 6 mill ion yea'1i ago )

Figure 3.7 (A) Arrange me nl of pla tes in Ihe PacifIC O cean OIl around I IOMa UP (early C retaceo us lime) . Note the two
RRR trtple [unctions and the projected Farilllo n- Kula ridge (see B ). T he Cen tral Atlantic has com me nced ope ning. After
Larson and Pnman ( 1972). (1J) Schernanc .tiag.ams showing fo ur stages in the cvolc uo n of the mag netic snipe patte rn in
the NE Pacific Oce an ; I, Pacific pla tc ; II, Kula plale ; II I. Ame rican plate . IV , Farullo n plalC. Fro m Uyeda ( l'n ll ) . afte r
Pumnn and Hayes ( 11)(>t\ ).
 GEO LOGICA L STRUCTURES AN D
had almo st e ntire ly d isappeared , and the
A leutian subduct io n zo ne was co nsuming pro -
gressively old e r ma teri al belon ging to the
Pacific plate. It is di fficult to int e rpre t Figure
3.7 8(4) by itself, but it beco mes clear once the
stages of e vo lution a re fo llowed throug h. The
ridge be tween the Pacific a nd Farallon plat es
ha s migrated northeastwards . a nd is about to
be co nsumed by the A leutia n tre nch .
T he ot he r impo rtant e ffec t o n the Pacific
region was the progressive westwa rds e n-
cr oachm ent of the Amer ican plat e bro ught
a bo ut by the op ening of the At lant ic. Co ney
(1973) has calcul at ed th a t the western mar gin
o f No rt h A me rica has moved abo ut 3700 Km
westwa rds from the ea rly Mesozoic un til the
for mation of the San A ndrea s fault a bo ut
10 Ma ago . Almost all o f the Farallon plate has
been co nsu med by this mov e ment, along the
weste rn A mer ica n subd uction zo ne . Th e later
stages of th is pro cess a re discussed above (see
Figu re 3.4).
Two maj or c ha nges in movem e nt direc tio n
can be t raced in the magnetic a no ma ly pa tte rn
of the Paci fic floor. Th e first . ar ou nd the
beg inning o f the Cr et aceous, is ma rked by it
disco nti nuit y in tra nsfor m direction s in the
Ha waii regio n (Fi gure 3.10). At 45 Ma BP, the
East Pacific rid ge extended westwards to co n-
nect with the Ind ian O ce an , by splitting Aus-
tra lia from A nta rc tica , but no co rrespo ndi ng
cha nge can he see n in the Paci fic floor a t thi s
time . Th e seco nd major c ha nge occurred
10 Ma ago whe n thc plate bound ar y syste m in
the east-ce ntral Pacific W,IS complet e ly re-
o rga nized ( Herron , 1972). Two new plates
we re formed . the Cocos pla te west o f Cen tr al
Am eri ca , a nd the Nasca plate west of the Pc ru -
C hile tr ench ( Figure 3.8A ). A new section of
the Ea st Pacific ridge was formed be twee n
latitude 4SOS and the Gulf o f Ca liforni a,
brea king through the old ridge a t the G ala-
pa gos triple jun ct ion (Figu re 3.8B ). As in the
Ind ian O cean , the c ha nge in rel ative mo ve-
men t vec to rs is clea rly marked by an abru pt
cha nge in the orie nta tio n o f the t ra nsfor m
faul ts, which run a pprox imate ly E - W until
ano maly 5. wher e they a rc re placed by a
~lOVIN G l'lATES
NW -SE se t. T he heavily frag me nted h ut still
active Chile ridge represen ts the so uthwes t
bounda ry of the old Farallon pla te . of which
relics oc cu r in bot h the Co cos and Nasca
pla tes.
Th e reaso n for this cha nge ca nnot be esta bl-
ishe d with ce rtai nty. bu t seve ra l factors may
have contrib ute d . T hc c rea t io n of the new
ridge re presents a cha nge in re la tive mo ve-
men: direction between the Pacific an d Am e ri-
ca n plat es and corresponds in time with (i) a
de crease in sp reading ra te in the At la ntic, (ii)
the subd ucti on of the no rthe rn part o f the Eas t
Pacific ridge be low North A merica (a nd the
co nseq ue ntial initia tion o f the Sa n Andreas
fault). and (iii) the chan ge in plate st ructure in
the Ind ian O cea n already di scu ssed. A maj or
facto r which ma y have in flue nced wo rld-wide
pla te struct ure is.nf co urse , the collisio n of
Ind ia with Asia. alt ho ugh the ex act time o f this
e vent is unc ert ain (see 5.4) .
Th e st ruct ure of the western Pacific. which
was the site of destr uct io n o f Pacific pla te
throughout Mesozo ic and Tertiary time . IS
dominated hy effec ts cr ea ted hy the north-
wards advance o f Au str alia (o n the Ind ia n
plate) a nd by t he creation of nume rou s bac k-
a rc spreadi ng basins (see 4.4) . The structure of
the co mple x Indo nesia n region is discussed in
detai l in 5.5 .
3.2 T he iutluence of plat e geometry on the
kinem atic pa tter n
In the preced ing sect io n, we hav e assumed that
the rela tive pla te mo vem e nt vect ors wer e
co nsta nt. a nd that thc y, toge ther with the
sha pe of the plate bounda ry netwo rk , contro l-
led the subseq ue nt geom e t ry of the ne two rk.
Pla te tecto nic theory , to a first approximation ,
assu mes a co nsta nt ne two rk geo me t ry. How-
ever , unde r cert ain circu msta nces, plat e bo un-
dari es may he deformed as a resu lt of plate
move me nts, thus violating the princip le o f
' rigid ' pla tes. Such de fo rmation is la rgely con-
fined to des tructive boundaries, and pa rt icula r-
ly affects continental lit hosphe re which , as. we
have seen, is softe r a nd weaker tha n ocea nic.
 PACI FIC
~
Ff;:/:::
r
.
Ga / a p a g
. r i d ge
t··
os •
•
•

AMERICA
0
0 I
.
t

- ... , -

,
, - ~_. - -=."", . -. _-

'"
r
}>

<,
................ <,
........ ................
................
.................
.............
{-NA
S:A ........... ~
tT.
3:
0
<
(T:

:.:.~·O·OS
<, 3:
.......... rr.
.........
.......... ;
}>
z
0
~ .~ -~_1::
t J1 l~ - " -- jJi1Gtl ,-= ~f~lj
.5;'
~ 0 r
II ,. }>
a.'" ? n(t-.. ""--- ........ ........ ....... _ ...' _. '" at _• • '. -i
(T:

to
0
C
Z
0
}>
~
rn
- I:::: :.::::: :\--l- N%'~i~&'i:1
(f)

' 4 0·
A 6 S0s

Figur e 3.8 Change in plate structure in [he East-Central Pacific Ocean. (A ) Present plate boundary network. The ea rthquake zone marking the
destruc tive western boundary of the American plate is stippled. (B) Discord ance in magnetic stripe and transfor m fault patt ern at anomaly 6 (a pprox.
10 Ma sp) . Pre-anomaly 6 ridge segments are dotted , active ridge segments in black. New ocea n crust since anomaly 6 is stippled. After Herron (1972).

0\
V1
 : :"~"'"el"~ I~~"i-hUS
G PLATES ' . S
crURES AND MOVI N . of such ridges wa
cd that subduction hie relief and by

sug~~;dest ~e~~~",defom~:t:'~:UI:~n; oec~n~a;ds, ''''::::1',;:th:_,:;~n:~lcad;ng

GEOLOG ICAL ST'U .

e~;nl
" at rbe cus pate sha pe locally " ' : : : :
Vogt (1973) could, in the gre, whe n

em
dest s, "~:~e bound~ry ~,~:gon
of "land arcs to the
be P f asersnuc n g
ructive
the inte rac tion 0
9A)
3Ihe
by
. He
ocean
. g plate (FIgure .
o(~f:~re driven by
3,98), the rnov
will be eon-

floor 0 f the subduc tin .

v
....'...'..~
.. '

.. ~J
/) -7

t'igu~e 3.9 (A ~r Aseismic ridges

the NW Paclhc
and island arcs M iyashiro tI at.
O cean. A fter bcrnutir diagram
( 1982). (8 ) S~ k-a rc spreading
TIOOC' showing how. ~c a t the cusps of

'---=- ... may be inhibite resence of ;In

the ar~ by ~he /rom Mi.y a~tll ro
el a [.( ndg " I pe rrmss.on.
aseismic
1982). WII I ...~

) Mo"'oal "0
 PLATE Mo v EM ENT A N\) I' L A l l; HOUNDA IU t:S
strai ned at the positio ns o f the ridge inte rsec-
tions. T he rate of piatc co nverge nce will he at
u minimum there . but will increase to a ma xi-
mum betw een the inters ection s . produ cing an
arcuate pattern . Good exa mple s of this arc the
Emperor sea mount chain at the inte rsection o f
the Ale ut ian and Ku rile arcs, and the Marcus-
Necker a nd Caroline ridges at each en d of the
Mari anas a rc ( Figu re 3.9A ). Such deformation
is consisten t with rigid-plate theory bec ause it
results fro m a progressive change in the posi-
tion of down-bending and does not involve
active lateral d istor tion at the surface.
De form ation o f con tine ntal plat es ap pear s 10
result mainly from coll ision , and may involve
major ch an ges in geo met ry bo th of the plate
bo undar y and of the plate inte rio r. T he best
example o f such defo rma tion at t he presen t
day occurs in the Cent ral As ian regio n de-
scribed in 5.4. T he de forma tio n result s from
the collision of the co ntine nta l part of the
Indian plate with the so uthe rn mar gin o f the
(continental) E urasian plate . Once the inter-
vening ocea nic plat e had been co nsumed ,
furthe r co nver ge nce wou ld ha ve bee n inhibi ted
by the buoyancy o f tfie conti nental part of the
Indian plate . T he processes of subd uctio n an d
collision are consider ed in det ail in C hapter 5.
It is importan t to recogn ize th at co llisio n is t he
most e ffective way of alte ring plate kinem atic
patterns, oft en in a quire dra matic and world -
wide fash ion . Envisage the co llision o f two
opposing co ntinental margins, both typica lly
irregular in shape , and ob liq ue to each ot he r
and to the co nve rgen ce d irection . A t the first
point of contact betwee n the two o pposing
margins, resistance to co nverge nce will be
introduced which may 'lei eithe r to change the
converge nce vector , or to defo rm the bo undary
geome try , or both. Th e tee Ionic effects of
wedge-shape d prot rusions of one plat e as it
mee ts another at a co llisio n bo und ary are d is-
cussed in the ' indentation' model of Tapp o nnier
and Molnar (1976) and applied to the Ind ia -
Asia co llision. Th e mode l is o f gen era l applica-
tion and involves a protrusion or "inde nter"
which causes local stress co nce ntrations in the
67
indent cd plate suffic ient to ove rcome its st rengt h
and to prod uce widespread d istortions.
'A hsol ute' phI/(' motion
Th e me thods of analysing plate mot ion devel-
oped by McKenzie and Parker (1967) give
vecto rs for relative mot io n o nly, and Figure 3. 1
is bLlSCU o n t he assumption of a statio na ry
Antarctic plate . A meth od for dete rmining
' absotu te' p late mo tion was suggested by wil-
son ( 1% 5). Wilson noted that , at a number of
locations sca ttered ove r the Earth 's surfac e .
volcanic activity ap pea rs to have been co ncen-
trat cd over long periods of time . Wilson ca lled
t hese areas ' hot spot s' and identi fi ed severa l.
includ ing Hawaii and Icela nd . He showed th at
t he motion o f an oceanic plate ove r o ne o f
these hot spots wou ld result in a linea r cha in o f
volcan ic islan ds becom ing progressively olde r
from tile currentl y active volca nic centr e .
Figure 3. 10 shows the Hawaii- E mpe ror chain
o f volcanic islands and sea-mo unts in the
Pacifi c interpreted acco rding to the Wilson
mod e l. The ages of the vulcan icity range fro m
] 0 Ma at the distal end o f the chain, adjace nt to
t he Aleut ian trench , to the presen t hot-spot
locat ion in the Hawaii islands at the so uthern
e nd. T he bend in the rkjge is inte rpreted as a
cha nge in pla te velocity vector. occ urr ing at
c.35 Ma UP (sec above) . Wilson also ide ntified
late ral chains o n eithe r side of the mid-Atlan tic
ridge , such as the T ristan da Cunha - Walvis
ridge o ff SW A frica ( Figure 3. 11). In this cas e ,
he sho wed that the prese nt ridge axis is offset
from t he hot-spot site by ab ou t 400- 500k m,
and suggested that the ridge or iginally lay o ver
the hot spot, but had been moved westward s
over the last 25 Ma as a result of a change in
the pole o f ro tation for the Am eric a -Africa
separation.
Morgan (1972) de veloped Wilson's ideas
furt her and reco nstructed a se t of 'abso lute'
plate move ment vector s with refe rence to t he
hot-spo t frame o f reference ( Figure 3. 12). He
fou nd that the relat ive movement betwee n the
hot spots has been ver y much less th an that
68 G EOL OGICAL STRU CTU RES AN D MOVING PLA f ES

, ~O , ~O ,~ O o

~o

Pacific Ocean
A ~o

'0 0 L ~ ~~ ~ _

- Progressive ly Older 0 A

I'ib:U fe 3. 10 ( A) Lo c anon o f the E mpe ro r

and Hawa iia n volcani c rstaud a nd sc.r-ruou ru
c hains in the nor the rn Pacific O cea n. (8)
M ode! to illustrat e tne formation of rtc
volca nic c hums Ily I1lOv e "'cn ! o f the occ ani c
lith osph e re (lve r a ' 1i ~..:,J' hot.xpot. After
W i lson ( 1%3) .

" . ST.HE LENA

" ,' A F R I C A ."

,.;. ".
OI S COV ER Y
S EA MO U NT
.,pO C H A I N
\i.~fj;~:-"f;.,

Figu re 3. 11 Map of lhe sou thern Atla ntic Oce an s howing

vo lca nic ce ntr es (T ri.s t;m. G ough cIC.) offse l fro m the
pr esen t position of the mid-o cean ridge . Acco rd ing to
o ' O OO~ m
MID- O C E AN RIDGE Wilso n (1973) th e line throu gh the sou thwes t en ds o f me
volcanic cha ins s hows the position of the ridge 25 Ma ago .
since which lime the ridge has migrated westwa rds. A fter
Wilso n (1973).
 PL ATE MOVEM ENT A N D PLAT! , BOU N D A RI ES 69
so' ,"'. iso- ,"'. ~. 00 ' ~.
o' oc- sc' ~.

...

~. oo'

c-

"'.

... 00 '

, ,
~.

,
~. ,ao' .se- ' 00 ' isc' ,ac- so' 00 '
"'. o' co- 00 '

Figure 3. 12 Plal~ movemen t vectors rcl.ulvc III a lixcu hot-spot lramc " r re ference . Lengths or arr Owx a rc pro po rt ional [0
plalc vclocuics. From U ycJ .1 ( 197X) . alter M<lfgan ( 1')72 1.

between the plate bou nda ries over the last
200Ma or so. A lth ough it is li kely that the ho i
spots also migrate wit h lime re lative to a
notional fixed man tle frame . th is migra tion is
probably an order o f magnitude slower th an
thai of the pla tes . Since the ha l spo ts are
formed by the upward migration o f hot mantl e
materi a l. th ey must be relat ed to the mantl e
con vect ive sys te m. We ha ve see n (2.4) thai the
convec tive circulatio n in the man tle must be
comp lex , and co nstantly changing beca use of
the co nstra ints imposed o n the surface mobility
of the plat es by t hei r st rength and geome tr y.
T he lateral movement of ridges away fro m
their likel y locus of crea tion is a good illus-
tra tion of thi s. It is thou ght that the hot s po ts
re present the sites o f ascent of dee p mant le
' plumes' that form the rising co lumns of a
convecti ve circulat ion pattern , se pa ra te fro m
but linked with . the plat e movemen t circula-
tio n (see Figure 2. [ I).
A n int erestin g feature of the 'a bso lute' plate
movem ent vect or patte rn is the much grea te r
vel ocities of the who lly or mainly oce a nic
plat es, such as the Pacific , Coco s an d Nasca
plat es, co mp ared with those plat es carr ying
large continental masses such as the Eurasia n.
A me rica n and Ant arct ic plates. It might be
tho ught that the presen ce of la rge pieces of
continental lithosph ere acts as a resista nce to
motio n. Howeve r, the fast-movin g Indi an plate
argue s against thi s notion. It is clear from
Figure 3. 13 t ha t the significa nt fact or affecting
the velocity of a given pla te is the len gth of
attached subduction zo ne, indicating that the
subd uctio n process (i.e . slab pu ll) is a major
kine mati c co ntro l, as well as an impo rtant
dynami c co ntro l. as show n in 2.5.
70 G EO L CXifCA I. STIWCrURES ANO MOVING PLAT ES

30

o 10

Velocity
(cent imeters per year )

Figure 3.13 Pro por tio n of pl"l.:: circumference ("10 ) connected to subductin g slahs v. 'absolu te' veloci ty of pl,llcs. Note
Iha l :.11 rho prates with lo ng subd uctio n zone s have velocities great er etw n 5 ern/year . Fro m Forsyth and Uyeda ( 1975)

•
3. 3 Th e effects of relative plate motion at plate
boundaries
It is clear fro m Figures 3. 1 and 3. 12 that the
movement vecto r across plate boundaries is
ge ne ra lly o blique, a nd tha r o nly in the case of
t ra nsfo rm faults is the re lative mo tion con-
st ra ined in a pa rticular d irect ion (para llel to
the boundar y). T he impor tan ce o f oblique
rela tive movemen ts in orogenic belts was ori -
ginally highlighted by Harland ( 1971), who
introduced the te rms ' transpression' and ' trans-
te nsio n' to de scribe tecto nic regi mes ex hibiting
ele me nts of both strike-s lip moti on and eit her
co nvergence (co mpression) o r d ivergence (ex-
te nsio n) respectively. In the interve ning years,
these ideas have been co mpara tively neglected
by structural geo logists, who ha ve been a pply-
ing them extensively to oroge nic be lts only
qui te recently.
Assuming initia lly that we are dea ling with
movem ent s that are wholly in th e hori zontal
plane ( Le. tan gent ial to the Ea rth 's surface ),
there are eight possible catego ries of relative
motion <It plate bo undar ies (Figure 3.l4A).
Th ese are: norma l conve rge nt , sin ist ral co n-
vergen t, de xtral con verge nt, nor mal d ivergen t ,
sinistral divergen t, de xtra l divergen t , sinist ral
st rike-s lip and dextral strike-slip. Howeve r
whe re the plat e bounda ry is inclined , as it
typically is in subduction zones , the relative
movem ent ta kes place with reference to an
inclined plane , introducing the vertical dimen-
sion. It is useful to employ fault disp lacement
terminolo gy fo r such movem en ts. All the
possible categories o f relative move ment are
listed in Figure 3. 148 . T hus we sec that
co nvergent move ments lead to thr ust d isplace-
ments on inclined boundaries, and divergent
movemen ts to no rmal displace me nts. A t sub-
d uction zones (or mo re generally, destructive
bound aries) t herefo re, the fo llowing possib ili-
ties ex ist: d ip-slip thrust and ob liq ue sinistr al
o r dextra l thrust. At constr uctive bou ndaries
(ridges o r rifts), we may have dip- slip normal,
and ob lique-slip sinistral o r dext ra l normal, in
 PL AT E .\1 0V [ M E ~ T A~O PLAT E BOU~OARl t:S 71

Sinistr al De x tral Normal as a de formable shee t ra the r tha n :J plane , in

o rder to det e rm ine t he rela tio nshi p be tween
plate movcmcurs and de fo rmatio n. T o each of
t he categories of relative mo vem en t liste d in
Figur e 3.14, must be ad ded a co mpo ne nt of
e ithe r co nve rgen t o r dive rgent mo ve men t
across the sheet , resulting in ei th e r compres-
sion o r ex te nsion of t he sheet in t hat d ire ctio n.
A. Mo ve m en t s in t h e no rt zor uet p la n e T hese move me nts <He acco mpa nie d by stresses
strt ke -sn o M o v emen t o n the walls o f the shee t th a t give rise to strai n
Dip-Slip
Mo '-:::-c",,'7:"':"'-:,",,':7:'~r":-:-----1
vemen l r- within the sheet . T he se stresses and strai ns
Sin istr al De x lral None
possess co mpo nen ts of simple shear a nd als o
Thr ust
. "" <:
~ , "" <, compone nts of compression or extension , T he

.
Normal
~"' , ~
, "'" ~ is te rme d transpression , an d the co mb ina tion
None >--: ~
x. Away f ro m observe r • • To wards observer
8 Mo vem ent s in t hr e e dimen sions
(v er tical pr ot fle ) on inc lined b o u n d ar ie s.
tll:urt 3. 14 C llcgmi,;;, or movemen t ,Ier"" ptatc h"u n '
da rie s: (A) . in the hm iZlInl,,1 pla nc ; (8). in three dimcn -
,iun.' (verlk"l profile). l n ~ " l h c.e,c . the bcuvy ;lITOW,
m:,rk the movement veClor, :Illd th,;; tight arrows the corn-
poncuts of motion "Inng und ano" Ihc houmJMY·
add itio n to the categories o f d iverge nt mot ion
listed above applied 10 a vert ica l bo undary. A t
co nservat ive bo unda ries . sinist ra l o r de xtr a l
strike-slip mot ion a pplies e ither to ve rtical or
incline d planes.
M o vements across (l deformable boundary
Th e above a na lysis ignores o ne o f the most
importa nt asp e cts of plate boundar ies , wh ich is
that the y d o no t re pr ese nt a d iscre te plane , bu t
a volume of def o rm a ble mat e ria l. O ro ge nic
belts a re, to a lar ge ex tent, a n ex pression of
th is de fo rmatio n. We the ref o re ha ve to ta ke
into accou nt rel a tive movements across the
bounda ry as we ll as a long it. T his is partic ularly
obvious in th e case o f construc tive boundaries,
wher e new p late ma te ria l is crea ted to accom-
modat e th e div er gen t mo ve me nt. It ix the re -
fore nece ssar y to co nsider the pla te bound a ry
combi nation o f simple shear and co m pression
of simple s hear a nd exte nsio n is te rme d trans-
tensio n ( Harland, 1971; San derson a nd M a r-
chin i, 1984; see Figure 3.15A) . It is im portant
to recognize th at simple shea r st ra in itse lf
invo lve s bot h co m pression a nd ex te nsio n, but
that these balance suc h tha t th e re is no ne t
vol ume change in the sheet. T ypicall y. of
course, vo lume cha nges do occ ur: fo r exa mp le
mag ma tic ma te rial ad ds to volume in exrc n-
sional regi mes, ,IOU movem e nt o f vola tiles a nd
met am o rphic re actio ns create vo lu me cha nges
in co mpressiona l regi mes. T he proce ss o f
mo un ta in bu ilding in a conve rgent regime
reflec ts crustal th ickeni ng , wh ich is a n ex pres -
sion of compressive st rain ac ross the be lt .
We may illust rat e th e ge nera l case of kine -
ma lic be haviou r at a pla te boundary by co n-
side ring two e xam ples: o bliqu e co nve rgence
an d oblique diverge nce ( Figure 3. t5A, B).
Case A produ ces transpression ac ross th e
sheet, an d cas e B transtension ac ross th e shee t.
How e ve r _in A the re is a lso ex te nsio n a lo ng the
sh eet . a nd in B. co mpression a long the s heet.
T he ge nera l case is illus trated in Figure 3.15C.
In atte mpting to unde rsta nd the geome t ry of
defor mation al structures, it is impo rt ant th e re-
fo re to be able 10 visua lize, to thre e d ime n-
sio ns, the co m ponents of mo vem e nt a t the
plate bo un da ry res ulting fro m the re lat ive
movement vecto r. Ma ny a ttempts to a pp ly
plate-tec tonic the o ry to ind ividu a l struc tura l
case histor ies ha ve been two-di men sio na l o r
ot he rwise over-si mpl ified, th us res tric ting t he ir
•
72 GEOLOGICA L STIl UCru RES AN O MOVI NG PLATES
, de red , we shall see how far these pri nciples

... ,{!;p~
hav e been put into pr actice .

.--(' / / ,
/ ,'
..
7
Summ ary
,::>;":J' A In a pplying plat e tecton ic theor y to the study o f
v
geo logical st ructures in orogenic belts, the
prima ry objec t is 10 rela te rela tive plute mov e-
me nts a t pia rc bounda ries to stra in with in the
be lt . Since obliqu e move me nts across plat e
bo und a ries a re th e no r m rat he r th an th e e x-
ce pt ion. obl ique co nverge nce a nd d ive rge nce ,
bo th in th e horizontut plane an d in three
dimen sions. must be co nsidered . Eight ca te -
go r ies o f relat ive mo vem en t across a pla te
bo unda ry ar c recog nize d . By co nside ring the
plate boundar y as a defo rma ble sheet ra th e r
c than a discre te plane. the furt he r possibil-
ity a rise s o f co mpressio n or e xte nsion taki ng
FiJ;:.ur., J . 15 (A) rran spr csskm, and I R). u a nstc nsion pla ce no rma l to the wa lls of the shee t, ca us-
( plan views ) produced oy a mo vem ent VCClur (hCHVy
arrows) oblique 10 a plate Otlundary rcprc:.cnlcd hy ~ ing vo lume c ha nges of the kind e xp resse d
dcl orm ahk ~hcCI Th e " Shl ;,rmws represe nt the COIll- in oroge nic belt s by crustal thicke ning. a nd
pon cn ts of move me nt across an d alullg the bou ndary . (Cl a t co nstr uctive bo unda ries by the crea tio n of
A nuc c -dlm c nsion al diug rum illuxrruting trans pres sion . In
each C<I~. the deformed shape is stippled. new lit hosph e re . A t a typic a l plat e bo undary,
• oblique-sl ip e xte nsio nal or co mpressi o nal
move me nt s are expressed in terms of tra ns-
usefu lness . In Chapte rs 8 a nd 9, whe re indivi- te nsio na l or tre ns pression al str a ins wit hin th e
du al examples of or ogen ic belts arc co nsi- rnate riul adjacen t 10 the bo unda ry.
•

4 Divergent (extensional) tectonic regimes

ru re o n the Earth' s s urface. su rpassing e ven th e

g reat mountain ra nges in sca le. A typ ica l
The main so urces of ex te nsio nal stress in the
sectio n o f ridge is a bout IOOO- 2000km wide
lithosphere arise fro m the de nsity imbala nces
and 2- 3 km high . The m id-A tlantic ridge
produced by ocea n ridges. con tinenta l ma rgins
occupies about one-third of the surface a re a of
and pla tea u upl ifts , a nd hy th e fo rces a rising
th e A tlan tic Ocean (Figure 4.1A ). Th e tecto ni-
from subd uction (see 2.5) . 1) laI C3 11 upl ifts <I re
relative ly common in the commc mal c rust , and ca lly act ive ce ntral rift is marked by a zo ne of
co ncentra ted earthq ua ke ac tivity. The wide
even qu ite smal l up lifts of the o rde r o f ICkl km
across and 1 km o r so high will prod uce an to pogra phic swe ll with ce ntral rift is a lso
cha rac te rist ic of th e contine nta l rift zones
apprecia ble e xte nsional sires." (see Bon and
( Figu re 4 .2A ) wh ich displa y approxi m ately th e
Ku\ZmT. 1979). Extensional tec tonic regimes
sa me d ime nsion s. Acco rd ing to Me nard a nd
are therefore primarily associated wit h dive r-
Sm ith (1966) the ridge syste m as a whole
gem (i.e . co nstr uctive) plate boundaries. bUI
ma kes up 32 .7 % of the surface a rea of th e
are also co m monly fo und wit hin pla te s. in th e
form of local ized rift zones and extensio nal
ocea ns, o r 23.2% o f tha t o f th e Ea rt h.
The geophysical struct ure o f ridges is now
basins. and a re also freque ntly associated with
known in co nsiderable de ta il. The very large
the upper plat es o f subd uct ion zo nes. as hack -
excess to pog ra phic ma ss of the ridge is a lmost
arc ex te nsional prov inces . Strike-slip re gimes
exactly compe nsat ed by a mass deficiency
typically involv e local e xte n..iona l prov inces .
Extensional re gime s a re m uch co m mo ne r th an
compressiona l ones. simply beca use the c rust is
conside rabl y wea ker in· e xte nsio n than com-
pressio n . as explaine d in 2.7.
The ma in types of regime that will he d is-
cussed a re ther efore as fo llo ws:
A. Plate boundary regimes
(i) Ocean rid ges
(ii) Con tinenta l rifts o f type I (pla te boun -
daryl
(iii) Co ntine nt a l ex te nsio na l pro vinces at con-
ve rge nt bo und a ries
(lv) Ba ck-arc e xte nsio na l provinces
(v) Strike-slip ex te nsiona l p ro vinces
B. Intraplate regimes
(vi) Co nt ine nta l rift s of type II (intr apla te )
(vii) Int rapla te ex te nsio nal bas ins.
In this cha pte r. we s hall d iscuss e xa m ples of
types ( i) -( iv) . T ype (v) will he di scussed in
Chapter 6. a nd intra pla te re gim es in C ha pte r 7.

Figu~ " . 1 The mid·Atl ant ic ridge . showi ng a nlfal rifl

Th e wo rld- wide ne t wo rk o f ocea n rid ges co n- and d istr ibution o f t'a rt l!.qual.c epiantrcs . After Hee re n
stitut es the most sig nifica nt topog raphic fe a- ( 1962).

73
•
74 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES AND MOVING PLATES

A
Seismic Bell

J
2.000~--­

2,500 .Mal....
E!elQion Con9o
"', ....
1
I
I
...",..".,
r' --
r:
AIonQ 30° N 101.

Lake TOllQOnyika I
I
I
"
~
.
•
l~~
Northern Rhodesio : Lake Nyc... I Indian Ocean

"~-s-:& 100 200 AIoRQ 14· 5 kit 400 500 600

Noutico' miles

mgal

300 300

-Observed Figure 4.2 (A) Topographic pro-

200 - - - Calculated 200
tile across the mid-Atlantic ridge,
compared with profiles across the
E. African rift system, Note in
cach case the central rift situated

/j/.m
on a broad topographic swell. x25
vertical exaggeration. From Hee-
zen (1%2). (8) Possible density
model of thc crust and upper
mantle structure beneath the mid-
Atlantic ridge, showing densities
L- -'- ---''-- --' , in g/cru' assigncd to each layer.
From [jolt (1971). after Talwani et
al. (1%5).
B

caused by a volume of less dense mantle
material below the ridge. Figure 4.28 shows
profiles combining gravity information with
seismic refraction data that indicate anornal-
ously low seismic velocities in the region
occupied by the low-density material (see 2.2).
The most satisfactory explanation of this
anomalous structure is that the asthenosphere
effectively rises much closer to the surface, and
that the lithosphere thickens away from the
ridge crest as it cools (see 2.1). The presence of
material with the properties of asthenospheric
mantle has been confirmed by other geophysi-
cal evidence: low electrical conductivity, high
attenuation of seismic waves, high surface
wave dispersion, and inefficient propagation of
Sn waves, which correlate with the zone of high
heat flow along the ridges (see 2.3).
The active tectonic zones occupy a narrow
central rift valley about 100 km wide, in which
the earthquake activity and vulcanicity are
concentrated. Rather low heat flows have been
 DIVERGENT (EXTENSIONAL) TECTONIC REGIMES 75
measured from areas adjacent to the high heat- displacements characterize the flanking fault
flow zone along the ridge axis. This pattern is scarps, which dip at about 60° inwards, forming
thought to be due to convective circulation of the walls of the rift. These features indicate
fluids, which gives rise to intense hydrothermal extension normal to the rift axis but oblique to
activity. the plate divergence vector.
Detailed information about ocean-ridge The vertical displacement on the extensional
morphology and its relationship to volcanic fissures of the axial zone is always less than 1 m
and tectonic activity was obtained in the but, in the marginal tectonic provinces, the
FAMOUS project (Heirtzler and van Andel, throws increase to between 1 and 3 m, with the
1977) which employed manned submersible formation of tilted blocks. On the inward-
dives along a section of the mid-Atlantic ridge facing walls of the rift, major vertical scarps
west of the Azores islands, between latitudes occur, with throws of 5- HXJ rn, on planes
36°30' and 37°N. The manned dive programme dipping around 60°, bounding fault blocks
was supplemented by a number of techniques tilted away from the rift at 5-7°.
including seismic refraction, side-scan sonar, The horizontal extension measured across
surface sampling and deep drilling. This en- the inner rift on these faults and fissures
ablcd a detailed picture to be obtained of the amounted to 5.7'X, on the western side and 8%
morphology of the ridge and its tectonic con- on the eastern. The difference is proportional
struction (Ballard and van Andel, 1977). to the difference in spreading rate. New rift
~e ridge in this ~~<:tor is. topographically axis positions appear to occur along the lower
Jomplex arlQi~-~fset.b.Y_s..~ve~aU~;icturc~~~e~~ • slopes of the volcanic edifices rather than
(transform faults). Bathymetric profiles show through the middle. Consequently, short tran-
ranges of rift mountains with peaks at a depth sient transform faults are required to accom-
of 1300 m on each side of the rift, separated by modatc the spreading. The width of this central
30-32 km of valley ~oor which slopes gently zone of offset rifts is about I km. The central
towards the rift axis. The axis is offset towards axial ridge contains volcanic material with
the western margin of the rift. The asymmetry dates of 20000 to 35000 years, but the mar-
of the central rift in relation to the margins of ginal ridges contain material 100000-160000
the first magnetic anomaly suggests asymmetric years old (Figure 4.3A). Thus the inner rift
spreading of 0.7- 1.0 ern/year on the west side contains the youngest volcanic rock and is
and 1.2- 1.4 em/year on the cast side of the rift. interpreted as the result of axial volcanic
The fracture zones are located in deep U- activity in the form of small piles or cones of
shaped valleys up to 3 km deep and 10 krn lava 5-7 m high and 10-15 m wide draped by
wide. Seismically active scarps of the order of radiating lava tubes. This vulcanicity is accorn-
100m high mark the tectonically active portion panied by pure extension, in contrast to the
of the fracture zone, and sheared rocks were faulting in the rift walls, which results from
dredged up to 10 krn on either side of the shear. It is suggested that, shortly after forma-
southern fracture zone. tion , the volcanic edifice in the axial zone
The rift floor contains an inner rift valley collapses vertically along the boundaries of the
(Figure 4.3) with a floor 1-3 km in width, central ridge, whereas in the outer portions of
bordered by sloping terraces. The centre of this the valley, older volcanic blocks are uplifted to
inner rift valley floor consists of a line of form the walls of the inner rift (Figure 4.3C).
elongated hills up to 1 km wide and 100- 2(XJ m Since the distance from the boundary wall to
high, lying at a depth of about 2500m. The the axis is correlated with spreading rate, it
morphology of the rift valley was found to seems likely that the uplift of the walls is
result mainly from volcanic activity modified related to the thickening of the lithosphere as it
by tectonic effects. Vertical tension fractures moves laterally away from the locus of new
occur on the inner rift floor and dip-slip volcanic activity and cools. The crustal thick-
 76 GEOLOG ICA L STII: UC I U HES A~ D ~ O Y I N (j J> I.ATES

ness in the inne r rift valley is only about 3 km ,
based on ther mal mod els (Sleep , 1975). A bo ut
1O- 20'Y" o f this thick ness is made up of pillo w
basalts. ove rlying ocea nic crust o f laye r 2 type
(pres umably she e te d d ykes) , which in (u rn
o ve rlies a ma gma chambe r th a t ;IPPC;' fS [0
extend t he whole width of the inner rift .
T he ho rizon ta l ten sional stress e xe rted
across the whole width o f the ridge , d uc 10 its
de ns;Iy cont ras t with Ihe adjoining ocea n floo r ,
is therefor e mm smu tcd across u very th in ,
wea k. br ill Ie laye r in the cent ra! rift zo ne . This
must cause repealed extensional failure , en-
ah ling the spreading process \0 co ntinue.

3~'* ",' ,,'

q ""opo
- ME TERS

OM"
•
-

I
•

Egu", 4.3 (A) Distributio n of fau lts [ hachured lines) and volcanic hodies (~ h ade d) io me inner rifl m oe o f lhe mid-
A tlantic ridge at ;lOoN. The da rker s hading indicates the younges t volcanism; d\lb . vents a nd cres t tines of volca noes: thic k
ar ro ws, dip o r fault bloc ks: thin c urved a rru ws. vulca nic I lcw lobes. From Balla rd "od V;lI1 A ndd (1977)
 DIVERGENT (EXTENSIONAL) TECTONIC REGIMES
B
W.WAll
300 ~ W MARG. HIGH
m ~ II ~ WESTERN
~ ft ..
TROUGH,:.<.--.........---7
00 500m ~ J\
RIFT
The type of topography described in the
FAMOUS area appears to be characteristic of
ridges with rather slow spreading rates. Ridges
with moderate to high spreading rates (e.g. the
East Pacific ridge between 2loN and 200S) are
characterized by central ridges with narrow,
shallow axial depressions (Figure 4.4). Fran-
cheteau and Ballard (19R3) describe the results
of a detailed survey of three small sections
of the East Pacific ridge at 2loN, l3°N and
200S respectively, and compare these with the
FAMOUS results from the Atlantic. They show
that at moderate spreading rates (e.g. at 2loN)
there is a shallow axial depression comparable
in width to the rift valley on the Atlantic ridge
(3-5 km) and with similar volcanic edifices 10-
50 m in height. The fault-controlled walls of
this rift average 100 m in height. The axial
trough is situated on a central swell up to 7 km
in width. However the highest relief occurs on
the uplifted blocks immediately flanking the
axial trough. At faster spreading rates (e.g.
BON) there is only a very narrow axial graben,
200 m in width and 50 m deep, situated on the
77
E WAll
CENTRAL HIGH E MARG HIGH
EASTERN
TROUGH
• FLOW DIRECTION
A VENT
Figure 4.3 (8) Diagrammatic profile of
the inner rift zone showing structural sub-
divisions. (C) Diagrammatic crustal cross-
section of the inner rill valley, showing
magma chamber in which lateral magma-
tic differentiation and cumulate dcposi-
lion are taking place. Later volcanism
on the flanks draws on differentiated
magma. and crustal thickness increases
towards the main boundary faults. Band
C from Ballard and Van Andel (1()77)
central swell. At the fastest spreading rates,
the graben is absent. and there is only a pro-
minent axial ridge. ~ km wide and 200 m high,
situated on the central swell. This swell is still
about 7 km wide, hut is now 500 m high. These
features characterize the East Pacific ridge at
20 oS, and are superimposed on a general ridge
topography that is much smoother and flatter
than that of the mid-Atlantic ridge. In this
section of the East Pacific ridge, the spreading
rate is ahout 17 ern/year. The ridge is almost
aseismic and displays no signs of major faulting
on the axial ridge. which appears to he of vol-
canic construction. Fluid lavas forming sheet
flows are more prominent than pillow lavas in
the axial region, and would tend to cover the
fissures as soon as they opened up. This would
account for their relative scarcity. Hydrother-
mal activity is evident from the existence of
numerous vents and. locally, massive sulphide
deposits along the axial zone. Faults and
fissures are comparatively uncommon.
Francheteau and Ballard propose a model
for an ideal accreting segment of ocean ridge
78 G EO LOGICA L STRUCr Uln:S AND MOVI:"G PLATES

<0" MAR 36°N

~

~ ' 00
i::
:;;
C,
Il OO

160 0

2000
0 to : '5 , 20 25 ao 00

,"oo~PR 21°N
26000 2~ 5 : 7.5 10
, '
,"OOF --t:i ~ PR 13°N
~ 2800 ~
It 0 2.5 5 , 7,5 '0
~ ,: ''
c, "OO~ : : EPR 20°5
3000 • •
,
3200 ,
I
,
,

3
400
0 25 5 7,5 10 '~ 5
D IS TANCE (km )
FiJ::ur", 4 .4 Comparisu n of 1<)[1<'I;'''PI'I ,,,, prulilc ac ro ss Itll: mid -A flnnuc rilli!'- a[ .1I,"N wilh p m fik s " e"", 1I H<~ c M:Clions o f
the [;h l Pacific ridge c h.u.rc tc rrzcd h y dilfcrcru sp rea ding rarc s , OI l 1 1~N «(' n n ycar) , L~o N (10 .2 c rnlyl" ar ) '111.1 20"S (If> em!
year) . The pm; lion of the illl1cr ,if! zone in the mid-Atlan tic ridge is projected omo the ot her profiles for comp<lrisnll. 10
highlighl lhc ,Jirfc rc nccs in ttlflOSnlp hy . Vc ruc ul c xaggr rution or X/'l.4) , Fwm Fr.mchc tcau " ntl ll,lIlanJ ( I'JKl )

(Figure 4.5) . The segment is boun ded by active
transform faults which are associated with
to pographic depressions. They suggest that
each segment is unde rlain by a separate magma
reservoi r that lenses o ur d ue to cooling at the
transform -bounded ends of the segment. The
magma chambe r will thus be thicker and the
overlying crustal ' lid' th inne r. in the central
pan of the segment, resulting in iso sta tic uplift
and to the observed to pograp hic highs. These
ho lle r regio ns where the lid is thinnest will
prod uce surface- fed fluid lavas rat he r than
pillow lavas. which will occur distally. around
the fl anks of the highs.
Lichtman and Eisscn (19S3) suggest that
e ruptive phases migrate in a probably random
fashion along the ridge crest. T he initial, highly
active ph ase is charac te rized by magmatic
inflation. increase in instant aneo us spread ing
rate , and eru ptio n o f sheet -flow lavas, and lasts
for abo ut 10 years. Then , as the pu lse of
replenishment moves to ano the r poin t on the
ridge axis. tbe previous site is characteri zed by
pillow-flow e rup tions and decreasing hyd ro-
therma l activity.
The explanation for the d ifferences in to pe-
graphy bet wee n fast and slow-spreading ridges
appears to lie in the diffe ring effects o f broad
and narrow axial magma chambers. Slee p and
Rosendahl (1979) constructed numerical fl uid
dynamical models for fast and slow-spreading
ridge sections, and produ ce calculated pro files
which closely match the observed topography.
T hey conclude that ridges C<1I1 be classifi ed into
slow-spreading (half-sp read ing rates less than
4 cm/year) with axial rifts abo ut I km deep ;
fast-spreading (half-spreading rates grea te r
than 3 em/yea r) with axial ridges severa l hun-
dred met res high; and hot -spot ridges with
spreading half-rates less than 4 em/year . pro-
 D!VE II.GENT ( EX f F.NSIONAI. ) T EOON IC REG IMI;S 79
I AI l SI

LARCE fRANSFONM FAULl

-
FISSURES ANO
-c'J-'
rsocIS ~ I - l ONE 1 VOLCANICS

I, I .--
III [) SMAll TfUIVSrOR.=':"='~"'~'Iii=!!i!...-'==;':: TOPOGRAPHIC HICH;

~
SHE£! Fl OwS DlCi[A Sl IN

Pill OWS
,
HYDtOTHlIlMA/ AWVITY,
NCUArl IN DEPTH <- - -EN ECHELON f l!UPTlV[
- III LARCE TRANSFORM FAUlT
FISSURES

Figure 4.5 M,,<Jd 1m an i,k alil cu accreting sc!:mclll uf '>CCJll ridge . , h"wing IUl'ugrJ l'luc . v" kan;c, tectonic anJ
h)'dmtilc, m;,1 v"r i,lli<>n <IS" Iuncuon " f distance from t'<>unJ ing 1, ;on,Iorm [,lllih (1\ ). ",,<.1 Ih..: prcd.ctcd ;u r•m gc mcn t of
_mall scale U;llI,fwl1l [,' ulh and c n-cchckm c ru puv c flssurcs. Fm m Fr" nchc h:,' u and lJdlla roJ (I'nn )

nounccd axial rid ges and higher general
e leva tion . In the kis t-s pread ing ridges . th e
tcpogr uph y is co nsid e red to he th e co nse-
quen ce of isostati ca lly co m pe nsat ed ther ma l
expansion d ue to a la rge ma gma cha mbe r. In
the slo w-spreading ridges. the rifts result from
viscous he ad loss in t he upwe lling mat erial
ascendi ng thro ugh a na rr o w cond uit. The ho t-
spo t type of rid ge is associated with a thick
c rust o ve rlying a thick m agm a cha mbe r a nd
produces abnorma lly e levated topography, as
see n fo r e xa m ple in the R eykjan es ridg e nea r
Icel a nd . a nd in th e Azo res sec tio n o f th e mid -
A tlantic rid ge , wh ere ax ial pe ak s rea ch nearl y
to se a-leve l.
Th e rel ati o nship be tween rift ing and spre ad-
ing o r d iverge nce d irect io n is no t as simple as
mig ht a t first be ass ume d. Theo ret icall y. e xten -
sion ma y occur ac ross a plane ma kin g an an gle
with th e plat e d ive rge nce. or spre ad ing direc -
tion (see Figure 3. 14). H owe ve r . in practice .
the a xia l rift fissures a ppe a r to be ge ne ra te d by
pure ex te nsio n , wit h no co m po ne nt of la te ra l
shea r. Moreove r. th e norma l fa ults in the a xia l
re gion a re also ge ne ra ted by pure d ip-slip
mo tion . Th e ' nor ma l' pauem of a spre ad ing
ridge will ther efore he a crenellat e o ne (se e
Figure 4.6A ) with rift sec tio ns o ffse t by s ho rt
t ra nsforms similar to th e structure fo und in th e
I' A ~ O U S ar ea. O nce fo rme d . these tra nsforms
will be of co nstant len gth if sp re ad ing is
uni form on both sides . Ho we ve r t here is
e vidence that ridges can e ithe r 's t ra ig hte n'
o r form mor e exaggera te d cr e nella tion s with
time , by asy mme tric spreading o n e ithe r side of
th e axis, balanced by alt e rna tion s o f faster a nd
slowe r spre ading ac ross th e tra nsfo rm s bo un-
d ing e ac h sect ion ( Figure 4.6A ). Th is process is
believed by Me na rd ( 19R4) to accou nt fo r th e
c renellated C re taceous a no ma ly pa tte rn in th e
Pacific . which is sa nd wiched be twee n e a rlie r
a nd la te r st ra ight sec tio ns. If me am ou nt o f
spre ading a lo ng ;1 rift va ries , a di ffe re nt
type o f ste pped patt ern results. cbaructer izcd
by wedge-sha pe d seg ments ( Figure 4.6 8 ).
Me nard sh o ws how a ste pped ridge ma y e vo lve
from a st raig ht o ne by alterna tion s of fast and
slo w sectio ns ac ross the bo undary tran sfo rm s ,
combined with va ria tions be twe e n fast a nd
slo w with in the segm en ts . Th is process e xpla ins
80 Ge OLOGICA L STRUcrU RI:':S AND Mo v I NG I' LAT ii S

A has been subje cted to de ta ile d exa mina tio n.

Slll F .A S r Icel a nd lies on the site o f
2 F ,AST "'
, h
~" r ,4ST
U I , a lo ne of high hc ur flow a nd act ive high-
B rift a ppe a rs to have fo rm ed first as a fa ult-
• ing rat es a t th is time we re lo w. aho ut'" "'!R"•
Fi~u r r 4 .6 Mod els illu- tranng lh..: cr Cll110n uf crcnCll;tICd
a nd ste p ped ridge patterns hy asymmcmc spee..din g. (A)
Evolut ion o r a c renelate ridge from a straight one by
crCOI lio n an d le ngthe ning o f trans form la u l l ~ !>Cr ar at;ng
seg ments of laste r a no slo we r !'f'fca ding. (II) Evo lution " f
a s tc ppo..'<l ridg.:: from a str aight on e d ue h I a eh;lIlgc in the
d irectio n o f spreadi ng: sp rc ndiug nile var ies !rum fasl IU
slo w a t IJpposil<: CIJds of eac h scgnrem, crc;lling wedge-
sh aped !<CgmCllls: ridges eventually become orthugu nal'"
th e tra ns[ur m Ia ults a nd [0 the new , prc' I!.ling dtrc cuou.
Fro m M el1ard ( IQIW)
ho w a change in plate diverge nce direc tio n ca n
be acco mmoda te d . For e xa mple , th e post-
to Ma ste pped pa ttern o f the C a rlsber g ridge in
the NW India n O cea n ( Figur e 3.6) is .. res -
po nse 10 a cha nge in relative mo ve me nt vecto r
between the A frican an d Intitan plates tha t
re sulte d in a discorda nce between the o ld a nd
new se ts of magnetic stripes a nd tra nsfo r ms.
an<
T his a rea is the only pa rt of th e cu rren tly active
ocean ridge sys te m tha t is ex posed o n land a nd
(Wilson. 1963; Mo rgan. 1971) , bel
III (c. f oMa ee)
T he cu rren tly a ctive rift run s thro ugh the
middl e o f th e isla nd in a com plex patt ern
llik.t ai~
( Figure 4.711 ). T he act ive r ift co incides with
te m pe ra t ure ste a m fields. E;II.:h ne w sec tion o f
bo unde d to pogra ph ic dep ressio n in which ac-
cum ulat e d thick se q ue nces (If volcaniclas tic
se di me nts prior to the first fiss ure e ruptio ns.
T he rift zo ne cha nges ori e nta tio n so uth o f t he
ce ntra l tran sfo rm from N - $ (0 NE - SW. and
agai n so ut h o f the so ut he rn tra nsfo rm to ENE -
WSW. Accordi ng to • this
pattern e vo lved fro m a muc h simple r pat te rn
ab o ut 4 .5 Ma ago ( Figure 4.7A ) whe n a sing le
",..""'~...,JoiI"i!!l"'lOl1~~il!;oll nI iI t he j unc-
non with the present ce nt ralt ra nsfor m. whe re-
upo n it cha nged di rec tio n to NE - SW. Spread-
d ivergen t mo tion .
T he a xial rift o n the islan d is a 70 km -wide
zo ne o f f lood bas al ts yo unge r than 0 .7 Ma . and
has bee n stud ied in det a il hy Sae mundsson in
th e no rth ern pa rt o f the island ( Fig ure 4.8 ).
Th e curre ntly act ive hel t co nt a ins a series of
fissu re swarms paralle l 10 the ge ne ra l rift
orie nta tio n . togethe r with N - $ no rm a l faults
a nd a number of cald e ras a nd ce ntr a l vol-
canoes. Th e o lde r basa lts form ing the fla nks of
the rift a re ge nt ly tilt ed to wa rds the rift axis a t
an gles o f 5- Itl". inc re asin g to steeper d ips
(20-35°) nea r th e rift ma rgins. Fu rth e r west ,
the d ip changes to around 25°W ind ica ting a
broad fle xure a long th e rift flan ks.
Within th e s hari ENE- WSW sec tio n. o n the
U.,. ,.. . VW;"t"ht r'. Ondi, id"
'it I " hUad
A de tailed a nalysis of the Irac -
t urcs in this so uthe rn area (Jeffe ris a nd
 Dl V[ RG ENI (EX T ENS IONA l. ) TECTON I(" REGIMES 81

A) 4 . ~ m~ 000

- ..
'

~ 5'''.. ·.''9'''·. '' .. ""

~ Ace•• "o. , ,""" . ~ .... b.
o '00 ~ 500....."'0 .',.
r..,::.: ] A.;t ,• • YO'co. ,,'"
o f t• • • ~ . . ....

P~$en' :--------;~jlilll-----
~ 5,...:" ..
++ _ ...."'''''' ''''',
+ +
~ A_ t o .... . 0.'.9 '0"
8) ".
"'-- 0,....,..... o' ""....."9

l emf,

...

Fi~urr 4.7 Ptare tectonic intcrp rcunion " f the Icel a nd flft ( Ao ) Reconstruction of the rifl of 45 M" Ul' before the e astwards
, hifl Ilf the ce nt re! 'lq; m..:: n1. Ne \\ e,,~lem rift wn ..::~ Me hq :1I1I1il1£ to <J e\lcl<lp, lnMke<J hy lk xtlf<l l HI'ughs whc re thick
sediments ate accumul.ning. (8 ) Pre- e m p.urcru , "f h;r Ihe s hifl was completed. T h,' flew rifh .... e re 1I1i li"lc <J " I differe nt
limes: the rcntrnl zone ut J M" Ill'. the soulh,'r n segment .u 15M'l J nd the northern ,II 1.IlMa ·111C pos ition I,f the
"halKlo llo:d weste rn rift is indica ted by a ,ynd lll;'! s tructure in the hasa lts , Fro m Sac muudsson ( 1974)
80 G J;:O LOG ICA L ST RUCTU RES AI' O M O V I N(~ I' LA T~S

A has bee n subj ec ted to deta iled examination .

"'!.... (Wilso n. 1963; Mor gan . 1971) a..... h_
a _ _ COllI'
_fir. The cur rently active rift runs through the
B rift appears to have fo rmed first as a fault"
Fi ~u r ~ 4.6 Mmlch illll, U<l ling me crcauon of c rc ncllurc d
and stepped ridge patter n, o y asymme tric spread ing. (A )
Evo lutio n uf " crcnet are ridge from a Slraight one hy
crealio n and len gthen ing uf transfo rm Iaults scpann ing
segment s of Iastcr and slower spreading . (8 ) E vo hllinn of
a ste pped ridge from a sinlight one due 10 a ch.mgc in the
"'iM
direct io n of sp rc" ding: sp r('old ;ng rate V;Ir ;L~ Irom ' ,lsl 1<>
slo ", ;It \)rrnSiIC e nds o f e llch se g.uc nt , cleat ing wed ge-
shape d segments; ridges e ve n tually become or th<>gu n,,1 III
the transfo rm Iaults and 10 the new spf"ading directio n,
Fro m Menard ( 11)"4 )
ho w a change in pla te dive rgence d irection can
OC accommodated . For example. the post-
10 Ma stepped pat tern of the C arlsberg ridge in
th e NW India n Ocean (Figure 3.0) is a res-
ponse to a change in relative mo vem ent vec tor
bet wee n the Af rican and Indian plates that
result ed in a discor dan ce between the o ld and
new se ts o f magnetic stripes and transforms.
T his area is the on ly par t of the currently active
oce an ridge syste m that is exposed on land and
Icelan d lies o n the site of
mn
fill (c.16M a liP)
middl e o f the island in a co mplex patter n
di I Wi
(Fi gure 4."7 8 ). T he active rift co incides with
a zo ne of high heat now an d active high-
te mperature stea m fields . Each new sec tion of
ho unded topographic de pression ill which ac-
cum ulated thick sequences of volca niclastic
sed ime nts prior to the first fissu re eruptions.
Th e rift zone changes or ient atio n sou t h of the
ce nt ral t ransfor m fro m N- S to NE - SW , and
again so uth o f the sout he rn tr ansfo rm to E NE -
WSW . Acco rdin g to . , this
pa tte rn evolved from a much simpler patt ern
abo ut 4 .5Ma ago (F igure 4.7A ) when a single
"",u.di · lb _., until the ju nc-
tio n with the present cent ral t ransform . where-
upon it changed direction to NE -SW. Sp read -
ing rates at this time were low, <loout . """!'...•
diver ge nt moti on.
1....AItO
T he axial rift on the islan d is a 7U km -wide
zo ne of floo d basalts yo unger than U.7 Ma . an d
has bee n stud ied in detail by Sacm undsson in
the northern part o f the island ( Figure 4 .8) .
T he curre ntly active belt contains a series of
fiss ure swarms parallel to the ge ne ral rift
orienta tion , together with N- S no rmal faults
a nti a numbe r o f cald eras an d central vol-
canoes . T he older basalts formin g the flanks of
the rift are ge ntly tilted towards the rift axis at
an gles of 5 - 1U", increa sing io steeper dips
(20- 35°) ncar the rift ma rgins. Furthe r west ,
the dip changes to aro und 2Y W ind icating a
b road fl e xure along the rift flanks.
Wit hin the shor t E NE- WSW sec tion. o n the
rise i"lmic:h,• • b.h:Mi'td"o
..........1--
oitw iPl'J'dPW",- A det ailed analysis of the fr ac-
tures in th is so uthe rn area ( Je ffe ris and
 [)[ VE HC/ON T (EX T ENS IONAL) ', ECT O N I C HEGIM f.S 81

,,,"', I e"' " Al 4 .~my, ooo

'-~_ ..
_ . s'

,
I ' ''' ' ' ~ .,, '••'."9' ' '9"'
S A« ,. ', _ . "' ....~.
' 00
""
200 . .. , .,,."""'1 .
r-:::.(." •.] Act 1<0"' ...

~ F,.
,o""
..-*" .,.,<
"••
+ + _ ....9· .........'
+ +
~ .........." ....""'"i ,. ,,
~ D"o<'_" "".a<t"'i

.,.

~<"'"
A----·· ~

t'il:ure 4.7 Plure tectonic in l<,;r pr<,;ta tio Jl of the lcctuml rif!. (A) Reeon~lrucliun "r the rif( of 4 5 M" UP befo re the e ast wards
shifl of the cc m rul segme nt. Ne'" c u-ac ru rift zones arc I>eginning to de velop. mark ed hy llexlIr,,1 I ll lUg hs ""he r..: thid
scdimcuts ar~' accumulatin g. (8) Present p.uu-m . afte r the sh if! was comple ted. T hl' new rifts were inill<l":u al differen t
limc s: the ccm ral zone a' -1 M" UP , the southern segm ent at 1,) Ma and the northern at I OMa The positron "r the
abandoned wl'Sl c rn rift is indicated hy" syl1 d ill <ll -ar uctu rc in the haxults . From Sacruundvscn ( 1'174)
 I ~.
OJ
IS· 17" 16 · N

LEGEIllO :
F: ;:. ; :: ~) Jotl,lI'SO Qto.,e l p lO l n

o F' lood bo sa lls Joun;. , ,Pl on 0 7 my

~ Floo4 DooOlls e- ~td f,om 31 0 07 "".

~ Grlmsey o TerTlo r ., ' load b01G1t1 Oldft I "'on 3 my.

~ Fluu rtd lone

~ Oul . ordl y Inc l ine d bioc u border In;
~ norlr"ltrn pa ri of flelure
MOncir.,Jor ~ F'rs'Sure eruption. Ce n i ro l eru pt ion
C1
I rr.
~
o Central volcono

Colde,o

/ / Fissure ,.o rm
o
r-
o
C1
o
~ - H '
>-r-
A'" Low.,1 'illite t ntOr MommO"1 t~ n ,)
,< S I"ke I dIp
...,
C/l
:c
C
~ Ob ltQ u e - slip fault lone
~
C
'"
rr.
C/l
r r I I >-
o 10 20 ' 0 40 :)O krn Z
o
s:
o
sz
C)

"
~
..:
tr:

Figure 4.11 Structural map of NE Iceland showing position s of fissures . fissur e eruptions a nd central volcanoes within the act ive rift zo ne and the flexure
o f the olde r basalts in the lIank ing regio ns. From Sucmundsso n ( 197<1)
 D1VEflGENl (E Xl~.N SIONAL) I I.C I ON IC IlH ilM ES
Vo ight , I\)HI ) indica tes l WO ma in orien ta-
tio ns . one NN E -SSW pa ra lle l to the IOC,1 !
tren d of dykes an d fa u lts, an d the ot her a
b road E - W sys te m ra nging from 07(f 10 1:'100
in tre nd T hc NN E-SS W syste m is inte rpre ted
as extensio nal fractures (i ndicat ing about (l.·n:,
ex tension ) a rising from th e stress field respo n-
sib le for the nor ma l fa ulting a nd d y ke Injec-
tio n . T he E- W set o ccu rs nc ar t he edges of the
active zon e a nd indicates a reo rie n ta t ion of the
active st ress fie ld , IS th e cr us t moves away fro m
the acti ve zo nc. S: racrures a ru intC I"f'~l(,,(~
s the u.~ . u h o f hcrmcetnsn stresses u uc u.
(JOling a mi indica t ex te nsion 0 1 the o rd r I"
'N
Fuca l m ech anism so lutiolit';of ea rt hqua kes in
this N E -SW zo ne g ive un ifo rm hor izo n ta l
lea st ~l re.'''i .. xes o rie nted NW_S i . Since the
pla te bound ar y here h as an E N E - WSW s tr ike ,
these e xte nsion al zo nes ar e e n-ec helon zo nes
of norma l ex ten sion dc f ning an obliq ue s pread -
ing ridge on th e rcgiona! scale . North and
south o f this section , th e sp re adi ng d irec tion
coinc ides with the di rection of extensi o n in the
normal way .
4._ Con tinen ta l rir s
The clas sificatio n a nd o rigin o f co nti ne nta l rifts,
has bee n a subject of gre at debate a nd co n-
tro ve rsy for m;m y d ecades . A n um be r of
symposia ha ve b een d e vot ed to the topic in
recent years (c. g. Ne u mann and Ra mbe rg ,
1978; l ilies , lIJRI ; Pubnaso n. 19X2; a nd Mo rgan
and Bake r , IIJH3). Some we ll-kn o wn rift sys-
tems, for exam p le the fri can- Red Se " .a.Gulf
c t den systcm. I h ~ Hhine Ruhr SYS(CI I
Gslo graben . h Haik ul ft , an d t N.io
G rande ri f h ave bee n st ud ied in great det ail.
A p rima ry classifica tio n of cu rre ntly ac tive
rifts wo uld a tte m pt to s ub d ivide the m into
those repr ese nting usu ucnv pial bou
danes , and t . " Ihal a intraplat Ho we ve r
this subd ivision is not as clcn rcut as it seems.
since many a ppare ntly in traplate rifts h ave
been inter p rete d as resu lt ing d ire ct ly o r in-
directly fro m pl a te bo u nda ry p ro ce sse s , a nd
some are d irect ly con nec te d with plate boun -
dar ics a ltho ugh t he y do 11 01 themselves fo rm
plate boundaries . Certain of t he la tter ty pe o f
con tinenta l rif ts prov ide goo d evi d e nce as to
the nat u re o f the p ro ce sse s of in it ia tio n of
construc tive bo u ndar ies in co nrinentn l litho -
sphe re . iee (i ulf I d e rift ·s loJ
I ~l l l a.:li ":tlnslH ~ t i\/cltr ans forlll pial
u nuary wh ich Iin kli with th e Indian O ce a
;JKI: YlllClll cl:UU plov ide;:s H m odern a nalogue
-.,1 h lit sys te m wluct es uhed in th b rea k'.
'u p uf l)ilO!!aca. T h is rift sys te m is d iscusse d in
d ct ui l hclnw. Exa m ina tion of the pa ssi ve co n-
tinenta l ma rg ins of t he A tlan tic a nd Ind ia n
Oceans prov ides su ppo rting evi de nce for th is
process .
Equally clea rly, m,my ap pa ren tl y in tr a pla te
rifts ha ve existed ove r lo ng pe riod s o f geolog i-
ca l lime without o pe ning to fo rm ocea ns, T he
Bai ka l a nd Africa n rifts arc e xamples o f such
structures tha t a re cu rren tly aelive . 1e BailLiI
rift tJri!iina ll'l ! in ('rl' I,Ken us IIIn \: . ( Logatc hcv
I
et IIf. • liJ7x a nd Ihe E ilst Afric a n n fls n the
1illl:cn (Ba ke r /'1 al., 1( 72). P reS("n1ly ill"
nih.li... ift !!ouch ell th ' r.~ lilian O slo gra ben
lid th e- Nort h Se ; b asin eibvio usly ne ve r mad e
the tran sit ion to constructive bo unda ries , ;11-
thn ugh appreciable e xte ns ion to ok place .
T he .fuj/~tJ arm; )f rift tr iple j u nctio ns a rc au
importa n t class of rifl lirst reco g nized by tiurk
a nd @ ( llJ73), w ho sugges ted tha t enn
rin ntal lin"n t oo rlac h_ the joining
tUltelhe;: 0 p ai rs { rifts from eujacen triple
J U lkOl lUi lS l O l in ~n l i n uuuli bu t irreguta
. I - l r ~ l i\/ bn un d a r,- ( Figur e 4 .9). The rifts
tha i we re no t d e vel oped in the ev e ntu a l sp rea-
ding be came ' fai led a rm ' g rabe n, o r IIltu'ugell.
(Shatsky. 1\)55). ~ e h rifts . a ltho ug h struc-
tu ra lly a nd genet ica lly li nked to the pl ate
bou nd a ry . a rc no t p art o f it. A geed e xa m p le
01 u ;lluIIH.'t' ge n i th e Benue trough in w est
lri C3 1 Fig ure 4. 11: Burke an d Dewe y, IlJ73) .
The Nige r triple ju ncti o n deve lope d in th e
C re taceous pr io r to the opening of th e So ut h
Atla nti c . Th e ot he r two r ift s d e ve lop ed into
the A tla n tic Ocea n whil e th e Bc nue t rou gh
beca me a fa iled arm .
St ruc tu ra lly. a rift is essen tially an el o ngat e
do w nfaultcd b loc k or gra ben . Ho we ve r , majo r
[<uJ>,..,' ~ " .
84 GE01.0G ICAL STlW CrU IU,S AND \l OVING 1' 1.1\ 1lOS

, ,
A
-- .;::.. ,
,="::;:,,,olktJline
~- - , magmatism
,
( ,€-
.i
.v-=- c~'.<aLlnE'
" '
,. --:- . . , ...r ocks,
,
't. d~:ro

)
, , .-1
~
,nft -- - ~=
, ~
- ".:="'\
ocean / -=nv€'r !IO'Ning
• , dowo toned or m
.conhreot
- ,
~-
' ;'=/ . ,
,l . . sh~,f ..., ,
, ,

~V ~break
,
, - - ,
, ridge
\ n~E' , ,

troostorm ~

,
"/ ,
- ,
,

, , ,
,
, h- ,
,
~ ,
,
-
t'ij!;u rc 4.9 D i" " r'" 11 illu, t, ,,ting Ihe cil fly stage.. . ,If brcav -up or
C<ln lmc nla l lo llu" l' hcrc In fO\l11\ a n ' I<:C'lIl T he fa ilure o f the
crus j, <Illflhutcu l<l IUl l ,,!!c of triple ·ju nctio n rifl ,y'lcm, , ' IU<l tcu ove r hu' '1'''1' lu.;gul«nll n in the p"''''''': co ntine ntal
ma rgin so formed arc p': lp, -lu,,' ..:, 1 ", lf~ n, foflll " ffS<: h III Ihe oc ean ,if! system. 'F"i1c' ,J- M Ill ' nfl, .nc prc,crvcu on th e
ClJIlI;nc nl,.I 'll" rgi", Fr"lIl Bur ke "lid Dewey ( 1973)

rifts co mpr ise eu mplc .·l cm~ u e ten. ion." those o f oc e a n rid ges and are explai ned in
{Hulk. . and exhibil 'ismi eotceni.. a nd di te rms of a re gio n of low- de nsity ma ntle mat e r-
m ClIlar ylc aturc tha t a rc dir ect ly re lated 10 the ia l, whic h has been te rmed the iJln ,
prima ry ex tension a l st ruc ture. Ho rizon tal e x- co rre la ting with high heat How . T his pillow
te ns io n is th e ref o re fun dame nta l to all rifts . unde rlies t he r ift an d o fte n su pports a n uplifted
a lt ho ugh in ma ny cas es the am o unt o f e xte n- pla te a u o r do me in the nan king regio ns.
sion ma y be q uite sma ll {arou nd IO'X, fo r t he Associa te d vulca nici ty is highly va riable bo th
Rhi ne a nd Bai ka l rifts fo r exa mple ). AU ritt. in ty pe a nd amoun t . So me rifts e xhibit ve ry
t:Xhibi an om aluu s cr usta e and 1JPPC ni ~n,l l!l­ lill ie vulcan icity while in o t her s vo lcan ic roc ks
plOfliCtl. usually inte rpret ed as the re sult of a rc a bunda nt. Ma~mati:.lU is tj'picull Pt·
cr ustal and/or lithos phe re thinning a nd e xte n- mudal wuh ooth a lkali basalt h olit • nl!
sio n , o r asthcnosph cr ic d ia pirism. Th e geo- lhok iil h )ohl~ magma rics ~in g pre'
physica l c baructcrisrics ar c ve ry sim ila r to ' n h:u In ma ny rifts . the vo lcan ic ro cks
 DIV HUiEKI ( L:X r EN SION A L ) I ECl Ol" lC Io:LGI MLS
• . )111 .. l\: '" IS; 19b ' . t,; Ot W ;ly trulII t he-rilt
i: The re is usuall y a com p lex se q ue nce o f
e vents inv olving sc vc rul episo d e s o f fault ing
and vulca nism .
Many riflS m e asso eialcJ wit h IHo"J JOIn ,,1
uplift s as sugges ted hy the Bu rk e a nd Dewe y
model , h ut the re a rc arg u men ts as to wh ether
these ar c ,I con se que nce or ,I cause of the
rifling , o r whe the r both ar c as pec ts of a more
Iund ar ncnta l J n vlllg me cha n ism . A ccord ing to
Bur k • ,.IUd D ewey ( 1"J7.'ij. It£b;ureini tialc o 0CI0 a
ro ult of m an uc pl umes u tliapi r.t. wh ich
produce bo th th e d om es and the vulca nicity . In
lhis model , th e rifts arc a co nse q ue nce of t he
initial m a nt le upwelling. Suc h r ifts ha ve be e n
termed ·IIl'lIItlc"m;tiv'llec.l by . mdic tl( 19H2) .
Howeve r m,11l Y rills do nOI lit this mo d e l. A n
alternativ e lI10J C of origin is w here the ri ft IS
prod uced ent irely , IS a result of lithospher e
extension. The con di tio ns neces sary for com-
plete c xtcn sionu! fai lu re o f th e litho sp he re
were d isc usse d in 2.7 . lt appe ;1fs nuu such
conditio ns C01l1 re ad ily be me t . panicufu rl y a t
times of UIl U.Sl 1011 plate contig umuons wh en
continental in traplat e ex tensiona l stress would
he ill a m axi mum . Su ch a pe riod mu st hav e
preceded the b rea k-u p of l'un gacu . whe n that
supercontine nt was surro unded h y subduct ion
zones . thu s m ax imizi ng the po tenti a! effec t o f
the subducti on -suction for ce (sec 2.5 ). E xtra
mantle heat source s ma y no t have been ne ces-
sary for failure to occ ur , a lthough fail u re
would pre ferentiall y o ccu r in wa rmer , yo u nger
orogenic crust rathe r t ha n in th e co o le r sh iel d
are as. Rif ts o riginati ng in this way arc termed
, · thus p hC t C-al: l i v ll l c d '~hy Cond ie ( 1\)1';2 ). Clear -
ly such rifts . o nce formed, will produce litho-
sphere thinning and volcanism a nd rmg fu
. ;11
c;;;;:::;:;~~%;;;:::::=:::;:
:= z-, ~ =---
t,__---
....
(0 I fbi
ev olv e in to o ceans if the stress co nd itio ns were
app rop riat e (sec 2.7 ).
T hese IWO fu ndamentall y diffe rent types of
rift may he distin guished most e asily in the ir
initia l stages . Plumc-gcucrarcd rifts ought to
co m m e nce w it h doming , a nd sho u ld e xhib it
abundant vulcani cit y from the earlies t stage s .
Str ess-gen erat ed rift s , on the o ther hand ,
shou ld comm en ce w it h grabe n a nd basi ns o f
scdirncntarion . and de velo p vulcan icit y a t a
later stage ( Figu re 4. 10). Some authors have
used the terms uno . to d e -
sc ribe the mannc-gc nc rare d and lithosphe re-
ge nerated type s respectively (Scngor a nd
Bu rke , 197H). H o we ve r , this terminology be gs
the q ue stio n o f wh ich mechanism is m o re
' ac tive ', an d is the refore con fusi ng . F urt he r-
more , the classificat io n cut s across th e more
w id ely used subdivision between c u rre nt ly
act ive and c urren tly inactive l1.r ' fossil' rifts t ha i
have be en activ e in the pa st.
~) me acti ve rifts fall e as ily into one_0!:Jlthe r_
of thcsc cat.:gmic s . T he I ~ a s t A fr ican rift sys te m
for exam ple , with its ahundnn t vu lcanicit y .
a lt ho ugh e xhib iting extensional stress loca lly ,
e x i ~ l s within a con ti nenta l plate in a sta te of
gene ra l compression (sec Figur e 2.2 1). At first
s igh t. therefore . this rift is a good ca ndid ate fo r
the mantl e-generated ca te gory. Ho wc ve r , " ..;
we s ha ll se c bel o w. the E ast African rif1 IS
connected viii the Afar triple junct io n with th e
Red Sea -Gu lf o f Aden con struct ive plate
bo unda ry . a nd th e whole netw or k need s 10 he
co nsid ered in ilS e ntir ety . Moreo ve r , t he sta le
of st ress al the time of initi a tio n of th e rift
syst em may be ver y diff er e nt 10 t he p re se nt
o ne.
Mantle -ac tivated rifting requires either sub -
" 'i j:llrc " .10 M,"kl, IH U"r<l llll g lWO orr ,,,,cll
e- rnCl'hJl1i,m, for s,' ncr" l' "g rifl' . ( tI) TIll' litho-
~l'hcrc 111l11 1\('u hy m;llllk l"tulVCc li" n. wilh
rc'ulli ng c rustal d"ming JI1U T1 f1 U1g. (bl ' P"",ivc'
II\JCCl llll1 of " ' l hcll ' ''' p hc ril" m.uc nat to t he h,,'e
<If the cru,t ("nOW"l !; e X ll' lt~i" n,, 1 lurlu rc uf l he
co ntine nt a l lithosphere From T UfCO llC ~nd
Emcrmcn ( I'JS.\l
R6 G FO LOG ICA L $TR UCT UIH:S AN D MOVIN G l' IA TES
li thospheric thin nin g (rcr osio n') or the em-
placeme nt of an astbc nosphc ric d iapir within
the lithospher e, preferabl y spreading alon g the
base of th e crust for maxim um ef fect ( Figur e
4. lOh ) . It has been argued that th e diu pir
mech anism IS more efficient an d th at the
th inn ing mechanism involves too long a time-
scale (Tu rcotte and Em crman , 1983; Marc -
schal, 19R3). Neu gebauer (1983) has sum ma r-
ized th e stages in the dev e lopment of a rift
generated by suc h a mec ha nism. Th e initiation
of the rift requ ire s a sma ll pe rtu rba tion in the
inve rted de nsity inte rface at the base o f the
litho sphe re . T his per tu rba tion cau ses a sur face
uplift w ith a wavelength o f around 500 km for
reason able valu es of cr ustal a nd astbeno sphc ric
viscosit ies. When th e amplit ude of the pe rt ur-
bat ion s rea ches a critica l level , th e o ve rlying
layers a re defo rmed a nd the c rus t is thinned .
At this stagc , th e evolutio n o f th e rift becomes
more rapid . T he diupi r, no w fo rme d , rises at its
maxim um rat e (c.5 km / Ma ) a nd is acco m-
pa nied by mo re rap id a nd exte nsive crusta l
thinni ng a nd hig h-le vel rifting. Volc anic ac ti-
vity ma y no w co mme nce . Eve ntua lly the diupir
loses its . buoya ncy d ue to coo ling, when the
supply of ne w low -d e nsity m at erial dimi nish es.
A t thi s stage t he influence o f the ma ss exc ess
abo ve the dia pir , ca used by the volume of
so lidified volc a nics , pre vail s, ca using ba sin
subside nce a nd a ces sation of vulcanism.
The Baikal and hine rift ha ve bee eoe-
llicJereU.lililil active exam ples of th lithmphe re-
generated I YfJC'I The y ar e int ra plate , exhibi t
o nly min or vu lca nic ity and arc assoc iated in
the ir e a rly stag es with sed ime nt ary basins
( Loga rcbcv et at., 1978 ; lilies , 1978) .
Th e state of stress with in the Eurasian plate
at th e tim e of initiat ion of thes e rifts ca n on ly
he guesse d at. but it is not unre aso na ble to
envisa ge a sta te of ge ne ra l E - W ex te nsio n that
woul d be re placed in the we"! by co mpress io n
when th e No rt h At lant ic ridge bro ke th ro ugh
between Br itai n a nd Gree nla nd in t he e a rly
Ge noeoie. These rifts the re fo re co uld possib ly
be asc ribe d to stress ge ne ra tion, since the y
we re initiat ed in late Mesozo ic ( Ba ika l) to
ea rly Ce no zoi c time ( Rhine ). H o we ver se ve ra l
a ut ho rs a rgue for sp ecia l kine ma t ic facto rs in
th e initia tio n o f th ese rifts."Ur -onsidc rs tha t
. 1 onh u . m pr~iu re sul ting fro m
the A lpin e co llision W<l S a ma jor con tributory
fact or in th e o rigin o f th e R hine rift . and e ar ly
Eo cene co llisio n between Ind ia and the Lhasa
bloc k may have ha d a sim ilar eff ect in the
Baika l init iation . T he R hine rift is de scri bed in
de ta il be lo w.
Ma ny rifts s ho w evi de nce of parti a l co nt rol
by lines of structural wea kness. T his is pa rt i-
cu larly e vide nt in the Af rica n rift syste m,
wher e the Ea st A frican rift co mmonly parall els
the trend of Preca mbria n mobile belt s a nd
follows the bo undaries of the older cra to ns.
Simila r e xa mples ca n be see n in th e line of
o pe ning of th e Atl an tic. wh ich in se ve ral places
follo ws th e trend of o lde r oroge nic be lts (e g.
t he Ap palachia n be lt in N . A me rica a nd th e
Pan -African belts in Af rica a nd So ut h A me rica .
T his struc tura l co ntro l is ne ve r co m plete how-
e ver , und nfts a lso loca lly cross-c ut previou s
str uctu res, sho wing the influen ce of their ow n
st ress fie ld . Fai lure along pla nes of weak ne ss
with suitable orie ntatio ns wou ld be expected
wit h e ithe r o f th e principal mec ha nisms of
format ion .
.DIne )' , .of rih ~\'~I\)I) 'I mvergem
pllit · u UlliJarie. o n contine ntal erma and are
dlcrl$[or Bila lol!.ou IQ th e bec k-e r exten-
sional pmv1nc~ found n n oceani crust. Th e
best -kno wn e xam ple of this ty pe o f prov ince is
the Basi n-a nd-Ra nge province of t he weste rn
USA . whic h is discussed la ter. Riftin[!: i
II a~odatcd wit co llisiona l bo unda ries.
-atthou gh in Ihi~ ens fhe iff. re mnmll,.
....1i~lleU pe rpend icula IU th e plat e unda
Exa mples of such str uct ures north o f the
Hima la yas a rc des cribed by Mol na r and Tap-
pannie r (1978) who asc ribe t he ir forma tio n to
the stre ss fie ld ge nera ted by the co llisio n (see
54 )
T wo e xam ples of c urre nt ly activ e intra -con -
tinen ta l rift syste ms will no w be e xamine d in
more deta il: the Rhine an d Afr o-Ara bian rift
syste ms. T hes e e xhibit con trast ing prope rt ies
in so me respects but nei ther ca n be co nvincin g-
ly classified into e ithe r ma ntle-ge nera ted o r
 D IVl:!l (; I'N I (E X H. NSION,\ L ) IIOCro NK" 1l:~;GIME S
lithosphere- gen erated typ e s . In this , , IS in oth er
respe cts , they ca n probably be re garded :JS
fairly typ ical.
T he we ll-known rifts of East Africa arc pa rt of
a much larger re gion a l sys tem tha t e xte nds
across Cent ral Africa to th e west to link u p
with the A tlantic O cea n on one side, and
e mb races (he Red Sea -G u lf of Aden plat e
boundary on th e o the r ( F igur e 4.11). T o the
south . th e two ma in brunches 0 1 me EaS!
African sys te m join an d co n tin ue southward s
to mee t th e In d ia n O cean at Bcira . in Moza m-
biquc . Associate d with these rift s ale thr ee
, ,
• SU"l rills. f' l '1ll<J 1'2 arc the f'" k s "r ''I t,cIUH1
" for the A rJh lJIl INlIbi"l1 '1I1 <J Ar " bi'luIS"ln,!i·
BT
o
'.1
"
~m
l -_ _~I
X7
md.Jut uilldi. uplift- tha i h ave bee n lllaJor
eem res of alk.dinc vulcmirily s ince the Minta
-ecu EJhiupi_. '*
n. • an d I>;'trhl fl re spcc -
lively , Northwe st o f Da rfur a rc tw o other
ce ntres, at Ti bcsu and Hogga r. that do not
a ppe a r to he dir ectl y lin ked wi th the ma in nft
ne twork. A ccor d ing to Fai rhead (1976 ) , t he
Eth iopian and Kenya dcma l upl ifts a rc th e
focal point s fur the vo lca n ism of the rift
syst e m . It IS in these a rea s th at t he lit ho sp he re
has und ergone the g rea tes t amount of th in -
nill g. G eoph ysica l ev ide nce suggests th at with -
III th e dom al up lifts , the cr ust a wa y fro III th e
rift s is of norma! th ickne ss hut is u nd erl a in by
ho t . low -de nsity man tle ma te rial with an ornal-
ou sly low se ismic ve loci ties wi th in (he upper
Fil:ur c 4.t l M"in d ""' "nl s "f I n" A fm -
A r"h,an r i ft ~y~le m . liT, Bellu" 1«lugh. NI C
Ng""" n<.k re : A G , All u G ahl" , W I~ , wc!'> le rn
E. A lrtc.m . EIC eas te rn Eo Arrie-m ; G A.
G ull " f A<J ~" . RS , R~'d S<:" ;md GS , G ulf <>1
ia n pl.uc mov ements rcxpccuvcty . Alter
Girdtcr ;md D,,, r'lcn H ( t972)
\0 00
(00
( 20)
( 40 )
88 G I:O LOGlCAL ST RL:cn'; RfS AN I) MO VING I'I.i\ l ES

50 kill o f the mant ic (Gass et a!., 1978 ) , indica -
ling tha t as the nospheric mate rial has bee n
e m place d <I t rel a tivel y sha llo w d ept hs .
The Kenya OT E U.I//: '-" Rift
The st ruc tu re of this rift is su mmarized by
Baker and w ohlc nberg (197 1). T he r ift ex-
le nd s fro m T a nz a nia, whe re it joins the West-
e rn Rift . to the Re d Sea ,H the A fa r triple
j unction in Ethi op ia . It c rosses the Ke nya
d om a l u plift. which is e llip tica l in pla n a nd
abou t I OOOkm in length " long i ts maj or axis
par allel 10 the rift . It had a maximum heig ht
of 1400 m d uring the l ate Pliocene to m id-
Plci-aoccn c .
T he maj o r faults of th e Ke nya rift zone
(Figure 4 . 12A ) defi ne a co mplex branch ing
graben str uctu re wit h an ove rall N - S tre nd .
al thou gh individual faults a nd g ra be n segme nts
ge ne ra lly strike N NW- SSE or NNE-SSW .
T he well-de fined cen tral gra be n (the 'G regory
rift') rr.rve rses the e llip tica l uplift and , al its
nor the rn an d so uthe rn e nds, is re place d h y less

ETHIOPIA Fle un- 4. 12 tAl Sl fUCIUfC' or Ih ~ KC' '' y,1 rifl

l" IIC ~ h<l", i"l: LIllII I';rUc rn ,tlll i fk~ u r ~ 1

" 11!;lrt:iu, I" lhc n il C" " ' ''u rs inJi calt
.11\\''' 1111 " I ~ 11 1_'1,, 1 tll,lift since rbc l11i J·
Cc'''''''' ,,' 101 kd From B ;r~ e r .U1d W" hlen-
hef t: ( 1'J711

".' lol. ,.,.,d t"<11

.. f1•• u...

/
~ l . ob4M" . ub-
"Ue><. n. ... <>don
. ..rtoc. _t..l

o 20 WI CO 80 100 lol l
,
I ,' , " f "
o 40 ' 0 120 ,.
,.

A
 ])IV E RG I,N I (t:Xn;:r-; SION AI. ) TECTO NI C II. I'.G].\j ES 89
' 00

o
-600
-10 00
- IZOO
-14 0 0 ,"
· 160 0

-- . 160 0
· 2000
l <>'" ",'I>
,., .,....
. ... . . . ,,','. ' .....
No"".'" ~" Q~Q. "
',
', ' '
, 0
3 5Qf 37°E 36°E
"..221
0
n- '" 20
'" '0

,,. ,,. 60
s
'0
o~---'---"~OO om '00

B
Fi~u r~ 4 .1 ~ ( II ) Frn: ·,I IJ .lIld Il""gua !lr " vil y ; " h'lI1>ll ~ 1,,', ' lilc~ ;,( h,." I II( (;,~IC rn E. A fr ic"n n i l in K,'n y" . l"gClhc r wllh
an IlIlc rl' rl' I"I IV,· m"dd " l\ i,r~l ng l h,' gruvuy <!;Il" NOl " t h,' wide n: !l io n " r lhll ' lilh"'l'hl"" umlctlyiug l h( «;g i' '' I,,1 d"me
ano It", narrow r..: £,,,n " I' ;111< 1111" ' <>\1' <.ic' Il, ily iUll1l l'oi ,'ld y IInde'f lying thl' ritt . From l).IIr ao ,11 ctal, ( J')7.~)

well-defined broad de pression s ma r ked hy
splay.:£:mlt. The 111<1111 grab en is ClO - 70 km wide
and 7511 km long, und is bounded hy norma l
faults a rranged in a n e n-cc bcio u IM UCH Be -
tween the e nds of udjuc cut en -echelon fault s.
sloping ram ps de scend (rom the mar ginal
plateau x to the rilt 110m. Major fault escarp-
ments a rc preserved . runging up 10 2OtIO m ill
tM:;~ht . II '" eslllua ic u trom Ih ~ hi,,'kncl'o , u'
the ri tt till th at th e to tul tlUUWli un th e m:l.inrll
fault!'iO rnR. N.'- _ km . T he 110m of the graben
is cut by abundant young minor faul ts sub-
parallel to the gra be n wa lls.
Th e ea rliest rift -related structure is a mid -
Cenozoic (pre -Miocene) monoclina l fle xure
along the western rift tlank . D ur ing the Mio -
cene, e xte nsive vulcanicity occu rred . and the
first ex te nsive rift fau lts deve loped In the e a rly
Plioce ne . Voluminous vulcani cit y. of prcdo-
minarcl y alkaline affinity. c har acterized the
period from the Plioce ne to the prese nt day.
accompani ed by periodic fau lt move ments.
At lea st 5 km or c rusta l extensio n is required
to ex pla in the displacem e nts on the visib le
fault s. and th is figur e should perhaps he
doubled to tak e acco unt o f the co ncealed fau lts
bcnc.uh the graben floor. Th e a mount of
e xte nsio n IS too grea t to he e xplai ned as the
result of crustal dom ing alone .
Th rift dO!lcly folloW!!: in c -axis 0 1'3 re ~i() nil "
ncgauv iluu~uer Cl lloma l ~ ( Figure 4 .128)
interpre ted ot:). a ,I:d U or
-thin Inhos ph cr T he
gra vity data also sugges t the prese nce of a
narrow shallow cru stal body of dense mat erial
90 GEOL OGIC A L STRUCTU RES A N O MovI NG I' LATES
thought to re prese nt a wedge-shaped basic
intr usive mass don ut to k ill wid e a t its to p ,
reaching to J 500 m below sea -level. Focal
me chanism so lu tio ns of e a rthqua kes a lo ng the
r ift (sec Figure 2.22) indicate mainly W N W -
ESE to N W -SE ext e nsion .
If we assume IO k m o f crus ta l ext ension
ac ross the Ke nya rift since the Mioce ne , this
re prese nts a su ai n-nue of about 1O - 1.~/s . Fur -
ther north , 111 Ethiopia . the rift sys te m wid e ns
and the a ppare nt rate o f e xte nsio n is 3 -
S r nm/yca r. co rres po nd ing to a stra in-ra te of
about J x JO - 14/s across the 25 km-wide zon e
(Tr yggvason , 19H2). T his differe nce suggests
an i ncreasing rut e o f widen i ng to wards the
triple junction. The prog ressivel y more a lka -
line tren d of the vulc ani cit y fro m Ethio p ia 10
Kc nya sugge st s tha i tec tonic wideni ng ha s
p rog re sse d so u th wa rds ( Mohr , 19H2).
T he East African ri ft is linked across Centra l
Africa to two other doma l upl ifts, a t Darfur
and A damaouu . h y means o f two rifts: the
N W - SE Abu Gabru rift and th e NE -SW :
Ngaoundcrc rift (Fi gu re 4. 11: Browne an d
Fai rhc ad, 19H3) . The latte r pa ra llel s and is
lin ked with the Bc n uc trough , wh ich , accor-
d ing to Bur ke an d Dew e y (1973) , fo rms t he
failed arm of a t rip le junction with the p ro to -
A tlantic ri ft.
T he Ngaounde re and Abu Gabra riffs arc
subsid ing se d ime nt- filled trou gh s which have
be en active s ince the Cretaceous. T he sou th-
•
,,'
we st e nd o f th e Ng uo un dc rc rift crosses base -
ment ov e r the Adamaoua uplift , wh ere th e
ba se me n t struc tu re I S see n to be. a dextral sh e ar
zo ne o f rim-African age ( De Almeida a nd
B lac k , 1967 ) . Thi s zo ne ca n be. trace d in to
Brazil as the Pcm umb uca line a me n t. T h is
Preca m b ria n st ructure was rea ctivat e d in the
Lo we r C re taceous du ring the initial sepa ra tion
o f Sout h A me rica fro m Africa . Depositi on
o cc u rred u ntil SOMa ago wh e n it wa s te rmi -
nat e d by compres sive foldin g. T he line a me nt
was re -a ctivated agai n du ring the Cenozo ic,
whe n the basemen t uplifts we re fo rm ed with
thei r associa ted vulcanic ity . Faults pa ra llel to
the N gaoundc re rift show dex tral move ments
wit h a to tal d isplacemen t of 40 km .
The N W - SE Abu G a b ra rift consis ts of a
t Su km-widc trough filled with C re tace o us and
Cenozoic sed ime n t... , loca lly mo re t ha n 4500 m
thi ck . F au lting is pa rallel 10 th e trend of th e
rift , wh ich is co nsid ered to he p u rely c xrc n-
SiOlMI T he Cenozoi c tectonic movements on
th e Ce ntra l Af rica n rift sys te m <I re summar-
ized in Figure 4 .1.1 . Both rifts arc currently
aseism ic.
T o the north , the East Africa n rift is linked
wuh th e Red Sea and G ulf of Aden rifts at
th e Afar triple ju nc tion (Figu re 4.11) . T his
j u nctio n se p arat es th ree distinct plat es : th e
'ubiitu r main Alncan ). \.rabiH a nd
So malia plates . that <I re moving indc pc n-
d ently .
Fil:urc 4. 1.' Ar r"n geln cn l o f
rift ~ ,mJ volc ani c <.Jo rnes In
w est and Ce ntra l Alriea . T he
"no w indic ate s the infer red
drrccnon of o pe n ing of the
Abu G ah ra rif! and rd atcd
<.J e xlral shear ,do ng. the
Ngaoundcrc rift. Aft er
Browne '"10.1 Fnirh cnd ( I 'I~J) _
 D IVE IlG EN I (EX n:NSION flL) ( f C"I O NI C IlEGI M ES
T h C ulf 0 ~ Icn ( Fi gure 4.14) i . lm rw~
til oce an! nl!\\ , and co mme nced openin g
10Ma ago in th hu e·M iocen8 ( La ugh ton a ol.,
1 ~ 70 ) . Ab out 260 krn of co ntine ntal sepa ration
has ta ken place at an average rate o f about
2c m/yea r about a pole situated in NE Africa
(Figure 4. 11). Thi s rift re prese nts an extension
of the Carlsberg ridge In the NW Ind ian Occun
discussed in 3. 1.
T he Red Sea rift is also r too rcd by ocean ic
crust (G ird ler, 1(69) and the magne tic uno -
maly patt er n ind icat es an ave rage divergence
rate of 2 cm/ycar for t he last 3- 4 Ma. Both
the G ulf of Aden :JI1 d the Red Sea have
undergone sub side nce and volca nism since the
Cretaceo us.
Angclier ( 1985) pro vides a d etailed st ruct ural
analysis of the G ulf of Suez seg me nt of the Red
Sea rift syste m ( Figure 4. 11). T his area lies at
ARA BIA N PL A TE
>0"
t·igurt 4.14 Ma gnetic a no maly patter n ill the G ulf o r Ade n sho wing offsets alo ng tr a nsform Iaulrs pa f<l llel \0 the duection
of relative mo tion betw ee n the Ar abia n "od Somalia n pl.ncs . Slipplc:r! <lH':;'S s ho w no clea r patter n. Aller La ughto n 1"1 al .
( 1970) .
9]
the no rthw est en d o f the rift be tween the
Mediterranean Sea in the north and the G ulf of
Aqa ba -Dead Sea (tra nsfor m) rift in the so ut h.
Th e mai n structures trend NW - SE par allel to
the ori entation of the rift , and to the ax is of the
rn.un Red Sea rift . The flanks o f the rift co nsist
of blocks tilted at 5-35° away from the rift axis,
and bou nde d by large no rmal faults ma rk ing
the margins o f the main gra be n ( Figure 4 .15).
T here is no evide nce of the rift prior to the
Oligocene . Nor is there (lily ev ide nce o f pre-rift
doming in the plate aux bord er ing rhe rift .
Immediately pre-rift str at a o f Eocene age are
widespr ead III the axial zo ne .
Faull movements and limn ed tilting ,Ippea r
to have tak en place throu gho ut the Miocen e
and co ntinue to the present . Analysis of the
late Cen ozoic fault geo met ry indic ates a main
set of fau lts with a mean or ie ntat ion of 135-
J4()0 with minor se ts at mmo. 120° an d 155°.
Fa ult disptaccm cm s arc predominantl y norma l
dip -slip WIth a small dextr al compon ent. Frac -
,
,
55" 50°'
92 G EO l.OGICA I. Slll.UCrU RlS AND MOVING l'I .r\ f f.S

f,
f,

f, c

Fi li;urc 4. 15 Structur e of the G u l f 01 S U(l lifl. Ulo.;k ui"l;r" m, 11 - /1 show Ih e c ~ol u l " lI1 o t ;' 'Y ';[ CIll or lilled h h,eks
aCC"OlO m " u ;lting to gr;,u u<l lly mcrc usc d nlc ns l" n : (u ) lute O lof:uccnc -car ly Mioc en e ; ( h ) em ly Minn "oc ; (c) l1l,u·Mn'CCI1C;
(J ) Present . F l - J muic ,l1c succcss i...c gcucnnion-, o f faull s; f. ea rly conj ugate no rmal f;Iul! syste m ; I. c ady ' en sion lrac -
turcs; R, reefs : E. c vnpo ntc "",in, [ vcttica t ruling i" scc uon ): , I. se a level. Fro m Angeli c r (191':5 )

lures appear 10 have deve lop ed perpend icular
to bedding by pure ext ens ion an d [ 0 have bee n
Totaled duri ng block tilring , whe n {he di p-slip
moveme nts loo k place (Figure 4. 15). T he fau lt
geo me try ind icates an e xte nsio nal hor izontal
stress o rie nte d a t 045°. T he amount of e xton-
sion is esti mated ,II 20-30% . Estimates based
o n the a mount of subs idence (d. Mcken zie ,
197R) yield highe r va lues o f 45- 50'Yo ove r the
e ntire width of the 80 kill rift secti on . It is likely
tha t the fault reconstruction method unde r-
estima tes the e xte nsio n.
 [)! \ 'FlH. I r-. I ( I.Xlf. NS 10 NA I ) IrC IO:-IIC REGI M f.S
' \ , II/
Th e Af'ro-A r.rhinn nft system consists o f <l
net work of rat he r dlspar,lIe structures cunnc c-
ted with t he cu rrent plate boundar y sys le ll1
alo ng the (l u ll' of Ade n -R ed SC,I line . A I-
thu ugh mllst of the networ k di<;pl,lys cx tc n-
siena! structu res , Cither well-d efi ned gra l)('n or
swar ms o r e xtensiona l fault s . no t i1 11 o f t hese
arc or were act ive sim u ltaneous ly. and some
rifts ex hib it im po rta nt suikc -sfip co mp onen ts
o f mo ve men t. Pans o r the nf ne twork arc
intimate ly assoc ia ted with 1\1 ,11 01' domal lIpldt s
tha i ha ve bee n ,I fo cus of vulcanicity . T he mllsl
unp on nnt of the se a rc sllu <l ll'd in Ken Y;I.
Ethiop ia, Darf ur and Adumaouu, O the r vo l-
ca nic domal uplilt v a rc lo cal eel ur ' t'ibcsu .
ll 0gg,H a nd A ir. in Cen tral Africa .
T he re ,Ip pe :rr to have been th re e mai n
phases o r m ov em en t o n the rit l ne twork . The
initia tio n 0 1 th e sys te m see ms I II be e a rly
Cretaceous in age . a nd is relate d to the
open ing 0 1' th e A tlan tic O ce an vi,l th e u c nu c
trou gh ta iled ann . Cretaceous se d ime nta ry
bnsius o n th e \l te s o f thltt..:g 'll lulHlcre a nd Ab u
G ahra rifts. a nd in t he Red Sea ,1lid ("'; u ll' of
Ade n. suggests tha t a couun uous ne twork o f
exten sion a l bas ins ma y h,l\'C e xi- te d rbcn .
linking the n pcnlllg Atlantic a nd Ind ia n
Ocea ns with the Te thys Oce an . E thio pi a an d
Ken ya we re c bn rncrc rizcd by u p lift al t hat
time .
Th e secon d maj o r pha se of ac tivity com -
rncnccd in the Luc Eocene with th e initiat ion o f
the Red Sea rift. This was followe d in t he late
Oligoc ene - e a rly Miocene by the G u lf (If
Aden an d G u lf o f Sue z rifts . and ill the la te
Mioce ne hy the East African rift s. T he latte r
develope d o n t he site of the maj or vo lca n ic
do mes of E thio pia a nd Ken ya . At thi s lime
also ( IOMa 1.1 1' ) , ocea n-floor sp read ing com-
mcuccd in t he Red Sea a nd G ul f of Ade n , and
the pr ese nt p la te mo vement pa tte rn wa s iniria-
led . T his k ine ma tic pa ttern p rod uces e xtensio n
acro ss th e East A fr ican rifts with im port a nt
seismic acti vit y , bUI no se ismicnlly d e tect able
movement o n t he A bu G abra or Ngaoundc rc
rifts.
93
In th e a rgu men t as to wh et he r the rift sys te m
is lit ho sph e re - or stress -generated . il is impo r-
tout to o bse rve t hat th e ba<;is o f the e xte nsio na l
ne two rk wa s in exi st en ce in the Cretaceo us.
be fo re th e maj or volcanic cen tres we re fo rm -
e d U ndo ub te d ly in Ea st Africa th e rift is
ge ne tic a lly re late d to , a nd pos t-dates. the
vo lca nic do me. T h is rift milY t hus he sa id to be
tit bo-phc re-gc ncr ated. Ho we ver in the co nte xt
of th e ne twor k as a wh o le , th e location o f the
dom ul up lifts is likel y to he controlled by the
ear lier , pr oba bly stress-gene rated . zone s o f
fa ilu re a nd wea kn ess .
J ' fWI ir
The R hine rift sys te m ( F igu re 4 . ]()) is o ne o f
the be st -kno w n a nd inte nsive ly studied e x-
arnplcs o f cu rre n tly Clive ext en 10n <1 1 rift . A
s tudy by !llit.."S a nd G re inc (] 97H) sum ma rizes
the tecto nic evo lut io n of the Rhine gra be n an d
rw .llc !II il h II ' de vel opment o f h Al flint'
"lruJ!l' n . Te cton ic act ivity in the R hin e sys te m
"ppe ar s to ha ve commence d in t he Uti e
'a~lu hum ' I M a • g , wh ich coi nci de d
with th e in it ia tio n o f co mp rcssiouul dcf or rnu-
tion in t he A lps . Riflin ~ n mh;u h",iJ cm.'e: 1 u ....
..~ JUI-in101o Iii Eocen !nO Oligocene us th
~ Ipj n 'um rrc~,i\ll lal dcrurm aIJUI~onlin ue d-,
rc nchin g its cl ima x at the Eoccn e - Dligoccne
bou nda ry . In t he mid- M iocene 10 e a rly Plio -
cene , e xte nsion a l ac tivity app ears to ha ve
decrea sed as the A lpi ne co nve rge nce slo we d
down . to be replaced b y re gio na l epei roge nic
u p lift. In id -PIi n<Tn 1m , h ti n ht"t:lme
citt.·livHtc J.-.!)Ut Ih sense n f mo ve meu c han
,~--J IUJU_ ~h:nsitJml l In ini o;l ml lIh~jt; . T h is
p hase is tho ug h t to ha ve lasted fo r the last
4 Ma .
Th e prese nt stress fi e ld has bee n th orough ly
in vesti gat ed using th e ovc rco ring techniq ue
fo r in-sit u s tress d et e rmina tio n (se c 2.6). Stress
magn itude is calcu la te d as e xcess max imu m
horizo n ta l co m pressive st ress ove r the h yd ro -
sta tic value. an d var ies from - 0. 3 to about
36 M P<l. Lo w va lues (c.2 MPa ) c haracte rize the
fore la nd (i.e . th e rift re gio n ) , and hig h va lues
th e A lpine be lt . T he p att e rn o f stress orie nta -
 a G EOL.OG ICA I. .Sl Il UCl U Il ES l'I.A I ES

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 D1V[ KG ENI ( EXH ; NS IO NA l. ) -11::( T O N I C K I::GI M ES
uon (Figu re 4 .l oH ) ind ica tes a ge ne ra l NW -
SE -L1irecte d 0 1 both in t he Alps a nd across the
Rhine rift. T h is di rection is ob liq ue to th e rift ,
which tre nd s ar OJ 5° in its sou the rn sec to r. an d
is dea rly res po nsib le fo r th e current si nis tra l
mov em en ts.
The fau lt pa ttern is co m p lex ( Figu re 4. 16A1.
Most of the ac uvc fa ult s in the g ra ben st ri ke
abou t 170"'. A rel a tivel y si m ple o rthogo na l se t
o f NW -SE a nd NE -S W no rma l fau lts o u tside
the rift cha nge to a co mple x patt ern o f b ran ch-
ing fault s , cu rv ing fro m NE - SW , pa rall e l 10
the rift , into a N -S tren d , ind icat ing a sinis-
tral s hea r com ponen t. Dip-slip d isplaceme n ts
occu r o n bo th syn t hetic and anti thetic fault
sets. indica ti ng ex te nsion in a n EN E- wsw
direction co ns iste nt with th e trend of (J I ' At
runny localities, for me r d ip-slip fa ult s p ar a lle l
to the grabe n have be e n o ve rp ri nt ed by ho ri-
zorual suckcnsid c st ri<l tions ar isin g from the
more rece nt si nist ral mo veme nts ( Mullcricd .
1921). Fa ult -pla ne sotu rions o f recen t ea rth-
qu akes indica te a n obliq ue si n ist ra l shea r
mec ha nis m with an ove rt h rus t compone nt
(A ho rner, )1)75 ) . A ho rnc r calc ulates the scis-
mic slip ra te p a rallel to the graben axis 10 be
about 0. 05 rum /year .
The northe rn segmen t of th e rift sys te m ,
northw e st o f F ra nk furt , is cha rac te rize d by a
NNW-SS E t re nd . He re a b und ant ne ot ec ton ic
norma l fa ul ts para llel to the t re nd o f the rift
show di p-s lip mo vemen ts hut there is no
con tinuou s g rabe n fea ture . T h is bel t e xte nds as
far as Arn he m, wh ere it is obscu red by a lat e
Qu ate rn a ry d epressio n bord ering the No rth
Sea (Fi gure 4. 16A ). Th is dep ression lin ks with
the bur ied ce nt ra l No rth Sea g ra be n whi ch was
active in the Me sozo ic (sec 7.3).
Th e rif t sys te m ha s u ndergo ne co nsidera ble
vertic al mo vem ent. Depre ssion during the
Pleistocene , fo r exa m ple, re ach ed a maxim um
of 380 m . Ho we ve r th e rift is a lso a ssoc iat ed
with a region al u pwar p, form ing raised bord e rs
to the g rabe n. Pe b ble a nal ysis o f co ng lo mc r-
ales From t he rift va lley fill indicat es tha I
upwarping e vo lved simu lt a ne ously with th e
main stages o f graben su bs ide nce .
T he ge o physical evi de nce indi ca tes a th inned
95
crus t (' .24 km) with in th e graben . T he d ee p
struc tu re . toge th er with gr avity an d he a t-flow
data , arc inte rp reted as a n ex p ressio n o f a
mantle diapir whi ch fi rst pr oduced th e e ar ly
volca nic p hase of t he syste m, beginning about
IOO Ma lIP, a nd was foll ow e d by t he te cto n ic
effec ts assoc ia ted with the extension .
Kusznir and Park ( 19H4) ha ve d isc ussed t he
Initia tion of t he R hine grubc n in terms o f t he
exte nsional strengt h of t he lit ho sphere d u ring
the initi ation o f the rift. Using t he ir mat he -
mat ica t mo del , a nd the heat Ilow of 73 m W
m - 2 me asu red for the rift think s (se e Table 2.2)
the y calcula te th a t a n c xrcnsio na t stress 0 1" c.
IOMPa wo u ld he req uir ed 10 in itiate th e
rifting . The origin o f the e xte ns ion is lik e ly to
be relat ed 10 t he ge neral la te C rctacco us -.
Palaeoc ene e xte ns ion precedin g the break -up
of La ur asia (d. Bolt and Kus z nir . 1984) a t a
lim e wh e n th e su percon tine nt was sub jecte d to
extensional subduct ion-suct io n fo rce s o n al l
sides (sec F igure 2. 15) . Th e effect of th e N -S
Al pine co llisio n is sugges ted hy Wics and
G reiner as a n impo rtant fact o r in the initia tio n
of t he rift T h is e ve n t , ho weve r , is mu ch la ter
(in Eoce ne-Oligoce ne tim e) tha n t he initi at io n
o f the c rusta l e xte ns ion , but ma y hav e con-
tr ibut cd 10 the in iu ano n o f the ac tual rift
featu re .
. '( h.' n.~ lU lI al pru,·in cl,'s OIl ("ullvc rgt'n
htmnda.-jC'S
It ma y see m at first paradox ica l th at e xte n-
sio nal reg imes shou ld be associa ted with co n-
ve rge nt p lat e bou nd ar ies . J lo wc vc r we h a ve
seen (sec 2.5) that the effect o f the su bd uct io n
process. unde r ce rtain circ ums tances, is to
e xert a te nsio nal st ress on the pla le s o n eit h e r
side o f the su b duct io n zo ne , as first suggeste d
by bts (-IV7" .
E xte nsio na l tecto n ic reg imes fo rmed in thi s
Wil y arc found on bo th co n ti ne n tal and o ce a n ic
c rust o n the u pper s lab of t he su bd uc t ion zon e .
II has been suggeste d (see 5 . 1) th at th e a ng le o f
s ub duction is im po rta nt in dete rmining the
sta te of stress in the up pe r sla b, an d tha t
sha llow-d ip pi ng slabs a re assoc ia ted with co m-
 G EOLOGICAL STlWCTUR ES AJ'.;{)
pressional . an d Sl ee p with ex te nsional . stress. II
is im po rta nt [0 remem be r tha t the upper slabs
of su bd uc tion zones a rc th e sites of en ha nce d
he at no w assoc iate d with the p rodu ctio n o f
volcanic a rcs, an d th,tl much sma ller e xton-
siona ! stresses will be re q uired to p ro d uce
litho sp here fail u re tn the up pe r slab u nd e r
th ese con ditio ns T hu s, althou gh the c x tc n-
sien a! st ress gene rated by the subductio n p ro-
cess is a pplied eq ua lly to bo th plat es , on ly the
the rmally wea ke ned u p pe r p lat e will fa il T he
UlOl>t int e nsivel y tudic e xa mr l nf" con-
l ill"ntal extensional-tectoni re gime rel ated ('f
c uvc rgem p ial bo unda i Indlll lhtedl
th Uasin.oa nd -Kan!! rovinc C1 ' lh . l ~'-
liS wh ich we sha ll now e xa mine In so me
det ail
It' fin.HI/ -mll - Ufli l 'c' uovince
In the so uth , th is e xtensio nal tect onic province
(Figu re s 4.17, 4. 18) lies immed ia tel y cast o f th e
S a n A nd rea s fa ul t, wh ich mar ks the A meri can
p la te bou nd a ry. In nor th er n Cali fo rnia a nd
O re go n , th e province-ties c ast o f the Casc ades
vol can ic arc. T he Ca scad es cha in is re lated 10
the subduction zone marki ng the bo unda ry
be tween th e J ua n d e Fu ca a nd A merica n p lat e s
in the north . The prov ince is abo u t 1000k m
wide a t its ma ximu m in the no rt h , b u t narro ws
so ut hw a rds as it bends aro und the m ar gin of
the Colorado plat eau 10 lin k with the Ri o
G ran de rif t. T he p ro vince is char acte r ized by
t10llual hltll lin!!! . ismicilf \ h i~h helll lIow (c.
9OmWm - 2 (sec 2.3) a nd II high rcg ion a P'
elcvau on e
T he mode rn extens iona l str uc tu re is s u m-
ma rizcd by Zoqba ck, r t a ( JIJM l . lt co nsists o f a
line a r topograph y of elo nga te ra nges se pa ra ted
by basins filled with Cenozoic an d Q u ate rnary
te rre stria l sedi me nts. The ra nge b loc ks a rc
sp aced abou t 25-35 km apa rt from c res t to
crest, with in te rve ning basi ns lO-20k m in
wid th. T hus horsts a nd g ra ben a rc o f a p pr o xi-
ma te ly eq ua l dim en sion s. T his b loc k struc tu re
is co ntro lled by no rm al fa ult ing in res ponse to
a stress field with a E~ minlOlll
horizontal stress us .nmcateds 'J earthquak
novu-o "' LATIO S
Ioca mechnms tutin n - nd · n~i ",....,
U h:&iUf CJIlCUb (Zoback and ZOb'ICk, 19RO) .
A lignm e nt o f volc a nic feeder d ykes and de -
taile d fa ult slip d ata indica te that t he pre se nt
s tress sys te m was a lso cb.uactcnstic of the la te
Cenozoic ( Figure 4. 178 ) . T his stress field
a pp ea rs to be fai rly consta n t thro ugh o ut the
no rt he rn a nd so u the rn sec tors of the provi nce ,
an d co ntin ues into the Rio G rande rift. Zoback
et ul, (198 1) suggest th a t this mode rn exten-
sio na l struc tu re d eve lo ped ea rlier (c.]J M a Ill' )
in the sou th tha n in the north (L IO Mu 111') . A
co mpa rison of the stress orie ntation data with
the fau lt a nd topog ra phic tre nds sho ws th a t the
latter arc a pproximately pe rpe nd icula r 10 the
dir ect io n of exte ns io n in the no rt h , bu t oblique
in the sou th . Eaton ( 19KO) not e s th at the
sout her n pa rt o f t he p ro vince ind icates lo w
levels of seism icity compared wit h the north-
e rn, and suggests that the former sec tor is no w
la rgel y q u iesce n t struc tu ra lly . It is likel y the re -
fo re tha t th e o rie n ta tio n of t he stress fiel d ha s
cha nge d since the s truct ure of the sou thern
sector W :'IS initia ted .
Sei smi cit y is co nce ntrated in broad be lts
100- f50 km wide alon g the margins of th e
no rthern secto r, de lim itin g a relati vel y ase is-
mi c re gio n in the ce n tra l part or th e G re a t
Basin . Seism ic activity is concentrate d in th e
d e p th ra nge 5 - 16 km . M uch d iscu ssio n has
ccnlux.l un h p_mbh:n of il<' hi. bigh-lc vet
.uo fm.. l Iaul ex tensio n i acconunod a te d
der1h It now seems clear that , alt hough a fe w
fa u lts ex hib it listr ic ge o me t ry (i.c . a rc co nca ve
upwa rds) a t sha llo w dept hs of 4 -5 kr n, most
stee p faul ts wh ose geomet ry ha s bee n invest i-
gate d a t de p th co n tinue to di p un iform ly. The
pre va le nce of tilted blocks and the regio na l
co nsis te ncy o f lilt (S te wa rt , 1980 ) suggests that
1he xtensio n hall be n a ccornpbsh ed m a inly~'
~It Ijlt~ 10(; · mcchamsrn in th upper e rul'i4
4ie tachin~ on m aj o r1 n W'= angll.: d lsp c nrs'a
dc:pltu. o~ 1 km nd hus pa £il l i n~ he
britt pper-crust a t exte nsion Irom mor du
ul e fo rma tio n 1n th e towe recrus (We rnic ke,
19X1 ) .
T he amou nt of e xte nsio n of t he mod e rn
phase of d e for mation is estima ted by Zo back et
 r
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98 G EOLOGICA L ST RUCTURES AND MOVI :-lG PLATES

A
,.

o
N.SA ·« \ -\-7' L
4.5
/x;;r-.
. ~ ./
' . '. ~. ' CP
. R.GH
,,
,
-,
-,
,,
,
Fi~u re ~ .Ill ( II) "'1<Ip s ho wing dirc c ucns of Miocene e xtension deri ved fro m fault and tilted bloc k oricntanons wllhi n the
Basin-a nu-R" ngc provi nce (st ippled) . Numbers :llnng the subducuon zone [toothed line ) indicated limes (in Mil Ill') 01
Ccss:Jt,on tlf arc ,",olca nbm. ind;c" t;ng the co nlc mpm a ry end of lhe s ubJ uclio n 700<: , NBR. North . an<J SIlR . South . Basin -
and-Runge pro vInce; eR il , Co lumbia River basalts: SRI'. Snake Rive. platcuu: CP , Colorado plateau; RG R, Rio Gr ande
rift. (8) Sun phficd map ha~ d on Fi gures 4,17B and 4. lilA shOWIng the clockwise chilogc in le ase hori zo ntal p rincipal Sire"
oncmution il l ( . IUMa il);O with in the B", i" -an d·R angc province . (A ) and (8) after Zohuck ~f "I. ( 19HI).

al . (198 1) as 17- 23% from faul t a nalysis. Much
lar ger estim ates . up to 100 - 300% ( H am ilton .
1975; Wernick e . 1981). a re a ttr ibuted by
Zoback et al , to the e ffects o f the ea rlie r phase
of e xte nsion (sec be lo w) .
The prese nt crustal str ucture a nd tect onic
patt e rn o f the Basin-a nd -Ra nge pro vince
ca nno t be con sid er ed in iso lation . as the r ,plal buuuJilry a nd nearly perpendicular-eo-i
th product s ~ It tectoni bistor ' lending
back 10 M esm~ni and la te Pi:lI~lJA)i ' tim.;
D uji ng the ea rly Mesozo ic. a subductio n zon e
e xte nde d alon g t he who le coastal be lt of
west e rn Am erica with a volcanic arc to the east
re prese nted by t he Cordi llera M esozote hal h
olilb bdl (Figure 4.17A ) . At hou t HO MII RP
magmatism cease an d w replaced .o 0011100
prcssiullal dd unn.auon 0 I ra niide a nd
Sevie o rogeni n ate re taceces lu early
Cenozoi tim (c.80- 40 Ma 8P ) . T he fold-
t hrust be lt res ult ing fro m this co mpress io nal
ph ase affected a broad region up 10 1500 km
wide . mar ket! by a se ries o f baseme nt uplifts
resti ng on th rust fa ults. T hese st ructures
result ed from N E - SW to E NE- WSW co m-
pression . . his: p atter n f cornpressioua de-
forma t" ln has been .attribul d by Goney ( 1'113 )
10 th e ffects.ct.low-eng je !'IubdUCfinn Rlnng th~
The compressiona l regime e nde d bet wee n 40
and 50 Ma ago , proba bly as a resu lt o f the
reorga niza tion in Pacific p lat e movem e nt pa t-
terns discusse d ea rlier (3. 1). It was replaced
by a ph ase of ca lc-a lkali ne volcani sm tha t
lasted un til the co llision of the Faratlon -Pacitic
ridge changed the western bounda ry of the
Am erican plate from a sub ductio n zo ne to a
t rans for m fau lt. As we sa w ea rlier (Figure
3.4A) . th is cha nge was diachronous. a nd the
ridge - fa ult - tre nch tripl e junc tio n ma rking the
no rthern e nd of the San A ndr ea s fa ult migra-
 D IVrlH,EN I ( t:XTLNS IONA L) T ECTOi':I C Il.EGL'.1ES
ted no n hwc st wa rd s fro m a bo ut 25 Ma ago unt il
the present da y. The migrati on W <lS acco m-
pa nied by the progressive cess ation o f th e sub -
ducuon .r c tat cd calc-a lka line vo lca nism whic h
e nde d a t successive ly yo u nge r d ate s north -
ward s ( Figure 4 .I RA ) .
Ext ension -re lat ed bas a ltic volc a nism occ u r-
red in the so u th bet ween 2() a nd ) Or-.b ago,
and ill the no rt h ar ound 17 Ma Ill' . T he re is
evidence o ve r la rge ar ea s for faulti ng ; 101I
tilting a ssoci at ed with vu lcani cit y, where the
faults <Ire cu t by moder n fa ults at a d isti nct
angle. In th e ' me tamorphic co re co mple xes'
which fo rm a se mi-con ti nuo us be ll al(mg rhc
western Cordiucru. linc utcd mylonitic gneisses
occur , inte rpret ed by Davis an d COlley (1\)79)
as low -an gle shea r zones T hese exhibit norm al
d ip-slip displacements and a rc thou gtu til
rep resent the mid -cru sta! detachment horizons
for the cx tcn sio na! def ormation . Some of the
low-angle norm al di spl acement zo nes ma y
have originat ed <IS Lara mid e th rusts .
Con siderable su p po rt is given to this inte r-
prctar ion by cocoer seis mic rclkcl i{lll dat a
from the eas tern part of the pr ovince ( A llme n-
din gc r ct al.. 19X3) . A scric-, of con ti nuo us low-
angle reflectors ex tend i ng mor e than 120 klll
across the strike can be traced 10 a depth o f
15- 20 km ( Figu re 4 .1\)). None o f the se low -
an gle re fle ctors appcars to he cu t by the Slee p
nor ma l faults tha i ;lr rc a r al th e su rface . A
major dcrachmcr u. ) rl lerach
me nl can he t raced fro m a su rface zone of
no rmal fa ulting 10 <I depth of 12 -1 5 kill . T he
aut ho rs s uggest tha t 30 - 60 k rn of e xten sio n has
take n place o n th is fault.
Various es t imates ha ve been mad e o f th e
extens io na l strain d uring this e a rly p hase .
Locall y high strums o f 50 - llJO";'. have bee n
repo rted (e .g. h y Ande rson , 19 7 1) b u t it is
difficult to es ti mate th e o vcru!l slra in . T he high
strains imply a ver age strai n rat es of a round 3 x
IU- 14/ $ co mp a red with the mod e rn deformation
which yie lds a st rain rat e o f c.5 x 1O - 1.~/s. T he
exte nsional d e fo rmation wou ld thus appe ar 10
be slowing d own . T he direct ion d ur ing th e
early ph ase was NE - SW (Figu re 4 ,I RA ) ,
mar kedly o bliq ue to the p rese nt and re cen t
99
e xte ns ion .'
e hanf! JI 0 «ecuon illustr..
-t"'" ri ~ur JHB lUa y ehlll.-u to (he
nUfl hwanJ rmgrau on o f the so u thern end n t th
06UlKIuetio _on.. prcoa UI C 0 h
ICmimna l SI ,
G iven the p re se nt crustal thickness o f a bo ut
30 km , a ne t e xte nsio n of around 80 - 100%
ma y be calculated if we assume tha t rhc crus t
att ain e d a th ick ness o f 45 - 50 krn (co mp a ra ble
10 rhat o f the Colorado plate au) as a resu lt of
th e Meso zoic co mpressio na l p hase , <IS sugges-
ted h y Wernick e et al , (1982). T he pr esent
plate au up lift a p pe a rs to he cornpcn sutcd h y
warm lo w-de nsity as thc nos phcnc mant le re -
pl acing no rma l litho sph e re .
Th unmenccmcm o f bac k-ere ex te nsio n i.
' he Ilf uvi n Iinked b Zu hack ("I nl () th..
la!ol ph il . o f !ouhduclinn-. occ urr ing e astwa rds
o f the ca lc-al ka line volcanic a rc . According to
their model , the e n hanced hear sup ply, volcan -
ism and e xte nsio n arc seco nd a ry e ffec ts rela ted
to the subd uction pr ocess . Ho we ve r a n alte r-
native mo d el has bee n suggeste d by
( ]\)X4) who tl r~ u Imt the -illlit PlIl'ili ' rid!!
ma ha been mJcl lain by D eouvcc uve
m ant i upwe llin g Of' plum that o..."("am t)Vcno
ridden by th American continent i lS Ihe.ridgc
wa, 'uhd ll<1ed !Iring th Ge nntniw ( Figure
4.20 ) . He th us a ttributes the format ion o f the
pr o vince to a ' pr imary ' mantl e so u rce r uthe r
t ha n 10 a 'seco nd a ry' d iapir as implied hy the
alte rnative mo de l.
I? e.wnu!
;n H<It'in-antJ..kange provin ta ken 'IS .
t _picel a mpl (1 a continental ba ck -arc e x
lenll.ional regim Ex tension co mmenced in the
e ar ly Ce no zoic when Laramide co mp ressi o na l
deformat ion , a ttribu te d to sha llow sub d uctio n
along th e west e rn A merica tren ch , was re -
placed hy a vo lca nic a rc be hi nd which e xton-
sian occurre d a rou nd 440 - 50 Ma ago. An ea rly
ph ase o f e xte nsion wit h a WSW - ENE orienta -
tio n p ro d uced la rge str a ins, fo r whi ch es ti ma tes
o f around 100 % ha ve bee n mad e , implying
stra in ra tes o f c.J x 1O - 14/s . Th is ea rly ex te n-
sio nal p hase was pr o gr e ssivel y tcrrnin nted and
100 G EOLO GIC AL ST RU C r U RE$ ANO MOV ING I' LArE S

CONFUSION RANGE HOUSE RANGE

o
5

'0

E
• 15f-=,--- -, Y
20 c'"c,.... ",...""....
.""••• ""
_OI, 01'''' 0' "
.
. ' I ,. t" . ....
25 P,

..
' f'
D

SO
p

D. _

s".. ·••
_ _-
.

00
,lY _

, •••
30 c" c_ ... ',
Cc
0" ,
'._<0'
<0_
... .
".. .
"."i<o
V P. No. _ I 200 400 600 80 0

Figure 4. 19 Structu ral uuc rprctunon o f COCO R P <.leep seis mic relk el,on linc acn», pan or the U",i n' iln<!.Rallgc
p rovin ce . Solid -toothed lures indic at e thru st r" ulh; lid<:d hnc s, nor nlal f"uI IS_o pcn 'l " " lhc, l lid "".1 li nes, low':lI1gk nonnu l
fa" lls: solid- toothe d Iil"k..:d Hues. thrusts rc -acuvarcd as normal Iaults. FrtlJll Alhncndingcr ('/ Ill . ( 19K' )

re placed by the curre nt ex tensiona l phase with
a al ori entation of WNW - ESE betw een c.20-
IOM a agu .
E xte nsio n was acco mplished by thc form a-
tion o f tilted blo cks a nd by rot ation on listric
faults de tachi ng on low-a ngle normal faults!
shear zone s.
The clockw ise ro tat ion of extensional stra in
axes has bee n att ributed [ 0 the no rt hwa rd
migr atio n of the end of t he subd uctio n zon e as
it is replaced by the nort hward s-ext end ing San
And reas fa ult .
A series of ucean i hasim (often termed
' marginal basins' ) are sit uated <behind ' the
island arc/tren ch syste ms of th nonh rn a ll
western f a1.:itiC'Tim (Fig ure 4.21), and also the
Ca ribbean and Scotia ar cs of the Atl antic
Ocea n. T he basins occur in the upper slab of
the subduction zones , on the co ncave side of
the arcs, and betw ee n the arcs an d the co n-
tinental margins. The concept of 'back-a rc
spread ing' 10 exp lain thes e marg inal basins is
d ue to Karig ( 1971 ). In Kangs model (show n
,I
in Figur e 4.23A) , new spreading aXIs is devcl-
oped abov e the de scending slab becau se
of the diapiric rise of ho t mantic ma terial
relea sed by the su bd uction process. A n alter -
native way of viewing this process is ,IS a
secondary conve ctive cell of the kind predicted
by the ther mal mode l o f Elder (see Figure
2. 13),
A study of the magnetic a no ma ly puucrn of
the basins o f the west Pacific (Figure 4.22)
shows that they ar e all relative ly you ng and
short-lived in compa riso n with t he Pacific plate
itself. T he oldest basins in th is regio n com-
menced spreadi ng ab out 60 Ma UP and the
inactive basi ns gene rally had a life o f o nly
abou t lOMa . Among the basins that arc still
active arc the onin lIOUl(R., the-Mar iana
trough . ..m d the Lau tro ugh/H avre basi n. The
Japa Parece Vel' and -South 1-:ij' basins are
examples o f inactive systems (F igure 4.2213) .
W iss I t IlJXt1 s hows that the co mp lex mag-
netic str ipe patte rns of the se basin s cannot be
 I)I VFIl " FNl ( F.XTU" SIONA L) ·1EC f'ON IC IlE GIM ES 101

.0._ .0,. ..' --. . ."

S ~ VI~R D~S ~Rr CA N YON RANGE

~ ..... ,

'0

'0

--..-. = .
'0

1000 1200 14 0 0 160 0

10 krn

Se ,. .... ~ _... ]

650 ".. ~----_

o
••
• 0

'-:.....-.------------/
..../ .
''''--1 I

fi gllrt 4.Ul Ca rtoo n sec tio n Illustrating a possible interp retatio n or the for mation of tbc Basin-and-R ange province. SAF,
San And reas fallll; SN , Sierra Nevada : BR , Basin-and-Runge province ; WF. w asatch Front: CP, Co lo rado plateau ; S R
Southe rn Rock y moun tain s: EFR , East fmn l ulthc Rocky mountains; NFD . Newfo undla nd ; CE , connnental edge ; MAR ,
mid-Atlan tic ridge; PM. zo ne of part ial melt ing. From Gllugh ( 19l>4)
102 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES AND MOVING PLATES
, BOWERS BASIN
~v
'f..~ OKHOTSK BASIN
PARECE VELA BASIN
MARIANA TROUGH
interpreted by a simple back-arc extension
mechanism. Only some of the most recent
spreading patterns can be simply related to the
present arc geometry (Figure 4.22A). Most of
the basins in this region show patterns of
magnetic lineations that are repeated across
active or extinct spreading ridges, although the
pattern is often complicated by the super-
imposition of an active system on an inactive
system with a quite different trend. For ex-
ample, NNE-SSW spreading in the West
Philippine basin changes to E- W spreading in
the Parece-Vela basin, across the Kyushu-
Palau ridge (Figure 4.22-B). In several basins,
the spreading axis is offset towards the volcanic
arc. This is particularly evident in the Tonga-
Figure 4.21 Distribution of marginal or
back-arc basins in the north and west Pacific
Ocean. Subduction mnes indicated by tooth-
ed lines. After KariB (1914).
Kermadec and Marianas arcs (Fipre 4.228)
and may be because the ftank region of the
volcanic arc is the hottest and weakest part of
the basin.
The magnetic anomaly patterns in general
indicate that back-arc spreading rates are
similar to those. on the main ocean ridges,
although the duration of the spreading episo-
des is much shorter. It would appear that
tectonic conditions favourable for the genera-
tion of back-arc basins are either relaxed rela-
tively quickly. or are easily interrupted, for
instance by buoyant ocean ftoor material on
the descending slab arriving at the trench.
The South Fiji and Lau basins appear to
have formed as a result of the evolution of
DIVERGENT (EXTENSIONAL) TECfONIC REGIMES 103

. ,.
/-7
,
.. .
..20 ......

"22/ aD
"24/
..25"

FIIU~ 4.12 (A) Spreading directions in mar-

ginal basins in the western Pacific Ocean. (B)
Magnetic stripe patterns, aseismic ridges (ba-
chured) and spreading axes (heavy lines with
arrows) in part of the western Pacific ocean.
Dashed lines indicate inactive, continuous lines
active, spreading axes. Based on Weissel(1981).
HJ.l GEOL OGICA L STRUCTU RES A N D M OVI NG PlATES
GR I\Vl f ATlONA L
MARGIN AL
~ 8"'S IN
~,,, m m;4?>
Figun 4.23 MOIlelS 10 explain marg inal o r back-a rc basins. (A ) T he Karig model : ' " ,,('I.-arc scre ading' . A lte r Uyeda
( 197N) . ( 8) T he 'trench roll-hack' model.
thre e , rathe r tha n two , plate s, although the
det ails are not ver y clear.
Although .pHU1~ I the back·a, basinlli in
the Pacific: can explained by the hack-ar
spreading mech anism of Knit ( Figure 4.23A ),
it has been suggested by several au thors (see
Chase , 1978a,b ; Molnar and Atwate r, 1978)
tha t back-arc basin formatio n may be re lated
mor e plausib ly to globa l plate motions. In this
model, back-arc ext ens ion occurs when the
resultant of the velocities of th e ove rrid ing
plate and the t rench ' ro ll-back' motion has a
compo nent d irected away from the t rench ,
whe n viewed in a hot- spo t frame of referen ce .
Trroch m Y-back (Figure 4 .238) was defined by
Dswe" (1980) as the gradu al seaward migra-
tion o f a trench caused by the gravitational pull
of the descendin g slab. Th is motion is grea ter
for old, co ld ocea n plate t han fo r younger ,
warmer ocea n plate , which accou nts fo r its
impo rta nce in the weste rn Pacific, where tren-
ches are subd uct ing o ld Mesozoic ocean crust .
When t he co mponen t o f mot io n is d irected
from the tre nch o utwards, towards the ocea n ,
tension al failure will occur in the over-riding
plate along the volcan ic axis. T he spreading
direction will be governed, accord ing to this
model, by the directio n of the resultant velo-
city vector , and spreading occurs passive ly just
as in the ocea n ridges. Acco rd ing to the world
$
FORCE '" · 1~ I TRENC H
I r.<O V EI.iIE N T
I
SLAB ROl l -e "'CK
map o f 'abso lute' p late motion s (C hase , 1978 ;
Minster and Jo rdan, 1978) severa l of the basin s
discussed above (e .g. the Mar ian as and Lau -
Havre basins) are o pe ning in acco rdan ce with
the p red ictio ns of t his model.
Hynes and Mati (1985) , in a study of
the To nga- Kermadec and Mar ian as a rcs, ha ve
argued that the roll-hack mec ha nism may not
be viab le beca use it ca nnot account fo r the
variability in back-arc spread ing a lo ng 1I speci-
fic margin , a nd in parti cu lar ca nnot explain its
recen t initiation . Th ey suggest that a mo re
att ractive explanatio n for tre nch migration is a
cha nge in pr ofile of the descend ing slab , due to
changes in the relati ve rat es of moti on of the
co nve rging plates - a mechani sm proposed by
Furlo ng et al. (1982) o n the basis of thermal
mod elling. Th e mechanism proposes th at an
increase in velocity of co mpar at ively o ld ,
coo l, and stro ng oceanic lithosphe re will pro-
duce a decrease in slab inclination at shallow
dept hs. However, due to the st reng th of t he
slab , t he line o f co mmencemen t o f down-
be nding migrates oceanwa rds , pulling the
t rench away from the upper plate . In other
respect s, however , Hynes and Mott confirm
th at the global p late mo tion model is appli-
ca ble to these two arcs in t hat t hey both
ind icate absolute trench motion towards the
Pacifi c.

A Fil:urc 4.24 Me tho ds o f acco mmo da ting e xte nsion . (A )
, ,
"
8rilll.
lay .. ,
...
• ,
" ,
00.0<:""
~, I f . . '
B
I ~~~'-"-'\W~---L.2~Z!J
•
4.5 Str uct ures assoc iate d with exte nsiona l
regimes
Classical views on faulting (e.g. Ande rson ,
1951) and on the form ation o f graben a nd rifts
(Veiling Mei nesa, 1950) envisaged thai ext en-
sion was acco mmodated primaril y by dip -slip
movem en ts on sleep fault s. or by filling of
extensional fi ssur es by magma . However t he
amount of ex te nsion ac hie ved by displace me nI
on a stee p no rmal fault is limited by the depth
to which a crustal block can sink , and begs the
question of how the displacem ent is accommo-
dated at depth - see fo r ex ample the keystone
or wedge model for rifting ( Figure 4.24A )
proposed by Batt ( 1976). It is clea r that some
addit ional mechanism is req uired to produce
extensio ns la rge r tha n a few km.
Th e importa nce of altern ati ve fault mecha n-
isms in achieving large exte nsio ns has o nly been
discovered relatively recently , mainl y by field
workers in the Basin-and-Ra nge prov ince (e .g.
Davis et al ., 1981; Wernicke . 198 1) and by the
OIV ERGEN I ( EXTE NSION A L) n crON IC REGIM ES 105
The wed ge su bsrd c ncc mod e l fo r graben furrnano n . rrorn
n oll and Muhcn ( 1':l113) , ( 8) Block rotation above a low-
-. a ngle e xte nsio na l fault-shea r zo ne . A lte r We rnick e ( 1981)
..
r
KM
analysis of seismic records obtained in petro-
leum exp lorat ion of marin e basins, for ex ample
the Nort h Sea (e .g. G ibbs, 1984) . Wernicke
a nd Burchfie l ( 1982) present a geo met ric and
kinematic a nalysis of extensio nal fault sys-
tems which highlights three pr incipal met hods
of ac hieving large hori zo ntal disp lacemen ts.
These are: (i) the use of low-angle normal
faults or deta chme nt hor izons ; (ii) the rotation
o f fault blocks , and (iii) the use of curved or
'listric' fault plan es. T he demon stration by
Werni cke ( 198 1) that large disp lacements
co uld be accommodated by a combination of
rotated imbricate blocks det aching o n a low-
angle fau lt o r du ctile shear zo ne (F igure 4.248)
was o f great importa nce in the study of
exte nsio nal regimes.
If fault blocks are allowed to rotate (Figu re
4 .25A) , th e am oun t of displacement is cumu-
lative , ea ch new fault displacem ent addin g an
increment of exte nsion without necessaril y
causing an y add itional de pr ession of t he sur-
face or add itional crustal thinning. T he listr ic
106 GEO LOGICA L S flHJCTU Kf.S ANO MO VING PLAT ES

A _ _ 'C·_I~~"O~"~'=~rr-_ ..,

·""""1
-
L-_----', ,
o-

B
-- - - -=--=-=-=~-

1
-
H anging Wa" Bloc k
e

1I. ' rlc F I " lt

Dela chmen!

c H':~,'+~?,n~'"
Rollo • • •
Ha ng,"g Wa ll
Synclint

Fif::u rt 4.2.5 Gco mcl ry (If e xte n-

s ton. (A) Block ro ta tion abo ve a
detachme nt . Triangular gap s A
arc lefl . ( 8 ) Limic Iauh with
hangingwall ro ll-ove r a nticline .
Areas A and B are equal. The
adjus tment in h.mgi ngwaU shape
implies in ternal stra in. (C) Fla t/
ra mp geometr y o f fau ll p roduce s
geome trically necessa ry folding in
h afl~i ngwal L (A ). ( R) a nd (C)
f rom Gih~ ( 19M )
Fla l

fault (Figure 4.258) achieves a rotation in the
hanging wall me rely by its d isplacem en t , and is
accompan ied by an acco mmodation anti cline
termed a 'rollo ver'. Th e role of t he low-a ngle
det achment fault is critical in both st ruct ures .
Th is detachmen t horizon will gene rally possess
a ramp -flat geome try (Figure 4.25C) similar to
t hat fou nd in co mpressional thru st be lts (Dahl-
st ro m, 1970 ; Boyer and Ellio tt , 1982) . Both
t hese mechani sms req uire accompan ying du e-
tile deformation to alleviate space problems.
These pro blems can be minimize d by the in-
troduction of an titheti c listric fau lts, producing
listr ic ' fans' , which have the effect o f thinni ng
 DIVEKG ENT ( t: XI' EN.sl0N A L) n CION IC II.EGIME S 107
a A
SN UO'" Cou " ' . ' Fa"

, ,

•
c

Figu~ 4.U. More complex extensio nal geometry .

A (Q,b) Thin ning and exte nsio n in the hangingwall by
antithetic fault systems. (c,d) Horsetail or lisln C (an
producin g a series of ride rs on the sole lault , formed by
the migration o f the sole r;oult into the foo twall. Fro m
Gibbs ( 19R4)
108 GcO LOG ICAl. STRUCT U Rl:S AN D MOVJ!'JG PLATES

a B

flat

/
/
/

•.
,

E I IItn ~ Du~.:.:.""';;::" __..... _

•

c
Cetm_ High " ....1"1 W._
Counl... F"" \ S t>ortcut Faull 2

, , 7;·7·'-~"~----_J.-~
2~

Fi ll.U", 4.16 B(a- c)

Evolution o( ,10 extension al
d up lex with associa ted list -
ric fan. eoemer fan and
ele vated cent ral high. From
G itms ( 1985)

the ro llover in the hangingwall. Th e addition of
syru hetic fault sets in the footwall prod uces
complex graben structures (Figure 4.26A. B).
Further complications are produced if the basal
detachment has a ram p-flat geometry, in which
case t he detachment may migrate into t he foot-
wall 10 produce extensional duplexes analog-
ous to those found in thrust zones (Figure
4.268) .
Gibbs (1984) presents an interpretation of
the central graben of the North Sea basin (see
Figure 7.10) based on both seismic and well
control. His section illustrates well how the
conventional model of a symmetrical 'key-
 DIVl::IWl; f'jT (EXTt NSI ONAL) Tt CTONIC IttGlMES
stone' grabe n has bee n replaced by an asym-
metrical structure where the key clement is
a low-angle exte nsio nal fault. Although the
structure as a who le as see n at the surface
retains an overall symmetry, individual ele-
ments in the structure are asymmetric al . typi-
cally fo rming v -shaped ' half-grabe n' with an
incl ined fault o n one side , and inclined rotated
bedd ing on the oth e r.
An impo rtant conseq uence o f the low-angle
detachme nt is that displa cemen ts may be tran s-
ferred consid erable dista nces laterally. Ex-
tensiona l structures at the surface may be
accommodated by d uctile displacemen ts in the
lower crust , bu t the precise form which these
take cannot usually be discovered . Lower
crustal exte nsio n could be accommodated
largely by pure shea r ex tensio nal thinnin g, or
alternat ively by simple-s hear d isplacements o n
low-angle shear zo nes, or by a co mbinatio n of
both mecha nisms. The importance o f mid-
crustal shear zones in the defo rma tion of high-
grade Preca mbrian com plexes is stressed in
9.4.
Deep seismic profitin g across the Mesozoi c
basins o ff the coast o f no rthern Scotland (the
MOI ST line), co mbined 'with dat a o n deep-
crusta l str ucture obtained fro m the o n-land
deep seismic profile L1SP B (Bamford et al.,
1977) ind icate tha t the fault d isplacement s
forming the basins (mostly of half-graben type)
are tra nsfe rred along major mid-crustal de-
tachme nt hori zons using a netwo rk of pre-
existing faults and she ar zones used as thru sts
during the Ca ledo nian orogeny (see Figure
2.30). It appea rs likely that in this case the
exte nsiona l displaceme nts cut through the
whole thickness of the crust.
These results have important implications
for cont inenta l separatio n and the structure of
passive continenta l ma rgins. Gibb s (1984) illus-
trat es a typical pa ssive continen tal margin
structure ba sed o n a sectio n in the Bay of
Biscay (af te r De Charpal et at ., 1978) which
demon strates the importance of a basal det ach-
men t horizo n. T he det achmen t effectively
tran sfers the lowe r crustal displacement away
from the continent towards the ocean . Th is
109
mechan ism allows broad zo nes of upper cr ustal
thinnin g to take place by exte nsio nal faulting
as shown above, leavin g the lowe r crust un-
affected. The exte nsio nal structures o f passive
cont inental margins are thus likely to be
allochtho nous, and the basa l de tachme nt plane
will transfer the displace me nts to the o riginal
site of the rift, whe re the who le lithosphere was
brok en through (see Figure 2.29) .
Exte nsional fault syste ms frequ ently contain
many stee p faults with strike-slip d isplace-
ments. These faults appea r to be integral to the
displa cement pattern and are termed transfer
faul ts by G ibbs. The y play the same role as
oceanic transform faults in tran sferr ing d is-
placem ents from o ne dip- slip move ment plane
10 ano ther, bUI differ in that all the movement
planes norm ally deta ch on the so le fault, ra ther
than at the base of the lith osphere. Tra nsfer
faults may separate imbri cate fault-fold pack -
ages that a re quite d istinct a nd uncorrelate-
able across the transfer faults (Figure 4.27).
A B
c
c
. ~-_ .:
.'
C ~ C'
Figure 4.27 Geometry of transfe r faults. (A) Plan o f a
simple transfer faull connecting two normal Iaults . ( 8 )
plan of two transfer faults separating three zones with dif-
ferent arrangements of norm al listric faults , all detaching
on the same basal plane. (C) Sectio ns AA ' . 88' and CC'
across (8). After Gillhs ( 19M)
110 GEOLOG ICAL ST RUCrUR I::S AND MOV ING PIA n ' s
-- --- - - - ~ ~-
;;..=-=.:c.=..=-~=
Foot wa ll
,,
T he problem of how listric faults e volve is
centra l in the underst and ing of the extensional
faulting mechanism (Figure 4.28). This prob-
le m is addressed by Jackson and McKe nzie
(1983) in the light o f ob servations in a zone of
active seismic faulting in G reece , the Aegea n
and weste rn Turkey. Seismological observa-
tions o f t he ea rthq uake source are used to
f igurl' 4.2tI Dia~ra l11ma lic prolilc illustrating
elevation or thl' f<xl lwa ll. a nd the development
of ,mlithclio.: fault s an d of a second-generation
synthetic f:lull in the ha ngingwall o r an exrcn-
sio nal listric fa uIL system . From Jackso n and
M cKenzie (1 911J)
det e rmine th e fa ult orie nta t ion a nd slip vec to r
at the origin of fault failure. typically at a
depth of 8- 12 km. T he grea t majorit y of large
no rm al -faul t ea rthquakes in this region have
d ips of 40- 5(r at their foci, and the d ips appear
to corres pond with o bse rved surface d ips in at
least two cases. Jackson a nd McKenzie there-
fo re suggest that fault s norm ally pro pagate to
. ·i\::ure 4.29 (.a -d) Mood sho wing
the evo lut ion of an exte nsiona l [aull
syste m with incre' lsing amou nts of
extension (fJ .. 1.t15 - I.'J) . f'.lIOrmal
f'lU ll obhq uc to beddi ng (rlr5t-ordcr
fa ulls) ; T. te nsion al fract ures; TI-'.
seco nd- an d third·...rder faults, a p-
prox ima tel y pe rpe ndicu lar to bed-
ding . 8 .. ave ra ge lill of blocks in
each cuse. From A ogelicr and
Co lletta (19B3)
 DIVE I(Gf.N T ( EXT ENSION A L ) T EcrO,"l ]C I(EG IM ES
the surface as planes, and th at the listric
geometry is deve loped in a se mi-ductile zo ne
below the depth of fault initia tion. t hat is, be-
tween 10 and 15 km depth . lncrcusing cx tcnsion
in the britt le layer is prod uced by rotat ion of
the initially plana r fau lts as sho wn in Figure
4.25A . T he rot ation produ ces a gradual in-
crease in d ip o f th e initial fl at surface o r
bedding, acco mpa nied by the elevatio n of the
hangingwalls and the depression of the foo t-
walls (Figure 4.28) . These ve rtical movem ent s
are the isostatic respo nse to any dip-slip fault
displaceme nt and may be clea rly see n for
recent fault movements in the Aegean, be-
cause sea -leve l is a co nve nient datum .
It is geo met rically nece ssa ry for a co ncave-
upwards curved fau lt 10 form in o rde r that
voids do not occur as displa cem e nt ta kes place .
Even if the fault in t he ductile layer is initially
plana r a nd meets the brittle fau lt at an an gle ,
the result of movem ent o n the fault syste m will
cause accomm oda tion stra ins and seco nda ry
faulting in the regio n of t he change in dip. T his
process will eve ntua lly result in a listric geo -
metry by abrasion of tne hangingwall angle .
111
Accor ding to Ja ckso n an d McKenzie , anti-
thetic faults arc nuclea ted at th is zo ne of st ram
co nce nt rat io n whe re the ab rupt change in dip
occurs. After the initial fault set has been
ro tated to much lo we r angles of dip, new sets
o f faults may fo rm at steeper angles. As the
ea rlier faults are cut by t he new faults. the
fo rmer lock , an d move ment is transferred to
t he younge r se t.
Angelier and Co lletta ( 1983) dem onstrate
t his principle in a stu dy of the evo lutio n of
exte nsional fault geo metry . co mpa ring the
G ulf o f Suez (with 10- 50% extension, see
Figure 4.15), the western Gul f of Califo rnia
(50-100%) an d the southe rn Basin-and -Range
province (up to 200% ). T hey cons ide r tha t at
sma ll ex te nsions (10- 20% ), blocks are gen tly
tilted up to 10" be tween parallel , widely-spaced
fault s dipping at 60-65° ( Figure 4.29a,b) .
Many close ly-sp aced ve rtical tension fractures
are developed appr oxima tely perpe ndicular to
bedding during the e arly stages o f extension,
and these are used for t he later d ip-slip
displacements when they have bee n rot ated
into a suitable att itude (Figure 4.29c,d ).
5 Convergent tectonic regimes
5.1 Subduction
Th e co ncept of a spec ial type of orogeny
related 10 the subductio n process is im plied by
the plate te ctonic model, a nd was first clea rly
e xplained by Dewey and Bird (1970) in the ir
cla ssic pa pe r 'M o untain belts a nd the new
globa l tecto nics' , They demonstrat ed that t he
process of subd uction a t a dest ruct ive plate
boundary inevitab ly pr oduces a characte ristic
asso ciation of rocks and struct ure s tha t. in pre -
plat e tecto nic termino logy. would ha ve been
regarded as a type of o rogeni c hell .
T hese ideas we re fo resha dowed 10 so me
ex ten t by R.S. Dietz (1963) who proposed an
' actualisric' model to explain the fo rmat ion of
' eugeosynclines', which were so familiar in t he
lite rature on oroge nic belts. In his model , an
accretionary sedimentary wedge is formed
o n the contine nta l slope, on isostatica lly de-
pressed ocea nic crust , and subseq ue ntly de-
for med and accre ted I ~ the contine ntal margin .
At about the same time , the essen tial link was
made betwee n trench formation and s ubd uc-
tion (see Hess , 1962) that led d irectl y to the
ocea n-floo r spreading hypothesis and to the
plate tecton ic theory.
The two essential fea tures of the subd uctio n
zo ne are the volcanic or magmati c arc an d the
tren ch (Figure 5.1). The tre nch typically co n-
tains a th ick prism of sed iment s overlying the
...
TRENCH
CO NTINEN TAL MARGIN
ARC-T RENC H
FLANK OF REMN ANT ARC
112
volca nic roc ks of the oce anic crust. T hese
sed iments arc usuall undcfor med on the'"OUier
nan and':ffoor oC th.l:__trenc .,-6u C 1?eco m..f
- deformed at the foo l of the inner Irench w Jl...
Thi s inner "'IrCnch region , characterized by high
pressures and low geothermal gradients (see
2 .3) , was suggested by Takeuchi and Uyed a
( 1965) as the site of for mation of the blue-
schist metamor phic be lts characte ristic of the
ci rcum -Pa cific region . Th ese bel ts form a
paired set with the high- tempera ture , low-
pressure me tamo rphic belt s fou nd on the inner
side of islan d arcs and mo untain belt s. The
lat te r co rrespo nd to the zon e of high gco the r-
mal gra dient associated with the volcan ic a rcs,
o n the dow n-dip side of the subd uction zo ne .
T he p rese ntly-exposed, dissected orogenic
belts o f the circum-Pa cific reg ion , with their
paired met amorphic belt s. t hus represen t the
uplifted prod ucts o f o riginally active arc-trenc h
sys te ms.
Dewey and Bird visualized the seque nce of
events in the evolutio n o f a subd uctio n zo ne as
follo ws.~he~s u bducti ng ocea nic plat e.begins
to desce nd . Iorming a trench I. th rusting occurs
a t ils inner-wa ll - form ing---; _~eries of -thrust.
wedges of oce an-floor. mater ial such aschen..
argillite, carbo nates and even basic and ultra-
. basic igneo us materi al. The th rust wedg ing
'p rocess results in a tecton ic e leva tion on the
inner side of the tren ch 10 form a ridge . Th is
0'
UTHO SPHERE
"i!:ure 5.1 Sche matic pro file
across an island-arc subd uction
zo ne , showing the main tecto nic
featu res. Afte r Windle y ( 1977).
 CONVERG ENT TECTO NIC REGIMES
process may be accompanied by gravity sliding
of par t of this ma terial back i n to the tre nch .
Geometry of t r~nch systems
The present tren ch network is s how n in Figure
3.1. T renches occur o n the ocean side of
volca nic island arcs and active co ntinen tal
margins. Some tren ch es ar e remarka bly co n-
linuou s ove r great d istances. The Peru -Chile
trench is 4500 km lo ng and the To nga tr en ch
about 700 krn. Typical wid ths _ ~l ~~ 2 ~ 1!!!£.
WOkm a~_Q..J.! s he twee n 2 and 3 .k m .bl:low ~
The ocean.has in.Jl oo r or u p---.!~U I km be low ,
sea-Ievell although up to 2 km of sedime ntary
trenc h fill milY be Rrese nt; The positio n of
trenc hes bo rderi ng act ive co nt inen ta l margi ns
is o bvio usly det ermined by the locat io n and
shape o f the margin . Tren ch es bo rde ring island
chains, howeve r, are typ ica lly arcuate . T he
explana tio n for th is curva ture (discusse d in
3.2) is tho ugh t to be d ue to hack -ar c sprea di ng
of ocean crust which is inh ibited at t he cus ps of
the arcs by ase ismic ridges or ot he r obstr uc-
tions (see Figure 3.9) . •
Morphology and ~'rrucrure of island arcs
A typ ical gravi ty ano maly profile is show n in
Figure 5.2 toget her with a crusta l str ucture
profile base d on co mb ined grav ity and seismic
refra ction data. T re nches arc o bvio usly not in
isosta tic eq uilibri um , and re present a mass
deficie ncy which is largel y expla ined by the
depth of water in the tr ench. The cr usta l
thickn ess does no t ap pe ar to va ry across the
trench . It may be conclude d, the refore , th at
the grav ity anom aly ma y be sa tisfacto rily ex-
plained by a downward force du e to the sub-
duction "precess depressing the crust ; t hat is.
the tre nch topo grap hy is dy na mically mai n-
tained . The variable sed iment infill (some
tren ches have very littl e sedi me nt, o the rs are
virtua lly full) ap pe ars to have little influen ce on
the amount o f crustal depressio n and de pends
purel y o n sedime nt supply.
The negati ve grav ity anoma ly assoc iat ed
with the t renc h is flanked by positive ana-
1I3
matie s: a large pos itive ano maly follows the
vo lcanic arc, a nd a smaller broa d anomaly
occ urs on the oce anwa rd side of the t rench .
The latte r anoma ly has been exp lained by
Wa ils and Ta lwa ni (1974) as the result o f
upward ben ding of the ocean ic plat e as il
a pproaches the trench , an d is a co nseq uence of
the late ral strength and co nti nuity of the plate .
T he positive anoma ly associated with the vol-
canic arc is explained by the mass excess
re presented by the re lative ly dense vo lcanic
rocks of the arc. T he lower crustal layer is
grea tly increased in thickness below the arc
(F igu re 5.2 ). which possesses a cr ustal struc-
tu re similar. 10 that o f t he co ntine nts. The
elevated top ogra phy of the vo lcanic pile is thus
o nly pa rtly co mpensated isostati cally.
Seismicity and the m echanism of subduction
Th e seismicity assoc iat ed with sub duc tio n
zo nes is one of t hei r mos t ch aracteristic fea -
tu res . T he di ppi ng zone of ea rt hqua ke foci
wide ly kno wn as th e Benioff zon e constitutes
one of the most impo rtant pieces o f evide nce
for the hypothesis of subduct io n o f oceanic
lit hosphere . We have already d iscusse d the
seismic evide nce fo r stress o rientation and
d istribu tion in s ubd ucting s labs (see 2. 6). The
tempor al and spatial d ist rib ut io n of eart h-
quakes in subductio n zones was investigat ed by
Ma gi ( 1973) who demon str ates, firstly, a pro -
gression in tim e of earthqua kes from sha llower
10 deepe r levels o n t he slab , an d seco nd ly, that
maj or sha llow ea rthq ua kes are always pre-
ced ed by a mar ked increase in deep seismic
act ivity. He suggests that stra in is accumula ted
gradu ally ne ar the s urface by co ntinued co n-
ve rgence . and that a large eart hqua ke occurs
whe n the accum ulat ed st rain rea ches a critical
va lue. However, be fore t he main shock occ urs,
the region expe rie nces nume rou s sma lle r
shoc ks that ind icat e a slight move ment along a
restricted secto r o f th e slab (Figure 5.3 ). Thi s
move ment is transmitted progressivel y dow n
t he sla b at a rate of about 50 kmlyea r and
te rminates at t he lower e nd of the slab in a
large shoc k. The s udde n down wa rds mo ve-
J 14 GEOL.OGICA L ST RUCTU RES A N D MOVI NG PlAT ES

mgal
200

' 00

- 100
• Free air anomaly (sea)
- 200 • Bouguer anom aly (land )
Computed gravity a nomaly
- 200

- 400

Nares Outer ridge Puerto Rico trenc h Puerto Ve nezue lan

ON basin • • ~i~~ ~ , ba Si: - S

2Q

40 Unconsolida ted Consolt at

Ma ntl e
sedime nt
seiinilml
Rt
U~..SJust Lower cr ust
D,p'h
(.m) o '""
'-"'" IZ.2J
s veroctrv 2.1 km/ s 3.8 5.5 7 .0 8.2
den sity 2.0 g/cm' 2.4 2.7 3.0 3 .4
Figur f 5.2 G ravity-anomaly and crustal-structure profile across a typical island arc (Puerto Rice ). From UOII ( 1971) . ener
T alwa ni et Ill . ( 1959) .

ment at the end of the slab rapidly propagates
upwards to trigger the large shallow ea rth-
quake at the top of the slab. The large shallow
ea rthquakes may have either compressional or
extensional focal-plane solutions (see Figure
2.23) and both may be explained by the above
mechanism (Figure 5.3). Compressional solu-
tions are explained by underthrust faulting
(Figure 5.3A) . Compressional solutions are
explained by underthr ust faultin g (Figure.
5.3A ) and extensional solutions by normal
faulting (Figure 5.38 ). Both types of fault
have the same 'effect of releasing the upper
portion of the slab, previously 'stuck' at the
trench, and allowing it to move downwa rds.
A comparison of the seismicity of a large
number of subduction zones led Ruff and
Kanamori (1983) 10 suggest that the extent of
'seismic coupling' is an importa nt control on
earthquake magnitude. The degree of seismic
coupling is controlled by the number and size
of 'asperities' on the slab, that is, of stro ng
regions that resist the motion of the slab and
have to be broken through before motion can
be continued. Earthquake magnitude also
appears to correlate both with age of sub-
ducted lithosphere and with conve rgence rate
(Figure 5.4). The largest eart hquakes occur in
 CONVERGENT TECTOI':(C RlOG1 MES 115
Conlinental Oc eanic
Lirholllhe ,e li lhosp/l ete f'e ne ll
\,

Under thrust Fault Normal Fault

G, ea t 5 110110_ G' ea l 5 110110_
~r1 l1 qlla ke Eo,llIqlla ke

Figure 5.J Schematic diagram illustr ating the mechanism for shallow and deep earthquakes in subduction zones . (A)
illustrates the underth rust fault (U F) case . and ( 8) the normal faul! (NF) case for the production of great shallow
eanh quakcs. Hatched areas deno te thc faulted segment. From Magi ( 197J)

zones where young. warm lithosphere is sub-
ducting at fast convergence rates. Ruff and
Kanamor i note that most of the seismic slip on
subduction zones occurs above a dep th of
about 40 km and that this depth correspo nds to
a sharp bend in some slabs. They suggest that
below this level, seismic activity is relat ed to
the basatr-eclogite phase change which pro-
duces superplastic deformation within the slab.
The various factors affecting the geo metry of
subduction zones (Figure 5.5) are analysed by
Cross and Pilger (1982). They recognize fo ur
interdependent factors: ate of relative plate
convergence: velocity of absolute uppe r-

12 .---,.-- =--,.--,.-~,.-_,.-_ ,.---, Figure 5.4 The correla tion between

ear1l\quake magnitude . plate oonver-
gence rate. and lithosphe re age for 21
o subductio n zones. T he characteristic
magnitude values are shown for each
zone in a conve rgence rate v. age plot.
Regression lines of constant magnitude
,1'8 are shown. The broken line encloses the
suhductioo zones whe re back-arc spread-
E
u 6 ing is thought tu occur (in the lower lefl
!! pa rt o f the diagram) . The diagram shows
that larger ea rthquakes are associated
II. Ilo'ilb furer convergence and younger age.
4
From Ruff and Kanamo ri ( 1983)

140 120 BKl 60 40 20 0

Age, my.
116 GEOLOG ICAL SI RUCTU RES AND MOVIN( j 1'l.A'IES

CO NVERG ENC E A A re ABSO LUTE MO TIO N OF

150-600 UP PEA P LATE
F A ST I l<, I
T m FAST 600 -1000
. .. ... . . .. ~ .. .
~.m~
--.
SlO W T km
~?@V
SLOW T km _ •
.... ~ ". "
-~

SUBDUCTION OF ASE ISMIC AGE OF OCEANIC LIT HOSPHERE

RIDGE S OLD ,...!9 0 · ' 5~
14-- > 600 _ (>50 MYlr 11m

~~ YOUNG
«50 MY) t'igurc 5.5 Principal con tro ls on the
geometr y of subductio n zones. Fuur con-
T tro ls arc illust ra ted : conve rge nce rate ,
abso lute motio n o f uppcr plate, subd ue-
lion (If ase ismic ridges , and age of oceanic
lithosphere, each of whi ch influences stlO
dip. and hence th e size of The arc-trench
gap . After Cr oss and Pilger (1982).

plat e motion toward s the tre nch ; iii ~ ge of the
ocea nic lithosphere of the su ucting plate;
a nd IV) presence or absence of intra plate
'o bstacles' such as sea-mounts or ocea nic
plateaux. The effect of each of these factors was
examined in examples where the effects of the
other factors could be minimized. t"ra and
Pilge onclude that large t a low subduction angle a nd a large arc- trench
are associated with a low subduction angle (a
relationship proposed earlier by Luyendyke,
1970), depressed isotherms, a nd a large arc-
trench gap (150- 600 km). An important con-
sequence of the low subduction angle is the
increased le ngth of the inclined Benioff zone.
A contemporary example is the b1exiuoR sub-
duction zone, whe re the Gx:ok platc is de-
stroyed below the JcaD late. Slow
convergence rates, in contrast, are associated
with steep slab dips and sho rt arc-trench
gaps.
Absolute motion of the uppe r plate is an
important factor independe nt of the conver-
gence rate, since the trench is fixed to the
upper plate and must move with it relative to
ascending or descending mantle now regimes.
Thus rapid upper-plate mot ion may override
the tre nch and reduce the infl uence of gravita-
tional sinking on the slab. f ast absolute upper-
plate motion towards the trench also produces
gap. The position of the a rc is liable to change,
and a new arc may develop 6OO-1000km
inland from the old. Again the Mexican sub-
duction zone may be used as an exa mple. Slow
or retrograde absolute motion of the upper
plate has the opposite effect of steepe ning the
slab and causing a seaward migration of the
trench. The Central America n subduction
zone, where the Cocos plate descends beneath I
the Caribbean plate, is an example. In co n t ra ~t
to the subduction zone further nort h, where
the North American plate is rapidly overriding
the tre nch, the Caribbean plate has a small
component of motion away from the subdue-
 ~UM10 ~ r-t--
tf/l~ f!-,,{7 0
CONVERGEN T TECTO NI C REGIM ES 117

tic n zo ne an d the arc- t rench gap is much
smalle r.
A ..roq clalion . bel wc;' p age-,o f..,s.ubduclcd
~c.:J i l h os he ' l.1.sla b.l~ng l b as.ncred
by Fa rrar and Lowe ( ' 978). The related corre -
latio n be twee n age an d slab inclinat ion is a
conseq uence of the incre asing thickness, aver -
age density and decreasing sea-ffoo r elevation
produced by t he grad ual cooling o f ocean basin
lithosphere as it mo ves awa y fro m its site of
(ormation 'II a ridge (sec 2.3) . Since most of
the increase in thickness is prod uced in the
mantle rat her than in th e crust, the mean
density o f the lithosph er e increa ses , thus re-
ducing bu oya ncy. increasing the slab dip, and
hence poten tia lly decrea sing the arc-trench
gap. Howeve r thi s ef fect is opposed by a
tende ncy for the zo ne o f magma gene rat ion 10
occur at higher leve ls in yo unge r. warmer
slabs, thu s de crea sing the a rc- tren ch gap . A
test o f this relat ionship IS provided by the sub-
duction o f the Nazca plat e alo ng t he Pe ru -
C hile tren ch ( Figu re 5.6) . C ross and Pilger
(1982 ) dem ons tr ate t hat t he sout hwa rds de -
crease in age of Nazca p late being subd ucted
along this trench co rre lates wit h a change to
s hallower and less well-defined seis micity, and
with a decrease in the a rc- tre nch ga p.
1h Pillrofe of eDn.iu:isJ&.e:., ~Qun L.
~ aim.. o r illisanic p at 'au o n the subdu cting
plate a ll involve reg ion s of red uced mean
den sity w hich increase the re lative buo yan cy of
t he slab an d conseq ue nt ly ~~~Dg.I.~
subductio n. Ve ry low a ngles of subduction are
co mmo n, and the vo lcanic arc may be com-
plet e ly ex tinguished. ,t{ur and Ben-A yr atUIJD
~1 9831. n ol e several exa mples of volc an ic ga ps
10 sub ductio n zones wh ich t hey relate to
ob liq ue co nsumption of aseismic ridgcs. Ex-
amples cited arc t he Coco s, Nazca and Ju an

+------ -~,,~
'. t .
---+ '5· ' ;iJ;: lIrr 5 .6 Rel atio nship bet wee n the

, ..
'. ~
••••1. •
width of the urc-Ircnch ga p and the age
of subductcd lilh\>s phcr e altlr1g the
sourhcn Per u - Chile trench. Note lhal
i "- lhe width of me gap decreases south-
j •• wards wilh decre asing age of oce an ic

~f . SOUlll
crust of the Nazca pl.nc . Fro m Cross and
Pilge r (19112)

--
AMERICA
...- RidI' o =
-::..~

~ ~ 9 MY
,m 9-2& MY
I;;;l 2&-36 MY
• AC1M VOlCANOS
+-- - - - - - - ----+60'
1115' 55'
118 GEOLOGICAL ST RUCl"U RES
Fe rna ndez ridges o n the Cocos and Nazca
plates (F igure 5. 7). T he effec t is most strongly
mark ed in the case of the Nazca ridge which ,
becau se o f its ma rked obl iquity 10 t he d irection
of subd uctio n. has swept acro ss a long sec tor of
the subd uctio n zon e . T his has caused a large
gap in t he vulca nici ty in no rt h and central
Peru , t hat coi ncides with a very low subduction
angle « tOO) ( Barazangi and lsacks. 1976).
Two add itional effects were noted by C ross
a nd Pilger. Accre tio n of sed iment in trenches
ten ds ( 0 flatten the slah inclination at shallow
depths, beca use the weight of t he accretiona ry
p rism depresses the plate pr ior to subduction
(Ka rig a aJ., 1976). Secondly , long-conti nued
subd uctio n may t hicken the upper plate be-
ca use of (he cumulative effects of accretion and
depression of (he isotherms (James, 1972).
D UUoUUU_i,ljor acto descri ed above aU.
co ntro l t tat~ n: 5S il} (he uppe r plate and
\ \ ec
NAZCA
PLATE '\
=:::::::> •
--- ,
.. ACTIV E VOLCANO
- -
':.0
S[lS IiIlC I'\,I,N(
CM' P' " lit ...
_ T J I E"'CH
110- 100"
A~O M O V r ~ G PLA T ES
sp nse!luently affecLl hc strucltlrss...p.uWuced.
there . Mode rate 10 stee p subduction is asso -
d ated with extensi o nal stre §§, in the upper
plate , and shallow subductio n with co mpres-
sio n. These relati on ships are a co nsequence
of t he relative size of the co nt ributions o f: (I)
thermally-indu ced isostat ic up lift of the upper
plates, co upled with the subd uctio n-suction
force (prod ucing tension); an d (ii) the shear
stress produced along the plate co ntac t (p ro.
du cing com pression) . ~ la c:.s.;ue..noI~
mally in co.mp~ ion.. (see 2.6 ). Low-an gle
subduction increases the area of mechanical
co upling between the two pla tes, and allows
shear st resses with a large component of
hor izontal compress ion to be transmitted into
the upper plate. Ste ep subd uction mini mizes
th is effec t and maximizes the effect s of the
extensio nal fo rces.
As d iscussed earlier (2.5) th e stal e of stress
Figure 5.7 Map sho wing [he relat io n-
ship bet ween the positions of aseismic
ridges o n the Nazca and Cocos pla tes
and gaps in the volca nic arc. No te the
'"" wide gap associa ted with the Oblique
Nazca ridge , di scussed in the text . From
Nur and Ben -Avraha m (1983)
o'
\""
\""
ZO'
'"" ""
} ec
• ..,'
 CONvfRGfNl TECTON IC REGIM ES
across subduc tion zone s is affected mainly by
the opposing effects of negative buoyancy
generated by the subducti ng slab (pr oducing
extension) and the comp ressive res istive forces
opposing the conve rgent mot ion. As So lomo n
and Sleep (I 980) po inted ou t, the general state
of intraplate stress suggests that these two
effects are broad ly in balance, with some sub-
duction zones exhibiting net extension and
others net compressio n.
Bayly (1982) has poi nted o ut , fo llowing
Scholz and Page ( 1970) that the curvature of
arcuate tre nches , togeth er with the curvature
of the Eart h's surface, must force a subducting
slab into a mo re co nstricted space at depth, It
is suggested that th is constriction is taken up
by buckling below a depth o f about 100 km
involving a range o f dips from 3SO to 55° in a
slab initially dipping at 45° (Figure 5.8). There
is some evidenc e tha t plate geometry as indi-
cated by seismic foci distribution is compatible
with this model .
Structure of accretionary cpm plexes
A combination of se ismic refl ection, deep-sea
drilling and side-sc an so nar pro grammes in a
--I
ld
.,! ...
.,
rigu ~ 5,8 Schema tic mode ls to illustrate the buckling of a subducted slab du e to the geome tric sho rtening effec t brought
loout by curvatu re o f the Ea rth's sur face (A) , and by the arcuate outcrop of the zo nes (8). After Bayly ( 1982).
11 9
number o f active subd uction zones has led to a
significant increase in unde rstanding of the
structu res and processes of defo rmat ion affec-
ting accretionary sed imenta ry wedges at sub-
duc tion zones. We sha ll exa mine in detail
results from stud ies in the Peru trench in the
West Pacifi c, the Barbados ridge in the Carib-
bean, the Makran com plex in the A rabian Sea
and the He llenic trench in the Med iterr ane an .
These examples cover the main types o f active
subduction zone currently recog nized. Th ese
stud ies have suggested that ~ruCl u r . I(
a ctive accrctwnaI n s:ms...;(c a nalogues {.
o nland fQl d- I ~..I.~~L. be lJ.S . The main processes
a nd structures that have bee n inferred fo r
accretionar y comp lexes are shown schemati-
cally in Figure 5.9 (see Scho ll et al. , 1980).
The front or leadin g edge of the prism is
domi nated by fron ta l accretion where by of/·
scraping of the sed imentary cove r (F igur e 5.90)
is achieved by a synthetic imbr icate thrust
co mplex a bove a basal deco llement plane that
underth rusts the sedimentary prism. T his basal
plane and othe r majo r thrusts are thought to
act as condu its for dewat er ing of the buried
sediments. Furth er down the deco llement
plane , underpla ting or 'subcrc uon' may ta ke
120 GEO LOGIC A L ST RUCTU RES A r" D MQV l r"G PLAT ES

-..~
.... --
~"

~ -~

/ ~=---=='==::: ;r .:-:-:.
fa>\""':-:
"• .
w
"w>
20 0-
o

I'il;ure 5.9 Struct ures and process es in an idealized accretio nary prism . (a) Zo ne o f frontal accre tion by imbrica te
thrusting whe re the u pper pari uf the incuming sed imenta ry shee t is off5f: ruped; (" ) decollem en t be nea th whidl lhc dee pe r
pan of the inco ming sec tion is unde rt hrust ; the dtcollcmClll pla ne and fault a t I t ) ma y se rve as dt'I'II<I,.., jtl g co nduit s. as
s ho wn by wiggly arrows; (c )"t" ,de' plolinK (u r $ubUt l;rm) by dev e lop me n t o f duple x str ucture s; (d ) und erplat ing h y d iffusive
ma ss tran sfer ; (1') d iscre te fa ull CUll ing thro ugh Ihe e ntire acc ret ionary prism ; Ihis rau ll ma y e nable lhe p rism 10 adjust its
shape In the 'cr itic:,l ta pe r" am i may s ubseque ntly he used in strik e-slip dis place me nts; (n deepl y buried offscre ped
ma te rial, subseq ue ntly tight ly folded. cleaved and ro tated to a Slee p o rie nta tio n; (g) gravitlltiona l spread ing of slo pe
sed iment apr o n . (h ) dia pir of wat er- lind perh aps gas-charg ed. disrupted sed iment ; (i) briule-ducule tra nsition below which
visco us-flo w mod els of defo rmation may be mo re app rop riate ; (11 baseme nt terr ain defin ing the inwa rd bou ndar y of the
acc reuoee ry prism. Fro m Moo re ~I al . ( 1985)

place by the forma tion of thrust duplexes.
which have the effect of thicke ning and raising
the accretionary complex (Watk ins et al. ,
1981) . More distal portio ns of the complex may
be characte rized by strongly deformed, steeply
dipping mater ial exhibiting tight folding and
cleavage . Near-s urface parts of the complex
may show gravity spreading and slumping of
the sediment pile.
Th e process of accre tion at a subduction
zone may thus be visualized as the progressive
upward stacking of the sedimentary pile by the
successive emplace me nt of new thrust wedges
at the base, causing ove rall thickening and
uplift of the prism. Event ually this process
produces a topographic ridge or trench - slope
break , which is separated from the volcanic arc
or continenta l margin by an undeformed fo re-
arc bas in .
The sedimenta ry cover on the ocea nic plate
is not all accreted on to the upper plate. Hilde
(1983) has highlighted the importance of gra-
ben in preserving pockets of sediment which
are then subducted along with the oceanic crust
(Figure 5.10) , a mechanism first suggested by
lsacks et al , (1968). Ocea nic plates are typically
scarred by nor mal faults that are caused by
flexural extension as the slab bends down into
the trench . Accord ing to Hilde's model, the
grabe n may be em pty on app roaching the
tre nch but become filled tectonically with
materia l scraped from the upper slab. Anoth er
 CONV f.KG EN I recrr» ac REGI MES 121

• , ,
.., 5

9
--1
~
10 0
~
II ~
--1
12 ::0
l>
<
rrt
13 r
5 --1
• ;;::

.mnn
",
6
Trench
axis
z
(f)
OV ERRIDING PL AT E 7 ",
C)

11Detach.
1111111 1d11
ocea nic
III / 111111 11 1111 11 8
o
oZ
II Il 1II II IIII II i/l
bau m. nt ?'
9
(f)

h <S' 10
Figun: (A) Sersnuc
' . reflection f 13
IM, geometry of the subdUC ICd;:eamc
pro plate
lie across the axis and lower slo rs re
Moho. From Hilde ( 1983) (see lower sketch). Numbers or, er d ril l holes'
the10Japan • 0along
tre nch ace or oceanic
• sur flat.3<r4S' N • Showing
. ;
plate
122 GEOLOGI CA L ST RUcrU RE.S AND MO VI NG f' LATES
t' iR\lrt 5.10 (8) Mode l illus tra ting the process of sedi -
men t subd uction by tecto nic d isplace ment of sediment into
grabe n. which preserve the sediment be neath the ove r-
riding plate. From WIde ( 1983)
mechanism for remov ing sed ime nta ry materi al
fro m the inner tre nch slope is suggested by
Cande and Leslie ( 1986) in a study of the south
C hile t rench. T hey point to the large base ment
re lief associate d with th e transfor m fault s, in
which large pocket s of sediment can be pre-
served . and also to the erosive effect of major
fault scarps jf they move ob liquel y across the
base of the upper plate .
Th e importance of these mechanisms is thai
they provide answers to two problems. On e is
the apparent discrepancy between the rela -
tivcty small sedi men t volume in trench com-
plexes com pared with the calculated accretion
rates (Gillu ly, 1971 ). T he seco nd is the crustal
isot opic signat ure of ce rta in mant le-de rived
mag mas (see Mcken zie . t9R3).
$.2 Some active subduction zones
• 'h ~ ""'"ell ~twun .J. O° "naJ4"S
w arsi et al. ( 1983) repor t the results of a study,
com bini ng GLOR IA side-sca n sonogra phy and
se ismic re fl ection data , on the Per u tre nch in
the regio n of its intersection with the Mendano
fracture zo ne (F igure 5. I IA). T his section of
tre nch is interesti ng in tha t no obvious accre-
tion o f sediments seems to occur o n the inner
tren ch wall, and it has bee n supposed that
sedime nt subd uction is do mina nt an d that the
up per plate is being tectoni cally ero ded (Ku lm
et al., 19RI; Hussong and Wipperma n, 198 1).
T he Nazca plate in this regio n ex hibits a
NNW - SSE sea- floor spre ading fabri c (F igure
5. 11B ) con sisting of fau lt block s formed at the
sprea d ing axis. T he bloc ks a re generally tilted ,
and are bou nde d by normal faults with sca rps
facing in bo th directions. Ind ividual blocks
d isp lay tOO- 200 m relief and are draped by
100 -1 50 m o f pelagic sed iments. So me bloc ks
ca n be traced for ove r IQOk m along st rike.
T he Menda no frac ture zo ne co nsists o f a
se ries of pa rallel ridges and troughs with up to
1 km relief. It widens from less th an 50 km
across in the west to abo ut 100 km near the
trench. Several sea- floor volcanoes were
found , abo ut 10 km in diamete r and rising to
over 700 m from the sea-floor. At abo ut 100 km
west of the tre nch , the Nazca plat e starts to
be nd do wnwards tow ards the trench . In this
zo ne , the spreading fabric is ove rp rinted by a
set of new faults sub-parallel to the trench axis
and to the sp reading fabr ic in the nor th , but
o blique so uth of 12°$. T he new faults displace
the pelagic sed iments with maximum ve rtical
throw s of about 200 m in so me cases , and have
a spacing of 3-5 km . Th e fau lts form graben,
some of which can be tra ced for mo re than
IOOkm .
 CON VERGEN T TEc roN IC REGI MES 123

,,'
A
GA LAPAGOS RIFT

"
sco rn
AMER ICA

,,'

,,'

.• ----

,\
•
tl,un" 5.11 (A) Simplifu;d tecton ic ma p of thc Na zca plate , sho wing the locat ion of the ar ea o r Figure 5. 11 B. From Wars:
tllIl. ( 1983)

The tr ench axis is turbidite-fi lled, with a flat
l100r at a maxim um de pth of 6300 m. The tur-
bidites mask the structures on the subducting
plate in the north, wher e they are folded
against the base of the inne r slope . Th e
tectonic defor mation front appears as a single
co ntinuo us feat ure . It is believed that this
tectonic accretion is tempora ry and that the
sediments will eventua lly be emplaced in the
graben by slumping and will be subducted.
 ,.....,
N
.j::..

0W
8 0( W 83° W 82° W 8 ,° W 80 19° W 18° W 71" W
i :>::>' .1';> ( i i , '- (i.\ii8 I i I i
\ "
10°5 ~ \ ..,~~ I \~~\'~\~~\\\,\~ . . ~, o TU RBIDIT ES
\ 1 10' S

~ SOBDUCTION
COW PLEX
~ TECTONI C F'R ONT
~/..4'/~ 7;:>";>S~~~~ , l..--,
\
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\
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· · ~ "O ~ ~ / ~ / _/_
\~~ ~
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II" 5 r "'..... / / .., ~ ~. - \ \ 1t S
m
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r

" \~ ...'.:
. .... .' \\. \\ ~ '~
\ \ ' \ \\~ -, I
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C1
o
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r
(Il
-I
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c
<I
12°S I'/'"~~ ~ \ \ \ \
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...,
c
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m
(Il

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\ ,' .\
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s:
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13°5 h \\ .\ \ \ \
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14°5
l'\-. \\\ \\'\ \'\\\\\,
\ \. \ " \ \ \ :. \ \
,
I \ i \ I "\.., 't' i\~ 1 14, S
81( W 83° W 82' W er w SO'W 79' W 78' W 77 ° W

Figure 5.11 (B ) Tectonic map of part of the Peru -Chile trench and Mendana fracture zone. Sonar coverage is indicated by boxes; heavy lines arc
fraeture-zonc lineament s; light lines indicate spreading fabric; ticked lines are faults on the subduction down-bend ; oval fea tures are sea · floor volcanoes.
From Warsi et al. (1983)
 CON VHlG t;NT T ECTONI C IlE(OlMES
This scdimc r uury till thins southwards and
terminate s at abo ut 11 5"5 . Reflection profiles
across a large partl y-subductcd graben showed
two stages in t he progressive fill ing of the
graben by slumped sedime nts. the section
nearest the t renc h ax is being the more co m-
plctcty fille d .
The Barbados ridg e co mp lex
This region , described by w est brook ( 1982) .
has been inte rpreted as an e xa mple of a mat ure
fore-arc co mplex. It p roba bly re presents an
intermediat e stage bet ween the young, deep-
water . accretio nary prisms associated with
well-defined tre nches. such as the western
America n exa mple alread y described . and the
various uplifted . fossil co mplexes o f Mesozoic/
early Cenozoic age forming inactive arc sys-
terns a round the Pacific rim a nd in Indo nesia .
TIle Barbados ridge is a N - S eleva led
structure lying 150 km cast o f the active vol-
canic arc of t he Lesse r An tilles (Figures 5.12,
5.13). Th is a rc ma rks the site o f the Lesser
Antilles subdu ction zo ne. where the Ameri cas
plate passes be nea th the Ca ribbean plate at a
rate of abo ut 2c m/ year. T he arc is bou nde d o n
both sides by major t ransfo rm faul ts ( Figure
6.12..1 ). Wes t of the volcanic arc lies the
Gre nada back-a rc bas in. T he island of Bar-
bados is the highest part o f the ridge , which
extends for ove r 500 km. Th e ridge is an accre -
tionary co mplex mad e up of sedimentary roc ks
lying in a linear trou gh in the volca nic base -
ment. The axis o f this tro ugh reaches a depth
of 20 kill be neath Ba rbad os. a nd co rres ponds
to an isostatic grav ity low . T he tro ugh is
interpre ted as the site of the original trench
marking th e line of s ubductio n. T he easte rn
part o f the ridge is mark ed by a positive
isostatic gra vity ano maly co rrespond ing to the
outer tren ch slope of other complexes.
Th e deformat ion fro nt lies at the eastern
margin o f the co mplex. on the lower con-
tinenta l slope ( Figure 5. 128 ). T he co mplex
beco mes increasingly deformed westwards .
and the island of Barbados ex hibits stro ngly
folded and faulted Eoce ne fl ysch ove rlain by
125
Upper Eocene 10 Miocene pe lagic sed ime nts.
West o f t he ridge . and betwe e n It and the
volca nic arc. lies the T obago trough. co ntain-
ing about 3 km of undc for mcd sed ime nts.
The style of deformat ion varies alon g the
defo rmation front. In the so ut h. ge ntly asym-
metric cast -facing folds with am plitudes of
500 m and wavele ngth s of R- 9 km ride on
th rusts which dip westwar ds at 2lr . T hese
th rusts are interp ret ed as listric faults de tac h-
ing on a major decolle men t plane . paralle l to
basem ent . that can be traced at least 30 km
westwards beneath t he co mple x. Unde formed
bedd ed sedim ents lie be low th is majo r de colle -
ment. In the north of the co mplex. the de-
form atio n is so inte nse and chaotic that no
obv ious struc ture ca n be disce rned from the
seismic pro files. T his change co rrespo nds to a
nort hward s increase in slo pe gradie nt and to a
decrease 10 width a nd height of the com plex.
Th ese changes may relate to a nor thwards
decrease in sed iment supply. A series of ste ps
in the ridge topography ap pear to be caused by
the inte rsectio n of ridges in rhc ocea nic base-
me nt , These arc o bliq ue to the line of subduc-
tion a nd wou ld p roduce pe nding and latera l
swee ping of sediments as desc ribed abo ve for
the Pe ru t rench.
Th e str ucture o f th e southe rn part o f t he
ce nt ral Barbados ridge a nd Barbados trough
has been investigated by mea ns of d etailed
SlO A8EAM-sonar bat hyme tric mapping a nd a
high-reso lut ion seis mic survey ( Biju-Duval et
al. , 1982). T he seismic profiles ( Figure 5. 17)
show clearly thc asy mme t ric folds an d reve rse
faults o f the frontal ove rthrust region (F igure
5.14A ). To the west , broad. km-widc synclines
a re evide nt . with syntec ton ic infilling in their
upper parts . sepa rated by narrow asymme tric
an ticlines associated with stee p reve rse fault s
dippin g both cas t and west ( Figure 5. 148 ). O n
the west side of th e Bar bad os ridge , the
sedime nts arc defor med into ge ntle west-facing
asy mmetric folds associa ted in places wit h
westwards-directed reve rse fault s (F igure
5. 14C) . Th e ridge co mplex t hus displays a
degree of ove rall st ructura l symme try.
In t he nort h. th rusts ha ve been proved in
126 GEO LOGICAL SfRUCI'URES AND MOVIl" G PLATES

A ME R l CA S P l A TE

.~
.... / - - ::c;;::r-~
--'.-"'" CAR IBBEAN PL A TE
O
J"""
.. An l ill e s
.:

. " S o u t h A mer i ca

) - - N A Z C A PL A TE

,,0

•~
"U. nlie

z
0
~
~ Ab y s s a l
z
0
~

•<
~
0
P lai n Figun: 5.12 (A ) The Iocalion o r the
Lesser Antilles subd u.clion zo ne in the
plate lttlonic framework of Central
~
w America. (8) Main struc tural features of
0
,,0 (he Lesser Antilles subduction zone ,
,, showing the hxat ion of the: Barb ados
ridge and Tobago tro ugh. situated be-
,
300 km tween the volcanic arc and the defor ma-
tion fro nt . Arter Moore t t al, ( 1982).
 .
w AVES RIDGE GRENADA TROUGH ST. VINCENT TOBAGO TROUGH BARBADOS
(r-cll .r e M.in)

-
(exlinel .te) (.Cl .....re) (Iore·,rc bu.".,) (Iore ·atC flO7t1

unoeforf'r"llld ..,-..".,..,

~
ala". 01 on 9CM" ,~
".... enAlei .efta 01 ~ "'" dIci.""f'M an»b'",*, ~ ~Il~·.rc~s.in ,ret'ICh.JJc:Jt»Or... rrr»irly 'lIf'OiCl,r, sl
o
o
z
?fiE: <
m
Xl
o
:r:
'Z;
..,
...,
~ CluJ' 0' ~."1fd .re oc•• ,,1e tTl
,..,., 3 & "uJc & 1,1'''. buk
50 ~,."j.... ..,
<""l
o
eo "C.I'Id'n9 "'.gm.
z
.~~m •• ;=;
70
'"
tTl
Cl
BO, ! I , I , ! , I , I !
32
rn
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 (/')
Km eest 01 long 64" W

Figure 5.13 Interpretative cross-section of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. Note the position of the Barbados ridge
situated over the site of subduction . From Westbrook (1982)

.....
N
-.l
128 GEO LOGIC AL STRUcrU RES AN D MOVING I' LAr ES

(IJ o
;

•
Figure 5.14 (A- C ) W-E Se ism ic rcflee t ~on profiles ac ro ss the so uth e ~n pa rt o f the B arba d os rid ge co m plex (sca le ba r 2 .5 kill) ( A) as.ym mct r'ic E-faei ng
fo lds and ~everse faults nea r the de fo rma tio n fro ? t; ( 8) mo re sy m me t ric p~tlern of E -. a nd W-fae l.ng fol d/ ~ml lt structu res o n the centra l part o f the rid ge :
(C) W-Facing fold/fa ult patt ern o n the weste rn Side o f the ridge: not e rapid ch a nges In str a ta l thi ckn ess In both (8) a nd (C) ind ica ting t he influe nce of
defo rmat io n co ntemporaneous wit h sed imenta tio n : for exa mple, most faults die o ut be low the surface. an d sy nclines dee pen to war ds t he ir cen tres. Fro m
Biju- Du val et al. (1982)

..
n
o
w

--
Offlcr~ sequence-; E z
<
541 542 / 543 rr.
:<:
- - 1-' _/ o
- . 1- - - - 1 ~ m
1000 . . Z
-;
--- -;

-- --- -===t - /\~ - §z

---
--
m /\ v / \ v / \
v/\v/\v/\v/\v/\v/\

;=;
Reflector 3 :>J
o o 1km en
~Vi' V /\ V /\v /\ V /\v /\ Cl
:s::
en
(J)

F igure 5.14 ( D ) T ecton ic summa ry profi le illus tr a ting the int erpret ation o f the seism ic a nd hor e hole dat a (true scale) .
from th e A tlan tic abyssal pla in in the eas t to the ce ntre of the r idge in th c wcst. Th ick. vert ica l, n um ber ed lines a rc
bo re ho les . Fro m Moore et al. ( 1982)

,.....
N
\0
130 GEOLOGiCA L STRU crU IlES AN D MOVIN G PLA TES

ATI,.AMn C PlAU

.", ;':<.: ::; .i..: .,.::~. ..

. ,'.:.•.•:....:.•~:;.: ,. ".
;::. ,
"., ' -.

~=-/

~;%'" •..." fs<f,>\iSH~g)}:!i:i1i~;\i :~~~ rW/f;\~'6,

-o>: -

Figure 5.15 Sequence of cart oon model profiles illustrating the: tectonic evolution of the southern pari of the Lesser
Antilles subduction zone . '0 ' and 'S re fer 10 possible palaeo-environments for the deposition of the oceanic and Scotland
formations, respectively. Th iek sedime ntary inf luxes in Eocene and Neogene limes are inferred to have come main ly from
the South American conti nent. From Biju-D uval tl 01 . (1982)
 CONVER GE NT TECfOr-J1C REGI M ES
drill cores in the DSDP d rilling p roject leg 78A
(Moo re et 01. , 1982). Nea r the postulated basal
deco llement plane (which was not penetrated
by the drill ing o wing to technical pro blems),
drilling revea led zones of intense deformation
with fract ured mudstone passing dow nwards
into inte nsely fo liated 'scaly' mudstone reveal-
ing slickensides , a nd ultimate ly to a tectonic
breccia . Abnorma lly high fl uid pressure s were
measured . ro ughly eq uivalent 10 lithostatic
pressure. The se high ffui d p ressures undouh-
redly facilitated the underthrusting process as
o riginally envisaged by Hubbe rt and Rubey
(1959).
Co rrelatio n o f d rillco re sections with seismic
profiles enabled Moore et al , to reco nstru ct the
stratigraphy of the accre tionary wedge (Figure
5. 14D ) . T he offscrapcd sequence cons ists of
Miocen e and younge r ocea nic deposits. Th e
laye red sequence below consists of U pper
Cretaceous to Lo wer Mioce ne pelagic clays,
resting o n oceanic basement, which are heing
underth rust below the younger deposits.
T he Lesser Ant illes subduction zone has
been in existe nce since the early Eoce ne (about
131
50 Ma IW), much lon ger than most ot her active
subduction zo nes. It there fo re prov ides us with
a use ful mode l with which to com pare sup-
posed fossil examples in o rogenic belt s. Du ring
th is time , the position of the trenc h migrated
eastwards relative to th e South Ame rican
continent and to the mid-Atla ntic ridge , owing
to spreading within the Ca ribbean . An evolu-
tionary model of the subductio n zone (Figure
5. 15) demonstrates how the tre nch has bee n
first filled, then o bliterated by the building of
an O ligocene accre tiona ry ridge (the pre sent
Bar bados ridge ), ca using the Upper Miocene
to Recent accretiona ry com plex to migrat e
eastwards to its present positio n.
The Makran com plex
The accretiona ry comp lex of the Makran (see
White , 1982; Platt et al. , 1985) lies along the
cont inenta l margin of Ira n a nd Pak istan o n the
north side of the G ulf of Oman (Figures 5.16,
5. 18). The complex is fo rmed by the no rth-
wards subductio n of the ocean ic part of the
Arabia n plate beneath the Eu rasia n plate . The
J."iKu rr 5. 16 Location of the Makran
accret ionary pns m in tbe Gu lf of Oman .
Note tha t the accretionary prism is situa-
led at the: subduction zone marking the:
boundary o r rhe Arabi an and Eurasian
plates [inset) , and is truncate d on hs
e:astern side by the Murray transform
fault and its comine ntal contin uation.
Stars mar k volcanic centres along the
active: volcanic arc; black areas are ophio-
lite o utcrops ; thin lines on land are faults;
ticked lines mar k boundaries of major
de pressions. Aft er While (1982)
 PASNI
• •
GUlF OF Ot,<lA N
ae' A

Present da y

---------------------------_ .. _~~~;~~! _ - - --
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, :::i+.. ~:.:;;; ..;,;;;;;;;:;;:;;~

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Rumra Kaur

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 CON VI;RGENT TECTONIC REGIMES
subduction zone is terminated o n its eas tern
side by the Murray tra nsform fault that sepa-
rates the A rabian and Indian plates (see Figure
3.6) and continues no rthwards on the co ntinent
'IS the O rnach Nat -Chama n fault system (see
Figure 5.30). The subduction zone ends in the
west at the Stra its o f Ho rmuz, whe re the
Arabian and Eurasian continents a re in con-
tact. Sed iment 6-7 km thick covers ocea nic
crust in the G ulf o f Oman , which is thou ght to
be be tween 70 and 120Ma o ld.
The active volcanic a rc consists o f a chain of
Cenozoic volcanoes situ ated 400- 600 km north
of the coast (F igure 5.16). The re is no top o-
graphic trench, and the accre tionar y co mplex is
unusually broad . about 300 km in width . mo re
than half of which lies o nsho re. Seismic reflec-
tion profiles across the o ffshore part of the
complex sho w a linear patte rn o f ridges with
some intervening tro ughs (White . 19M2) . Fold -
ing appea rs to ta ke place initially at the
southe rnmost o r fro nta l part of the prism
which see ms to have migrated so uthwards at it
rate of IUkm/Ma. The se fro ntal folds are then
incorporated into the accretio nary complex by
uplift along a basal thrust. Little subsequent
deform at ion appears to have occurred in th is
sector of the complex. Howeve r, 70 km (Q the
north of the prese nt fro nt, a further uplift
occurs which rises e ventually abo ve sea level
IOHm nort h of the fro nt to form the o nsho re
Makran . Her e a th ick, faulted fly sch seq uence
is exposed . exte nding about 200 km inland to
the no rth.
The onshore str ucture , summarized in
Figure 5. 17, is described by Platt et 01. ( 1985 ) .
A co nco rdant seq uence of ma rine sed iments
133
co mmences with Oligoce ne to mid -Miocene
abyss al plai n deposits. fo llowed by Upp er Mio-
cene slope deposits. and by a late Miocene to
Pliocene shallow-water shelf sequence . indica-
ting rapid shoa ling o f the sed ime ntary prism in
the mid-Miocen e . T here is appa rently no fi eld
evide nce for accre tiona ry structure prior to the
depositio n o f the slope and shelf sediments .
Nor is there evide nce for the progressive
growth of structures d uring deposition, al-
thou gh the growth of gentle folds might be
undetectable owing to the effects of the la ter
de fo rma tion , which caused 25 -30% shorten-
ing. T his main deform ation occu rred afte r the
earl y Pliocene (4 MOl f1p) at a time when the
accr eti onary fro nt prob ab ly lay 70 - 100 km
so uth of the presen t sho re line , and has
resulted in a se ries of E- W to ENE - WSW ,
asymmetric. S-facing folds and associated re-
verse faults (Figure 5.17B ) .
The uplift of the onshore Makra n and the ac-
co mpan ying defo rmat ion are tho ught to have
been accomplished by underplating at depth
(see Figure 5. 17B). T he au thors sugges t that
th is process may have o perated by the form a-
tio n of a p rogressively widening duplex at a
ramp in the basal thrust. Such a structu re
would cause tilting of the uppe r part of the
seq uence , leading to shoa ling and possibly to
syn-sed imentary defo rmat ion , but not to major
fo ldin g o r faulting.
Plait et al. a tte mp t to apply mass balance
ca lculatio ns on the accretiona ry process by
co mparing the likely quanti ty o f sediment
input with the estimated volum e of the prism.
T he y show that a significant proportion of the
sedime ntary sequence must have been und er -

Fillurt 5.t7 Structure of the onshore Makran complex . (A) Simplified 5u uetural map of the coasrat Makran. showing
major rotos and reverse fa ults. Note laleral facies change between Ta tar and Parkini rormancns. After PIau d al. (I 9RS).
(B ) (a ) Section across Ihc Kulan,h syncline (see line on Figure A) showing the retau onship between structure and Iacies .
Dashed lines represent lime plan es, (b) Interpr etalion of la) during the Pliocene . suggesting Ihal the shelf and slope
sequences may have been dcpo sucd on an undisturbed abyssal plain sequence tha t was being uplifled along a majo r
dku llemenl surface. Note lhe suggested duple. seructure causing co ntemporaneous uplift of the non hern limb of the
Kulanch synd ine.
I() Seetit'n across the faulted sequence easr of sccnon (A ) . illustra ting Ihe senes o f northward-you nging sequences
bounded by reverse Iaults characterizing the southern limb of the Kulaneh syncline. Pg. Panjgur; Bg. Branguli; Pk . Parkini
formauons: aHOWS represenl younging directions . (B ) and (C) fm m Piau ~I al . ( 1985 )
134 GEOLOGICAL ST RUCTURES AND MOVI NG PLATES

pla ted or subd uctcd , enough fo r a layer arou nd
6 km th ick above Ihe ocea nic crust (sec Figure
5 .178).
The A egean arc
The co mplex Aeg ea n region (Fi gure 5. 18) has
been inten sive ly studied o ver the last deca de .
The basic plate bou ndary netw o rk and re lative
plate mo tions were es tab lished by Mckenzie
( 1972), and s ubseque ntly refined in a compre-
hensive review of the neotectonic patt ern of
the region using earthquake data , La ndsat
photographs and se ismic refraction recor ds
(Mc kenzie. 1979b) . Seve ral distinct tectonic
units are appare nt. T he H ellenic french, alo ng
which the Af rican plate is descen ding be low
E urasia, lies immediately sou thwes t and south
o f the Hellenic arc, wh ich is a no n-volca nic
isla nd a rc exte nding from mai nland Greece
west of the Pelopcnnesos to C re te and Rhodes.
On the sout h side of the tre nch is the bro ad
Mediterra nean ridge o n the sea-floo r betwee n
G reece and No rth Africa. No rth of C rete lies
the Cretan Sea basin , T he active volcanic arc
runs from the eas tern Pelopon nesos t hrou gh
t he southe rn Aegean Sea to the coas t of
Anato lia. A large tectonica lly active region
north of t he volcanic arc co nsists of the A egean
Sea basin and the ad jo ining land masses of
main land G reec e in the west and An atolia in
t he east. T his E urasian hinterl and is divided
into two sepa rate pa rts by a major fault syste m
con necting the north en d of t he subd uction
zone with the Nort h Anatolia n st rike-s lip fault
runn ing along th e so uth side o f the Black Sea.
Th e region south of this fault is recognized as a
sepa rate small plate , the Anat o lian plate ,
which is moving westwards as a result of the
N-S co nvergence of the A rab ian and E urasian
plat es.
The Hellenic trench syste m is desc ribe d by

30 Black Sea . 0 '0

30

AFRICAN PlATE

Figure 5. 18 Map showin g lhe loca tion of the Aegea n arc in the gene ral tectonic selling of the Easte rn Mediterra nean
region . Note the deformed so uther n edg e of the Euras ian plate to the nort h. and the African and Arabian plates to the
south . The large arrows de note the movement vectors of the sout hern plates in relation to each othe r and to the Eurasian
plate. assumed to be stati onary . Movem ent direct ions of the Anatolian and Aegean blocks rela tive 10 the main Eurasian
plate are shown hy smaller arr ows. After Merci er ( t98 1) .
 CON VERGENT TECTON I( REGIMES
Huchon et al . ( 1982) who repor t the resu lts of a
SEABEA .\l so na r survey o f the det ailed mor -
phology and struc ture of par ts o f the tre nch
system . T hree main !'\W- SE seg me nts. the
Matapan, Go rrys and Po seidon tre nches, are
separated by NE - SW line ar trou ghs, the
southe rn o f which of fset s the tren ch sinistrally
(Figure 5 . 1 ~) . T he trench sh allows so utheast-
wards from ove r 5 km 10 a round 3 km de pth .
At its eastern end , the Poseidon trench bends
sharp ly into the t\: E-SW Pliny trench , T he
Srrabo tre nch lies furt her to the so ut heast,
parallel to th e Pliny tre nch but no t d irectly
connected with it. Th e Strabo tre nch is re la-
tively shallow and poo rly defi ned . Bo th these
southeaste rn trenches have litt le sed ime ntary
cover. The present co nve rge nce vector across
the tre nch is abou t pe rpendicular to the
main tren ch but makes an ang le of about 35°
with t he two sou theastern tre nches ( Figure
5.19).
T he result s o f the deta iled survey by Hucho n
aal. revealed a set of ridges an d tro ughs on the
outer slo pe of the Mat qpan t renc h, gene rally
parallel to the trench axis. These arc inter -
preted as folds. Within th e Pliny t rench,
howeve r, the structure is quite dif fere nt. A
series o f e n echelon troughs about lO km long
and 2 km wide occur with in the main tren ch,
oriented abou t 15° anticloc kwise o f the ax is.
These arc inte rpreted as sinist ra l strike -slip
fault segments, which are co nsisten t wit h the
oblique co nvergence vecto r.
The inne r wall of the Matapan t rench was
examined directly by sub mersible , It see ms to
be re latively inactive tec tonically a nd is domi-
". ". ".
j gence di recti on be tween Ihe Afri can and
CRET E
t?....,.......
7
135
oa red by large nor mal fau lts with well-de fi ned
slicke nsides. Hu chon et al , bel ieve therefor e
that the inne r wall falls within the e xten sional
tec ton ic province 10 the nor th of the subduc-
tion zone. In contrast, the ou ter t renc h slope
and trench l100 r arc characterize d by obvio us
compressional featu res in the form o f fo lds ,
small th rusts. and con jugate st rike-s lip faults.
T his zo ne therefore be lo ngs to the co mp res-
sio nal domain indica ted by the ea rthquake
focal mechan ism solutio ns.
Le Pichon et al, ( 19l:l1) report the results o f
se veral SEAO (,;AM so na r traver ses across t he
Mediterranean ridge. It had previous ly bee n
suggested by Ryan et ol , (1970) that most o f the
sedimentary co ver o n the Mediter ran ea n floor
is bein g tecto nically thickened along this ridge ,
rather than being accreted at th e tre nch. T he
survey by Le Pichon et at. sho wed the presen ce
of an extensive fold syste m affecting the 3-
4 km o f uppe rmost Miocen e (Messinian) to
Oua tcm ary sedimentary cover. A set o f co n-
jugale st rike-slip faults cuts the folded sed i-
ment s, The co mpressional tecto nic regime ,
which occupies the no rthe rn half of the 250 km-
wide ridge , extends as far as the trench axis as
described above .
Th e Mediterran ean ridge is thus interpret ed
as an accretio nar y structure , similar to the
Barbad os ridge already desc ribed, whe re an
upper layer o f soft sedime nts is be ing deformed
abo ve a deco lleme nt horizon . It is sugges ted
(Le Pichon et al., 1982) that a thick layer of
evaporites may play an import an t role in t he
deco upling of the deeper su bducti ng layers
from the shallow shorte ning layers,
Figur e 5, 19 Sche matic map of lhe Hel -
" ". lenic trench system, showing the five
main segment s in rclanon 10 the co nver-
Aeg ea n plates : see also inSCI veelor
Iriangle rela ting 10 African (AI') , Aegean
(A e) and E urasian (Eu) retanv e plait'
motion . A(le r Huchon tl ai, (1982).
 ~

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25" 26" 27'

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 CO r-:V EIl G ENT 'JECTO N IC Il EGIME$ 137

Figu re 5.2 1 Teetonl Cimc rprc tauo n of lhe Aegean

Se4 ( A) Tec tonic summary. based o n infor mallo n
fro m Figure 5.211 a nd adjoi lling a reas. sho wing
inferred c ~ t e n~io n d trectic ns o n land (heavy
arrows) and se ~ a reas (light a rro ws ). No te me s wing
in tre nd (bro ke n hnes ) fro m NW - Sl: in thc westto
NE - SW in the ca vt. A fte r A ngel ic! (I (1/. ( 1982).
(8 ) Com pute d res to ra tion 10 its o riginal sha pe ( I)
of Ihc present a rea (2); the melho d uses est imat es of
the CXlc nsiOIl facto r, P. which var ies in the range
1. 1-1.9. resto ring to eq ual sq ua res. Fro m An gelic!
<'I ul . (191'2 )

B
" " , ".
"

•
1

"
" " "

"

0 0 0 00 I II

2
" " "
138 GEOL OGICAL STHUCTU Il.ES A ND MOVIN G PLA f ES
f\tc K enzic ( 197Xa ) showed that rapid exten-
sio n is taking place in the Aeg ea n Sea and
adjoining mai nla nd areas , and thai the crust
ben e at h the Aegean Sea is o nly about 30 km
t hic k, compared with SOk m in the main lan d
a reas . Foca l mechan ism so lutio ns of eart h-
q ua kes in the regio n of the Hell enic tren ch
indica te thrust mot ion with a mea n s lip vector
o rien ted at 2 110 o n a shall ow pla ne dipping
NE . T hus th e co nve rge nce d irect ion across the
Helle nic tre nch appea rs 10 be constrained by
southwestwards motion o f the A egean region
perpendi cular 10 the central sec tor of the
tr en ch ( Figure 5. 18) . In co ntr ast , the focal
mecha nism solutions fo r shallow earthquakes
in th e Aegean Se a region indicate a prepon-
de rance of norm al di p-slip motion , but with a
st rike-slip co mpo ne nt in so me cases . On main-
la nd Greece . ear thq uakes with simila r foca l-
plane so lutio ns a re asso ciated with su rface
normal fa ulting. Th e strike of the dip-stip
motion ap pears to vary from NW - SE to E - W .
Mc Ke nzie sugges ts an ov erall NNE- SSW ex-
tension . In-situ str ess de te rminations using the
ovcrcori ng tech nique - (2.6) ind icat e a pre-
do minan tly N - 5 hori zon tal exten sion over the
who le area of mainland Greece and the
Aegean basin (Paqui n et 01.• 1982).
A n a na lysis of the geom etry of recent fault
pattern s in the Hellenic arc and adjoining
Creta n Sea basin is reported by Angel ier et al,
(1982), using dat a from land 'surveys. satel-
lite pho togra phs and SEA BEAM surveys. Th e
a ut hors find that mo st of the late Miocene to
R ece nt faul ts of the so uthe rn Hellenic arc
(principa lly Crete ) a re pure normal fau lts
which str ike either pa rallel o r o blique to the
trend o f the arc (F igu re 5 .20) . T he Cretan Sea
basin is also dominated by nor mal fault s. some
o f wh ich can be traced o nshore . Most fau lts
here are pa ra llel to the trend of the arc, E- W
in the ce nt re, swinging round to NW-SE in the
west and to NE- SW in th e east. These result s
co nfirm the exte nsio nal nature of the back-a rc
regio n (F igure 5.2I A ). It is of interest to
obse rve th at this extensional region includes
the pr esent vo lcanic are , un like the oceanic
examples discussed earlie r (sec 4. 3) . Ange lie r
et al, note that if t he ar c is restored to its
presumed pre-stretchi ng positio n . t he o rienta-
tio n of the fau lts be comes much mor e uni-
formly E - W (Figure 5.2 18) .
The upl ift of the arc might at first a ppea r to
be inco mpatible with an ex tens io nal regime .
The a uthors suggest. however , that the lower
3-6 km o f sed imenta ry co ve r, which is initially
subducted at the tren ch , becom es und erpla ted
onto the uppe r plate below the Helle nic are,
thus ca using the up lift.
T he Aegean basin the refore appe ars to form
a se para te micro-plat e , represen ting the upper
slab of the subductio n zo ne , which is movin g
rather rap idly so uthwest over the African pla te
crea ting a zone o f exte nsio n, pa rticularl y in its
no rthern pan ( Figure 5.18). Th is ba sin rc prc-
se ms a specialtype of ba ck -ar c sp read ing ba sin
formed on co nti nental crust. but is in some
respect s an alogous 10 the oc ea nic spre ading
bas ins d iscussed in 4.4 .
Lc Pichon and A ngel ier (1979) sugges t thai
this movem e nt is a resul t o f the withdrawal
southwards of the subd uct ing slab (co mpare
the trench ro llback mechani sm discus sed in
4.3). T his mecha nism is tested using a finite -
eleme nt model by De Bremaec ker {'J at. (1982)
and shown to give a much better match to the
ob served stress field tha n two alte rnat ive
mod e ls: the Ar abian inden ter mod el a nd the
grav ity-spreading model based o n the clc-
vaticn differen ce between Aege a and the
Med iterranean floor .
5.3 Collision
Th e co llision of two pieces of co ntine ntal crust
is an inevitable con seque nce of the co ntinued
subd uction of oceanic lithosph ere . T he mu ch
greater buoyancy of co ntine nta l co mpa red wit h
oceanic crust mak es the forme r d ifficult if no t
impossible to subd uct. The rel at ion ship be-
tween subd uction, collision and orogeny in the
new p lat e tecton ic t heory was clearly illus-
t rated by Dewey and Bird (1970). They re-
cognize two type s of co llision , continent -
island arc and co nti ne nt -cont ine nt , and
demo nst rate that the collisiona l oroge nic belt s
 CO ~ V E R(; E N T
so for med di ffer fund a me ntally fro m the asym-
met ric subd uctio n orogenic belt s of islan d a rc
or continent-ma rgi n type already described .
Dewe y a nd Gird Illustrate the simplest such
situa tio n (Figure 5.22): the co llisio n o f a
passive co ntine ntal ma rgin with a n active or
subd uct ing co ntine ntal ma rgin . Clea rly sub-
ductio n mus t precede collision . so that the
effects of the subduction 'o roge ny' must be
incorpo ra ted int o the su bsequent co llisio nal
orogen ic belt. Th e pol ari ty or asy mmetry o f
the subd uctio n structure con trols. al least
initially. the colf..ional st ructure. T his pr inci-
pie is illustra ted in Figure 5.22, whe re the left -
dippin g und erth rust struc ture of the subd ue-
lion zon e co ntinues as rightwa rd-di rected o ver -
thrustin g a fte r coll ision. va rious alte rna tive
and more com ple x sce na rios a re possible of
course: bo th op posing margins ma y possess
trench deep -se e continental
$hell
tlgure 5.22 Diagrammatic seque nee of st,lge~ in lhe
u ausro rma non o f a subductio n lo ne to a continental
ooUision zo ne by the approac h uf two contine nts and the
closure: or the inte rvening ocean . Afte r D ewey and Bird
( 910).
TECTON I C Ri'GI MES 139
sub d uctio n zon es for e xample , a nd co mplex
collisio nal belts may be form ed by mult iple
accre tio n o f islan d arcs or s mall co nt ine nta l
fr agm ents. T he wide Cen tral Asia n o rogenic
belt has been cre a te d in th is wa y, as we shall
see .
Conv er gen ce con tinu es aft er initial con tact
o f the opposing pieces of bu oya nt cr ust. The
e xte nt o f this co ntin ued converge nce is the
single most importan t factor in the crea tion of
a n oroge nic o r moun tai n bell. since continent al
co nverge nce leads to crusta! thicke ning and
con seq ue ntly to isostati c uplift.
,m'e "u/h:mm mn
Recent mount ain belt s a tt ribu ta ble to con-
tine nta l co llision a rc fou nd mainly alon g
a comp lex zon e co nn ecting the .A.lP:i._ the
imal-j'~ a nd J.otJone£ia- Thi s zo ne is the
result o f the l~L.Oi · Genomi0 co nvergence
of u..ralioi<W\o'illl-A fr ica . A rabia . I ntl i a ~ n d A u s...
~ ral i<t with the consequ e nt elim inat ion of the
Tet hys O cea n th a t form erl y int erve ned (see
Figu re 3.5). O ther e xa mples a re fo und in the
Gi~1I · P~ f bell". where the co llisio n of re-
la tively small co ntine ntal fragme nts a nd isla nd
arcs has ta ken place aga inst a bac kg ro und o f
co ntinued su bdu ct io n orogeny t hro ugho ut the
Mesozoic and Ce nozoic. Th e occurre nce of
substa ntial strike- slip d isplaceme nts in thi s bell
(fo r e xa mple in No rt h Amer ica an d Ja pa n. see
6.2) ofte n precl udes acc urate reco nst ruc tio n o f
the eve nts relatin g to pre vious co llisio ns.
Looki ng in more det ail at the mountain be lts
in the A lpin e- Hima la ya n syste m , we find tha t
the main mountain ra nges do no t for m a
continuous belt , bu t ar e arranged in a num be r
of se pa rate linear or a rcuate chains. In the
Medite rranean regio n . these form a ve ry com -
ple x pa tt ern , t he northern boundar y o f which is
marked by the tortuou s co urse o f the Pyre nees.
A lps . Ca rpathia ns a nd C a ucas us chains. In the
south , the Atlas mo untains in north west A fr ica
are link ed to t he T a urus mo untains of T urke y
t hro ugh the Mediterranean Sea , via the
He lle nic arc al ready descri bed . T he moun tain
ra nges borde ring th e A d riatic Sea str ike
140 GeOLOGICA L $T II.UC I U RE$ ANn MOV ING Pl.ATE S
obliquely ac ross this re gion co nnecti ng the
no rthe rn an d southe rn branches. T he co m-
plexi ty o f t his ar rangement W <-l S a ttr ibuted by
De we y a af. ( 1973) to th e move me nts a nd
inte racti ons of va rious m icr opl at es th at existed
in the Med ite rran e an region during the co n-
ve rgence bet wee n E uro pe an d A frica . These
mo vem en ts we re con trolled in pa n by major
cha nges in th e co nverge nce vecto r bet ween the
ma in plat es.
Since t he Med iterranean Sea has no t co m-
pletel y closed . the full e ffects of co ntinent a l
collisio n have yet to be expe rienced . T he Alp s
a nd th e Pyren ee s a re e xa mples o f the co llisio n
of rel at ively sma ll pia les ( Iberia n a nd Adri atic)
with Europ e . Th e cl ima x o f th e com pressio nal
movement s th ai produced these c hai ns oc-
curred in Ol igoce ne and Miocen e times , a nd
the be lts e xhib it o nly res idua l tecto nic ac t iv-
ity . Th e A lps ar e descr ibed in C hapter R as a n
exam ple o f a Phanerozoi c orogeni c belt .
Fur t he r ea st, the Zagros mountain s ma rk the
site of co llision be tween the E uras ia n and
Ar abian pla tes ( Figure 5. 18). Dewe y a nd Bird
noted t hat the Za gros cr ush zon e mar ks th e
suture bel ween th~ two plates . A Mesozoi c
seq ue nce o f oph iolit e . chert, Ilysch and
me la nge ma rks the s ite o f a subd uct io n zo ne
alo ng th e so uthe rn margin o f th e Ira nia n
pla te a u. T he th ick Phane ro zoi c ca rbo na te-
sha le cove r o f th e Arabi a n shie ld to th e so uth ,
which is underthr usting th e Ir a nia n plat eau , is
deforme d in a se ries of asymm et ric folds facing
sout hwes t , de ve lo ped abo ve a ba sa l decoll e-
me nt hori zon in late Precam br ia n to Ca mbria n
sa lt deposits. Thi s zo ne passes la te ra lly into the
Mak ran subd uct io n zo ne a lready descr ibed .
A str ike -slip zone co nnects t he east e rn e nd
of the Mak ran complex to th e major co llisio n
comple x of Cen tra l A sia , produ ced by th e co l-
lisio n with Indi a . This zone (d escribed he lo w)
co nsists , in addi tion to the main Hi ma la ya n
ra nge, a num ber of re lat ed morpho-te cto nic
units inclu ding th e Tibetan plat e a u and th e
Tle n Sha n a nd A ltai ra nges fa r to th e no rt h.
Th e e aste rn end of the co llisio n zo ne con-
nects via a lar gel y st rike-slip bounda ry with th e
Indo nesia n subd uction zone . Her e the oce a nic
pa rt o f th e Ind ia n plate is being dest royed in a n
arcuat e zon e from th e Andama n island s alo ng
the Sunda arc as far as T imor. T he easte rn
co ntinuati on of this he ll, fro m Ti mo r 10 New
Gui nea, is affecte d by the coll ision o f the
A ustra lian co nti nen t al crust. Thi s are a ex hihits
a rel at ivel y juven ile phase of co ntinen tal
coll ision . a nd the Ban da arc is an ex a mple o f
a co nt ine nt- isla nd ar c co llisio n o ro gen y (see
5.5 ).
,r) .. r/l ·tfir CO J.~ /( 1/f It" I
A ctive a nd rece nt mou nta in bel ts a re cha rac-
tc rized by th ickened crust (to be twee n x 1.5
and x 2 no rma l t hickness ). T hus thic knesses of
.n re co mmo n , a nd ove r ' 1 <I re fo und
loca lly, for exa mple in Ti bet. T he topograph ic
;-r t of mounta in be lts nTe<l.1I - 7 k 1)
is approximately co mpe nsated Isosta tically.
a nd it has bee n assum ed fo r man y years th at
th e excess ma ss of the mo untain ra nges is
ba la nced by a th ick roo t o f lo w-de nsity crus tal
mat er ial. Se ism ic refractio n st ud ies of de ep
crustal st ructure confirm thi s int e rpreta tion
(Fi g ure 5.23) .
We m ay e nvisage the process of co llisio n as
an ov e rlapping of t he lithosp here of th e co n-
verging plates. resu lting in p rogressive litho -
sphe re th ic ke ning. This will prod uce initi a lly
t he reve rse e ffec ts to those describe d in C hap-
te r 4. e ge I Herms w epressc , and
uifacc heal ftO- III imlms H o we ver , ove r
a lo nger period of time , as th e geotherm is
restor e d towa rds its norma l gradie nt, th e thick-
e ned c rust he at s up and thWowep p3 rL.wu,kEl'"
-g d a morphism a nd ~bl
tme llint . These processe s a re accom pa nied by
prog ressive up lift as th e crust a ttempts to
re store iso stat ic equ ilib rium.
Su rface heat flow over mode rn co llisio n be lls
varie s. Th e me an value of about 72 mW m - 2
for Mesozoic- Ce nozo ic o ro genic belt s given
by Vitorcll o and Poll ack ( 1980) (see Figure
2.7 ) conceals a wide varia tion fro m lo w va lues
typica l of the initia l stages of contine nta l
acc retion. wh er e ma gmatic effec ts a re abse nt .
to much highe r valu es associated with belt s
 CO N V ll~G t NT TE CTONI C RI'.GI ME.S 141
mga l
150 -

100
e.
50

o ISOstatic ano«'
.. Air{ 30-":
--;I----'>,--_-'>.c- _

- 50

-1 00
~
Bouguer anol1\
-t50
50

Axis of Ihe Western Alps Turin

East F'
I I
~ Ivrea surface
E" 20
~
~ 30
s:
ii 40
•
°50
60
8·15
Upper mant le
i M oho

Fi gur~ 5.23 Bou gue r and isos tauc gravity anu mal y and crusta l stru ctur e profil..:s across the w este rn Alp s. Pcwave se ismic
velocities arc given in krn s "'. Not e that the mountain range IS isosuuicatly compensated hUI 'hal a posiuv c a noma ly is
associated Wil li the d ense lvrc.. pcndotuc . inte rpre ted a~ u pth rust mantle m;lIcri,11 (sec sccnon x. f ) . From BOll (1'J7l)

con taining yo ung granite batholiths such as the
Andes.
Flak e tectoni cs and obduction
It was shown by O xburgh ( 1972). based on
studies in the Eas te rn Alps . that co llisio n may
involve detachme nt and overr id ing of pari of
the crust o n to the opposing co ntinent while
the remainder o f the crust and lithosphe re
descend ed below it (Fig ure 5.24) . T his process
was termed fla ke tectonics. In the Eastern
Alps, a pre-Mesozoic metamo rphic basemen I
of the Europea n plate has bee n overridden
from the south by an allochtho nous thrust
sheet of pre-Up per Palaeozoic crys ta lline base-
rnc nt derived fro m the so ut hern plate . Be-
tween the two base ment shee rs lies a highly
deform ed pelagic and vo lcanic seque nce de-
rived fro m the intervening ocea nic area . now
largely subducted. Oxburgh suggests thai the
initiation of the flaking p rocess is d ue to the
buoyancy and to pograp hic ele vat io n o f the
opposing contine ntal margin, and that a low-
angle crustal split propagated back into the
adjoi ning plate along a convenient zone of
weak ness. He po ints out that the separatio n of
the uppe r third o f the continenta l crust would
redu ce the buoyancy of the subd ucted crust 10
one-half its o riginal value. T his would facilita te
co ntinued subduction and allow converge nce
to proceed . The existe nce o f mid-crustal de-
142 GEO LOGICA L ST RUCTUR ES A ND MOVI N G PLAT ES
A T rench
--- -
Fi p;ur~ 5.24 Th e flake tectonic mech an-
ism . (A) Ca rtoon sho wing the over-
th rusti ng uf the up per pa r! of the cr ust
(ro m contine nt C o ver thai o f contine nt
A , and thc und e rlmu Sling uf the lowe r
pari o f C following tile suhd uctc d oceanic
crust {blac k}. Th e unit 8 is mar ine
sedimen ta ry co ve r fro m the regiu n be -
twee n the twu co nt inent s. A fter Ox bu rgh
( 19n ). ( B . C) Ca rtoons s ho wing the Icr-
mat ion o r a crusta l flake by the detach -
menl of a leading pa rt of the continent at
X whe re the co llision al s tresse s will be
co nce nt rat ed . Fro m O xbu rgh ( 1972)
tachmenI ho rizon s d iscusse d in 2.7 (see Figure
2 .29) would ass ist t his pr ocess . A similar
interpretatio n is applied to t he Himalayas (sec
below) .
Wh ere detachment of the who le crust takes
place , the process has bee n termed A mpferer
subduction o r A- subdu ction , to distinguish it
fro m subduction of th e whole lithosph ere (8-
subduction) . Th e basal crustal weak zone (see
Figure 2.29) is a part icu lar ly favourable site for
detachment , and exp lains the occurre nce of
very high-pr essu re meta morphic rocks within
orogenic belts.
II was realized by Cole ma n (1971) and
B
j
y
.... ... . ..... ... .. .. . .... ...... ...
.
'
y
\
.;;
- - - '- - - - 1/
. . . .... . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . -
....
Dewey and Bird (1971) that the ophiolite
co mplexes of o rogenic bells co uld rep resee
frag me nts of oceanic crust emp laced on 10
co ntinental crust by a process which was
termed obduction. T heir p resen ce co uld there-
fore be used as a valuable indicato r of a suture
representing a forme r subductio n zo ne. This
idea is now ge nerally accepted . A n initial
prob lem with the obdu ctio n process was why
dense ocea nic crust sho uld some times be de-
tached and thrust over less dense co ntinental
crust rather tha n be subd ucte d . Dewey and
Bird (1971) illustrate thr ee poss ible ways iB
which op hiolite obductio n co uld occ ur (Figure
 CONV£RGENl TECTON IC REGI M ES 143

• • • • • •
•
• • •
• • • • •
• • •

B
• • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • •
+ + + ++++ + + + ++ • •• • • • • • • •
+ ++ ++ + + + + + •• + .+.+ •••• • •
• • • • • • + ••••••• +

+ •• •• •
• • • + •
• •••••
• • • •

o ••• ••••
•• •• • • • • •
+ • + • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • + • • • •
/~-----_ _C.'--'--_--'-_-=-""::"-~"":-=-~_-=-~:"---:'
• • • + • • • • • •_ _

Hl: urt 5.25 Pc ssibfc me cha nisms of obd uctio n. lA. B) Obd uct ion re sulting fro m the back-th ru stin g o f o cean ic litho sphe re
o f the leading pla te on to the con tinenta l part o ( the lead ing pla te. (C) Upli ft uf rhe upper ocea nic plate in an intr a -oce anic
subd uction zone resu lts eventua lly in its e mplace me n t o n lhe app roaching co ntine nt. (0 ) O bd uction o mc th e uppe r pla te o f
ma rginal basin Iu hosphcrc belonging to the up per plate . Fro m Dew e y a nd Bird (197 1)

5.25): (i) compressional deformation of the
desce nding slab, as found in the Medite rra-
nean ridge . involving thrust wedges of oceanic
hasement ; (ii) ove n hrusting of an oceanic
uppe r plate du ring subduction; and (iii) back-
thrusting of ocea nic crust in the upper plate on
to the continent.
O phiolite sequences form linear helts ex-
tending up to several hundreds of km along
strike but never exceed 15 km in thickness. A
typical cross-section exhibits the four main
oceanic crustal layers: pelagic sediments, pil-
low lavas. sheeted dykes and laye red gabbros ,
overlying ultrabasic mantle-type mater ial, but
there are significant differences be tween many
ophiolites and the standard ocea n ridge crustal
section. For example. typical ophiolites exhibit
a basal crustal laye r which is much reduced in
144 GEOLOG ICAL STRUCTUIlES AND MOV ING PLAT ES
t hickness. an d there is co nside rable var iation
among o phio li tes in th e development o f the
shee ted dy ke layer - in so me , it is co mpletely
a bsent. It has bee n sugges ted that . fo r these
and other reason s, many ophio lites re prese nt
ano malou socean lit hosphere prod uced in back-
a rc sp reading basins rat her t ha n in true ocean s
(Miyash iro , 1973). Sp ray ( 1IJH3 ) d raws 1I1Ic n -
lion to t he sig nifica nce o f the basa l tectono -
metamo rphic zone or 'sal e' fou nd in many
ophiolite co mplexes. T hese highly de fo rmed
zones acq uired their fabr ic at high te mper a-
lures, up to gran ulite facies in some cases, a nd
we re forme d , acco rding to Spr ay . while the
ocea nic lithos phere was still hot, an d within
5 Ma of their init ial magm atic crystallizatio n.
This suggests that the init ial decoup ling o f the
o phiolite too k place , at or ncar its origin at a
sp read ing cen tre , along t he lithosphere -
ast he nos phere boundar y. T his bo und ary wou ld
be situ ated at a dept h of only abou t 25 km in
litho sphere less t han 5 Ma old . T he possibi lity
the refor e a rises t ha t the det achmen t alo ng
which an o phiolite eve ntu ally beco mes o bd uc-
ted was created as a result of tec tonic activity at
the spread ing cen tre . perhap s unrelated (0
the co nve rge nt mo vements which ca used the
o bd uctio n.
Thrust belts
It is already appare nt that the geo met ry of
co llisio n zo nes favour s the initiation and de-
ve lopment of thrust belts within the co ntine n-
ta l cru st. We have seen that such belt s are
fundame ntal to (he accretio n process in sub-
d uction zones, and it is to be ex pected that
th ese zones sho uld to some extent co ntrol
subse q ue nt s ho rtening of the crust du ring the
co llisio n p rocess. T hrust belt s fall naturally
into t wo classes of po larity: synthetic belt s
d ipping tow ards the co ntin ent . parallel to the
initia l subductio n zo ne . and antithetic be lts.
dipping in th e op posite d irectio n. typically
fo und at the o uter margin of an o roge nic belt .
se pa rating it fro m the undeformed stable cra-
to n or fo re/and. Such belts are termed [o reland
thrust be lts , Complexit ies occur if the flake or
A-subd uctio n process supe rimposes antithet ic
thrusting on syn the tic, o r where collision takes
place he twee n co ntine nta l margins wit h th rust
belts o f opposed po larit y. T hese pro blem s
were first clearly stated hy Roede r ( 1973) in an
anal ysis of the geo me tric relat ion ships bet ween
thrusting and pla te mo ve me nts.
Th e bas ic po lari ty of t hrust-driven co llisio nal
shorte ning is det ermin ed by the pre-existing
subd uct io n zo ne . Cont inued co nverge nce after
the initial co nti ne nta l co ntact is e nsured by the
fact th at the negative buoya ncy fo rce provided
by the sinking sla b is still acting on the
unde rth rust plate , as lo ng as it remains at-
(ached . Most co llidin g sla bs will have sect ions
alo ng st rike that are still subducti ng. in all the
major co llision oro ge nies d iscussed he re , sub-
du ct ion o f ocea nic lithosph e re co ntinues along
part o f t he destruc tive boun dar y. For examp le,
the India n plate is still partly dr ive n by slab-
pull in Indon esia . the A rab ian plate at the
Makran , and the African plate at the Hel lenic
tre nch . Moreo ver the ridge-pu sh force co n-
tinues to ope rate as be fore . T hese fo rces arc
co unte ract ed by a co llisional resist ance force
(see 2.5) which must increase with the ex te nt o f
crusta l o ve rla p a nd th ickening . If we take the
Hima layan co llision as an example , this pro-
cess o f crustal convergen ce may last for up to
about 40 Ma. T he way in which the process
see ms to o pera te , by underth rusting of co n-
tinen tal crust , force s the o roge n to deform
internall y in an asymmet ric manner.
T hrust be lts may be d ivide d int o thin-
skinned or thick -sk inned (Figure 5.2 6) depend-
ing o n whethe r the ba sal o r sa le th rust sha llows
at de pth or stee pe ns downwards to meet the
base of t he crust. Rece nt geo met ric and kine-
matic mod els of thrust be lts have been deri ved
mai nly fro m wo rk in the thi n-ski nned Rock y
Mo unt ains be lt ( Bally et al ., 1966; Price . 1981),
in we ll-bed ded sedi me ntary roc ks, and ap plied
to the Mo ine thrust zo ne (Elliott and Joh nson,
1980; McClay and Coward . 1981). the Scan-
dinavian C aledo nides ( Hossack . 1978) , the
A ppalac hians ( Hatche r, 198 1; Brewer a al.,
1981) , an d elsewhere .
Useful summaries of the geome try and
 CQ:,,/ V!.'. I(GENT I"C ro NI C II.EGIME S 145

" - .....
'

~lgur~ 5.26 Pro files illus lnlli ng thin-skm ncd (upper lWO) a nd thsck-skin ned (lower lwo ) thrust tectonics. All scc uon s a rc
true scale . Fro m So per a nd Ba rb... r (19S2) . willi pe rmission , a fter Ha tche r ( 19SI). Price (19RI) . Hsu (1979 ) a nd Shackleton
(1981). respe ctively.

mechanism o f th rust zones are provided by
Dahlstrom (1970) , Royer and Elliott (1982)
and Butle r (1982). In essence. sho rte ning is
achieved by a process of thickenin g by crustal
overlap. whereby o lde r. or structurally lower.
material is slacked upon younger , o r stru c-
turally higher materia l. Th e stacking IS
achieve d by tra nsfer along thrusts which ha ve
a staircase tra jectory of alternating flats and
ramps . T he geo metry is similar to thai for
exte nsio nal faulti ng. described in 4.4 (see
Figures 4.25, 4.26). Supe rimpositio n o f hang-
ingwa ll ramps upon footwall flats produces
geo metrically necessary folds in the hanging-
146 G EOLOGICAL STRUCTURES AN D MOV ING PLAT ES
wall . a nd the la ter al mo vem en t o f a thrust
sheet fro m flat to ramp to rlat pro duces
continuously migrat ing zones o f i nterna l strain
in the mo ving sheet. W hen move ment of the
first thrust hccomes d ifficult , du e to increasing
resista nce, a new thrust pro pa gates fo rwa rds.
co nnec ts upwa rds with t he old . and tra nsfers
the no w inactive upper thrust pas.s ively for-
wards in ' piggybac k' ma nner. A se ries of
imbricate thrust wedges (h orses) forme d in this
way forms a duplex structure. The duplex has
an active floor thrust and a n inactive roof
thr ust. Stacked duplexes may for m to prod uce
nappe co mplexes such as tho se of all the major
thr ust belts. Excellent examples may be seen in
cross-sections o f the Himalayas ( Figure 5.3 6),
the Rocky Mo unta ins ( Figure 8 .1 1) and the
Mo ine thrust zo ne of the C aledo nides ( Figure
8.23).
Th e ab ove syste m achieves the objective of
sho rte ning t he cove r in an o roge n , but avoid s
the proble m of how t he ba se ment is sho rtened,
and how the dis place ments a re tra nsferred
thro ugh the lo we r crust an d ma ntle litho-
sphe re . Thi s pro blem is add ressed by Cowa rd
(1983) who poin ts out that the ev idence from
the in ne r par ts of orogeni c belts s uch as the
Alps and the Himalayas indicates the impor-
tance of steep thr usts o r shear zo nes which
tra nsfer de e p cr ustal rock s to the surface
(F igure 5.35). Matt auer (1986) s ugges ts thai
sho rte ning in the Himalayas has been ac hieved
by sub-ho rizo ntal displace men ts alo ng maj o r
decolleme nt ho rizo ns at ( i) t he baseme nt -
cover co ntact , (ii) t he mid-cr usta l sei smic
disco nt inuity. and ( iii) the base of the crust.
These d isplaceme nts are t ransferr ed upwards
along stee p ramps co nnecting the maj or de-
tachments.
The style of deforma tio n varies co nside rab ly
with cr ustal level. T ypica l thin -skinned fa ult -
fold mo rphology associated wit h cataclastic
deformatio n processes in discrete zones gives
way downward s to more pervasive plastic
deformation with the deve lopment of slaty
cleav age , and to wide zo nes of du ctil e defor-
mation at high metam orphic grade s. In the
Himal aya n mod el (Figur e 5.3 5), t he th in-
skinned t hrusting is a hig h-level ou te r ex pres-
s ion of disp lace me nts of an esse ntially thick-
s kinned nature invo lving the whole crust. Since
she ar zo nes widen with de pth due to rise in
am bient tempe ratu re (sec c. g. Lockett and
Kuszni r. 1982) , dis place ments with in midd le
an d lower crustal rocks are d ist ributed th ro ugh
wide zo nes o f ductile defo rmation , which may
am algam a te to invo lve mo st of the lo we r cr ust.
The o rigin of such wide be lts of deform ati on ,
when they arc fo und in old o rogeni c be lts, may
no t be obv ious. In an ideal shear zone , a thrust
d is placement is tr ansformed into a zo ne of
simple she ar. However , in rea l shear zone s a
compo nen t of shorte ning or exte nsio n across
the zon e result s in the supe rimposi t io n o f a
pure she ar co mpo ne nt to the simple shear
st rain of the ideal zo ne (see Figure 3.15). T he
pu re shea r compo nen t will becom e increasingly
importan t with de pth due 10 the combined
effects of gravitational load and el evat ed tem -
pera ture , en hanci ng t he du ctilit y o f the rocks
( Figure 5.2 7).
Unle ss the stra in patt erns of highly de-
formed metam orph ic belts can be geomet ri-
cally re lated to high-level displa cem e nts, as
is possible to so me ex te nt in ce rt ain young
mo untain be lts. the ir origin may not be obvi-
I
• t I
"igu rt 5.21 Cartoo n to illustrate the variati on in slyle of
deformation down ward s in the crust , from disp lacement -
do minated at upper levels to hulk stra in-domin ated at
lower levels. From Co ward ( 1911J)
 CON VERGE NT TlCTO N1C REG IM ES
ous. This di fficulty has led to great debat e and
cont rover sy among str uctural geologists who
have stud ied old o rogen ic belts. It is in fact
diffic ult to es tablish the exte nt to which thru st-
drive n co llisio n sho rtening IS fundament al 10
the deformat ion of oroge nic belts, or whethe r
other mecha nisms me eq ually important.
Ind entation
The co ncept of indenta tion was developed by
Molna r and Tappo nnier in their study of the
Ce ntra l Asia n collisio n zone of India and
Eu rasia (Molna r and Tnppo nnicr , 1975; Tap-
ponnier and Mo lnar, 1976 , 1977; Tapponnicr
et at., 1982) , T hey ob se rved that the active
tecto nic areas of Central Asia indicated by
current se ismicity formed a number of d iscrete
zones affect ing a regio n up to 4000 km wide ,
northeast o f the Himalayan fro nt (Figure
5.28), wherea s India , in co ntrast, is re latively
unaffect ed . They sho wed o n the basis o f
magnetic stra tigraphy and palaeo magne tic evi-
dence tha t Ind ia must have moved at least
2000 km into Asia satcc the time of initial
contact. II is clea r, however, fro m the Asian
crusta l struc ture tha t J (K)() km of crustal sho r-
tening has not occ urre d. Tappon nier and Mol-
nar ther efo re suggest that Ind ia has acted as a
' rigid' indent er dri ven into the more ' plastic'
Asian co ntinent (Figure 5.29A ) which has
reacted by a co mbinatio n of thrust and strike-
slip displacements. T he ability o f Asia to
shor ten by later al displacem ent is infl uenced by
the ho unda ry co nd itio ns of the Asian plate . In
the east , the presen ce of a cont inuous subduc-
tio n zo ne was he ld to a llow later al ' extrusion'
of Asia n con tinenta l lithosphere ove r the
oceanic Pacific plate . To the west , continuous
co ntine ntal lithosphe re exte nds to Europe and
the At lantic with no co mparable possibility of
extrusio n. Onl y to the so uthwes t is so me
latera l move ment possible , wher e the west-
wards-d irecte d wedge of Afghanistan can
move towards oceanic 'space' in the Arabian
Sea and ultim atel y the Medit erran ea n.
Th e indenta tio n process commences at the
prot rusions o f India that a rc presumed to be
147
the fi rst po ints o f contact. T hese act to con-
ccnuutc the stress and initiate failu re . T he
au tho rs co nside r that two wedges o f Asian
crust, the Indo-China block and the China
block, have escaped to the sou theast as a result
o f the no rthwa rd prog ress of the inde nter
(Figure 5.29A). O f the 25CKl- 3500km o f co n-
ver ge nce estimat ed by Molnar a nd Tapp o nnicr
between NE India and Asia , bet ween HX)(l and
25()(lk m is considere d to be achieve d by strike-
slip moveme nts. Tappon nicr et af . ( 1982) illus-
trat e the applicatio ns of 'ex trusio n tecton ics' to
the defo rmatio n of Ce ntral Asia by means of
indentatio n experiments using plasticine (Fi-
gure 5.29 8 ).
T he indentat io n principle has been applied
to other o rogen ic belts. For exam ple T homas
(1983) shows how the irregular ma rgin of the
App alachia n-Ouachita o roge nic belt of east-
ern North America co uld be ex plained in ter ms
o f a se ries of recesses and salients of the
orogenic fron t. These ar e explained as the
result of respe ctively stronger and weaker
secto rs of the or iginal co ntinenta l margin,
co rrespo nding per haps to basement domes or
rift depressions.
A mathematical model of a collision zon e
England and McKenzie (1981) not e the limita-
tion s imposed by the two-dimensio nal nature
of the inde ntation model , and report the
results of numeri cal experimen ts which ta ke
account of vert ical as well as horizontal strain
in a block of mat eria l subjected to a co nstant
rate of sho rte ning. T hey assume that variatio n
of the hor izont al compone nt o f velocity with
dep th is negligible , and thai the gradients of
crustal thickness variation are sma ll. T hese
assumptions imply that the strai n-rate o f the
lithosphere is gove rned by the strength of its
strongest part (see 2.7) and th at the effects of
heterogeneous b rittle fault deformation in the
uppermost layer s can be ignored. The y ob tain
the mos t rea listic results using visco us ma terial
with a non-Newtoni an po wer -law rheology.
Their model pred icts that , for a wide ran ge of
rheological parameter s, th ickenin g o f the con-
148 GEO LOGIC A L SI KU(.'lU K£S A NI) MO VI N G I' L A IES

...
- CO". " " .... ". ,..
a . ou
• f
• • • •
l
'00 \ 0 eM
..

ft . . . . . ft • • •
..

,, ...
..
O'

.. ...

.. O'

..
.
I~""·6 O'

O'

.. ... ... 100 '

-.,,;
It O'
..
•lgll'-" 5 .28 Sc he matic s ummary ma p o f the tectonic pnncrn of easte rn A sia. Hea vy lines, maj o r faults o r pla te
bo und a ries ; ope n-too thed hnes, active subd uction zone s; close d toot he d lilies . ma jo r intr aco ntinentalth rusts ; lar ge open
arrows, major block movement di rections retanve to the main Eurasian pnue: small black arrows, recent extension;
nu mbe rs re prese nt phases of e xte nsional move ment consider ed to he rela ted Itl lhe co n tine nta l converge nce; ( I) 50 - 17Ma
liP; (2) 170 Ma liP to prese nt; (3) active and projecte d fut ure extension. From Tn ppc nnier 1."1 el. (1985)

tinental crust occurs over areas with dimen- a powe r-law rheo logy is requi red where the
sio ns at least as large as those of the indenting stress term is raised to about n = 3 (sec 2.7).
conti ne nt. To give crustal thickne sses approxi- The crustal thickness in front o f the indenter
mating to th ose of the Himalayas after 32 Ma , is limited by the strength of the lithosphere ,
 CONV!iRG ENl' TECTO NIC REG IM ES 149

• , A
1 3

FigUf t' S.29 Th e indenta tion mode l. (A )

C artoo n represent ation o f the results of
an inde n ta tio n ex pe rime nt o n a bloc k of
plasticine . Successive s tages (u -c) rep re -
se nt the progrcsstve mo ve me nt o( the
inde nte r (grey block) ir uo the d ucutc
plasticin e block . The Ia utt patte rn p ro -
d uced is compa ra ble with th at of th e
Ccm ral Asian collision zone . ( 8 ) T wo,
s tage mode l s howing ill mo re detail how
the seque nce of fa ult move me nts uccom -
modatcs IU lhe indenta tion. Note the
me thod of late ral ext r usion of the two
bloc ks BI and B1 . identified with SE A sia
a nd S. C h llla respectively. Th e re ucrs I,
K a nd T ide nt ify inte rsection po inls on
the block that change the ir pos ition
d u ring . he expe rime nt. (A). ( 8 ) fro m
T ap po nnic r ~I al. ( 191l5)

,., '"
8

?,F2 Sa

, -,'.
".
".
'.
150 GEO LOGI CA L STR UClU RES AN D MOVIN G PLATES
and as the maximum perm issible thic kness is
app roac hed , lateral stretching occ urs in this
region . Th is is an interesting ana logue o f the
st ruct ure north o f the Hima layas (see Figu re
5.30). An impo rtant result of the model is tha t
realistic resu lts arc obtained where t he fo rces
arising from the crustal thickness con tr asts arc
as important in determining stra in as those
a rising from the or iginal bo und ar y co nd itio ns.
T o mai ntain cr usta l th ickness co ntrast s of
about 30 km. similar to those of th e Himalayas ,
t he lithosph ere is required to sustain shear
stresses of abou t 30 MPa at strain rates of
abo ut 1O -1 ~/s . Th ese stress es and strain rates
a rc co nsisten t with estimates of available
stresses from plate boundary force s (see 2 .5)
an d with defor mat io n rat es fo r mod ern mou n-
tain belt s.
5.4 T he Himalayas and Central Asia
The rece nt explosion o f interest in th e
Ce ntral Asian co llision zone is due largely
to the wo rk of Mo lnar and Tappo nnier , dis-
cu ssed abo ve . In thr ee influen tial papers, th ese
author s exam ine the pattern of recent tecto nic
activity in the regio n and att empt to explai n it
by a series of moveme nts related to plate
co llision (Molnar and Tapponnier, 1975; Tap-
po nnier and Mol nar, 1976. 1977).
Current tecton ic activity as ind icated by
seismic and recen t morphotcct onic data cove rs
an enorm ous region extending over 3000 km
northea st of the Him alayas (Fig ure 5.28) . Th is
activity is co ncentrated in a num be r of active
belts o f deforma tion tha t are separa ted by
co mparatively stable blocks. T he pri ncipal
tecto nic un its arc indicated in Figure 5.30. T he
Him alay an fold-t hrust belt is bounded on bot h
sides by major strike-slip be lts - the O uetta -
Chaman fau lt system in the west , and the
Sitt ang zone in Burma in the ea st. These belts
define the margins of a large piece of con tinen-
tal lith osphe re which , acco rd ing to Mol nar and
T appo nnie r, has d riven in a NNE d irection
into the As ian crust. Th e plate bo unda ry lies
alo ng the Indus- Z angbo (Tsan gpo ) suture
wh ich lies on the no rt h side of the Himalayas.
Th is suture connects throu gh complex str ike-
slip zo nes of defo rmatio n wit h the Owen
fractu re zone dividing the Indian plat e fro m
the Arabia n plate in the west (see Figure 3.6),
a nd with the Andam an trench , at the no rthern
end of the Indonesian subd uction zone . in the
cast. T he so uthern limit of the Hi malayan fold-
th rust belt is the main Hi malayan bo undary . or
fro ntal, th rust which lies about 300 krn south of
the suture with the Ind ian plate .
North of the Himalayan belt are seve ral
othe r major fold-t hrust belt s. no tab ly the
Parn ir, T ien Shan . A lta i and Nan Sha n ranges,
separated by st able blocks such as the T ibetan
plateau and the Ta rim basin . Foc al mechanism
d ata fro m all these belts yield mostly N- S
th rust so lutions. The other majo r component
of rece nt tecto nic activity is st rike-slip faulti ng.
A number of major strike-slip faults exte nding
for dista nces o f the order o f lOOQkm accou nt
for much of the recent seismic activity. North
of the Hi malayas these form a conjugate set
wit h NW -SE dextral and NE - SW sinistr al
displa cements. In the sout heast. bot h sinistral
and de xtral faults appear to be bent into a
mo re N- S or ienta tion. Similarly, in t he west ,
t he E-W dex tral Herat fault meets the N- S to
NE - SW Oueue - C haman lineament defining
t he Afgha nistan wedg e, which is moving
sou thwest in relation to India . Th ese move-
me nts are exp lained by T ap ponnier and
Mo lna r as lateral extrusio ns resu lting from
nor th wards indentation of India into A sia (sec
Figure 5.29).
T he th ird main element in the recent tec-
toni c pattern is exte nsio na l. The NE- SW
Baikal rift system lies at the no rthern margin of
the active tecto nic zo ne, and t he Sha nsi grabe n
system at the eastern margin (Figure 5.28).
Stud ies of the active faulting o f Ti bct (Molna r
and Tapponnie r, 1978; Ni and York , 1978)
reveal ed that the most recent faults arc N- S
nor mal fault s (Figure 5.30). Foca l mechan ism
so lut ions of earthquakes in Cen tral Tibet yield
approximately E- W slip vectors . These result s
indicate th at the T ibetan plateau has been
subjected to E- W extens ion since t he late
Cenozoic. Bo th sets of aut hors explain the
 ~
)-

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PA~
"ONT~;~S \ BASIN
~

~.~,., ~ - ~,~,
n
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<
en
o'"

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r::

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,

~~,Q 'e~ ~D"S ~ NYEN'--SUT'!,~A-G'

~J ,.,."",,.~~L
\ .. PLATEA
- ~"c;.
-i
0 -i
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30 11
..,
<~,,~, ~AO
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~ r'·,j:"i~ "'"ALAY., ~ 1- '(~
.... , HE.M <'" '"" N n
H 11ti4LAY4S
'"tr:
o
1II0/~...,O ~ ~\ls).l
s:
I ' ---- I ~
r l'\ ,r \\ en
Vl

c'4 ,.
-
~ Thrust Faull SITTANG
~
- Strike Slip Faull ZONE 1(~
Norma I Fault
.;l 20
0

70° 80 E
Figure 5.30 T ectonic summary map o f the Cent ral A sian col lision zone, showing the main fault patte rn and the inferred relati ve movement di rections o f
the In dian, T ibet an and Tari m blocks. From Ni and Y ork ( 1978), with per mission .
,.....
V1
,.....
152 GF.OLOGKAL ST RUCTURES AN D MOVING PI.AT ES
extension as a seco nda ry result of the N-S
co nverge nce o f Ind ia and Asia. Ni a nd Yo rk
suggest an eas terly spreading mechanism rcs ul-
ling fro m a wedging effect in the west . due to
conve rge nce o f the E -W th rusts in the so uth
and the NE -S W Alty n Tagh st rike-slip fault in
the nort h. Molna r and 'l'a ppo nnier attr ibute
the extension 10 E - w la teral flo w of lo wer-
crustal material in response to crustal s ho rte n-
ing. It is inte resting to not e t hai la ter al
stre tching o f t his type is pred ict ed by the
mathematical model of E ngland and M cK enzie
referred to ea rlier.
Th e magnetic st rat igrap hy record in the
Indian Ocea n (sec 3.6) allows accur ate rcccn -
st ruct ions (0 be made of t he co nverge nce o f
Ind ia and Eurasia since the late Cre taceous
(Figure 5.31). AI around 38 Ma RP. at t he
Eoce ne - O ligoce ne bou nda ry, t he rat e and
d irection of co nve rge nce cha nged abrup tly .
90"
J"i(:un : 5.31 Successive pcsuic ns of India al various times
h o m 71 Ma B P , reco nstructed from ocea nic magnet ic
anomaly data. Th e northern boundary of Indi a, and the
position of Asia are ilrbitrarily fixed for times before the
prese nt. Note the an ticloc kwise ro tation of India fro m 71
to IOMa HP . Af ter Molnar and Tappcnnier ( 1975).
Prior to 38 Ma 01'. the converge nce rate was
bet ween IU and tx cm/ycar in a N NE directio n.
After 30 Ma Ill'. the rate slowed to about
5cm/year in a nort hwa rds direction. It is likely ,
but unp ro ved , tha t this change re lates 10 the
initial contact bet ween the two con tinen tal
masses , which would pro bably have bee n in
the no rt hwestern ' ho rn' of the Ind ian co n-
nncnt . in northe rn Pak istan . Since th at time .
ap pro xima tely 150(J km of co nvergence be-
twee n the two con ti nents has ta ke n place .
Stratigraphic evidence from the Indus-
Zangbo suture l o ne ( Mitch ell. 1984) ind icates
that early Cretaceo us ocea n-floo r sediments
and ophiolites were subjected 10 th rusting in
lat e Lower Cr etaceou s times indicating the
presence of a subduction zone dipping to the
no rt h . T he Ncfacing str uctures relat ing to the
final collisio n of India with Asia arc of Eocene
age .
T he manner in which nus converge nce has
bee n accommodated has been the subject of
much debate . It had been tho ug ht for man y
years t hat Ind ia had underthrust As ia and
thus effec tively do ubled the crusta l thickness
beneat h Ti be t (see e .g. Ho lmes, 1978. Figure
29. 4). Mo lnar and T ap po nnie r suggest tha t
pr ob ab ly only 5{X) -}OOO km of horizo ntal
shor te ning can be tak en up in the fo ld-th rust
be lts and thilt the rem a inder has been accom-
modated by E- W exte nsion using displa ce-
ments on the major mike-slip faults We shall
exa mine str uctu ral ev ide nce be aring on t his
question later.
The Central Asian collage
Many of the act ive movemen t zo nes of Figure
2.8 a re re-ac tivated tecton ic be lls of mueh
o lder derivation . Central and Ea stern Asia is a
tecton ic co llage or co mposite co ntinent for med
by the accretion of separate blocks at vario us
times (Figur e 5.32). T he main block s are the
Sibe rian co ntine nt in the north . the North
China or Sino-Ko rean block . t he So uth China
block , an d the So uthe ast Asia block in the
east, the Ta rim and Ti bet blocks in Ce ntral
Asia, and the Kazakhstan and Afghan istan
 CONV lORG £'l 1 £CTO.' IC RI'(;I.\ If.S
90
S IBERI A
EUROPE
60 N
KA ZAKHS TAN
T A RIM N CH IN A
- . TIBET • • •,
" s. CHINA
o o
6DE
. ·ij:urf 5.J2 Terrane m" p of A~i" sho wing the main r ctucom agneucafty defined block s. After Mcfilhinn y 1'1 al . (19RI) .
blocks in the west. T he pa laeomagne tic evi-
dence for t he se par ate e xiste nce o f these
blocks in pre-Mesozoic times is discu ssed by
McElh inny et al. (198 1), who s uggest that t he
three easte rn blocks we re situa ted near the
equator in Permian times. and were succes-
sively accret ed to th e Siberia n block du ring the
Mesozoi c. Acco rd ing to Lin et af. (1985) . the
Nort h C hina block join ed Sibe ria in the lat e
Permian and the Sou th C hina block in the earl y
Jurassic. fro m a posit io n along the nor t heast
marg in o f Gondwa na la nd .
Mit chell ( 198 1) discusses the co mplex area
extending fro m T ibet int o SE Asia , and re-
cog nizes a Ce ntral T ibet / Indo-China bloc k
tho ught 10 hav e accre ted to Asia in the late
T riassic. The sout he rn T ibe t blo ck is co nsi-
153
KOLY M A
KAM CHATKA
30
dered to be cont inu ous wit h a N - S block
extendi ng thro ugh easte rn Burma , cast o f the
Sittang sutu re , and to have collided wit h Indo -
C hina in the late T riassic also . Howe ver. the
Sou t h and Cen tra l T ibe t blocks do nOI a ppea r
to have joined un til t he ear ly C retace ous. Th e
geo logy of the Ban gan g Nujang su tu re se pa ra-
c
ting the se two T ibetan blocks is d isc ussed by
Allegre et af. (1984). Th ey dem on strate tha t
highly defo rmed midd le to Uppe r J urassic
sed ime nts are ove rt hr ust by op hiolit es and
o verlain u nco nfor mabl y by Uppe r Cretaceo us
volcanic roc ks. The a ut hor s suggest that an
island-arc s ubduct ion zo ne dipping to t he south
was terminat ed in U pper J urassic to Lo we r
Cre taceo us times by co llision between t he two
blocks. Mo lnar and C he n (1978) po int out that
154 GEQl.OG I(,\L ST IW Cl U R£S AND MOVING PLATES
a pal aeomagnetic reconstruction places Cen -
tra l T ibet a t a bo ut la ti tud e gON in th e la te
Cretaceous, and that abou t 3000 km of subse-
q uen t co nve rgence m ust have taken place
befo re il reached its pre sent position. This
impl ies that Ti be t may no t have been acc reted
10 Sibe ria until later t ha n the ot her accre tion
eve nts just referred 10 . T he precise history or
acc um ulatio n of the co llage is still subject to
co nside rab le uncerta inty.
T he s utu res sepa rating these bloc ks a re
zones o f subduction a nd coll ision w hich re pre-
se nt major st ruc tura l weakn esses in the Asia n
co ntinent. T hese zo nes of wea kness have been
re-acti va ted during the Eoce ne to Re cen t
conve rge nce, and exp lain the patte rn a nd
e xte nt o f rece nt tecto nic activity .
Deep structure of the Him alayas and Tibet
A co mbi na tio n o f grav ity a nd dee p seis mic
p rofiles (Misbra. }\)82) ind ica tes a cr ustal
thickness of 58 km bel ow the Him ala yas. 71 krn
u nde r th e Karak orum, a t rhe nor thwest e nd o f
t he H imalayan ra nge , an d 55 km be low the
Pamir range (Figurc 5 .33A). A mid-c rustal
re flect or a bo ut 14 - 15 km ab ove the Moh o
a ppears to ex te nd acr oss the whole cen tral
sec tio n , a nd is inte rpre ted as the basal deco lle-
me nt se pa rat ing the As ian plate fro m un der -
th rust Indian pla te . H im ct at, ( 19R4) re po rt a
ste p ill the Moho a few ten s ofkm nor th o f Mt.
Everes t be twee n the 70 km-deep T ibet Moho
a nd t he 55 km-dee p H imal aya n Moh o . A bo ve
the Moh o is a not he r pro mine nt reflecto r which
is int e rprete d as a probab le crust- ma ntle
int e rface at 35 km de pt h , reinforcing the unde r-
thrus t mode l. Howe ve r, t he arr a nge ment was
no t thou ght to suppo rt a simple doubling o f the
c rus t , but ra the r a sepa rate dccouplin g and
thrust ing of the upp e r and lowe r c rusta l la ye rs.
A llegre et al . (1984 ) re po rt result s from a
se ismic ref raction study across the Indus -
Tsang Po (za ngbo) sutu re nea r Lhasa , tha t
reve al a co m plex Moh o topogr aphy involving
se veral ste ps (Figure 5.338) . These a re in te r-
pre ted as the sites o f o ve rt hrust ma ntle wed-
ges, direc te d so ut hwa rds.
The T ibe tan plateau has an a ve rage eleva-
no n of about 5 km and a n a ve rage crust al
thick ness of about 70 km . T he main pe riod of
uplif t a ppea rs to be pos t- Mioce ne (Guo, 1980).
A study o f P, a nd S; seis mic wa ve prope rties
ben eat h the H imalayas an d T ibet . repo rted by
Barazangi an d Ni (1982) ind icat es ef ficient
pro paga tion of SIt waves in the uppe rmost
ma ntle be nea th t he T ibe tan platea u, toge t her
wit h rel a tively high veloci ties of both PIt a nd S~
waves benea th most of the T ibet a n plat eau ,
s imila r to t hose fou nd be low stable Preca m-
bria n s hield regions (sec 2.2). These result s
we re held to bc con sisten t with a mode l in
which shie ld-like Ind ia n co nt ine ntal litho-
sphere undc n hrusrs Tibe t a t a sha llow ang le
(about 15°) as o riginally sugges ted by Argund
(1924) . An alt er nat ive mod el , in which hot ,
wea k c rust and uppe r ma ntl e is being short-
e ned be nea th T ibe t ( D e we y and Bu r ke , 1973)
is not support ed by th ese results. Recen t
st ruc tura l wo rk in the Weste rn Him ala yas .
wh ich we shall now d iscuss , sugges ts thai
crust al struc ture is m uch mo re complex in
de ta il tha n either of these mode ls en visages .
Structure of /he Western Him alaya
A cr ustal profi le ac ross t he Ka ra korum ra nge
in No rt h Pakistan is desc ribed by Cowa rd et al.
(1982). T he sec t ion ex te nds fro m the Indus -
Za ngbo sut ure in the no rt h to the main
Himala ya n bound ar y t hrust in the so uth (F i-
gure 5.34) a nd crosse s a maj or s hear zone
te rmed the Main Mantle Thrust ( MMT). On its
sou th sid e is a 10- 20 km-wide inte nsel y de-
fo rmed zo ne of blue-schists an d a mp hibolitcs.
T hese co mprise inte rfo lded ba se ment a nd
cov e r rocks belo nging to the Indi a n plate , a nd
ar c ov e rthrust by highly deform ed a nd meta -
morphosed roc ks of the Ko his ta n seque nce.
Th is seque nce co mme nces with the basic-
unrab asic Chiles co mplex , more than 8 km
thick a nd 300 km lo ng, which is ove rlain
by pillow lavas a nd gre ywac kes, intr uded by
gab bro s, dio rites a nd ton alites . T hese rock s are
deformcd un der gran ulite- facies co nd itions
a nd are interpre ted as a s lice o f (he lower crust
upth rust along the Main Ma ntle thru st.
T he ea rly high -grade fabrics and assoc iated
 A A IA Y A NOM AL Y

ZORKUL KARA KUL

NANGA
PARBAT
j j
K A R A KO RUM PA MIA -.. 0- TRA NSAL AI

"o
ac ... (55)
-:::: ;::: -~"'<::-:: ;:" ' -
LOw Veloc: ll y
6,31 I n l tr v • •

60 - 1 _1_
7 ,01 8.05 _ 1_
- - 1_ _ 1~

eo
, ,,, <0'
'" DISTA NCE ( km)
'" '" 50'

B S T SA NG PO GA NGD ISE LHASA Y A NGBAJAIN

SUTURE G' an;ln

10 0 k m

,
M .B ,T ITS CU CT5 C T6
'"
'\

L 100km

tl ll.u", S.33 (A) Gravity and deep seismic structure of a crusrat section across the western Himalayan , Parnir and Alai
ranges. No te ( I) that the main high ranges of the Karakorum and Pamirs appear to be largely compensated isosta ucahy , and
(2) the base or the Cru~l at abo ut 70 km beneath rhe Karakorum. Data west o r Karak ul are fro m Pakistan sources and east of
this line from the USSR . Aner Mishra ( 1982). (8) Deep-se ismic refraction profile across the Tsang Po (Za ngbo) sutu re
near Lhasa, showing the ap pare ntly stepped nature of the Moho . Th e lower diagra m is an interpretative cart oon indicating
a possible crustal structure. Mantle, bache red ; ocea nic crust , black; MBT, main bou ndary thrust ; MCT, ma in central
thrus t; KeT, Kangmar thrust: ITS , Indus- Tsang Po sutu re ; ENS, Bangong- Nujiang suture; CT4-6, un-named thr usts
within the Lhasa block . After Allcgrl: et al . (1984) .

155
156 GE01.OG ICAI. ST KUCTU KES A N D MOVlr"IG PU.TES

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fllU~ S.J4 (A) ~bp of lbe Kotl Btan n pm ,howi." lbe pr incipal st rUCl urn. ( B) Simplirtcd $lfUC'l un. 1 profile KmS5 lhe'
Kohisu,n region. See (A) for locatIOn and l C')' . From Coward t'f lIl . ( 1~ )
 CON V[)tG ENl' 1 E(TONI C REGt M ES
folds ar c re fold ed by a major sy ncline (t he
Jaglot sy ncl ine ) t hat appea rs to Invo lve the
who le uppe r crust o f K ohistan . Mo st of th e
Kohistan se que nce is st e eply di p ping a nd th e
la ter folds a rc tight with stee p ax ia l pla ne s.
Howe ver . so ut h o f the MMT t he st ructu re is
domi nat ed by ge ntle sou t h-d ip p ing th rus t we d -
ges ( Figu re 5.34 /J). The stee pe n ing o f the
MMT and the Kobistan se q ue nc e may he du e
10 pa ssive back -tilting p rod uced b y move men ts
o n the yo u nge r th rusts as th e y mo ve u p ramps
to the so u th. o r po ssib ly to northwa rd s bac k-
thrust ing o n a so ut hw a rd s-di pping thr ust.
157
Figure 5 .35 sho ws a model (C o wa rd a nd BUl le r .
IY85) o f th e posr-coltisional rcct o nic ev ol ut ion
o f th e Ka rako ru m re gion . No te firstly t ha t the
d eep e a rt hqua ke s beneat h T ibet a rc att ri b u te d
to a no rtb-di rccre d b ack -t hr ust invo lving the
whol e Indi an litho sp here . a nd sec o nd ly th at
the isostatic re spon se o f o ve r-t h ick e n ing o f the
lith osphe re result s in th e up lift of the reg io n
betwee n th e Pam ir ran ge a nd Ko his ta n. A
bala nced sectio n fro m the M MT 10 t he undc-
fo rmed Ind ia n plat e (Cowa rd and Bu tle r ,
1985) le ad s to a sho rte n ing esti ma te of 64 %
( Figu re 5.36) .

NN.
/1 Kohli Io n
; :J , ompIU
4
l
- .v
- /.,. ;~. ~'!'-"_
~~ . Ind,on cr lll / -

"~~____ _ ______ No>,

a / - - ~~ _

, Qul h"ord - d ,rrc l,d

'hrUl l tn9 In upptr cr Ull

b
Al ' Qn
cru . I

- - -- - ----- - - - --
IQ", r cr UI ' r, a Q't!l
b._ '" KQII,I 'OIl
------ - - - -'"--
HQIlO ,-,-

P o.,rs T,b., KQh,llon H/1I/1r /1

'"0 'm
./ /

''-,,.
~ --

,",0 /1/1
, 4-

-, " ,- -

/-- - . . . , -,
~ --4..
.'1 ~
d ,.p

--./ --
.......
'/1rlll qu/1~"
--- ---- - L III

c .......
- - -- "::-- - ----
I'igu rf 5.35 Int er pr etative cartoo n profiles i ll u~I ';ll i n g the post-cothsion tectonic evolut ion oltbc nonhero margin of the
Indian plate . Randomdashes, maude rocks of Kchistan complex : stipple , Indian crust in Iootwalt to H imalayan sole thrust;
large arrows. predic ted vert ical movements ar ising fro m lithosphe re load ing: MM T. main mantle thrusr ; MBT, main
1ll.lUndil ry thrust : L VZ . base or I ndian plat e lit hosphere (hypot hetical) , From Co ward and Butler ( 19li5)
 -
VI
(X)

NNW SSE
KOhis/M MonSf hra Aooo//ooor! no raro htl/s Ra wa lp indi Pot vor [a st er »
's lolOobo o plal.ov 5011 Ron9'

H alO Bovnoor y
fhrus f roo»
C'J
rr:
p,n o
T r
---- h o
C'J
n
>
r
c::=J 5,..,0/'/(5 Ul
--I
~ Murr~~s :;c
C
[
c=J P~rm - Lot t,me s t ones ()
--I

o 15 NG T , Na/hia Goli tbr us! AT Abbo//obod t br u sr ~ L ",r PO{O. Ol Ol (S

C
:;c
a. f'f' r:1
kill z Mons.hro thrust MHT Main Monti. thrust ~ no t or a s l o t e s Ul

l ~~-~:::, I Jl 9f(l(l l f /( oo s e men ] >

Z
MOln Bounddry a
thrust ron. 6 A ..",. :s:
lui 0 ~ ~ 0 0 0 l r--_ .--=--~----
50 <C:::a:::::::::::.,.....--o 0 ... . 0 ~- o
x~~~4M:f~~~~r:e·~·:t .tf·~ :t·:...:. = ::;; ~ 8" 4
(1,..." 9

.:s
z
C'J

I~;~:~~·?3i':a-'~·r··(~~~.~,:;:.'-'~' :'::' ~>S' '::T~f:' ;:··:18.~~~~;Gt~(-

-c
r
;p
--I
~~_::::::. :-~< ....L~-
_e-, -- ---- - - ••• --<. -=-........c...._~.:..-.~ rr.
Ul
Pin _ Olrps/orod) = 540 km P 'n - ( (d.forfll ~ o } = 1 40/( f11

b. o ( tr es tor ed ) 190 Itfll shorten,f)f} : 470 km

Figure 5.36 Simplified balanced (a) and restored (b ) sect ions across the Pakist an Him ala yas , from the main mantle thru st out crop to the fore land .
Sect ion is con structed to minimize necessar y displacem ent s . From Coward and Butler ( 1985)
 (; O NVlRG c NlrECTO N!C j{EGI M£S
T he H ima laya n range thu s represents a
fore la nd thrust belt , cu rrently active at its
so ut he rn limi t in the Salt Range whe re the
basal th rust is still moving , result ing from
co llision man y hundred s o f km to the north .
The site of t h e most rece nt col lision has ye t 10
be esta blished ; it may lie alo ng t he no rthe rn
ma rgin o f Ihe T ari m bas in, along the line of the
l' umir -.T ien Sha n ra nges much further north
tha n o riginally thought. U ntil m uc h more
geo log ical fiel d wo rk is undert aken in these
re mote region s, this question may not be
lin ally reso lved .
The whole process o f c rustal thicke ning a nd
sho rte ning invol ved in thi s colli sion o roge ny
appe a rs to ha ve tak e n a bout 40 M Ol to rea ch its
prese nt sta te, a nd is not yet co mplete. A n
instruct ive com pariso n ma y be made with the
Caledonia n o roge ny in Britain (see 8.4 ) whe re
the lat e Ca ledo nia n forela nd th rus t bell o f NW
Scotland is linked with closu re along a sut ure
300km to t he sout h , ac ross an intervening
co llage of block s with a much ea rlie r o rogenic
history.
5.5 Southeast Asia
A ll incomplete collage
Southeast Asia ma y be ta ken as an exam ple of
a co llisio n o roge nic be lt at an ea r ly stage in its
de velopme nt . It is inst ructive to specula te on
the e xtreme complexity of the accre t ionary
terran e that wou ld result from co mplete con-
t inental co llisio n of t his regio n with closure of
all th e ocea nic basins. T his notio na l acn e-
tio nary te rr a ne ma y be usefull y co mpared with
Ce ntral As ia , or indeed with older o roge nic
belt s, as a wa rning aga inst ove r-simplistic
reconst ructio ns !
The prese nt tect on ic frame work of the re-
gio n is sum ma rize d in Figure 5.37, a nd repre-
se nts the co mplex interact ion of three mai n
plat es: the Indi an plat e to the so uth with
Aust ralia n co nt ine ntal c rust in its easte rn half;
t he Southe as t Asia n pa rt of the Eurasian plate
to t he northwest , a nd t he Pacific plat e to the
northeast. Subd uctio n o f oceanic Ind ian pla te
159
is taking place at the J ava tr e nch below the
Su nda ar c. Th is s ub duct io n zone ex le nds south
of Suma tra an d Ja va eastw a rds to the edge of
t he T imo r Sea where ocean ic crust of the
India n plate gives way to co nti ne ntal Aus tra-
lian crust. The c urre nt ly act ive volca nic arc
ext e nds fro m western Su mat ra thro ugh Ja va
an d the smaller isla nds 10 th e east.
Th e A ust ralian co ntine ntal cr ust ext e nds
nort hwards to incl ude New G uinea (Ir ian).
No rth of thi s plate lies a very co mplica te d
region consisting of co m para tively yo ung bac k-
a rc spreading bas ins a nd isla nd a rcs which lie
be tween the mai n Pacific plate to the east
and the As ian co nt ine nta l ma rgin in the west.
The Neoge ne vo lca nic a rc runs through the
island of Sulawesi, east of Bor neo , a nd
joi ns the act ive a rc in t he so uthe rn Phi lippi ne
islan ds.
Cha rlto n ( 1986) exp la ins so me of the co m-
plexit y of t he prese nt patt e rn by postulating
moveme nts along a series of N E -SW sinis tral
strike-slip fa ults that resu lt from t he geo metri-
ca l arrangeme nt o f co ntine nta l a nd oceanic
plate d ur ing the initial collisio n (Figure 5.38).
Due to the small a rea o f initia l con tinental
ove rla p , and the greater ease of no rthwa rd
tr a vel over the oceani c Pacific plat e , fragments
of the no rth wes t corne r of Australia arc pro-
gressivel y sliced off , a nd a tta che d to As ia. T he
position of Ne w G uinea , about 1500k m to th e
northeast of th e present Ind ian /A sia n plate
bounda ry at t he Su nda a re, is a conseq uence o f
thi s cumulative st rike-s lip displacem e nt.
AI present, co nt ine nt - isla nd arc co llisio n is
tak ing place alo ng the so uthe rn s ide of the
Ba nd a A rc on T imor and the ad jacent isla nds.
C ha rlto n believes tha t t he initia l co llisio n, the
products of which ar e now to be fou nd in
eas te rn Sulawesi , look place pri or to mid-
Mioce ne times when the major Indi a n pla tc rc-
orientation refe rred to ea rlier look place . T he
present converge nce vector be tween t he Indo-
A ust ralian and Eurasian pla tes is 020" a nd t ha t
betwee n the Asian a nd Pac ific plat es is 1100
(see Figure 3. I). Prio r to the mid -Mioce ne re-
arrangement , the Indo-A ustral ia n plate was
tr avell ing a pp rox ima te ly no rt hwards relative to
160 G EOLOGIC A l. STlWC TU RES Ar>lO MOV ING PLA T ES

S UN 0 A
e RA T ON

S.E. SUNOl'-

"" v ~
..
1 ~_·· ·o-':'...:·~·~l~
,-....
,~
~ ~
... ,
,/1:\..../ "'./ , .,
./~~ +~ '"
+++ .:1.... +++
+ + + +~+ + ++
+ + + + + '<r_+ +++
1>0"[" A f/ s rlf A L I A ;'

L E G EN D
Act,... OUOll _ _ , ~

"*"_ • "'01 . f ~ c....,

IiITiITl
OO
""Ii
ftI OI.oa1....."
~tioII pIDlot """",,*,'y
"""" "'-<:..........
.........
e
Atwt of "".!nlIo;In
E3
--- -
pIcM troundory crywto'" . . ."'-'"
Ac.... plu!e ~r."- - riddto/l ....... Wflh ptlll>obIo .....
AcIi.. pIlM lIoYnclary. _
........0. -..tocI>I ......

fl j;un 5.37 Simplified tecromc map o r ' he eastern Indo ne sian fo:- gio n. From No rvick (197<)) with pe rmission .

Eurasia (see Figure 3.5e- E). However , a
complicating factor is the so utheastwards move-
ment of t he Indo-China block resulting fro m
the India-Asia collision (sec Figure 5.28). This
move ment must have caused a n eastw ards shift
in the Pacifid Asian boundary relative to the
Indian plat e , so t hat the co nve rgence dir ectio n
be tween the Aus tralian part o f the Indo-
Australian plate and SE Asia is ac tually NNW.
Figure 5.39 shows a reconstruction of the
relative positions o f Australia and SE Asia in
late Cretace ous 10 late Pliocene times which
may be compared with the simplifi ed model of
Figure 5.38.
 CO N V E ~ G E NT TECfONIC REGIMES 161

.. ... . .. . .. . .. .. . .. . .. ':31:."
. . . . .. . .
.. . . .. . .. .. ............
..
• + • • • • ~

. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. ~, .
';~
.. . . ... . ... .. ... .. .... .. ... .. .... . . :!'
. . . . . .. . .. . ,,'':'
• • • • • • • • • •••• + •••
.. . .. . .. .. .. .. ..
a b c

d e

.. .
.. ... . ... .. .... . ... ..
. ...
....
... .• .. •
.. . . .
. . . .. .. .. .. . .. ..
+ •
.. . . . ..
.......
• • • • • •
. ..
.. . . .. . ..
.. .. .. .. .. . . .. . .. . . .
..

Figure 5.38 Seq uenc e or ':ilU' IlHl mill's ilIusu"l;og the tecton ic evolution of the eastern Indo nesian reg ion. T he three
plates arc th e E urasian plate (A . !:llan\;;) , the Pacific pl" le (8. UMk slipplc ) and the Indo-A ust ralian prate (c. oc ea nic, light
st ipple ; co nline ,u "l. crosses t. Subducticn Niles . too thed lines. Loca l sea -floo r spreadi ng associ at ed with tra nstensiona l
zones is indica ted oy .bshc () o rna ment. T he dotted lines in (b) arc pore e ua t co mpleme ntary strike-slip faults Ihal do nOI
beco me active. T he effect ot rhc culhsion is 10 develo p a ser ies of t ransfo rm fa u l l~ which trans fer pieces o f the nOrlhwCSlern
cor ner of the AU ~lr a h "n conuoc m to the sout heaste rn po rtion of the Eurasian plate. from Ch arlton ( 19l«'i) . with
permission.

Tim or Borneo . These allochthonous th rust sheets are

The island of T imor form s pari of the co llision
zo ne between the Austra lian continen tal shelf
and the Banda island arc. Accordi ng to Chart-
ton's model , the co llision oroge ny of T imo r is
the result of a seco nda ry co llision bel ween a
piece of the nor thwest co rner of A ustralia
alread y welde d to Asia, and a more south-
westerl y po rtio n of Au stralia (see Figure 5.38).
A n impo rtant feature of the Banda arc is
that the Pe rmian and Mesozoic rocks of the
para -a utochtho nou s units d isplay Australian
a ffi nities , whereas the over lying alloc hthon ous
th rust shee ts conta in strata of the same age
ra nge but with tro pical facies comparable with
the co ntemporary rocks of the Sunda arc and
directed sout hwards , away fro m the Banda Sea
and towards the Austra lian continent. The
nearest count e rpa rts to these allocht honous
units lie on the no rth side o f the Banda Sea , in
Sulawesi (Figur e 5.37). The form er continuity
of these unit s has there fore been disrupted by
the opening o f the Banda Sea . T he formation
of th is oceanic spread ing basin may relate in
part to the regio nal southeastwards exte nsion
o f the Indo-Chi na con tinental margin already
d iscussed , and partly to back-arc exte nsion
relating to the Banda subduction zone . A geo-
logical cross-section of li mo r (Figure 5.40A )
shows the basic structural framework. A basal
low-angle sa le thrust (Tl) carries the alloch-
thon across the para-au tochtho nous Permian
 ,.....
0\
N

-.
"" -. <,
CJ
m
o
'. r
o
""
T1MOR,Y7 ".):'
,.. ~4't
) <t
CJ
(i
:l0-
r
"
iY ;:>" ...,
(/l

SUMB,,\p ,,~
.):'
AUSTRALIA ;»
\~
c
; Q
c;»
~
:lo-
PACIFIC Z
OCEAN o
~
o
<
z
CJ
-e
I r
:lo-
...,
~ : m
TETHYS_ .OCE~~.:•.:J.JMg!l,__j "'/C/ (/l

(~ ", ... _~ ~o o " ,~/ Figure 5.39 Palaeogeographic reco nstructio ns of the easte rn
INDIA N SUMB~'..~ .. ~ ---
Indonesian region during the late Cretaceo us (I) , mid-Miocene
OCEAN :' '<,\.~ (2) and late Pliocene (3) periods. Present-day outlines of land
/ t:J~ areas are for refere nce only. The allochtho nous elements of the
. / +o\j\. Banda arc arc shown in hatched orna ment in (1). Back-arc
• -._-'" .... 1-
_ " " ":J spreadi ng areas are stippled. WS, West Sulawesi; ES, East
Sulawesi; CNG , centra l New Guinea ; SNG, south New Guinea;
AUSTRALIA NNG , nort h New Guinea ; SER , Seram. Note that the present
north orientation of the Austral ian continent has different or ien-
2 tations in the thr ee diagrams. After Carte r et al. (1976).
 CO NVE RGENT T ECTO NIC ~F.G I MF. S 163

N !I/ofOR f R OUG H
5
Tl HOR

W f f AR
B ANO A Sf A
S f RAIT

... .

•
A
OIU Teclon,c !lo~ e
01 lOteOtc IT]
n o ~ pe

1'" 01""" po~i,;on

WelO' of J ava ' , eneh
Soul" Bando Sea Alo' S' , a ,' WS T,mOt Shelf
o
IYr ;:;"~y~~~ y
·00
,,""
• • AU ~I,oho n
conhn enf

'00

200

ws Wela, Su'u, e
wT We ra , T h ' u ~1 ' 00
ctu R~,on 01 Ouat e''''''1
isoslOt,c u~ li "

•
'00 '00

Figur e S.40 (A) D iagrammatic section across Ti mo r , sho wing the seq ue nce of allochthono us shee ts carried Oil thr usts
TJ- T5 o ver lying the pat a-autochrhon o us A ustralian assemblages. U neve n ver tical str ipes , oceanic crust : V-symbols,
volcan ic-arc assem blage ; black , At apu pu she et of amphibo lite and se rpe ntine; closed triangles, O cussi shee t of Per mian-
Jurassic sediments and volcanics; eve n vertica l stripes, Lolotai meta mo rp hic complex; small regula r dot s, Kc bano- Hiomar
sheet of bat hyal sedimen ts. Note post -emplace ment de posits of primary Bo bo na ro otistostrom e , and rewo rked Bo bc narc
sedime nts . From Caner (I at, ( 197(1) ( 8) Tecto nic car too n illustrating an inte rp retat io n of the geo physical and geo logical
struct ure of Ti mo r. Not e the postulate d rupture of the Au stralian continen tal lithosphe re alo ng a thr ust with a surfac e
out cro p in the werar stra it; thi s inte rpre tation differs significantly fro m that of ( A ). Eart hq uak e foci represe nted by o pe n
circles. From Milso m and Audley-Cha rjes f 19M ), with perm issio n.
164 GEO LOGICA L Sn W CfU RES AND 1>lOVll" G PLATl:S

Allt BP S t ,a l iq ,a phic a nd st ruc t ura l ev e ot s in Timo r Te ct onic event s

o ",
Upli f t o f Pl e is to ce ne co r er re e ls a nd
a llu via l f,<re e u
I
2 ", De po s itio n o f co r er r ee fs ond a ll uv iu m d ur; nq
Ple i s to cene ( N . 2 2 - 23 )

2 ", - - - - - L oc ol o nq u lor u nconf or mi l y - - - - -

Wid upr e a d subae rio l eros ion

•
Genlle f o l d i n Q ot V i que q ue t urb id it es

De po sit io n of Vi qu e que tu r b i d i t u t N ce te ::• , <~

-
•<
Ma rl Fo rmot ion - Lo t e Pli o c e ne - Earl y
••< s ters tc ceee N. 2 1-22 ) w ;lh sll bcr e, iol eros ion
•, in North e r n Ti mo,
•••
•, Deposi ti on of Sa bael! t jme stcne Formol ion
o ( Lo" Pl io cene N. 2 1) in s ho llo w wo l e '
~

•,
••> Deposi tion Of u p per po r i of Bo lu P ul in
•
>
Ltm estce e i n deep woler
( Lo te Pl io cene N. 2 1)
..... :3 Mo - - ---Loc OI onq u lo t unc onfor m ity - - - - -

, ", (Cessa tio n 0 1 volcani c ocl iv ily in Al au r a and

We lo r 0 1 inner Ban da Ar c 1

Em placem ent of Ih ruS! ,he.ls wilh o y. r lyinq

Bobona ro Sc aly Cloy OIi, lo slr o m, an d lowe r •< •<

'" 4 Mo
pa rI o f Botu P u l ih li mes l o ne in Ihe Mid -
P lioc ene ( N. 20l
.e
•
••
-
-
•e •
0

<
0
<

,•
0
<
De posi l io n of lowe r par I o f Bal u Pulih
0 a
0
li mestone o n Ih , Bo bo na ro Sc aly Cl o y in I he u •
Early Pliocene ( N. 18 - t9)

Eros ion of po ro · o u i oc h i ho n
-••
•
•,
FoldinG. fau lTinQ and tccc t imbr ical ion 0 1
para - a ulochlon 0
•
••,
~
'" 5 Mo DepOsi lion 01 you nqesl mem be r 01 para-
au t och l hon o us Austr ali a n co nl ine nt a l marq in
tec te s (Ea rly P lioce ne N. 18)

'" 7 lola Se dimenlation in Ih, o lio ch i hono u' el'men ts

c ho nqe , from ,ho llo w we re r c e erc e Limeslo ne
(Ea r ly Miocene N. 8 ) 10 deep woler Miomo ll u
l u lh ( Lo l. Mio ce ne N. 17 1
 CO!" Vl:KGEN I r ECT ON"lC II.I'.GI M ES
10 Cretaceous seq ue nce . Above TI is t he
Kalbano thrust shee t ( 1'2). which is an imb n-
catc slack or du plex co ntain ing ea rly C retace -
ous sedi me nts . Th is thr ust shee r is ove rlain by
th ree highe r t hrust shee ts wit h o phio litic
material o n the top most and most norther -
ly. Th e th rust seque nce is unco nform ably
ove rlain by late Plioce ne to late Pleistoce ne
turb idites.
Th e alloc ht honous units revea l a different
de for matio n histo ry from that of the unde r-
lying para-a utoc hthono us Aust ralian units.
T he re is evide nce in t he allochthon for defe r-
rnat ion and igneo us act ivity be fore e mplace-
ment o n the A ust ralian margin. T he you ngest
unit in the allochth o n is of late Miocene age .
T he para-autochtho no us seq uence reflects the
deep-water contine ntal slope an d rise en viro n-
ment of the nort hern A ustra lian co ntinental
shelf. Th e yo unges t unit in t his sequence is
ea rly Pliocene in age . Th e re is no ev ide nce for
any deformation in these rocks pr io r 10 this
date. The de formation accompanying the em-
placement o f the a llochtho n the refo re took
place in mid-P liocene "t imes. which is ta ken as
the dat e o f collisio n. Afte r the co llisio nal
deformatio n, the T imo r region experienced
vertical uplift of at least 3 km in the last 3 Ma.
T his uplift is well document ed from the shal-
lowing and erosio n of mar ine seq ue nces, and
Table 5.1 Summ ary of tate Cen ozoic stratig ruphic and tectonic h i~ l o r~ of T imor. Fro m Milsom and A udlc y.-Charlcs
( 1985)
165
the for ma tion a nd uplift o f co ral reefs a nd
all uvial te rraces (Ta ble 5.1).
T he gravity fi eld in the Banda ;HC regio n is
discussed by Milsom and Audlcy -Ch artcs
( 19H6). A pro mine nt negative Bo ugue r ano-
maly ex te nds through T imor and Jarndc na ,
fo llo wing the arc round to Scram. A sma ller
posi tive anomaly fo llows the active volcan ic arc
to the no rt h and also exte nds ove r thc Banda
Sea . T he no rt hern limit of the negative ano -
ma ly runs through the island of T imo r. Reca l-
culating the gravity fi eld assumin g isos tatic
co mpe nsation stillleaves a substan tial negat ive
ano maly, although the positive anomaly is
virtua lly eli minated. T hese results suggest t hat
the southern part o f T imor is depressed below
its isostatic level, whe reas the nort h coa st ,
which has been subjec ted to rapid recent uplift.
is now near eq uilibrium. Figure 5 408 shows
an inte rpretat ive model profile of the area . The
negative a noma ly is att ributed to the sub-
ducted oceanic slab which must still exist below
t he inne r arc from seismic ev iden ce . Co mpli-
cations arise fro nt ho rizo ntal short ening. fi rstly
o n t he south-directed th rus ts o n Tim o r, and
secondly by a postu lated no rth -directed thrust
in the straits be tween T imor and the volcanic
arc . T he rise o f northe rn T imor is attri buted to
isostatic adj ustment resulting from its detach-
me nt fro m t he sinking slab.
6 Strike-slip and o bliq ue -sli p reqrrnes
6 . 1 C ha ra cte r istics of sir ike-slip reglmes
In the early days of the plate tectonic theory ,
atte ntion was concen trated on the tectonic
effects of dest ructive and CO Pslr u£t j\'s p ! a",~
bslllpdar jcs. Ho we ve r. the de tailed study o f
oceanic transfor m faul ts and of maj or con-
tine ntal tr ansform faul ts, pa rtic ular ly the Sa n
A nd reas fault syste m , ha s led to the recogni-
lio n that stri ke-slip or tra nsfo rm regi mes arc
also o f fundamental tecton ic import ance.
If we exam ine again the piatc bo undary
ne twork in Figu re 3. 1, we Sec that co nser vative
or st rike-s lip bo undaries make up a significant
proport ion of the Io taI boundar y len gth . In
addit io n 10 t he la rge nu mbe r o f minor tr a ns-
fo rm offse ts of the ocean ri dges. there are lo ng
sect ions of bo undary mad e up e nt irely of
tr a nsform faul t. Th e most stri king examp le
forms the northeastern bo undary of the Pacific
plate . He re the San Andreas fault jo ins the end
o f the East Pacific ridge in the G ulf of
C aliforn ia to the J uan de Fuca ridge west of
Washington and O regon in the nort hweste rn
USA . No rt h of this sho rt sectio n o f ridge .
anot he r ma jor strike -slip fault syste m co nnec-
ting the Chugach- Fairweathcr O uee n Char-
c strike-s lip tectonic regime created a special
lott e islands fa ults exte nds off the co ast of
Western Canada and Alaska . A nothe r maj o r
co nt ine ntal strike-s lip bo undary is the Alpine
fau lt of New Zealand , which connects sub-
ductio n zo nes to the no rth an d so uth marking
the bo undary between the Pacific and Indo-
A ust ralian plate s.
There are a num ber of major oce anic trans-
form fa ults. A mo ng the more impo rtant arc
the Owen frac tu re zone be twee n the A rabian
and Ind ian plat es (sec Figure 3.68 ), the
Azores fra cture zo ne co nnecting the mid-
At lant ic ridge and the Mediterranean sub-
ductio n zo ne. and the major fracture zo ne
connect ing the Sco tia arc with the C hile t rench.
The mo rph ology and str ucture of oceanic
t ransform fau lts is discussed below (6.4) .
166
Major strike-slip move me nt never takes
place along a single faul t plane , but is distri-
but ed thro ugh a zone . In the case of the San
An d rea s fault system. this zo ne is about 100 km
in width . So me of the grea t ocean ic fracture
zones arc over 50k m wide . A simple mod el of
a strike-s lip boundar y consists of two pla tes
slidi ng past each ot he r, with comple te censer -
vation o f plate area , and no con verge nce or
di vergence across the bo unda ry. T his mod el
must be re placed by a model involving a
bo und ary zo ne of finite wid th within which
co mplex tecto nic effects tak e place .
The general kinematic relat ionships were
described in 3.3, whe re the significance of
oblique relat ive movements across plat e bo un-
daries was stressed . It was co ncluded that, in
gen eral, plat e movements at bo unda ries were
tm p§Ilrcss igl1"a1 or " ap sts nsjRQjl l, with com-
pon ent s of compressio n or extension acros s t he
boun dary. and t hat the boun da ry s ho uld be
co nside red as a deformable shes t rath er than a
plane .
T he impor tance of the continental strike-s lip
regime was highlighte d in an influential pap er
by Read jQ!' ( 1980). He pointed o ut that a
type of o rogenic belt characte rized by ju lkp§,
seismic activitX_i'Qd de fQrmatjo p, by jwoo rtapl
differs ntia! yertisal w p¥f we pts by ~ and
xaried sedimenta tion , but by co mparat ively
feeb le magma tic and metamo rph ic act ivity.
Major strike-s lip zones are co mmon o n the
co ntine nts . and il is freq ue ntly unclear whethe r
o r no t these are plate bo undaries . For ex-
am ple, the maj or stri ke-slip zones resulti ng
from the India - Asia co llisio n (sec Figure 5.28)
are most ly the result of in terna l defo rmat io n of
the E urasia n plate , and it is not pract ica ble to
use the rigid plate mod el in this area . Never-
t heless, individual fault zo nes may co nstitute
major be lts of strike-slip deform atio n sim ilar in
their e ffects to the plat e bo undary type . Some
may pe net ra te the who le th ickness of the
 StRI KE-SUP At'lD OBLIQ UE-S U P ~ EG IMES 167
...
A
S YN THE TIC

STR IK E 'S LI P

NOR MAL

F" Ul TS

AN T ITHET IC

STRI KE -SLIP

FAUl T

....
B

•
>

J.'igurf 6. 1 (A ) Diagramm a tic re prese nta tio n

of the str uctural pane m produced by a de xtral
simple -shear couple, afte r Ha rd ing (1974 ), a nd
Reading (1980) , (8) Diagrams sho wing the
or ic muuo n patter ns of faulls and fold axes
d ur ing dextral simple shear (middle diagr am), •
unde r transpressio n [ top diagra m) and transten-
sio n [bonc m diag ram ). C, co mpress ion axis; E.
e xtensio n axis: N , no rmal Iau hs ; T, thrust fa ults;
R. R', Riedel shear s or srnk c-shp fa ults : V,
ve ins, dykes o r extensio n fracture s; F. fold axes.
Not e that transpression res ults in cloc kwise
rota tion of co mpression and exte nsion axes. and
tra nSle nsion in anncl oc kwise rotation o f stress
axes. Th e opposite would o r course hold for
sin istra l shear. Fro m San derso n and Marchini
(1984), wilh pe rmission .

lithosphe re . while o thers may detach on low-
angle decollement planes with in or at the base
o f the crust.
Studies of deeply eroded Precambrian oro-
genic belts de monstrate the importa nce of
major st rike-slip shear zones at deepe r crustal
levels. For example the Precambria n of South
G ree nland ex hibits several major orogenic
belts th at re presen t middle- and lower-crustal
d uctile co unterparts o f the high-level strike-slip
fault zo ne (see Figures 9,17. 9. 18).
Causes ofgeometricalcomplexity
If we assume the strike-slip boundary to be a
defor mab le shee t. the bulk strain can be
168 GEOLOG ICAL s n WCTU K J;.S AND M OVI NG PLATE S
la u ll oveda p
considered as a comb ination of pure and
simple shear. The pure shear compo nent ar ises
fro m the exte nsional or co mpress io nal co m-
ponent ac ross the shee t. and the simple shea r
compo nent from the stri ke-slip displacement
(see fi gure 3. 14). Tr anstension and t ranspres-
sio n involve a cha nge in sur face area hUI not
necessarily In volume. Compression across the
shee t at cons ta nt volume will be co mpensate d
by extension , most pro ba bly in the vertica l
dim ension . leading to crustal thickening and
uplift. Exten sion across the sheet may be
co mpen sat ed by vertical shortening lead ing to
crustal thinning and depr ession . IllS ''f"nmef [Lk
:fS::y;.r~~:t ~q ps~nession
.• (" r '
and
u anSlcnsion
X . derson a n Marchlnj
( 1984) and their effects are summa rized in
Figure 6.18.
The importance o f volume cha nges sho uld
not be ove rlook ed : extensional moveme nts.
particula rly in the oceanic lithosphere , will
normally be accompa nied by emplace ment of
new mantle material, thus add ing to litho-
sphe re volum e . and volumetr ica lly less impor-
tan t cha nges also acco mpany met amorphic
effects in both co mpression and extensio n.
T he effect of simple shear strain is summa r-
ized in Figure 6.1A . In a bloc k of roc k de-
for ming heterogeneou sly. the d irecti ons of
extensio n and compress ion tire give n by the
o rientation of t he bulk simple-shea r st rain
ellipsoid . Vario us types of struct ure ma y form .
Figu re 6 .2 Loc"l ctl'nr ' <·Ssi<>I1<l1 " l1d e x.
tensional structures produce d hy fault
terminations (11) "'1<.1 faull overlaps (8) in
~l n ke -sli r filulling. Aft e r Rcadmg ( I')I\() .
and different comb inations o f str ucture will be
appro priate in d ifferen t mat e rials. Fold axes
will parallel the long axis o f the stra in e llipse .
Co njuga te sets of st rike-slip fault s may for m.
one §)'p!hc ljc. ~ k i91! ./ Wp ll am'k w ilb !be
ma in strike-d ip di rr£!j Q ~ . and the o ther anti-
thet ic. ma king a large angle with this dir ection .
Inclined faults will have normal dip-slip com-
pon ent s par allel to the long ax is of the ellipse.
an d thru st co mpone nts parallel to the shor t
ax is. T hus whe re the se nse of movement o f thc
major strike-slip displacem en t is unk nown , it
can be dedu ced from the relation ship of an y of
these subsidiary str uctures to t he bo und aries of
the deformation zo ne.
Othe r geo me trical effe cts arise o ut of the
natur e of the fau lt movements. On ly o ne sma ll
sec to r of a faul! is active at an y given time . and
t he d isplacem ent must the refor e be tak en up
elsew he re by hete rogeneo us st rain. This fault
termination effect is illust rated in Figure 6 .2A.
Local zo nes o f compression o r extensio n are
prod uced at the ends of displaced seg me nts.
Simultaneous movem ents o n en-echelon fau lts
also produce local zo nes o f compressio n o r
ex te nsio n (Figure 6.28) .
The most importan t geometrica l effects are
produ ced by cha nges in di rection of strike-slip
fau lts (Figure 6.3A ). As the two opposed
blocks move past each o the r, local zo nes o f
co nverge nce or diverg en ce occur, which pro-
duce co mpressio nal and extensional effec ts
 ST RIKl:-S Ll P AN O O RLlQU l:-S Ll P Rl:G IMES
respectively. In a co mplex fault netwo rk. this
process will lead to alterna te zo nes o f raised
and dep ressed fau lt b locks (F igure 6.3 8) .
These effects arc ana logous to t he geo me trica l
effects created by the ramp-flat geometry in
dip-slip fault displacemen ts (see e .g. Figu re
4.26). Th e combination o f fo lds and fau lts
prod uced by these local zo nes o f co mp ress io n
and exte nsio n have been termed flo wn .\"ITIl'-
es
fllT by Harding and Lowell ( 197IJ) . Pos itive
B
a Be/ore movemenr
169
ttower s are uplifted zones with a co mp ress ional
co mpo ne nt acro ss the strike-s lip belt . and
negat ive fl ower s ar e dep ressed zon es with an
e xtens io nal co mpo ne nt ( Figur e 6.4).
Strike-slip duplex structures may be creat ed
in an analogous manner to thr ust and exte n-
sional d up lexes ( Figure 6.5). Pieces from one
side o f the ma in fault may be sliced o ff and
transferred to the other side as t he active fault
tak es a new course . O n a large scale. this
Fi~u re 6.3 Th e ef fect o f c hange s in Iault
oricmauon . CA) Diagr a ms sho wing th e ge ne ra-
tion of trunsp rcssive (u ppe r d iagra m) and Hans-
te nsion a l (lo wer ) reg imes wilhin a region of
offsel in an otherw ise pure s trike -shp zon e .
Tr a nsp ression a l and transte ns jon a! reg ions a re
s tip ple d; fold axes, ~ing le lines, and e xte nsion al
fissures. dou ble line s. Bo u nd a ries of tre nsp res-
sio nal a nd Ira OS I('n sion al re gio ns a re shown as
Iauhs [ toot hed lines ) 10 indic at e aeoo mmod a -
lion of the strain discontinuity. F rom Sa nderson
a nd Ma rc hini ( 19M ). (8) D i" gra ms illuslrn ling
the Iormarion 01 ra ise d and de pressed blocks hy
coovcrge ncc a nd dive rgenc e alo ng curved fault
~cgmen lS. du ring strike -sllr mo tion . Fro m Read -
ing ( 19IllJ)
170 GEOLOGICA L S TRUC tURES AND MOVlf'lG I' LAH S

POSITIVE flOWER STRUCTURE

.... . . . .":., ','

O u l 0 1 p a gll
NEGA TIVE FLOWER STRUCTlFIE
t'j g\l r~
6.4 Pos itive a nd negative flowu
Jlme/ II Tesproduc ed oy co nve rge nce a nd d i-
ve rge nce respectively in smkc-shp motion.
l ruc p ag e Dot a nd CfOSl; symbols within circles indica te
o ut-of-page and into-pag e compoue nrs of
mot io n. rcspect ;vdy. Al ter a n unpublished
diagram of N. w oodcock .

,
-+ ......
- --- ~

2 2
--) - ...
II
3 3
tlRure (l.S Diagrams illustrat ing the format ion of strike-slip d uplex structure in transpression (A) and transtension (8).
Not e tha t the str uct ures a re ana lo gous mo rphol ogicall y 10 compressio nal aoo ex tension al d ip-slip fau lt duplexes .
respect ivel y.
 5 TR II\ E-5lJP AN D 013 U QC E-SlJ l' RE G IM ES
proc ess may produce fa r-tr ave lled bloc ks tha t
are alloch tho no us or exotic in re lat ion to th e
bloc k with which th e y a rc no w associated .
Lar ge di sp laced bloc ks o f this typ e <I re te rmed
displa ced o r pm;c " 'W Ilp' and a rc disc ussed
below . ( Not e tha t the Ameri ca n fo rm of t he
word ' te r rain ' is no w unive rsa lly used in this
contcxt .)
Sedim entation in strike-slip zo nes
Despit e th e fact th a t the mai n disp laceme nts in
strike -slip fau lt zo nes a rc hori zon ta l , the most
obvious dis place me nts lo ca lly a rc us ua lly d ip-
slip (sec Figu re s 6 . 1-6.3). It is the ve rt ica l
move ment s o f fa ul t block s re lati ve to e ach
other which pr o d uce t he most impo r tan t
strat igraphic e ffec ts o f a strike -slip zo ne . T here
are obvio us di ffe rences be twee n tra nste nsio n
and tra ns pr essio n in th is re spe ct . since tra ns-
tensio n le ad s pre d o m inantl y to depre ssio n a nd
transp re ssion to up lift . T hus tr e nsprcssion a!
zones will be e ro de d a nd th e de rive d sed ime nts
will be ca rrie d o utside t he st rike- slip zo ne ,
possibly to d istan t a reas. Fo r e xa mple t he
majo r trunsp re ssive A lpin e fau lt zo ne of Ne w
Zealan d is no t a n a re a of major se d ime nta tio n .
In tran ste nsio na l zo nes o n th e o the r ha nd ,
majo r se d ime nta ry basins fo rm , which o n lan d
are no rma lly with in re ach o f a bundant se d i-
ment su pply.
Transte nsiona l basins a re typi cal ly lacu stri ne ,
and bo rde red hy alluvia l fa ns. An e xce lle nt
example of such a zo ne is th e De ad Se a r ift .
which fo rms pa rt of the wes tern mar gin o f th e
Arabia n plate . Fre un d et 01. (1968) d iscu ss th e
evidence for a maj or sin istral d ispla ce me nt
along th is zo ne , a nd re lat e it to th e sc dimen-
tary reco rd . Se ve ra l rho mb -sha ped gra be n
occur in the zo ne (F igure 6.6A , 8) , so me o f
which co nta in la ke s , of which th e Dead Se a
a nd th e Se a o f G a lilee a re well-k nown e x-
a mples . These grabe n are pull-a part fea tures
fo rmed in regio ns of e xte ns io na l fa ult ove rlap
(sec Figur e 6.28). T he to ta l sinistral mo ve -
me nt is lto km as me asure d by th e d isplace -
me nt o f va rio us igneous a nd sed ime nta ry
marke rs of Pre cambrian to lat e C re ta ceo us
17l
age . Qu e nnel! ( 1959) a tt ributes 67 km o f th is
mo vem e n t to the early Miocen e. a fte r which a n
inact ive pe riod allowed the n ft to lill u p with
re d be ds until rive rs fro m the ca st we re abl e to
no w a cross th e rift to wa rds the Mc ditc rr nnca n.
Figur e 6.6C dem on strat e s the evidence fo r
sinistral d isplace me nt of the se Mioce ne river s
by 43 km in the Plioce ne to Pleis toce ne pe riod .
Some mo ve me nts ar e ve ry rece nt. Zak a nd
Fre und (1966) dem on stra te d dis plac em e nts of
150 m in t he Lisa n marl of th e Jo rda n valle y.
Th is fo rm ation has bee n dat ed a t 23 000 ye a r
li P by the rad ioca rbo n me thod
A well -doc ument ed e xa mple of a Pa lae o zo ic
strike -slip zone is the Midland Va lley o f Sco t-
la nd in t he De vo nia n pe riod . descri bed by
Bluc k (1980 ) - sec 8.4 . T he best ac tive
ex a mp le is the in ten s ively studied Sa n A nd re as
fault zone which we s hall exam ine in 6 .3.
6.2 Displa ced or e xotic terranes
T he co nce pt of displaced or exotic terranes
a rose from o bserva tio ns in th e No rt h A mc ri-
ca n Cord ille ran ben . over 70% of which is
re ga rde d as a co llage o f susp ect ferm fles of
pro ba bly a lloch t hon o us o rigin (W ilso n, 1968;
Mo nge r et 01., 1972; Jo ne s et 01. , 1972).
Altho ugh d isplaced te rran e s milY of co urse be
fou nd a t an y co nve rge nt plate bo unda ry , a nd
a rc pro m inent fo r e xa mp le in t he o rt hog o nal
co nve rge nt regime of the Cent ra l Asia n co lli-
sio n zo ne , t he y a re pa rt ic ularl y associ a ted wit h
o bliq ue co nve rge nce o r str ike-slip re gimes , an d
te nd to acc um ula te a t geo me t rica lly favo ura ble
lo ca tion s a lo ng suc h bo unda ries .
T he d ist ribution and nature o f more tha n 50
sus pe ct te rr an e s in we ste rn N . A merica (sec
Figu re 8.9) is sum ma rized by Co ney et 01.
( 1980 ) who la y do wn ce rta in pr inciples in the ir
reco gni tio n. A terran e e xhibits int erna l ho mo-
ge ne ity and cont in uity of stra tigra phy , a nd of
tecto nic style a nd seq ue nce , a nd is d ist ing uish-
abl e from adjo ining te rra nes by d isco ntin uit ies
of str ucture o r strat igra phy t ha i ca nno t be
ex plained on th e ba sis of no rma l fac ies o r
te cto nic cha nge s. Most terrane bounda ries
se pa ra te to tall y d istinct roc k se q ue nces and/o r
172 GEOLOGICAL S'IIWCru Kl;;S AND MOVING PL AT l:::S

Ma ri
o km 30
A""
!600m
JERUSALEM

Nahal se -e s

1500

10 0 0
m
500

\
~}
20

'0

j
A B Km 0
c
Fig ure 6.6 (A , B) Rhom tHh ~ pcd gra hc: n formed in en-e c helon scgrnen ts. resulting from strike-slip mo veme nt on the
Dead Sea trans fo rm (;Iull zo ne . NOll; difference in scale bet wee n (A ) and (8) (0 Displac eme nt o r Miocene river sp te rn
across the Dea d Sea fault zon e . (A ) - ( e) »ncr Fre und ('I at, (19M ),

faunas. and many contain palaeo magne tic rc-
co rds thai differ strongly from those of the
sta ble craton o r of adjace nt te rranes. A suspec t
te rra ne may be proved 10 he allochtho nous o r
exotic if its faunal o r pala eomagneti c signat ure
pro ves it to o riginate a co nside rable d istan ce
from its prese nt position. Most of the suspect
terran es of N. Am erica appear to ha ve co llided
and accret ed to the craton margin during
Mesozoic and early Ce nozo ic time . Man y s how
ev ide nce o f an or igin far distant from t hei r
present pos itio n, and ma y also have undergo ne
tr anslatio ns of hundred s of km afte r co llision.
Palaeom agnet ic ev ide nce a lso indicates signifi-
cant rotat ion s abo ut the ve rt ical in man y cases.
Dur ing muc h of the 120 Ma period during
which the te rrane disp lacem en t process occur -
red . the co ntine ntal margin was a subduction
zo ne , so that displacement and acc ret ion look
place by a process of oblique co nve rgence .
co mbining und ert hrusting a nd st rike-s lip move-
men ts. It appears that the str ike-s lip com-
ponen t was dextra l t hroughout. and the
terran es see m to have o riginated far to the
so uth of thei r present position , in so me cases
possibly on the othe r side of the Pacific Ocean .
Silver and Smith (1983) discuss the western
Pacific Ocean as an ac tive exa mple of the
terrane displace me nt process. As is clear from
Figur e 6 .7. obl ique co nverge nce is ta king p lace
 S I Kl n .-SLl I' AND OHLl QU E- SLlP KEGJM €S
bet ween the mai n Paci fic plate ,H1d Austrutia.
T he a utho rs po lilt ou t t hat thi s monon ap pea rs
to ha ve s liced off pieces of ocea nic plate au and
island a re , together with Irugmcnts of eo n-
unc mal A ustr al ia , a nd ea rned the m north-
wards. Lar ge ophioluc m,J SSlCS have been
em p lace d in New G uinea ,H1d New Cutedonia
as a resu lt 0 1 thi s o bliq ue conve rge nce .
Th e bo un dar y be twee n the Indo -A ustralia n
and Eur asian platc-, is alxu the sce ne of oblique
173
conv er gen ce (sec Figu re 5.37,5.31::), the effects
of which have alr ea dy been discussed . Major
strike -slip d isplace me nts along NE -SW fa ults
have t ran sfe rred po rtion s of the Au stralian
conn nc rual pl ate to Ihc Eurasian plate . crea-
ung a co llage zo ne on the sourhcus tc rn ma rgin
of rhc Eurasia n plat e . La rge rot ations ca n be
pro ved in this regio n. For e xam ple H a ile
( 1978 ) has sho wn fro m palaeo magne tic c vi-
don ee tha t Sc ra m . in the no rt he rn arm of the

., •
: BOR NEO

. -"
A U S / f UR

~-

,,
,
,,
,
AU S T RA LIA

, ,,
,,
C . ' ~ OII • ••
S ~ U O<I

h ,,,,ft••

II I . .

/
".
C"' U tl O " ' '''
•...
~

o A, c

~ Oc • • ftIC f" . ' ,, ~

o .. c c • • 11 ' , ." .

• c o..u ftto' II ...

o CO ft" ,.t c .~. t

• 1 00 1 0 0 0 . ",
I I

Figu ~ 6.7 Summar y tecto nic map illllslr;,l ing th e for ma lion o f d isplaced te rr anes in th e wester n Pacific Ocean regio n du e
10 lhe obliq ue co nverge nce n rthc Indo -A ustralia n and Pacific pla tes, a nd of the Indo- Australia n and Eu rasian plates (se c
movem ent ve ctors). The re gio n be twee n the New Hebrides and wesl ern Ne w Gu inea ( Iri'lI1 Ja ya ) consis ts o r a tectonic
collage o f ter rane s detac hed fro m both main plat es o n either s ide , ma ny o f which have suffe red sinistral sirik e -slip
dis placeme nt relative 10 their place o f or igin. Inse t fo r com pa rison is a map o f the Cordille ran s trike- slip te cto nic co llage
(se e 8 .2 and F igure 8 .9) Fro m Silver and Smith (191l 3)
174 GEO LOGICA L ST RUCTU RfS A N D MO VI NG PLArES

,. ,
<

........., '.
,. f
I
( X P LA",AT I QN
I
MOJO' acTive foun,
I
QI " t , mo jo . fo" I!5 , S()trIt oc li" f

~
,: .
Son of conl' ...eniol sree e
Bo",,,do 'l of Q, omo ,pl'liC
p rOvIn ce
\
" R ei ., ' 0 c Olll io n ' o t "om U 0 1
1" " I' s ( nu m be re d I o"d OI OIO\1 ;C
"O ,o n s ( l . ... t l d I

.•••.•••
•
"': c v ~ l lO .. [ T~[ S

(I '00 200
.. it ,
(I :.0 '00
.. ' LE I

\
N

'
~--;IJ; . ~.. .~
"
I C o - ,
 STlHKt:: -S Ll P AN O OBI.IQU E-SUP REGIMES
Ba nda a re, has under gon e a large clockw ise
rotation due to thc ope ni ng o f the B anda Sea.
O nce accre tion is complete , thc re aso n fo r this
rotati on will no lo nge r be o bvious. The lar ge
rotat ion s not ed in the terran e collage of the
North A merican Co rd illera ma y ha ve o rigi-
nated in th e sa me way.
T he obliq ue co nverge nce be tween the
oceanic part of t he Indo-A ust ra lia n plat e a nd
So uthe ast A sia has res ulte d in la rge dex tra l
strike-slip d isplace me nts a long t he con tinen ta l
mar gin in Bur ma . T ha iland a nd wes te rn In-
donesia (Fig ure 5.28) . In Suma tra , the A sian
plate ha s respo nded to the o bliq ue subd uctio n
by fo rm ing a dext ral strike-s lip fau lt that
trave rses the isla nd , a nd d ispl aces th e le a ding
edge of th e vo lca nic arc no rt hwa rds in re la tio n
to the re ma inde r of th e o verriding pla te . In th is
case, th e co mbina tio n o f stee p st rike-s lip faul t-
ing and subd uctio n ha s clearly been favo ure d ,
rathe r th an str a igh tfo rward obliq ue subd uc-
tion , as a me an s of ac hiev ing th e o bliq ue
conve rge nce (Bec k, 1993). Bec k di scusses th e
possible condit ions co ntro lling th e mechanism
of obli q ue co nve rge nce, ' a nd co ncl udes tha t
three fact o rs favour the combine d strike-s lip!
subductio n me chan ism: (i) a la rge a ngle of
conver ge nce (i .e. th e co nve rge nce di re ct io n
makes a sma ll an gle with t he trench) ; ( ii) a
shallo w a ngle of sub d uct ion; an d (iii) th e
therma l ' softe ning' e ffec t of the volcan ic a rc.
6.3 The Sa n And r eas fa ult zone
The Sa n And reas fa ult syste m is pro ba bly the
most widel y kno wn a nd inten sivel y studied in
the world . A tt entio n has been focused pa rti-
cula rly by t wo ma jo r earthq uak es; the San
Fra ncisco ea rthq uake of 1906 wit h a ma gn itude
175
of 8.25 ( R ichte r sca le ), a nd th e San Fe rna ndo
ea rthquake of 197 1 wit h a magn itude o f 6.6 .
T he devasta tio n ca use d by the 1906 e a rth-
q ua ke , an d the po te ntia l for a major ca ta-
stro phe if a shock o f com pa ra ble magn itude
affects one of th e mo re hea vily po pula ted pa rts
o f Cali forn ia , have st imulated a ma jor pro-
g ram me o f study in th is fa ult 'lo ne.
T he ki ne ma tic histo ry of the reg io n is sum-
ma rized in 3. 1. Before a bo ut 38 Ma BP, the
regio n was a subd uct io n zo ne with o blique
co nve rgence tak ing pla ce betwe en th e oce a nic
Fa ra llon pla te a nd the ov er ridi ng No rth
A meri can co ntine nt (se e Figure 3.4A ). A s we
ha ve see n, o bliq ue co nverge nce d uring the
Mesozoic a nd ea rly Ce no zo ic W <lS respon sible
for the d isplacemen t of a la rge nu m be r o f
blocks no rthw ard s alon g th e con tin ent a l mar -
gin to fo rm the collage of e xotic or sus pec t
te rran e s maki ng up the Co rd ille ra n orogenic
belt (see Figu re 8,9). Ho we ve r, when the East
Pacific r idge met the Am e rican plat e bo und a ry
at c.38 Ma BP. the mo ve me nt pa tte rn at the
bo undar y c ha nged a br upt ly fro m subd uc tio n to
stri ke-slip . T his change occurred because the
dir ection of re la tive mo tio n bet we e n the Pa cific
a nd A merican plates was no w appro ximate ly
pa ra llel to the bou nd a ry (se e Figure 3 .4A ).
T he northern e nd of the fau lt lo ne is det e r-
mined by the inte rsection o f the Murr a y tra ns-
form fau lt with the Nor th Am e rica n plate
bou nda ry, fo rming a tre nch - fa ult - fa ult triple
ju nctio n. This junc tion m igra tes no rt h wit h th e
Pa cific p late . T hus the Sa n And re as fau lt zo ne
is a co nseq ue nce o f a ste p in th e E ast Pacific
ridge a lon g the Murray tr a nsfo rm . Th is ste p
has resu lte d in th e di visio n of the ridge in to two
se gme nts . the J uan de Fuca in th e no rt h a nd
the m ain Ea st Pacific ridge in th e so uth,

~l gu ~ 6.8 Simplified map of the principal fa ults and ut hcr su uctural cleme nts in lhe San A ndreas fault zo ne of Califo rnia
and no rth er n M exico . CM. Cape Mendocino ; SC. She ller Cove ; PA . Poinl Arena; GV, Gr ear Valley; S A , San Francisco
Bay; SN , Sierra Nevada; SJ, San JUlIO Bau tista bend ; SB . Salinian block ; SN, Santa Maria basin; BB, Big Bend (o f the San
Andreas Iault}; SB, Ventu ra basin ; MB . Mojave bloc k; CI. Channel Islands: T R. Tra nsverse Ranges; LA . Los An geles
basin; G B. San Go rgione be nd: CO . so uth Ca lifornia offshore borderland; ET, eastern Transver se Ra nges; PR o
Peninsular Ranges; ST . Salton trough ; BP. Baja Ca lifornia pen insula: Gc, Gulf or California ; BO . Baja Californ ia
offshor e borderland; SO . Sonor a . Numbe red fauhs: 1, San And reas; 2. Mendocino fracture zone ; 3, Oregon subd uction
zone ; I I . Big Pine; 12, While Wolf-Kern; 13. Garlock; 15. San Gahrie l; 19. Elsinore ; 2 1, San Jacinto ; for names of other
numbered faults , see source . From Crowell (1m)
176 G EOLOGIC AL $T RUCTU RI'.$ AN D MOVING PLAT ES

. 0 ...
•

\
\. •

o
• •
•
SANTA BA RBAR

°0l::P
•

LOS A NGELES
S-q'V
G';;4;;eR
G
•
~I~El,.::s:~ • • •
. ,,
I

•
,,/
I
t_
~
SAN DIEGO
• •
•
•

Joigu rt: 6.9 Distr ibution of earthq uakes o f mag nitude:5 or greater in the period 1934-69 in sout hern Ca liforn ia, in rela tio n
to the princi pal faults . Dots indicate magn itudes of 5.0-5.\}; circles. magn itudes of 6 o r grea ter . From A nderson ( 197 1)

separated by the San Andreas fault zone . The
growth o f the zone from the initial point of
co ntact no rthw ards is docume nted by the
northward progression of the end ing of activity
on the Neoge ne volcanic a rc (see Figure 4.18).
The fault zone is about 1200 km lon g and
l00 km wide , and consists o f a complex net-
wo rk of faults (Figure 6.8 ; see And erson ,
1971). Most o f these trend NW-SE sub-
para llel to the main Sa n An dreas fault (see for
 $ I IlIK t - S U " AN D (lIl LlQlJE -Sl.Il' Il EG IM[S
exa mple the San Ja cinto and E lsinore f..tults}.
but m<l ny t ren d in a mo re t'\NW - SSE three-
tion . maki ng a n acute an gle with the rnam
fau lts and br anc hing from them Many of these
faults a rc als o provab ly de xtral strike -slip. A
significant numbe r o f faults arc NE -SW in
trend , ap pro xima tely pe rpendic ula r to the
main fa ults, So me o f them (c .g . the Garlock
fault ) a rc a ntit hetic sinist ral str ike -slip faults .
while o t hers are stee p reverse fau lts.
Seismicity
The reg ion is ve ry acuvc seis mically : 7JOO
earthqu akes we re reco rde d with a magnit ude
of 4 or greater in so ut he rn California in rhc
period 1934-69. Th e loca tio n of the lar ger
recent eart hq ua kes is shown in Figure 6.Y.
Most are un connected with the San Andreas
fault itse lf, hut arc associ ated with par allel
strike-s lip fa ults such as the San Jacin to and
Imperi al faults. and with t he White Wolf fuult ,
which int ersects the Sa n An d reas fault at 90" in
the region u f the ' Big Ben d'. Several of such
faults with t re nds ma king a large angle wit h the
main fault show o verthrust dis placements. Fo r
example. th e la rge earthq ua kes in Kern
County and San Ferna nd o were assoc iated
with ove rt hrust movem ents. Ma ny o f the faul ts
of Figu re 6 .8 ap pe ar to be curre nt ly inactive .
Stress and hem fl o w
In-situ stress det e rmina tions in the vicinit y of
the San A ndr eas fault using the hydra ulic
fract ure techni q ue are re po rted by Z oback et
al. ( 1980) . T hey invest iga ted the va riatio n of
stress wit h dist ance from the fa ult and also with
dep th . In shallow we lls loca ted alon g profiles
across two sect io ns of the fault whe re slow
creep is taking plac e . t he di rectio n of maxi-
mum horizonta l compressive stress was found
to he N- S. approx imate ly 45° to the (rend o f
the fault . The shear st ress was found to
increa se with distance fro m the fault to a value
of about 5 MPa 34 km from the fau lt . At 4 km
fro m the fa ult , the she ar st ress increa ses from
about 2.5 MPa at 150- 300 m depth to a bout
177
XMPa at 750- 850 m de pt h. Thi s increase sug-
gests thm the mean st ress at seis mogcmc
depths ( lCl - 15km) mus t he several te ns o f
MP<I in mag nitud e .
Heat now measure ments re ported by
Lach cnbruch and Sass (198lJ) indicate that
there is no evide nce for loca l frictio nal beati ng
along an y part of the San Andrea s fault . A
bro ad region of high heat flow , around HO mW
m -~ exists thro ugho ut t he Coast Ranges. but
the hea t Row decre ases eastwards across the
San Andreas faul t tow ards the Great Valle y
where it is muc h lowe r. T he so urce o f this heat-
now high is thou ght perh ap s to be associated
with the presen ce of warme r usthc nos pbc ric
mantle be low t he CO,Ist Ra nges. du e to the
a bse nce of a subd uct ing sla b so ut h of the
Me ndocino tri ple junctio n . Al te rna tively, if
t he heat is frictio na l in origin , t he lack of direct
associ atio n with the main fault s ugges ts t hat
the high-leve l fau lt ne two rk is pa rtly dcco uplcd
on il broad low-angle det ac hm en t horizo n
e xte nding below t he Co ast Ra nges at or below
scismcgenic dept hs. Shear res ista nce . and co n-
seque ntly shear hea ting. at t hese levels coul d
be sufficient to produce the therm al anom aly.
Dis placem ent geometry
The rate of disp laceme nt alon g the transfor m
bounda ry can be calcul ated fro m the ma gne-
tic sea-floor strat igrap hy. This varies from
1.3cm/yea r in the early Mioce ne 10 5.5cml
year since th e Pliocen e ( A twate r and Mol nar,
1(73). Seismic techniq ues yield a val ue of
arou nd 4 em/ye ar for recent movements, and
geodetic measurement s give an es timate o f 5-
7c m/year ( Anderson , 197 1). Accord ing to
Crowe ll (1979) the to tal dis pl ace me nt alon g
t he fault syste m is around l OOOkm . Howeve r
geo logic al evide nce ind icates on ly ab out
300 km of dex tral displaceme nt on the San
A ndreas fa ult itself since Ihe mid-Miocene
(C rowell, 1979). and t he rem ainder of the
movemen t is pro ba bly d istrib uted a mo ng many
s malle r fa ults. A significant pr opo rt ion may be
taken up by a major fa ult alon g th e con tine ntal
ma rgin offsho re . According to Hein (1973) . for
178 GEO l.OGIC A L. STRUCTU RES A N D MOVING Pl.A TES

example . a subm ari ne fan lying on th e ocea n with sma ll circles about the pole of rotatio n for
11001 has been displ aced from i ts source by a the Pacific- A me rican plate motio n, as det er -
dista nce o f 300-550 km . mined by Minster et al. ( 1974). Slip alon g these
Th e to tal observed dex tra l displa cement on straight sectio ns is exhibited in the form of slow
the ma in Sa n A ndrea s fa ult is 600 km as ' creep' and by man y sma ll-magnitude earth-
measu red by the offset of the Sierras base - qu akes . The curved sectio ns, in co ntrast ,
me nt. T hus th e fa ult is interp ret ed as having a ap pear to be locked , and such sec tions arc
two-s tage histo ry o f mo vem ent : the fi rst , o f obvio us sites for large ea rt hquake s such as
late C retaceous 10 Palaeoc ene age , prod uced those a lrea dy men tioned . T he most prominent
abou t 300 km of displacemen t; the seco nd is curved sec tion is known as the Big B end region
the curren t phase co mmencing in the Miocen e. (see below ), where activity is prese ntly co ncen-
The early mo ve me nt is te nta tive ly linked with trated on the White Wolf and o ther faults (see
a possible transform boundary bet ween the Figures 6.9, 6. 12). In othe r place s, bends
Kula a nd Nor th A me rican pla tes a nd e nded appenr to be in the process o f being by-passed.
when the Kula - Far atlo n ridge swe pt no rth- Fo r exam ple, at the San Gorgione Bend
wa rds up th e Ame rican co ntin en tal margin ( Figure 6.8) , major move ment appears now to
(see Figure 3.7A ). T hese ea rly moveme nts be taken up a long the San Jacinto fault , thus
were assoc iated with the ma jor terran e dis- ' stra ightening our ' the main fau lt line , trans-
placeme nt process referred to ea rlier. ferr ing the majo r movemen t to the west and
Th e st raight sec tio n" of the ma in San iso lating an inactive slice on the eastern side of
A ndreas fault appear to be prec isely parallel the new fau lt line .
At the so utheaste rn end of the fau lt zone ,
the San Jacinto and Elsinor e faults end at the
ma rgins of pull-apa rt basins. The se fo rm part
o f a system o f side-stepping spreading cent res
'" Fa....ls within the Gulf o f California , which has
o pened by a process of oblique rifting (Figure
6.10) . T he pull-apart basins are bounded by
no rmal fau lts with tre nds ob lique o r pe rpendi-
• cular to the m ike-slip faults (see Figure 6.28).
• T his proce ss has resulted in the no rt hwest-
• war ds movement of the Baja Califo rnia penin-
s ula by a co mbinat ion of E- W sprea ding and
as• , , NW-S E st rike-slip faulting. Rhom bo id de-
pressions are also form ing in the o ffshore
regions o f Ca liforn ia by the same mechanism .
PAC I F IC OC£ A N

St ruct ure a/ the Santa Maria district

..', In no rthe rn and ce ntral Califo rnia, the San

Hcure 6.10 Co mbinat io n o( sp rea ding ridges and trans-
form Iaults in the Gulf of Califor nia by which nort hwest -
wards displacement of the Baja California pcninsulil hils
been achieved . Not e the patte rn of ear thq uake c picent rcs ,
man y of which are clearly associa ted with strike -slip
move men ts. After Isacks i f al . ( 1%8 ).
And reas fault lies relatively close to the con-
tinental margin , both o n and o ffshore , for
about 450 km from its nort hern end until it cuts
inland towards th e Big Bend region ( Figure
6 .8). Th e Coast Ranges, which lie o n its
weste rn side , contain a number of e longate
Neogene basins thaI t rend slight ly o bliq ue to ,
and ant iclockwise o f, the line of the San
 STKua :-S LlI' ANI) OIl LlQUf.;-SLlI' REGIMES
.", t
all f, e ld
LO""POC .
, A
'm
'--'' -'---'----=-='' ------=r:m
And reas fault. Th ese basi ns are se para ted by
parallel elongate uplifts. T he structu re o f these
basins. which is related to moveme nts o n the
fault zo ne , is o f interest becau se of th e o il fields
occupying man y of t he anticli nal a reas. T he
Santa Ma ria d istrict lies at the southeast end of
the Coas t R anges, northwest of Santa Barba ra .
The structu re is describ ed by Blake et al.
(1978) and summarized in Figure 6.11. T he
Neoge ne San ta Mar ia basin contains a marine
sequence, up to 4S00m t hick, of mainly
Pliocene - Pleistocene age, lying unconform-
ably o n F ranciscan base me nt . Th e sedime ntary
seque nce was folded and loca lly thrust in late
Quate rnary lime , formi ng broad , open , pe ri-
clinal folds with WNW-ESE axe s. T he oil is
contai ned in fra ctured shale of Up pe r Miocene
age and occ urs mainly in anticlinal traps
(Figure 6 .11 , secti o n) .
Th e oblique relationship between t he fo lds
and bo th the San Andreas fa ult and the pa rallel
fault to the nor the ast, is co nsistent wit h the
geomet ric model o f Figure 6.1 for a dextral
m ike-slip regime , and suggests that the whole
sed ime nta ry co ver o f the Coast Ran ges bloc k
179
riJ:U~!' 6. 11 Simplified structura l map and sec-
non of the Sa rna M~r; a o il dismct , Ca lifo rnia .
Note lhe oh hque relations hip !>cl ween fold a xes
(conv entional symhols) and str ike -slip Iaults
(heavy IlOes ) chaructc r jsuc ur Slr ike.s lip rc -
~Im es . Qa . alluvium ; Qt! . non-marine Ouale r-
na ry: Trl. Pliocen e matine ; Till . Mio cen e
marr ne; T,,,,, , Mioce ne or Oligoce ne no n-
mann e : Cretaceou s mar ine ; f . Franciscan de-
pONh. Numbers re fe r 10 oi l field s [ see so urce
re fe re nce ); o il fields arc Slipplcd o n the ma p and
she wn in black in the sccuon . After Blake iN al .
1197tl) .
has bee n shorte ned in a NNW -SSE direct io n
an d exte nded in a WNW - ESE di rection due to
progressive simple shear . T his mod el applies
ge nerally 10 t he San A ndr eas fau lt zone , which
exhibits a complex arrangeme nt of up lifted
blocks und ergoing co mpression and depressed
bas ins unde rgoing exte nsion, who se sed ime n-
tary infill is be ing folde d as a result of s ho rten-
ing in a di rection an ticlockwise of t he stri ke-
slip o rientation . in acco rdance with the simple-
shear mod el.
Structu re of the Big Bend Region.
T he co mplex regio n of the intersection of the
Sa n A nd re as and Garlock fa ults (Figu re 6. 12)
is discussed in detail by Boh an non and Howell
(1982 ). They poi nt o ut the geome tric incom -
pat ibility of simultaneous moveme nt o n the
dex tral Sa n A ndreas fault and the sinist ral
Garlock and Big Pine faults which Inte rsect it.
The Garlock fault has a displaceme nt of 60 km ,
much of which is probab ly late Ce nozo ic to
Quaternary in age , and it was active histori-
ca lly. Th e Big Pine fault dis place ment is
180 GEOLOGICA l. STRUCTU RES A ND MOVI NG PLATE S

COAST
RANGES

GARLOCK fAULT

"i(i":~L",,"", : ~.i)'t:\;\"~"

PAC/ne OCEA N

H~u", 6.12 Bloc k mooet ro illustrat e the rela tio nship betw een the vario us raul! bloc ks in the region o f the "Big Bend' .
Note the ne cessa ry upth rust structures alo ng the Ga rlock la ult (d. Figu re 6. 13). F ro m Anderson ( 1971)

probably mos tly of Pliocene 10 Pleistocene age .
The a ut hors suggest thai the San A ndr ea s fault
pro ba bly o rigina ted as a straight linear featu re ,
but was deformed by extension in the Basin-
and-Range Province to the no rt h (see 4 .3).
Figu re 6 . 13 sho ws how t he st ructure might
have evo lved. Continuous sinistral movement
o n t he Ga rlock faul t produced a bend in the
San Andreas fa ult , since neither fau lt co uld cut
the o the r wh ile both were act ive . Th e e ffect of
the be nd was to prod uce a local compress ional
region in the nort heast ern quadrant , where
E- W ov erth rusts a re found . Th e northward-
mo ving western bloc k may either have moved
laterally west ward s or deformed inte rnally as it
slid past t he bend . A similar bu t less intense
zo ne o f co mpressio n exists in the southwestern
qu adrant where the sinistral Big Pine fault
meets the San And reas fa ult. These sinistra l
faul ts a re uncon nected but ha ve moved closer
toge the r as a result of the dextr al displacem ent
o n the main fau lt. T he bend ing of t he San
A ndreas fault would ca use internal de forma-
tion within the Moj ave bloc k in the south-
western qu adrant , which wou ld suffe r N-S
sho rte ning an d E-W ex te nsio n (compare
Figur e 6.1 3A ,D ). T his deformation is a con-
seq ue nce o f th e cha nge in angle of t he bou n-
daries of the bloc k . This mod el is co mpati ble
with the late Cenozo ic deformat ion pattern in
the Mojave desert.
If the whole th ickn ess of the crust were
involv ed in t hese move men ts, it is difficult to
visua lize how the excess volume re presen ted
 STRI KE-S LIP AND OBLIQ UE-SLIP Rt'.GIMI:S
SI E RR AN
\\\
AR E A
.'
,... ..
~.I._ ·
COASTAL
COAS T AL
A R EA
AR EA
A B
S IERR AN A REA
,...
,........""... S<I'A"
MOJ AVE
ARE A
COAS TAL
BP'
AREA
SOUT HERN
c o
by the triangle of overlap (shown with stipp led
ornament in Figure 6.I3 D) could be accom-
modated . The problem is ove rcome if. as
seems like ly. the faults det ach o n a lo w-angle
decolle ment surface at depth . o r are o the rwise
transfe rred at mid-crustal leve ls to a b roade r
zone of du ctile deformatio n.
6.4 Oceenlc tra nsfor m raul ts
Transform fault s make up a significant pro-
portion of the oce anic plate bounda ry networ k
(see Figu re 3. 1). Th ey we re originally defi ned
and their significance exp lained by Wilson
( 1965). and their o rientations were used in the
ea rly atte mpt by Mck e nzie and Par ker ( 1969)
10 define and describe the mechan ism o f plate
mot ion .
Ocean ic transfor m faults may be divided into
majo r plate bo unda ry faults and the re lat ively
mino r, of ten transient offset fault s associated
with the spread ing process at ridges. Th e latter
are d iscussed in 4.2. Some major transfo rm
181
S IE RR AN
A REA
.
M OJ AV E
AR EA
t'iKU", 6.0 Modd 10 illustrate the su ue-
luroll evolution of the int crscelio n of the:
Garlnd, (GF) and San A ndr ea s (SA F) fa ulls
(A) in itial ~i lU ~ t ion wuh a unifo rm NNW -
SSE o ric ma uo n of the SAF. (8) Ea rty \ Iip
S IE RR AN AREA o n the G F is acco mpanied by bendin g <l nu
annc lockwi sc ro tation of the so uthe rn SAF
rela tive to the fa ult nonh of GF . <1m.! by
Ihru ~1II1g in the corne r of the Sierran are a
.' (e) Furt her development of the realures
refe rred to ill (8 ); the Big Pille Iautt (B PF)
*'
MOJAVE
has now mo ved int o the field o f view. on the
west side of lhe SA F. (D) Cu n, inu" ,io n o f
AR EA developm ent up to the: pre sent : no te t~ area
0 1 " uslal over lap (stippl ed) produ ced by tbe
,... ~ hcnllill g. dehmited by an ove rthrust seg mer u
o f the S A F. X, or iginal ju oclion wuh GF; Y.
jUOClion allime of ~Iagcs ( D) . Fro m Boh"n·
COASTAL A REA
no n and Howell ( 19M2) . wilh per mission.
faults ca n be di rectly att rib uted to irregularities
in the shape of the initial conti nental rifl
syste m (see Figure 4.9). As the passive con-
tinental margins spread apart to form an
oce an. the transform faults pro pagate co ntinu-
o usly inwards 10 form permanent boundaries
to the sp reading segme nts. The majo r fractu re
zones o f the eq uatoria l Central At lantic (c .g.
the St. Pau l. Romanchc and Chain zones)
ori ginated in this way. Other transfo rm faults
o riginate as a geo metrical respon se to kine-
matic changes, as illustrated in Figure 4.5.
The mo rphology and general structure of the
major oceanic fracture zones arc described by
Menar d and Chase ( 1970). Most possess a
prom ine nt scarp , ofte n with an assoc iated ridge
and trough . although any of these featu res may
be abse nt. The re is oflen conside rab le topo-
graphic vari ation along the length o f a given
fracture zone . T he width varies from a few km
to ove r 50 km in the case o f the largest zone s.
Linear gra vity and magnetic a nomalies are
o ften associa te d with the zones. Th e or igin o f
182 GEOLOGICA L STRUCTU RES A!';D:-M~D~'~'~
'~G_,
A
.. , ,,'
...
• • z , ..
1>.10..... 1••• 1
,.
"
B ".
n gurt 6.1" (A . 8) Simplified ma p showing th", ridge-
a nd-valley topog raph y of the Vema (A.l and Rom anch e
(8 ) tran sform fault zones ;n the Cen tral A tlanti c Ocean.
Note lhal areas of maximum heigh! ..ccur opposite the
ends of the spreading .ut's. across the tra nsfor m "'i1 UCY5.
The a rrow in ( B) points to part of the ridge Ihal ....as a t sea
le vel abo ut S Ma ~, . (e) Diagra ms illustr ating th e th ree
main lypeSof base menl morpho logy profile ( M- N ) ac ross
tr ansfo rm Iracture zones . ( A)-(C) fro m Iln nall i (1918)
these anomalies has caused some debate; they
have bee n att ributed both to magmat ic intru-
sion and to hydrotherm al alteration, and both
processes probably contribute.
The morphology of fracture zones is dis-
cussed in detail by Bcn aui (1978) who au ri-
butes the topog raphic variation primarily to
the effects of diffe rential cooling and sub-
sidence. Figure 6.14C shows the different types
of topog raphic profile found at fracture zones.
The trough itself is considered to be a thermal
contraction effect related to the shape of the
magma chamber at spread ing axes (see Figure
4.5). Type A would be the expected normal
profile if this were the only control on the
topo graphy. The elevated side is closer to the
spreading axis and has therefore cooled and
subsided less than the other. However type A
fracture zones are comparably rare, and only
~,~,~r~,~
:s ...,
c
ax is of
spread ing
M,,
~-
F R ACT URE Z ONE
I
,
-- --- --- ---- ----- ----
----- --- -- ------ -----
M=':'f
found in certain Pacific zones. Profil es of type
B or C, or of an intermediate type, are typical
of most fracture zones. In the Atlantic Ocean
in particular, major topographic ridges are
associated with the great transform faults
marking the sinistra l offset of the mid-Atlantic
ridge between the Central and South At lantic.
T he Vema fracture zone, which offsets the
mid-Atlantic ridge at l l' N, shows a topo-
graphic profile approaching type 8 (Figure
6.14A). A prominent ridge occurs on the south
side of the valley marking the transform fault
zone. T he ridge rises to a height of over 5 km
from the adjacent ocean floo r, and is presently
about 600 m below sea-level. There is even
evidence of recent eme rgence. The Romanche
fracture zone (Figure 6.148 ) appea rs to
approach type C in topography, since major
transverse ridges border the seismically active
 S flHKE -SLlI' AND OII UQUE -SUr REGIMES
transfo rm va lley , a nd e xte nd fro m the ridge
Intersection to t he A frica n and South Ame ri-
can contine ntal ma rgins . Simila r topographic
pro files with on e o r mo re ridges ha ve been
observed in t he Owen fract ure wile in the
India n Ocea n , in the A lula fract ure zone in the
Gulf of A de n , a nd in t he Ch a rlie Gibbs
fract ure zone in the At lan t ic (see below ).
Bon atti notes t hat la rge fractu re zo nes are
generally characte rized by ridges , ru nni ng
para llel to the ma in tra nsfo rm fault-zone
valley , whose su m mits may reac h to 1 km o r
mor e above the e xpected level fo r 'norm a l'
ocean ic c rust of th at age. The nature of t he
rocks fo rmin g these r idges (mostly sc r pe ntin-
izcd pe r idotit e ) indica tes th a t they a rc mostly
for me d by the uplift o f norm a l ocea nic litho-
sphere ma ter ia l, ra the r than by magm atic
intr usio n. T he fractu re zones a ppea r to be
affect e d by int ense vertica l mo tion re q uiring
subside nce ra tes m uch higher than e xpecte d
from no rmal ocea n cr ust. Bc narti a rgues th at
these vert ica l mo tion s ca nnot he expla ined o n
the bas is of sta nd a rd oce a n-spre ad ing theory .
and tha t so me add it ional mech anism is re-
quired .
Th e zone of max imum e levat io n of the
tran sve rse ridges occ urs ncar the spreadi ng
ay:<; on the opposite side of th e fra cture zo ne
valley. suggesting th at th e rid ge m ight he d ue
10 Ihe th e rm al anom aly ge ne ra ted by the
sprea ding ax is. It has bee n ca lculate d tha t
tempera ture cha nges o f l OO"C e xte nd ing to
20 km from th e fra ct ure zone a nd to a de pth of
70 km ma y be produced ( Louden and For syt h ,
1976) . Howeve r. this e ffect wo uld o nly pro-
duce a n uplift of a few hund red m at most ,
-t-il.
-.....-50_.,.
,'0,
:-,.,
... _ .-- ~
lRJ
whereas topograp hic relief of se ve ra l km needs
to be ex plai ned .
Bon ut ti concludes that up lifts of t his ma gni-
tu de can on ly be ca used by co mpress io na l
fo rces. and c ites severa l lines o f evidence fo r
the ex iste nce o f bot h co mpress io n an d ext en -
sio n ac ross fractu re zones , as o rigina lly sugges-
ted by De wey (1975 ). (i) Focal mec hanism
solu tio ns of ocean ic int ra pla te e a rt hquakes
ind icate a state o f ge ne ral hori zonta l co mpres-
sio n (see 2.6). In par ticular , two eart hqua kes
in th e re gion o f the Cha irn a nd C ha rco t
fracture zones in th e Cent ral Atla nt ic e xhibit
com p ressio na l thrust solut ions with 01 pe r-
pendicula r to th e str ike of the fa ult (Sy kes
and Sba r, 1974) . (ii) Se ismic re fl e ctio n pro-
files ac ross sed ime nt- filled fractu re va lleys in
se ve ral zo nes sho w foldi ng a nd other co m-
pressional fe atu re s. (i ii ) Mylonitized rocks
dredged fro m man y of th e lar ge frac ture zo ne
ridges suggest t hat the ir uplift was te cto nic.
Exte nsio n is suggested in se ve ra l zo nes by the
g rabe n - ho rst mo rph ol ogy. ho th in a gross sense
a nd with in the sed ime nt fill, and by the occu r-
* re nce of min or volcan ism.
Th e re ar c se vera l possible causes of hori -
zon ta l co mpress io na l a nd e xte nsio na l forces.
As po inted out in 3.3. rela t ive pla te mot ion
y
ve ctors ar e norma lly o blique to pla te bo un-
daries . Eve n altho ugh a tr a nsfo rm boundar y
no rm a lly o riginates para lle l 10 t he re lati ve
plate mo ve me nt vector , changes in this vect or
occur d uring th e cou rse of the plate mot io n,
re sulting in a compone nt o f co nve rge nce o r
div erge nce across the bou nda ry.
O n a more loca l sca le, tbe prese nce of
sinuo us o r e n-ec he lon fau lts within the fra cture
,"' n .
...-
Figure 6.15 Dia gram matic plan illust ratmg
th e e jjects of differential horizonta l ther mal
co ntraction o f oceanic lithosphe re along a tra ns-
fo rm fracture lone. Maxim um compression
occurs a t the e nds of ridge segments , a nd
e xte nsion occurs between these . From Bcn au i
(1978)
184 GEOLOG ICA L S l'RU CTU RES AND MOVING PLAT ES

zon e will produce zon es of co mpress io n or
extension as descr ibed ea rlier (see Figu re 6.2 ,
6.3). T he rma l co nt ract ion o f the cooling plate
us it moves a way from the sp readi ng a xis is a n
im porta nt source o f minor e xte nsional stress ,
as shown in 2.5. Co llette (1974) has cs nm a rcd
that a ho rizontal cont raction of 0.3 km wou ld
res ult fro m the cooling th rou gh 20{f'C o f a
150k m segme nt of axial ridge . As show n in
Figure 6.15. a zo ne o f maximum com pression
m ust ex ist across a fract ure zo ne at the en d of
each sp rea ding se cto r, an d a zo ne of ma ximum
exte nsio n be twee n the o ffse t sp read ing sectors .
Of these so urces of stress . cha nges in rela tive
plate mo tion arc proba bly th e most effect ive in
prod ucing lar ge stresses across fracture zo nes ,
a nd arc the most obvious reason for up lift o n
on ly one s ide of zones suc h as the Ve ma a nd
O we n fract ure zo nes .
The Charlie Gibbs and Glo ria fracture zo nes
Sea rle ( 1979. 1986) describes the results of a
sid e-sc a n so na r study . using the CLORI A sys te m ,
of seve ral A tla ntic fract ure zo nes . He notes a
marked asymmet ry of fracture va lleys on the
shor t-offset sec tions of the mid-A tla ntic ridge ,
wit h a steep sca rp on the older side . facing the
younge r lith osphe re , a nd a ge ntle slope o n the
younger side. Seismic re fl ect ion and gravity
profiles ac ross the Kur cha to v frac ture zone
( Figure 6. 16) indica te tha t t he asy mmet ry of
the to pogra phy is a reflect ion o f the c rustal
str uct ure . Th e asy m me try is a ttrib uted to
differe ntia l uplift o f the o riginal ridge crest
co mpa red with the transfor m valley floo r. Th e
topograp hic effect is prese rved o n t he walls of
the transfor m valley as the ocean floo r cools
a nd moves away fro m the sprea ding axis.
T he co mbina tion of diffe rent ial uplift and
simple shear produ ces a set of obliqu e normal
fault scarps as shown in Figure 6.17. These
have been found in a number o f fract ure zones,
a nd a re pa rticula r ly clearl y demo nst ra ted in
the Charlie Gibhs fracture Wil e , which dis-
places t he mid-A tlan tic ridge a round 5(fN.
T wo sepa ra te fa ults we re fo un d . a t 52°(}6'N
a nd at 52°36'N. se pa ra ted by a sho rt N-S
spreading secto r: T he so uthe rn fract ure valley
( Figure 6.18) is almost se dime nt-free . a nd
disp la ys the nature o f the baseme nt struct ure
clearly. T he valley is V-sha ped . about 2 km
dee p . a nd 15- 20 km ac ross at the top , which
lies a t a round 2{XKl m depth . A steeper inner
region can be recognized , which pro bably
co rres po nds to the 'act ive transfo rm do mai n'
recognized by Fra nc he tea u et al , (1976). T his
in ner valle y is 5- 10 km wide a nd lies bel ow

B
A
~"""o]~
" - 100 l
0 ~
o
~

• 'm -.J
,~

• 10 ~
~

10

.- • ~

• o 'm ""
ti Rurt 6. 16 (A) Seismic reflection pro fite across the Kurch atov fractur e zone at 29"W showing the asymmetric natu re of
tbe valley. Heavy line is basement . fine: tine: is sedime nt surface. From Se:arle (t979). with pe rmission. ( 8 ) Free-air gravity
ano maly profile and crustal mod el alon g the line or (A ). Not e that the asymmetry in the surface to pograp hy ex presses a
dee p-seated asymme try in crust..1structu re . Th e figures in the cr ustal model are specific gravities of the layers used for the
model . The crosses in the gra vity profile are the com pute d values . Aft er Searle (1979).
 S n W(E-SL lI' AND OHUQ UE-S UI' REG1MI:S 185

, II: I H~ur" 6. 17 Diagram ;IIU~lr;llin g n method of for rnauon

Ql/1J;l
of oblique scarp' ill lra 'hlor m frac tu re zones , Lighl lines
represe nt sche ma tic co ntou rs; hC3vy lines are Ia uhs; large

·ii·
- ,
'~
MruW~ sho w regio nul d,ps; ~.., ~ U arro ws loc al stress fields.
At A . le n~ion g..shes and norm al faults fo rm in ne wly
c rea ted hrbo sph cr c ncar , pre.,uIOg ,, ~ is -transfo r m fa ull
mtcrsccuo n-; Uptih from median valle y floo r 10 cresurl
~ 7./\ //'\. ,, -- .; - m"unl,lIn, tK:CU r.. al B , T hus SC <l floor o n the o lde r side of
fractu re zone is uphhcd, ""hile Ihal on the younge r side

iln r
rem" "IS tcmporanly (H I the valky floor. c" using majOf
vertical mOVCmCnlS o n o hhquc '<lulls and prod ucing large
' e" rf''' (C). By pm it,o n D , the faults are essen tially loc ked .
With a large enough offsct (grea ter tha n abou t 20 km), a
true tran sform f" ull (d..vhed line) may develop. Fro m
Searle ( l\l79 )

.lgu ~ 6. 18 Side -scan so na r ph o tograp h musaic , and tccic mc imc tpr e unic n. 0 1 rne Cha rlie Gib bs tra nsfo rm fra cture
zone . Inferr ed ma jo r smke -slip Ia ult , heavy hnM; o thcr fau lts. light lines , with tid s indicating inferred do wnthro w; o ther
lineamen ts, dashed . Fro m Searle ( 1979 )

3 km depth . Th e walls a re mod era tely stee p, sinistrally into t he top of the t ransfo rm valley
with slopes of up to 30°, a nd conta in many but do not e xtend into the inne r 'ac tive'
E- \V sca rps attributed to no rmal faulti ng . T he portio n. T he bottom o f t he valley exhibits lo ng
N-S mid-Atlantic-ridge fault st ruct ures curve str aight E - W scarps thai are thought 10
186 GEOLOGICA L ST RUCru RES AND M OVI NG PLATES

represe nt the activ e st rike -slip fault traces. A (see Figure 3. 1). According 10 McK enzie
linea r E -W baseme nt rid ge , a few km across, ( 1972), this sec tio n of the pla te bou ndary is
borde rs th e inactiv e port ion of the nort hern ex te nsional at the A zores e nd . bU I bec o mes
tra nsform. Major oblique sca rps, trc ndm g compressional through the Strai ts o f G ibr alta r,
NW -S E at 45° to the spread ing direc tio n , with a pure st rike-slip sec tio n betwee n . Along
occ ur o n inactive frac ture zo ne walls. espe- th is central sectio n, se ismic reflec tion pro files
cia lly on the so ut h side o f the no rth ern tra ns- indicated the prese nce of a scarp. 100- 500 m
form valley . T hese a re about 15-20km lon g high , o n the sout h side of the valle y mark ing
and spaced abo ut 15-20km ap art. Sea rle the active fault . T his valley is v -shapcd a nd
att rib utes these to obliq ue norm al fa ults for m- between 5 <I IlU 16km wide. M inor WNW -ESE
ed unde r a de xtral simple-shea r regim e . 10 NW -$E weak linea r features on bot h sides
Anothe r fract ure zon e described in SOme of the main fault a TC in terpreted as obliq ue
de tail by Sea rle is th e G loria fractu re zo ne norma l faul ts origina ti ng in the same way as
which runs f rom t he mid-A tlantic ridge ncar those in rhc Charl ie Gibbs w ile. T he NNE -
t he Azores to Gibraltar , and fo r ms {he boun- SSW linear ocean-floor fabri c con tinues to the
dary between the E urasian and A frican plat es edge of the main vall ey fro m t he north . and is

.".

~- -
'-.
.". -- - - ....-- -- - - --;1.
-'-- - ....---'- ."0 ~.

B s TIl AIGHT 1l0llMAL '.U l TS

.... SPilt" "", ,, {lIRECTlO"
•
\
•• •
CUll vnUIiE BEG' ''$ "'10 '"
~
•• •
.
' llQ .. ,IIU'$·OIl"

. ,( DEl $"( ."5 .0 .. .. AT ~

, • Fi,::urf 6. 19 (A ) Simplified sketch of teoomc hnea-
meru r cuc rn . inferred from scnographs, of an area of
10' TO 5 1'11[...0' .... " OIl.. Al \ ~ ." the East Pacific ridge between )0 and 50S. The three
main fracture zones each consist of several smaller-
C UIl VED "'OR ..... l
' AULTS ll(v, u( / f
~ r -:.o
........-
" ,
~
" scale fractu re zones . Note the bend ing of the ocean-
UP TO 55 ' \ 111." S' 0 1l.. floor lineament fabric into the Iracture zones. 'me
heavy line is the inle rred plat e bo undary. (B ) Summary
.. u ,....... CII""U UII E
Z- 3' " 'RO''- ,,,."s.o,,,, mode l illustrating the proposed tecto nic pattern al II
ridge - tra nsfo rm inters ection for a fast'~prcad i ng ridge.
Full ar TOWS indicate infe rred deviuror jc stress duecucn;
hal( arrows. shea r stress . ( A) and ( 8 ) fro m Sea rle
( 19113)
 $ I Il IKE - S U I' AN D OIJLlQ UE- SLJ I' REG IME S
truncated by it. A broa d ridge on the north side
of the valley . be tween 23° a nd 24°W , ca mcs
the older structu res on it. A less prominent and
narrow er ridge occ urs o n the so ut h side be-
twee n 200 a nd 22°W.
Th ese detailed observat io ns on fracture
zones confirm the trans form fa ult model de-
scribed by Bonani ( 197H) . Tra nsve rse ridges
carry ing base me nt s tr uctures a re clear ly the
prod uct o f diffe rent ial uplift rat he r than intru -
sion. An impo rta nt re fi nemen t to the Bcna u i
model is sugges te d by the o blique sca rps which
imply the o pe rat ion o f a narrow zone o f simple
shear. abo ut IO km wide , within whic h e xten -
sional normal faults form a t 4SO to the spread -
ing d irection . wit h long transfor m offse ts
(proba bly > 20 km ). a true strike -slip fa ult
develop s in a na rr ow valley in the ce nt re of this
zone.
Fa.l'I-sllj l/Jill g !flluufe zones ou the Easl
Pacific ridge
Searle ( I WO ) describes 11 rat he r di ffe re nt
morp ho-tecton ic pa tte rn in the multip le offse t
zone o f the East Pacific Ridge be twee n 3° an d
50s using the G l.O RIA side sca n son ar syste m
(Figure 6. 19). Nine se pa ra te t ra nsfo rm fau lts
were ide ntified in t hree grou ps corresponding
to the Ouebrado a nd Gofar fracture zo nes a nd
to the previ ou sly uniden tified D isco ver y Irac-
lure w ile. The spacings be twe en the individu al
transfo rm fau lts ran ge fro m 5 to Io krn . a nd the
offsets ra nge fro m 24 to 93 km. As in the
Atlantic fracture zo nes. the individ ual t ra ns-
form faults occu py narrow valleys a few km in
width . but in the case o f the closely space d
IR7
zo nes , the valleys me rge into a single broad
va lley. Several fault sca rps occ ur in the va lle ys.
Th e active fa ult is not co nfined to the bottom
o f the valley. bUI occ upies various positio ns o n
the flanks or e ve n the la p of the slope .
Th e per vas ive spreading fa bric fou nd o n the
Pacific ocean floor is modifi ed near the tr a ns-
fo rm fau lts, begin ning abo ut 4-10 km from the
fau lt with a ge nt le curve . T his brings the fab ric
to a tren d of a bo ut 5SO from the nor mal
di rec tion within 2- 3 km of the tra nsform fau lt.
In some case s the fabri c becomes near ly
asympt oti c to the fau lt. T he s igmo idal nat ure
o f t he curvature , a nd the degree of obliquity,
con t ras ts wit h t he A tlant ic e xa mples described
above . T he di rection of cu rvature is similar to
t hat o f the A tla ntic fract ure zones a nd is in t he
op pos ite se nse 10 the st rike-slip displace me nt
(Figure 6_19). Sea rle ex plains th is curva ture hy
a gradual cha nge in o rien tat ion within a na rrow
zo ne of simp le s hea r alo ng the tra nsfo rm fa ult .
Linea r feat ures formed at tow an gles to the
t ran sform fault arc inte rpre ted as Riedel shea rs
(sy nt he t ic s hears with the same se nse o f str ike-
slip displacem e nt as the main fa ul t - sec
Figure 6.1 ).
Th e pa tter n o f mu ltiple . close ly-spaced tra ns-
fo rm faults is t ho ught by Sea rle to be typica l of
fast-spreadi ng ridge o ffsets. H e also suggests
tha t t his pa rt icula r zo ne ma y ha ve develo ped in
res po nse to a sma ll ( Hf ) clockwise cha nge in
spre ad ing direction . whic h wou ld e ncou rage
the deve lopme nt o f t ra nsfo rm fau lts with a
small e xte nsio na l com po ne nt. T he ne t e ffect
would be to produce a n ove rall clock wise
cha nge in dive rge nce di rectio n.
7 Int ra plat e t ectonic regimes
7. 1 Types an d cnaracrcrtsttcs or intrapl at e
st ruc ture
Accord ing to classica l plate te cto nic the or y,
pla tes a re ess e ntially stable inte rna lly. a nd
te cto nic eff ects a rc co nce ntra ted at th e ir bou n-
da ries. Ho we ve r it has always been recognized
tha t thi s was only true to a first a pproxima tio n ,
a nd tha t a ll regio ns of the Ea rt h's su rface
e xpe rie nce tecto nic effects 10 so me degr ee .
T he most co mmo n type of in traplate (w it hin -
plat e ) tecto nic act ivity is undo ubt ed ly vert ica l
mo veme nts. Acc ura te geode tic measure me nt s
invo lving precise levell ing a nd o the r tcch ru-
qu es have shown that most part s of th e crust
a re und e rgo ing slow uplift or depressio n . Th e
fre q uency a nd distribut io n o f intra pla te e a rt h-
q uak es is a lso an indica tio n of wid esp read
tect o nic act ivity, a lbe it to ,I not abl y lesse r
deg re e th a n a t plate bo unda r ies.
T he vertica l mo vements , how eve r , ar c ty pi-
ca lly at lea st a n o rder of mag nitud e slowe r than
th e mo ve me nts associ a ted with plat e bo und ary
activity . La tera l va riat io ns in these int ra pla te
ve rt ica l mo veme nts cre a te a syste m of basins
an d interve ning uplifts th at is th e c ha rac te ristic
st ruct ure of all co ntinental intra plat e re gio ns.
Th e o rigin of th ese vert ica l int rapl at e mov e-
me nts is still the cause of co nside ra ble unce r-
ta inty an d debate . It is co nve nie nt to di vide the
po ssib le modes of o rigin in to th ose rel ating to
horizont al pia te mo ve men ts an d those t hat a re
no t d irectl y re la ted to such mo ve men Is. Mo ve-
me nts in t he fo rme r ca tego ry ta ke place as a
result of ho rizo nt al d isto rt io ns of the plat e
int e rio r, e ither by e xte nsio n o r by sho rteni ng,
a nd thus violate t he principle of the la te rally
' rigid' plate . Th e wide ly used mode l of the
e xte nsio na l basin developed o rigina lly by Me-
Ken zie (1978 ) is depende nt o n a n initia l as-
sum pt io n of lateral intrapla te e xte nsion .
Plate bou ndary processes can prod uce ve rti-
cal mo ve me nts at co nside ra ble d ista nces fro m
the bo unda ry. as we have see n in th e case o f
188
Cen tra l Asia (5.4) . Lithosphe re loadi ng a nd
the resulting crusta l thic kenin g will prod uce
isostatic up lift in the reg ion o f th e load , a nd
fle xu ra l de press ion in the regio n beyond the
load , prod uein g [ o r<'ltmd basins , Th ese ca nnot
he co nside re d as ge nuinely int rapla te phe no -
me na. Ho we ver , many st ructu res situ.ucd fur
fro m plate bo unda ries ma y have no o bvious
co nnec tio n wit h bou ndary structu re ... . Fo r e x-
ample t he Ba ikal rift . north of the H ima la ya n
pla te bo unda ry (sec Figure S.2g) a nd the
Ce nozoic co m press io na l fold be lt o f so ut hern
E ngla nd , situa te d 700 km nort h o f the A lpine
fro nt , arc bo th e xam ples of e nigma tic struc-
tures that ap pe ar to be intr a plate . but fo r
wh ich a co nnec tio n with plate bo unda ry tee-
Ion ic ef fects ma y he postula ted .
Processes lha t ar c unre lat e d o r only in-
direct ly relat e d to plat e mo vem e nts include
isos tatic respo nses to cha nges in th e de nsity
str ucture of th e lithosphe re or asth e nosp he re ,
such as int ra pla te hot spots , a nd un lo ad ing du e
to the re mo va l of icc shee ts.
A speci al type of int ra pla te basin is forme d
a t passive co ntine nta l ma rgins. Such basins
typicall y show a lo wer fa ulte d sec tion co rres-
ponding to a n e arly rift ing stage in the evo lu-
tio n of the basin. A t this stage , th e basin is the
produ ct of a d ivergent plat e bounda ry regime
(se c 4.3 ). Ho we ve r. d ur ing the la ter sta ges of
its e vo lut io n, th e basi n bec o mes part of the
sta ble plat e interior. as the bo unda ry mo ves
awa y fro m its initial po sitio n with co ntinued
se a-floo r sprea ding . Th e A tlantic coa sta l basin s
provide exce lle nt exa mples o f such structures.
Co ntin ued depressio n in t hese basins is pro-
d uced by cooling and sinking o f th e oce a nic
lithosphe re a ided by th e g ra vitat io na l load of
th e se dime nt pile .
Vert ical mo vem en ts in the oce a nic litho-
sphe re a re re lat ive ly simply ex pla ine d o n the
basis of the cooling mod e l desc ribed in 2.3.
O ce a n floor is progressive ly de pressed with
increasing age a nd distance fro m t he spre ad ing
 I NT RA /' I.AT E T ECT ONIC REGI M ES 189

I,
;
;
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,
, -
tr:
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,-
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,
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'! .j- J / '"--
• '" ,
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, __ -_. __ 1:_---- -- --- ;7
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I ' , ,
- , , 2',
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-,
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p<lTI~
7. 1 Recent vcrucat movcrn c uts in
ofthe USA . Nul<: p<lrllcul<l rl y the uphlt

J'
cu n 01 M . .ICO
-, "r the Grear Lakes region am) depression in
lhe Gulf of Mexico_ Conlour'. ill mmzycar .
from rc- lcvclhng ;mu sen or I" ke le ve l
change, . Alle r Bro wn and Relr.ng~r (I',1Xl I)

centre . Depart ures from this gen e ral rule occ ur recent ve rtical movements in the stab le Arnc ri-
in areas nf hot-spo t ac tivity. where the oce an can co ntine ntal plate is shown in Figure 7. 1.
crust becom es mo re bunyan I due to the tbe r- Note that the rates of movem ent arc low - in
mal effec ts o n the den sity structure. Similar the ran ge 0 - 5 nun/yea r - an o rder o f magni-
variatio ns associat ed with fracture zones were tud e smaller than those associa ted with hor i-
discussed in 6.4 , zo ntal plate movemen t. Se vera l depressed
Cratonic basins vary wide ly in mo rph ology region s are associa ted with subside nce alo ng
and st ructure . Man y appe ar to be underlain by t he pass ive co ntinental margin . particular ly in
rift system s. in which case it is possib le to use the Gulf of Mexico. Eq ual ly prominent is the
the lit hosphere stre tching model to exp lain uplifted region o f the Great Lak es. attributed
their ge neratio n. Th e No rth Sea is an excellent 10 post-glacial rebound . Recent movements in
example o f this type of basin. and is described the Russian platfor m (Figure 7.4) d isp lay a
in de tail below . simila r pattern ,
T he ave rage rates ca lculated fo r recent
ve rtical movem en ts a re much higher (b y more
Determ ination of recen t vertical movem ents in
than x 10) than those calculated from the study
ploseinterio rs
of sed ime ntary basins measured over millio ns
The most wide ly used method of gai ning o f yea rs. As we shall see, these ave rage o nly
accura te info rma tion conce rning present -da y about O.2m m/year. T his suggests that crato nic
movement s is by the geode tic tech niqu e o f mo vements are e pisod ic or oscillatory ove r
repeated precise levelling and trian gulation . periods o f the ord er o f H~ years o r mo re ,
Info rmatio n abou t ra the r longer-term move- Perhaps periods of relati vely rapid dep ression
ments ca n also be obtained from mea su ring o ld o r uplift ar e separated by much longe r periods
lake and sea sho re levels. T he distribu tion of o f co mparative quiescence ,
190 GEOLOGICAL S"IIWCl'U RES A N D MO \l I 'CG I'L A I lOS
T he re IS so me e vide nce po intin g to a co r-
re lat ion be t wee n pr esent mo vement and topo-
gr aphy . 1\ rcas CU Trent Iy u ndergo i ng dep ression
arc already low -l yin g, <l OU those und er going
uplift arc alr ea d y elev a te d. con tir m ing th a t the
curre nt move ments a rc pnn o f a longe r-te rm
process.
7.2 Th e Ru..sia n platfo rm : a typical intraplate
regio n'!
The stable inter ior o f t he Europ ean part of the
Eurasian piatc co nsists of th e Fe nnosca ndia n
or Balti c shield and the Russian ptatjorm
( Figure 7 .2). T his la rge re gio n ha s existe d as a
cra to n since m id- Pro terozoic tim es a nd is
surrounded by orogenic hells o f Phanerozoic
age: the Ca ledonia n belt in the north wes t. t he
He rcyn ia n belt s of wes te rn E urope a nd th e
Ura ls o n the so ut hwes te rn an d eas te rn sides
respectivel y, a nd the Al pi ne bel l in th e so uth .
In a re vie w o f t he Ru ssia n platfo rm by
Ale inikov et ot. ( 19HO), e leve n m ajor sedi men-
tary basins a nd six uplifts a re recogniz ed . In
t he ce ntra l part of t h ~ pla tfor m . depositio n
L_L1JJL1J_Li::I:1::::t :r:::lL1J:: :>---'::d.::':=LJ shield toge ther comprise a Phanerozoic
craton surrounded by orog enic belts.
of se dime nts co mme nced in late Prot e ro zoic
nm c. a ro und 14 ()O M ,l ago , o n high ly defo rme d
a nd meta mor phose d early Prot erozoi c base -
rncru. In th e nonncustcr n pa rt of t he pla tform
ho we ve r, de posi tion did no t co mme nce un til
t he Ordo vician .
Th e aut hors s ubdivide th e st ruct u res fo und
with in the platfo rm into thre e ma in types: (i)
la rge circular de pression s (sy nec tises v o r up lifts
(antectises v cause d by flexure of the Ea rt h's
cr ust; ( ii) lar ge elongate gr abe n (tluili cogens)
d ue mainly to faulring; and (ii i) c mb aymc nrs at
the ma rgins of the platfo rm associat ed with
subs idi ng bas ins of plate bo undary type .
M OSI of the la rge structures ar c a t le ast
1000 km across a nd represen t crus ta l fle xures
with amplitudes of around 1500 m an ave rage .
A ulacoge ns a rc th e do m ina nt type o f basin : of
the e leve n major bas ins recogn ized , se ven ma y
be clas sified as a ulacoge ns. Th e formation
o f a ulac oge ns was virtually confi ned to two
pe riod s. th e la te Prote rozoic a nd the mid-
Palaeozoic ( Fig ure 7.3A, lJ). Most a ula coge ns
a ppe <lr 10 be rep laced by much wider basins
wit h tim e : thus the la te Preca mbr ia n au taco -
".
~'iRU rl' 7.2 Tec tonic se tting of the Rus-
sian platform. The platform lind Bailie
 IN n UU' LA I E I ECTO:-.K IO-.GI ' I FS
gens ur e replaced by ea rly Pataco zcic basin v
(compa re Figure 7. 3A ,8 ). For exampl e , t he
mid- Russian aulacoge n is t he s ite o f the m uch
larger Mosco w sy neclise d uring t he latest Pre-
ca mb rian anti e ar ly Pa lae o zo ic. By O rdovician
and S iluri an ti me s , o nly two maj or ba sins
existe d within the platform : the Balti c syn-
cerise , whic h represe nts <Ill e xtensio n we st-
wards of the Mo sco w syne clise. a nd t he
Pechora sy necli se . whic h fo rm c J o n tile site of
the la te Pre ca mbria n Timan geosyncline ( Fi-
gure 7.3 8 ) . In thc mid -Palaeozoic . howe ve r ca
new major aulacogen form ed . the Dneipcr -.
Don e tsk a ulacogen . ac ro ss th e ce ntre o f a large
do rnal upli ft consisti ng o f the Voronezh an-
tcclis c to th e northeast . an d the U kr ainian
nmcclisc 10 th e so uthwest ( Figure 7..1 C) . T he
Mosco w syne clis e bec ame re- act ivated . and t he
Pre-Casp ia n synecl ise formed in th e so uth.
During Mesoz oi c and Ce no zo ic lime . the
Pre-Cas pian syneclise cont inued to subside.
but elsewhere a n almost co m ple tely d iffer ent
pattern had be e n es tabli shed (Fi gure 7.'> 0) .
Th e other ma jo r basi ns to nned d uring th is
pe r io d were the D neipc r - Do nc tz syneclise .
formed on th e site o f t he ea rlier a ula co gen . a
much re duced Mosco w basin , and the new
Ul'yanovskc-S a ra tov de pre ssio n for me d o n the
site of th e Vol ga - U ral an teclise .
Several im po rta nt co nclusio ns ca n be drawn
fro m th e an a lysis o f th e se intraplate str uctures .
A lmost all the major basins o rigina ted as
aul aco gen s (i.e . rifts in ou r pre viou s te rmino l-
ogy) th at form ed in o nly IwO main per iods .
Man y pa rts o f th e pla tfo rm a ppear to ha ve
alte rna te d be twe e n ac tive basin subs ide nce a nd
e ithe r neutra l o r upli ft beha viou r. Suc h a re as
ex hibi t t he pr operl y of in version (se e Bclous-
SOY, 1962 ) whe re a part o f th e crus t re ver se s a
lo ng-co nt inu e d d ire ction o f ve rt ical mo ve men t .
Inve rsio n is cha rac te rist ic o f intraplate re gio ns
as we ll as of o roge nic belts a nd severa l good
exam ples ma y be noted in Figure 7.3. T h us
parts of t he Upper Pa laeozoic Vo ronezh-
U kraine u pli ft fo rm ed la te Pre cambri an o r
ea rly Pala eozoic basins , a nd o the r pa rts
fo rme d a M eso zoi c bas in.
O ve ra ll move me nt of th e plat for m was
I t) 1
dm \ nwardv. in con t ras t to th e ncigh bounng
Baltic shield. which was ge ne ra lly u plift e d
during the sa me per iod . T he major basins
existe d Fo r pe riod s rangm g from 160 to n OMa
wuh <Ill ave rag e life of 350 f\.lil. T he auluc o -
ge ns . o n the o the r hand , had a s ho rte r life-sp a n
o f 1 ~ Il M;J o n a ver age. The ave rag e rat e of de-
pr ession from 14(}0 M a ii i' to t he present is 7 m/
Ma . o r O.(J07 m m/ye <J r. In th e ma jor au laco-
ge ns . the ra te of subs ide nce was muc h highe r ,
about flO- I<J<J m/Ma (0 -116-0 .2 rum/year) In th e
case of th e De vo nia n e xa mpl es.
Th e aulacogens a re bo unde d by major Faults
se ve ral hund red km in length , with a t hrow o f
up to I km . Man y of these faults hav e been
inte rm itt entl y ac tive o ve r lo ng periods of time .
Sma ller fault s with throw s o f the orde r of le ns
of me tres for m st e p- like sys te ms in th e ba se-
me nt. and a re associated with t he ea rlier stages
of depre ssio n o f th e major ba sins . Ho we ve r,
faultin g . tho ug h abundan t in the P reca m b ria n
bas em e nt . is uncommon in the Me so zo ic
struta . which ar c no rmally a ffect ed o nly h y
flexur es .
The format ion of t he major platform stru c-
lure s (i.e . th ose la rge r tha n 100 km ac ross) is
con side red to be re la te d to proce sse s occ urring
at de pths of severa l te ns ofk m . T he thick ness
o f th e cr us t o f the Russia n platform varies from
37 10 53 km , wit h an average value o f 46 km .
T he greater the thic kne ss of th e sedime nt a ry
cover , the sma lle r is th e t hickn e ss of t he
basement : th at is , dee p basins corre spo nd to
a reas of thin basement c rus t . For exa mp le , in
basins with mo re tha n 5 km o f sed ime nt fill, the
basement th ic kness averages o nly 38km .
Areas with a round 1 km o f se di me nt cove r
ha ve ave rage baseme nt th ick nesses of 46 km .
T hus re gio ns of belo w-a ve rage base me nt
th ickn ess are on ly pa rtly co m pe nsa te d by
thicker sedi me nt cover.
The pauern of rec e nt ve rt ical mo vemen ts on
th e Ru ssian pla tform is illustr a ted in Figure
7.4. The se sho w rat es of mo veme nt ra nging up
to over 5 mm /ye a r. M ajor zo nes o f recent up lift
occ ur in the re gio n of th e Ba lt ic shie ld, an d in
th e U k ra inia n a nd Vo ro ne zh up lift s , a nd de-
pre ssio n is still occurring in th e M osco w basin
 .......
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AULACOGENS (SINECLVSES AND
'S MARGINAL BASINS
ANTECLVSES)
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Figure 7.3 Four stages in the tectonic evolution of thc Russian platfor m, showing the locatio n of the major intraplate structures: (A ) Upper (Late)
Proterozoic; (B ) Early Palaeozoic; (e) Mid-Late Palaeozoic; (D) Mesozoic and Cenozoic. I, Baltic shield; 2, Ukrainian anteclise; 3, Timan ridge; 4,
Voronezh anteclise; 5, Volga-U ral anteclise: 0, Pre-Caspian syneclise; 7. Pechora syneclise ; 8, Moscovian syneclise; 9, Baltic syneclise; 10, Pachelma
aulacogen ; 11, Dneipe r-D onetsk aulacoge n; 12, Pechora-Kolvin aulacogen; 13, Vyatka aulacogen; 14, Mid-Russian aulacogen; 15, Kaltasa aulacogen ; \Q
1o, Sernovods k-Abd ulino aulacogen; 17, Ul'yanovsk-Saratov dep ression ; 18, Ors hansk syneclise; 19, Dneiper-Do netsk syneclise. From Aleinikov et al . W

(1980), with permission.

194 G1:::0LOG I( AI. Sl KUCTU KES AN D MOVING I' LA1 ES
,
,,~",,+--<
,I
, I
I,
,
,, ~
and in the large de pressio n extendi ng sou theast
of Moscow towards the Caspian Sea . T his
pa ttern indica tes th at the major phil form struc-
tures of the Mesozo ic ( Figure 7.3D ) a TC still
active. but tha i the T,(t CS of movement are
arou nd two orders o f magnit ude greater than
those measured ove r periods o f JOO - lOOO Ma.
The Russ ian pla tform is a particular ly well-
studied examp le o f a maj or int raplate region.
Other co ntine nts, howe ver , display a similar
pattern of to ng-co ntin ued eq uidimensional or
non-linea r basins separa ted by broad uplifts.
Th is pattern may be see n on tectonic maps of
all the co ntine nts and is particularly clearly
d isplayed o n t he tectonic maps of Nort h
A merica and A frica .
7.3 Inlrapl ale basins
We have seen fro m o ur study of the Russian
platform th at major tecto nic basins can be
recognized t he re, charac terized by co ntinued
dep ression o ver pe riod s of l OO-I OOO Ma .
These bas ins are large features with dimen -
sio ns a pproxi mately 500 - 1000 km across, and
represe nt depressio ns in the basement of , in
some case s, ove r 5 km de pth . T hey are ther e-
t'i ~u r " 7.4 Patte rn of rece nt ve rt ical move-
mcr ns in the Russia n plutfcrur. Contours in
mmrycar Based on n;: .lcvd ling data. The
sup pled arca i ~ under go ing ~u h~i de ll ce . From
Vita-Finzi ( 1'J,s6) . alte r Mal1skov" (1% 7).
fore ma jo r cr ustal structures and form . with
the associated uplift s, the most im po rtan t and
wide spread type o f int raplate regime . O ver a
long lime-scal e . the ve rt ical mo vements res-
po nsible for t hese st ructures co nstitute a signi-
ficant de part ure from intrap late sta bility.
We sha ll now loo k at se ver al classical and
well-st ud ied examples o f intra plate sedimen-
tary ba sins fro m d ifferent cont inents: the Paris
bas in in Weste rn E urope , the Michigan basin
in the north ern USA , and t he T aoudeni bas in
in West Africa . T hese arc exam ples of former
mar ine ba sins that are now ina ct ive o r which
for m sha llow co ntine ntal depressions. In a
later sec tio n (7.4 ) we sha ll exami ne in more
de tai l t he No rth Sea bas in and t he At lan tic
co ntinent al margin of the northern USA ,
which are examples of currently active marine
basins whose str uct ur e is comparat ively well
know n be cause of oil and gas exp loration.
The Paris basin
This basi n . descr ibed by Megn ie n and Po merol
(1980), about 600 km in diamet er, is sit uated in
no rth ern France , and is one of the be st -de fined
basin struct ures in E urope . It rests on Pa laeo-
 IN T II.APLA TE T l::(.TO N LC II.H' IM ES 195
zoic base men t to the west (Massif Armo rica in) ,
south (Massif Ce ntral) a nd e as t (A rde nnes
massi f) , b UI e xte nds to tile north int o th e ,
English C ha nnel . a nd no rt hea stwa rds to war ds ~ "o .m
the North Sea .
T he basin proba bly ori gina ted d urin g U ppe r
T riassic lime . hut ex iste d as a well-defined •,
basi n str uc ture onl y d uring the J urassic and
Cre ta ce o us pe riods. D ur ing th is lime , a to tal
maximum thickn ess of 2\jOIl m of sediments
acc um ulated . Ho we ve r. t he a re a o f ma ximu m
subsidence migrated southwards for a distance
o f 60 km during this pe rio d . so th at the tot a l
thick ne ss a t an yone pa lm a long this line is
rat her less than th is . T he authors d em onst rat e ,
fro m a stud y of the va riat io n in cu mula tive
thickness with time , a ra the r ste ady ra te o f
accum ulation o f sed ime nts with an ave rage
rat e o f 2 1.5 m/M a (0.2 m m/yea r). The a ut ho rs
attrib ut e the growt h of the basin o ve r th is
period to g rad ua l flexing o f the c rust ind uced
by th e sed ime nt load ing , bU I do no t co mme nt
o n t he init ial mo de of ori gin of the basin .

Fil;ua 7. 5 Th o: ~ h ~ p<.: of the Mic higan bas m , shown by

The Michigan basin
This basin has been in ten sivel y stud ied by
mea ns o f nume ro us bo re holes , and g ravity
a nd mag ne t ic sur veys. Th e basin was fo rmed in
su uel ur a l co n to u rs (m n x 10-' ) on the Precam brian
basem e n t C ircled tria ngle s ind icate bo reho les. N Oh~
grad ual lind steepeni ng d ip or the base men t surface
to wa rds th e ce ntre of the bas in. From Sleep ( 1900). wilh
pe rmission .

mid -Ordov icia n time a nd lasted at le ast until

the late Carbo nife ro us. T he basa l mid -
O rdovicia n sedi me nts res t un co nformably o n
Pre ca mb rian basem en t. Structural con to urs o n
the baseme nt surface ( Figure 7.5) ind ica te a n
unusua lly regu lar, a lmost pe rfe ctly circula r,
shape with a grad ua l incre ase in de pth to wa rds
a we ll-defined ce ntra l point. Most Pa lae ozoic
unit s thicke n tow a rds the ce ntre of th e basi n ,
a nd facies va ria tio ns indic a te co nsiste ntly
deeper-wa ter co nd itio ns th e re . Subsid en ce
therefore ha s co ntinued thro ughou t most o f
the life time o f the basin. The total thi ckness
in the ce ntre is about 3 km , fro m wh ich
a n ave rage ra te of subside nce of 24 m1Ma
(0 .24 mm /ye a r) is o bta ined - very similar to
tha t of th e Pa ris basin.
A sma ll positive free -a ir gra vity a no ma ly
over the basin is a ttribute d by w alcot t (1970)
to re gio nal subside nce ca use d by load ing.
The re se e ms to be no ge ne ra l agreem ent ,
howe ve r, ove r the o rigin o f the structure .
The Taoudeni basin
This basin, describe d by Bronne r et at. (1980),
is o ne of the most prominent st ruct ura l fea-
tures of the African cra to n. II lies in w est
A fr ica , m ainly in Ma urita nia and Ma li, in the
western Saha ra region (Figu re 7.6) a nd is ab out
1300 km across , with an a rea of 2 x 1O"'km2 .
The sed ime nta ry thick ness varies fro m IOO(J-
1500 m . The basin res ts o n A rchae an a nd Ea rly
Proterozoic ba seme nt whic h form s sh ie ld ar eas
to th e north and so uth . It is bounded o n th e
west by th e Pal ae ozoic Maurita nide belt , a nd
196 GEO LOG ICA L. $T RUCru l!l:'S AND MOV ING " LArE S

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 I Nrll.Al' LAT E T Ec r ON IC
10 the east by th e la te Pre cambrian to ea rly
Cambr ian Pharu side belt .
The se dime nta ry fi ll ran ges in age fro m mid -
Prot e ro zo ic ( l IO()- !O()O Ma) to Ca rbo nife ro us .
The ce nt ra l pa ri of th e basin is co ve red by a
thin veneer o f Meso zo ic and Ce nozo ic sc di-
mc nt s. T he se q ue nce with in t he basin is s ub-
d ivided into fou r supe rgro ups se par ated by
unco nform ities or di sco nfo rm ities. T hese sho w
quite differe nt subside nce ra tes, va ryin g fro m
4 m/M a fo r supe rg ro up I {late Precambria n) to
!6 m/ Ma for supe rg ro up 4 ( De vonia n) . T he
mean subside nce ra te for the who le pe riod of
activity is a bo ut S m/ Ma (= (I.(IS mm/yea r) .
T he ma in basin co nt a ins two sm a lle r bas ins
with depths o f a bo ut 2S00 m. a nd a curved
linear trough with a maxi mum dc pth o f 5-
ekm . T his tro ugh appe a rs to ha ve e xisted as
a majo r rift zo ne in th e late Pre ca mbri an . a nd
docs no t e xte nd in to the Pha ne ro zoi c, since the
seco nd supe rg ro up rests un confo rma bly on th e
, (oceanic basins)
,.. 4.;.; ~p"'''\lfirfm<:7Zil
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/
,'
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/
/
Figur~ 1.1 Sche malic model illustrating lhe rcctomc
crre"'C1 of sedimeni iood ing al a co ntinental mar gin. In (u)
a 200 km-widc Iransilio n be twee n continental and oc eanic
crUSI ts assumed; (b ) sbo ws ca leu1aled ru ull of loa ding,
using the A iry mode l. assum ing a sedime nt den sity of
24S0 kglm·'. and mantle density o r 33()() kglm~ ; (cl sho ws
calculated result using a ftcxu rlli lollding model . assuming a
lIcll.u ra l rigidily o r 2 x IIPNm, and den sities as in (/I) .
Note that the inward edge o r the load in (c) mignllcs
inwards over lhe co nlinen!. Fro m BOll ( 1980)
II.I;:Gl~ ES J97
rift- fil l sed ime nts of su pe rg ro up 1, onla pping
the basemen t <I I the sides of the rift. T his
curved trough . whic h co nt rolled se di me ntat io n
in the late Precam bri an basin , coi ncides wit h
a bell of iron-rich g neisses within the ea rly
Precambria n baseme nt . and with a st ro ng .
loca l, positive gravity a no maly. The a ut ho rs
att ribute the form at io n of the r ift to the
gravitational respo nse of the c rust to this
excess we ight.
O rigin of intraplate basins
T he o r igin of se di ment ary ba sins is discussed
by Ba lly ( 1980. 19H2), who cla ssifi es ba sins into
19 types base d o n the ir tecton ic loca tio n. H is
funda me nta l divisio n is be tween basins associ a-
ted with 'm cgasut u res' (i.e. pla te bounda ries )
a nd th ose loca ted o n ' rigid' lithosphere (i.e.
in tra plate) . Of the intr a pla te basins. he reco gn-
izes the follo w ing catego ries:
(1) Rela ted 10 format ion of oce anic cr ust
(a ) Rifts
(b) O ce anic tra nsform fa ult-associ a te d
basins
(c) Ocean ic a byssa l plains
(d ) Atlantic-type pa ssive ma rgins (sh elf.
slope and rise ) which s tra dd le con -
rinenra l a nd oce a nic crus t
[ i) O verlying e a rlie r rift syste ms
(ii) O verlying e a rlier tra nsfo rm
syste ms
(iii) O ve rlying e a rlie r back-a rc
basi ns
sphe re (cratonic basins)
(a) Loca ted o n e a rlie r rifte d graben
(b) Loca ted o n forme r back-a rc basins.
O ce a nic basins of type s 1(3) a nd I (b) ha ve
a lre ad y bee n discussed (see 4.2 a nd 6.4) .
Basins of type I (c) ar e co ntrolled by the age
an d cooling-re lated depressio n of oce a nic litho-
sphe re as it mo ves away fro m spre ad ing ridges.
Such basins are impo rtan t a t p rese nt in te rm s
of thei r a re a l e xte nt. since (he y co nstitute most
198 G IOOLOGI C,\ L STRUClUR E:S AN I) MOVING PLATES
o f the ocean floo r . but are not of such great
geologicut Inte rest because they arc not pre-
se rve d in the pre-Mesozoi c geologica! record .
Passive-m a rgin bas ins . in co nt ras t. a re of great
impo rt ance because of the large volumes of
ter rigenou s sedimen t thai accumulate in th em.
a nd because they be come welded to the con -
tinen tal crust du r ing collisional o roge nesis.
Ball y distingu ishes three type s acco rd ing 10
whe the r the bas ins we re initialed over rifts.
t ra nsfo rm faults . or bac k-ar c spreadi ng-basi ns.
Ty pes d (i) and d(iii) arc extensional in origin.
whereas Iype d( ii) is strike-slip. However. in
eac h case the initial de pression results from the
crea tion of ocea nic lit hosph er e tha t becom es
isostat icall y de presse d in rel a tion to surrou nd-
mg a reas.
Co nt ine ntal o r cr a to nic basins of intraplate
type are di vided into two catego ries: those
loca ted on ea rlie r rifts. an d tho se loca ted o n
fo rme r ba ck-a rc ba sins. In bo th cases. the
origin o f the basi ns is rega rded as e xtension al,
ca using crustal t hinning a nd de pression o f the
surface.
T he im plica tion (If Ba lly's classificati on is
tha t the ori gin of intr a plate basins is rel ate d 10
a n inhe rite d crustal structure . that is, o ne
resulting from a forme r pe riod of tectonic
activity thai ca used the su rface de pressio n.
T here is. howev e r. co nside ra ble co nt roversy
over the o rigin of the de pressions req uired to
c rea te intra pla te basin s, a nd the es ta blishme nt
of a ge ne rally agreed model has been ha m-
pe red by the lack of e vide nce as to the dee p
str uct ure of ma ny basins. A number of pro-
po sed mec ha nisms a re cited by Bally: ( i)
sedime nt load ing; (ii) isostat ic response to
coo ling a nd de nsity increase ; (iii ) lithosph ere
str etc hing a nd thinning ; ( iv) e mplace me nt o f
de nse . ma ntle-deri ved . igneous material ; (v)
de nsity increa se o f lowe r-crust al rock s due to
ga bbro-eclogite phase cha nge ; (vi) com ple te
basitlcation o r oceanization o f the co ntine nta l
crust by t he supply of ult ramafic ma terial fro m
the ma ntl e ; a nd (vii) creep of duct ile middle- to
lower-crust al ma te rial to wards the ocea n at a
passive margin .
These mechanism s a re by no mea ns mutual-
Iy excl usive. a nd all are pro ba bly o perative 10
some exte nt . with the e xce ptio n of ( vi). Co m-
ple rc ocea niza tion . proposed by Belo ussov
( 1968) . is implaus ible since a mixtu re of c rustal
a nd ma ntic den siti es will still be lighte r t ha n
ma ntle ma te r ial a nd will be unabl e to sin k into
it (see A rty ushkov et al.• 1 9 ~O) . Howe ve r,
pa rt ial ccca nization of t he crust is ess en tially
the process e nvisaged in mecha nisms (iv) and
(v).
T here ap pea rs to be widespre ad ag reeme nt
that most basi ns result fro m a n isost at ic te-
sponse 10 a po rtion of lithospher e that has
become , for so me reason . mo re de nse than its
su rro undi ngs. T he incr ease in de nsity ma y
a rise in se veral dif feren t wa ys: in the ocea ns,
an d in co ntine ntal rift zon es. it results fro m
straig htforwa rd coo ling of a n initiall y heat ed
region ; else whe re . it is a conseq uence of t he
e mplace me nt of den se man t le -deri ved ma ter ial
within the crust. T he main a rea o f disagree-
me nt ap pears 10 be be twee n those who rega rd
lith osphe re stre tchi ng an d rifti ng as the main,
or indeed the o nly. met hod for genera ting this
crusta l t ra nsfo rma tion , a nd those who bel ieve
that such a proc ess proceeds inde pe nden t ly of
t he no rmal plate tec to nic processes, a nd with-
o ut significa nt lith osph eri c st re tching .
T he mechan ism which is now widel y re ferred
to as the Mc Kenzie st re tc hing mod el ( Me-
Ke nzie . 1( 78) ass umes tha t basin fo rma tio n is
the res ult of a n ' insta nta neo us' lithosphere
exte nsio n. T his proce ss thins the lithosph ere .
producing a surface de pression a nd a co r-
responding upwa rds bu lge in the base of the
lit hospher e . The thinned litho sp he re ge ne ra tes
a the rm al an om al y. since the wa rm ast he no-
sphe re is now close r to the surface in the
stre tc hed por tio n. Howe ver. as the initial basin
fills with sed ime nt. the the rma l a no ma ly grad-
ually deca ys. a nd the base of t he litho spher e
re t urns to its origina l le vel. This slo w cooling
results in grad ual isosta tic s ubside nce ove r a
pe riod o f a bout 6OMa .
The initi al McKen zie mod el e nvisaged in-
stantaneous stre tching for simp licity. How-
e ve r. Ja rvis a nd McKe nzie (1980) ha ve sho wn
tha t fo r most basins t he insta ntaneo us model
 I NT RA f' I .Al'I'. I ECroN IC REGIMES
predicts the subsidence geo metry accura tely.
prov ided that the d urat io n o f the initial stretch-
ing is tess tha n 601[3 Mu, whe re the stretc hing
factor [3 is less than 2 . and 601[ 1- ( ll[lll if [3
~ 2. T hus fo r a value o f [J = 1.5 co rrespo nd ing
to the mean value for 11 basins (see Table 2.6)
the durat ion o f initial stre tching should be less
than 27 Ma for the model to ap ply. The model
ap pea rs 10 accoun t successfull y fo r the strati-
graph y and subsidence histo ry in the Pan -
no nia n basin of Hungar y and the No rth Sell
basin (Ch rist ie und Sclatc r, 19HO) .
Subsidence du e to sed ime nt loa din g is the
simple grav itatio nal response to impos ing an
exira mass on the sur face (Dietz. 1963 ; w al-
Co li , 1972) and requires an initial depression
. · .· . ·. 0
- . -. L'_
-. fS . · . ·. · . ·
o 8rabant massif; lB . lberian massif; VB.
"'"
1<J9
fo r sufficie nt sed imen t 10 accurnu lutc . Bot!
(1980) , in an ada ptatio n of the flex ure model
deve loped by Walco tt ( 1972), sho ws that . in a
200 km wide tran sitio n zo ne at a passive co n-
tinent al margin ( Figure 7Jl) , a th ick pile of
sedime nt at a ma jor delta , such as t hat or the
Nige r. will produce a down warpin g ex ten din g
for about ISO km be yond the area of the initial
load . Th e sed ime nt load ing mechanism can
produce a sedim entary pile of twice the initial
water dep th for sed ime nt wit h a me an lknsi ly
of 250 kgfm~, and of nea rly th ree times the
initial water depth for sed ime nt with a mean
de nsity of 255 kgfm). Thick she lf successio ns
formed in wa te r with a de pth o f less than ab o ut
200 m canno t for m by this mechan ism. but to tal
--,--_"
Figure 7.8 Simplified maps illu' lrilling
two stages: (A ) E.u ly Jurassic. ( 8 ) Mid .
dle Jurassic. in the tect onic evolutio n of
the North Sea basin. Open stipple, land
areas; erose seipple , major rin s with
bo u nd a ry faults indicated by heavy tines
with lick on downthrown side. Th e dense
dashed are a in (8 ) represe nts the uplift
comprising the Ce ntral Nort h Sea dome .
the Shetland platform and adjoininil iand
areas of northern Br uain . ' V ' marks
areas or co ntempo raneous volcanicity. G,
Gr eenla nd . RD. Rockall Ban k; FP.
Fa rce s Plateau; UP. J1e~ritkiln plat -
(o rm: sr, Shet lands platfoe rn; FS. Fe e-
ncscandia; IR . Irish massif; W . w elsa
massif: cr, G ramp ian - Pen nine ma~f ;
A M. Armorican massif; L B, London -
Vinde lician -Bohemian massif. After
Zieg ler (1982) .
200 G EOLOG ICAL STRUCT URES AN D MOVIN G PLAT ES
thick nesses of a bout 14km co uld fo rm nea r the
ba se o f the contine nta l slo pe if the initia l depth
is g rea ter than this.
T he sedi me nt loading mechanism pro vides a
me a ns o f e xpla ining the co ntinue d e vo lutio n of
basins lon g aft e r th eir initial causa l mecha n-
ism s have cea sed to opera te . Th e process thus
e xpla ins th e! ve ry lo ng life (ra nging fro m 100-
7no Ma ) of the major inactive basins di scussed
e a rlier, despite the re la tively sho r t lime
periods required by the init ial e xte nsio nal o r
th erma l cooli ng eve nts (of th e orde r o f tens of
Ma on ly) .
It is significa nt tha t man y o f the major bas ins
disc ussed above ap pea r to be situated over
e a rly rifts. It appea rs like ly therefore tha t
most , if not a ll. majo r basins that a re ge nui nel y
int ra plate ( i.e . e xcludi ng passive-m ar gin types)
o rigina te d hy a p rocess of exten sional .rilu ng
t ha t a llowed dense mat er ial to be e mplace d
locall y within the c rust. or at th e base o f
thin ned crust . giving rise to isos ta tic de pres-
sio n. The amount of e xte nsio n need not he
la rge : a nar ro w zone of se vere local ized th in-
ning with acco mpanying basificaticn . o r a wide
zon e of less in ten se thinning, ma y ea ch pro-
d uce la rge basins du e to the su bse q ue nt isosta-
tic res ponses. a lthough th e detai led geometry
will d iffer (see Figure 2.29).
Basins o riginat ing by cr usta l flexure req uire
a n initial lo ad such as thai prov ide d by a th rust
shee t. Bas ins of this type a re the refore no t
ge nuinely intraplate in o rigin. but a re asso -
ciated with destruc tive pl ate boundaries.
The y differ fro m ex te nsiona l basins in not
ex hibit ing c rustal thi nn ing, and ca n ther efore
be distinguished fro m the m by geophys ical
means.
7.4 Exam ples of ac tive marine basins: the
North Sea a nd the Atlantic continental
margin of (he US A
The Nor th Sea basin
This la rge ma r ine basin is situa ted o n co n-
tinental crust of th e northwest Eurasia n plate
be tween Brita in a nd Scand ina via , ope ning into
the At lantic O cean in the no rth . It is loze nge-
shaped. me asu ring 1000 km a long its lon ger
side in a N- S direct ion . a nd a bo ut SOOkm
ac ross from eas t to west. With the e xceptio n of
a narro w st rip along th e coast of No rwa y. the
basin is eve rywhe re less than 200m in dept h . It
recei ves terrigen o us sedi ment from a numbe r
of major rivers in eas te rn Britain , the Nethe r-
lands. West Ge rm any and southern Norway.
T he histor y of the basin is summarized by
Ziegle r ( 19H2) . T he ba sin pro ba bly o riginated
in th e Devon ian peri od , IS o ne o f a number of
continental ex te nsiona l r ift bas ins developed in
the region of the Caledonian orogenic be lt in
Brita in a nd Norway (see 8.3). D uring the
Pe rm ian , two se pa ra te ba sins ex isted in th e
no rthern and so uthe rn No rth Se a respectively.
sepa ra te d by th e mid -North Sea high . T he
prese nt Nort h Sea basin was initia ted in the
T riassic pe riod as pa rt of an extensive rift
system connec ting with the m ajor Arctic-
At lan tic rift. T he two major rifts in th e North
Sea a re t he Viking an d Ce nt ra l gra be n. which
lie mid wa y betwee n Norway a nd Shetla nd. and
between No rway and mainla nd Bri tain res-
pcctively (Figure 7 .~) . Th ese two rifts mee t in a
tri ple junctio n with a g raben th at extends
westwa rds into th e Mora y Fir th .
In the ea rly J urassic. a rise in sea-level
produce d a wide spread ma rine tran sgr essio n
across th e No rt h Sea bas in linkin g th e A rct ic
a nd Tethyan Oceans via t he rift systems of
Western E urope . S ubsidence a ppears to have
continued th rou ghout th e e arly Jurassic , but
was inte r rupte d in mid -Ju rassic time s by the
c re a tio n of a lar ge rift ed dom e. 2- 3 km high , in
t he ce n tra l No rth Sea (Fig ure 7.88) . A large
vo lca nic ce nt re was establishe d in the area of
th e tri ple junction and severa l sma lle r ce nt res
alo ng the Viking G raben a nd to the east. T his
upl ift ph ase was associate d with th e majo r
regional kinematic cha nge th at resulted in the
open ing of the Ce nt ral A tlant ic (see Fig ure
3.58 ).
By lat e Jurassic time , th e dome had sub-
sided , and de e p- wa ter co nd itio ns had become
re-established througho ut th e bas in . Con-
 INTRAPLATE TEc rO NK REGI MES 201

3
:s~ VERTICA L
6 [XAGG£ RAT'Of\l

VIKING GRABEN ,
-' .. o

";.':W~G.~ .·~ :' JE'~tX';:" y!};~·it.~1 ! •

nllTIAIl'I'

.
f W.AEOCEN[

IlIIJ
UP': C..:-rACEoos

o
Tl'l'~S1 C

100 200 250km

B
SHETLA NQ
ISL ANQS VIKIN G GRABEN NORWAY

".
"
eo
so
.,
0 '00

E!lHJ! PAE - AI'T SEDUIlENTS o I'O$T -A'F'T SEDIMENTS

Figur, 7_9 (A ) Simplificd st ructural cross-sections. (8). seismic-refraction crustal pro f dc, ac ross the Viking G rabe n.
Figure> in ( 8) arc mean P -I'I;lVC sci~m ic: velocities. Fro m Zieglcr ( 1'J1l2)
20 2 G t,:O I.OG ICAI. STll.UCIU II.l'S AN !) M o v t~ (j Pl .... res

tinued e xte ns io n took place by the westwards
move me nt of Britain in rel at ion 10 bo th Scan-
d inavia and main lan d Europe . The ex te nsion
appears 10 have con tinue d int o the ea rly C re-
taceou s. wit h re ne wed mo vements o n fa ults
in the ma in rift zo nes producing sea-nom
re lief of up to 1 km.
In the lat e C retaceous. riftin g in NW Euro pe
appe a rs to ha ve beco me co nce ntn ucd 1I10 ng
the abo rtive Labrado r 5('3 spre ad ing axis he -
twee n G ree nland a nd Nort h Am eri ca . Al -
thou gh subs ide nce continue d in the No rt h Se a
basin. th er e is no e vide nce for significa nt
co ntinued ex te nsion. During th is pe riod . up to
2 km of Uppe r C re taceous cha lks a nd ma r ls
infillcJ the topograpntc depressio ns of the
Viking and Ce ntral graben (Fi gu re 7.9A.C).
Further subside nce of the basin look pla ce
during the Cenozoic. whe n a ma ximum Ihk k-
ness of 3.5 km of sediments was deposited in
the ce ntral a re as of th e basin . The re gio n of
ma ximum Ce nozoic se dime ntat io n pro bably
co rrespo nds to the zune o f ma ximum crus ta l
thinning produced during th e ea rlier exte n-
sional phase (Dona to und T ull y. 19N1).
Gra ..uy profil es indic<ltc 11 nlass execs...
beneath the Viking an d Ce ntral gra be n, which
is co nsiste nt with se ismic refract ion data sho w-
ing a mu ch sha llowe r Moho benceth th e
grabe n. A typical cr usta l profi le across the riil
( Figu re 7 .4 1l ) indicat e s no rma l c r usta l t hic k-
ncsscs o f 30- 35 km benea th Norway and S het -
la nd . decre asing 10 a bo ut 20 km in the Viking
grabe n whe re ther e is a n K- llI krn sedime nt
fill. Th e uppe r mant le d isplays nor ma l Pcwa ve
velocitie s throu ghout . Sclat c r and C hristie
(l9XO) propose that th e Meso zoi c crus ta l thin-
ning was acco mp lished by an e xte nsion of f3 =
I.H- 2.0 IXO- 11M''''' ).
B each ( 19X6) describes a deep seismic rcfl cc-
lio n profile across the Viking grabe n fr om
no rt h of the She unnds to Ber ge n (Figure 1. 11).
Th e profile illustrates the upper c rusta l st ruc-
ture clea rly a nd shows th e asym me tric na ture
of th e rif! structure. Jl OW known to he cha rac-
te n suc nf ma ny exten sio nal provinces (sec
4.4) . Th e Viking gra ben is see n as an asym-
me tric Jrtll/ -gm ht'll forme d by till ed fau lt bloc ks
of Jurassic a nd olde r stra ta, with a con siste nt
wester ly tilt . The Jurassic bloc k-fuuned "Irue-
tur f" is buried by Hat.l yin[:. C re taceous sedi -
menls that had co mple te ly huried the highes t
bloc k hy end -Cre taceo us time (Figure 7.9A ).
T he bloc ks a rc bounded by eas twa rds-
dipping fau lts. with a weak listri c geome try.
IhOiI appear 10 det ach on a broad zo ne of lo wer -
crusta l reflectors inter pret ed by Beach as a
mujor , low-an gle shea r zone (ct. Figur e 2.30)

w 100....' 0 ' .........

E
.... • IO.U

F"'l"" 7. 10 Compolill: in te rpreta lm: acrud ural profile Kros5 the Cc nlr.ll Gr;al1otn of 1M St'IU lhcm No rt h ~a. based on
sei~mic and wett co mr cl . Ve rticil kale i. lwo-wa y lime . From G ibbl ( t985) . wilh fot'rmiu.iorJ.
 l!'oil RAI'L,' I ~ 1I,C"lO :'llC REGIMI'.5 203
A
.w ' ""l LAIiD TIAII" CI I'A " J OA D QULL' ''1t 1

•
••,
o
•
..
,
~

TR OLL " OIlDA .lAT f O IlM If

----------------~
•
.
B
E ~t\~~~~~R~:~i·< .:~·!:-;i~·!~,;. e«...-:.'::.,'
.t

~40 .....

'"1 i0l
•
C ------ -- ..,...-- .... ... . .
.' -:"",:
,~ ,. ...
.~
""- --- ''"
,
Ol

''"Fo....-
t1IC urr 1. 11 Inl <: Tp fc l"'lion " I UCI;P M: i~lIl ic IcflCl1i,m prufll c X fOM Ih.c Viki0E- 1 ';1"-:0 . 11k:: ~hat.lc d zone In IA) is inte r-
pre ted a$;l major cXl cn~i...nal s bcur m oC' J"K<.ing from fhe middl e cruSl in the W('SI, into lhe m"nl le in the C'lst . Easl.di Pflillg
IIOrm :11 r:au ll~ de laching u n Ih il l~lnc a rc ~ho .....n dnl\ed . Not e t he majo r Cfu'lt :tI-lICa !c ro lkwer ant id inc on the ea\ lc rn ~itlc o f
the l>CCl iu n. Tbe M.'\:l iu n ~hOW!i iI l und ;Imo:ollll a~ymm.:u)' t h;lI cu n l ras h "'nih the in tc rp ll'ta lit.'n (If Figure 7.'J. Th e !ol:hcm atic
mod e ! (U ) ~uggcsll; h" ..... t he Iilhl""f'hc n: mllY have acc<mlmod,IICd t he n ll'o, itm . FNlm " e ach (19116), wuh f'Crm i", iun.

Thi s detachment appea rs to risc westw ards to
meet th e lOp of the base me nt at the western
side of the gra be n. T he e levated G utlfa ks
bloc k. in the centre o f th e gra be n. is sho wn 10
be a till ed fa ult bloc k like the o the rs, but
situated over the area of greatest exte nsion.
and bounded by the faull wu h the lar gest
throw , The easte rn side of the graben is sho wn
10 he siructurally q uite diffe rent. A ve ry large .
crustal-scale. roll-o ver anticli ne (see Figure
4.25) acco mmodates the slip alo ng a dee p
de tachme nt tha t is be lieved to lie within the
uppe r mantle at a depth of abou t 40 km -
15- 20 km be lo w the ba se of th e cr ust. As see n
ear lier (Figure 7.98) . the crus t thi ns to 20 - 25
km over tbe graben region . ln teresungly,
204 G EO I.O<OlCA I. S l ll Un U ItES AN I> ,",O \' I:'II G "L\H S
th e ur e a of maximum th in ning is d isplaced
eastwa rds of the grabe n axiv. which \ uppnr l\
th e asy mmet ric e xte nsio n mod e l proposed hy
Wernicke (19H5) . Thi s model (see Figur e
4 .24IJ ) ex plai ns la rge extension s by block -
faul tin g a t h igh le vels . detach ing o n a lo w-
a ngle f<lull/sh ear zo ne th at CX IC lllJS through
the whole th ic kness of the lithosph er e . In thi s
case, d isplacements al the weste rn margin of
the graben ar c tra nsfe rred to the base of the
lith osphere hc low the Herda platfor m. cas t of
the easte rn graben marg in ( Figu re 7. I IA ).
Note lh lll there is no seis mic e vide nce for the
she a r zone penetrating t il t he base of the
lit hosphere in t he manner o f Figure 7, 11U: how
th e mi ddle an d lo wer pari of th e lith osphere
deform is st ill ve ry much a n ope n q uestion .
Beach suggests that the exte nston al dis-
placements on the North Se:1 graben system
may he t ran sferred a l n n~ the major slrike -slip
Tornquis t zone . which run s Irum Denmark
t hroug h Pol an d ttl IIIl' Tethyan mar gin (Z ieg-
ler. 19H2). By t his means. the No rth Sea zon e
of intr a plate ex te nsio n could be explain ed lly
disp laccrnc r us at the plmc bound ary IHOll km
ttl the sou th .
The lo ng and c..nnptic.. ted hislnr y of the
Nort h Sea basin might pe rhaps limit its use ful-
ness as 1I te st o f ge neral mod e ls o f int ruplatc
ba sin . was an im port a nt clement in us su b-
seq ue nt de velopme nt . T his eXle n!'>inn;11 phase .
while no t responsible fo r t he initiation of the
basin. was a n impo rta nt cl e ment in ih sub-
seq ue nt de velopment . 111is e xte nsional ph..sc ,
last ing approximat el y t"{lMa . invol ved a major
c rusta l e xte nsio n o f a ro und 1.5 (SO'Yo ). calc u-
luted by com pa ring the pre- and post -Mesozoi c
crusta l thicknesses . Tota l extension . assumi ng
an original c rustal thickness of 31 km . is as
mu ch as 1.8 ( Wood a nd Ba rton , 19tH) . Th e
diff e re nce may be explained by a n earlier
pha se o f exte nsio n fo r which nu de tai led
e vide nce is a vail able. The J urassic ex ten sio na l
phase requ ires a strain rat e of about 2 x IO - It>
a nd co rresponds In the slower type of ex ten -
sio nal riftin g . prod ucing a wide zo ne of ea ten-
slona l deforma tion (see 2.7, Figure 2.29).
Sctate r a nd Christie (JlJ80) view the cvulu·
lion o f the ba sin in Cr e taceou s a nd Ce nozo ic
limes ;1<, the conseq ue nce of isost a tic dep res-
sio n. thut result ed Irom cooli ng III the litho-
sphe re ali the the rm al .ultllllal)' produced hy the
initia l stre tching disappe ared .
The A tkuu ic conunental tnurgin of the
northern USA
Th e l..·UI1I111ent'll shelf an d stope horde ring the
Allanl ie en asl of the nort he rn USA is an ac tive
exa m ple o f Ihe passive -margin type o f int ra-
plat e ba sin. The fl'giun ha s been intensive ly
stud ied using borehole , sei..mic reflectio n. a nd
gruvit y datu .
A mod el profile across the basin (Figure
7.12 ) i!'> described hy Saw yer ('1 al. ( llJX2) . T he
profile crosses the Hahimorc trou gh . Incaled
cast o f the New Je rse y coastline . whe re up 10
IXkm o f sedime n t has been d eposit ed since the
lat e Triassic. T he pe riod of ma ximum sub-
sidcoce oc curred during the Jurassic . when the
initial e xte nsion in the Ce ntral Atlantic took
place . Th e J u ras..ic sedi me nts re st on :I com-
panuivcly thin wed ge of T riassic red bed s.
volca n ics and eva porites. which them selves
rest direcuy on the co nn ncntal basemen t.
Abo ve the Ju rassic stra ta. a much thinn er
sequ e nce of C re taceous sed ime nts is dra ped
over the edge of t he ccnn nen tal she lf without
showing ma rked th ick ness va ria tion. Th e ba sin
is nu t reco gnizable as a separate struct ure in
the Ce nozoic sedi me nta ry seq ue nce, which is
clearly separa te d by the edge nr the co ntinen ta l
she lf int o she lf a nd ocean-basi n asse mbtages.
Sawyer et al. use th is exa mple to test the
McK e nzie st re tching mod e! o f bas in subsi-
dence. The y as...ume tha t the ma in e xte nsiona l
event commenced al about 200 M il fir with the
fo rma tion of the la te T riassic rift sedime nta-
tio n. a nd ceased a bout 175 Ma 8P with t he
for mati o n of the first oce a nic c rust . Furt he r
ex te nsio n would be ta ke n up by oce a n-floor
sprea d ing.
Theo reti cal subsidence: c urves ba sed on the
Mckenzie mod el show the a mount of subsi-
de nce a t a give n lime aft er Iniuation for
 I NlIl A Pl.AU .. n .cruNIC REGl MI'S 205
COST B- 2 COST B-3
WELL w{LL
\ =:; I

'0 '0

'0

'0
V(- s )(

200 ' 00
DISTANCE If\l Kill

tl J:ur., 7. 11 lurc rprc tanvc pruhk· at·n ....' Ih., ....' "li"'·nl "l m'II(:IllU r Ihc .:uwcm l JS A. In lhe '':j;'''" or the Hal1 iru" re uough .
(a~l .. r N,'w kr ",') The I', ,,iliun , ,,1 1""01 well, . ("OST 112 ami 1\.\ . ,J,,,,'u, .,.'t.I in Ih.: 10:11• •".: , 11" .. n , fhHl1 S"",,>er ,./ ,II
( 1'JI1.2)

different values o f Ihe stret ching factor p.
Subside nce is initi'llly linear {i.e . for the first
25 Ma) during the contine ntal stretching phase .
and is followed by ther mal subsidence be gin-
ning at 175 Ma and co ntinuing to t he pn.-scnt. . II km). The curve for the mor e weste rly well
Th e model pred icts that t he init ial subsidence
is la rger , a bout 40% o f the total . whereas the
subseq ue nt thermal subsidence. acco unting for
the remaining 110% . lasts for ove r lOn Ma .
Act ual subside nce curves (Figure 7. 13A)
were calc ulated from sed iment thicknesses in
two wells (CO ST 1\2 and 8 3), after mak ing
corr ect ions for sedime nt compac tion . isos tatic
responses to sed iment loading. pala eo-depth of
wat er . and e ustat ic sea-leve l changes . The
curve for the COST 83 well shows ,I rea son able
lit to the model exten sion curves ove r the latter
part of t he time ran ge fo r a stre tching factor of
be twee n 5 and infin ity. However. since the se
lWO we lls are situa ted over the edge of the
ocea nic crust. they canno t be used to give an
acc urate es tima te of co ntine ntal ext ension.
since the extension at the oce an margin is
effec tivel y infinite . A be tte r guide to the
co ntine nta l ex tensio n in the basin is provid ed
by two wells situated in a t raverse furt he r north
where the hasin is ra ther shallower (abo ut
(CO ST G I) on the nort her n prorik I Figur e
7. 138) co rres po nds to a st retching meter of
be tween 1.66 and 2.5. and the mo re easte rly 10
a factor of betwee n 2.5 and infinity. These
res ults suggest t hat the Mck e nzie mod el gives
a reasonable a pproximatio n to the subside nce
history of a pa ssive margin basi n. al least over
the greater pari of the cooling stage . More-
over. s uch a basin wou ld he expec ted 10 show
vary ing su bsid en ce rates co rrespo nding 10
model ext en sio ns ra nging fro m a minimum
(comt ner ual} valu e to infinity over the ocea nic
pan o f the ba sin.
Pas...we-ma rgin bas ins are a product of tee-
Ionic processes relat ed 10 diverge nt plat e
boundaries (see Cha pte r 4). However. since
(heir effects a re retained within the lithosphe re
lon g afte r the plat e bo unda ry has migrated
2O/i G H II I I(; ICAI sr eucruees AND MO \' ! ' G "1""'''_''
o.---~---~----.-----.---,

f. - C O ST B - 3
F" LEXU R A L
ry]ffi'"
I-I~',··
...
' 111I( Itt "" li P
o

•• I I I I I . ip.... 7.1l Plo1(~ ..1 kd.>nIC M1hwdcncc

" . l ime . ~Icd wilh 1~>n'lini ..,b-
Udtoo« ClII''fft ....111 ..,..mflt'd ~ ".t..n
dro ~ frum fbi: McK.cntJC' C'''k~

~----- " .. mndo.-t. PkK A .. ~ hum the lbtl of

the f'OST R ~ ..-ell I FlJUfC' 7 .12)
......F.n 0{ lhe t>oX'.ni(""", , n.c
I"" lhe
da u hi
bctvo«n 1~Ifl.'1inll a ll''''' fOf U I(nUon
"f hct~" ~ ~ i"flnily. Pl." B i.
dc m~d from __IICOST G 1. Iotl ll.ted ' 5('1
lo rn NE 01 lB . n n cnnl ino,:nl a l Cl'\l 1It. Not t
t hall hi:' ,J. lill heu,' lit • k......... C'lI lt'lll>kJn n l
, C OST G -I I.M -2..5. lbc CUI"\.'" ~C' CIl k u la lcd ..~
\ llm,"s .. lIe..ur i.1 ("hu lk r1l1l c mudd .
F'L E,X U R A L J\<,j d C'U Of ha n; ref e r III paliK'C_lll(' t -

iOo--"'----=----~
o ...
" III( I'" '' ' 1lP
dc fllh n limilln. 111M.! li n : r Xlr n<kd I{l
IIPr'''.lffi;tlr ",he r lIo u ro.:Stl ( r rrIH. Frt>ffi
S:I.... \Tr t'f a/. ( I 'JSl j

away fro m them . the y ca n properly be re-
garded as intrap late structures.
7.S Inll'1lpblllt uplifts
Intr aplate uplifts are as important as basins in
I~ tecto nic histo ry o f 1M plate inte riors. 11Icy
oct"U p~' a similar surface a rea . a nd ~r long
pe riods o f lime mu st approx imately balance
depressio ns vo lumetrica lly in o rder 10 maintain
their sedi men t supply. Uphfts are more diffi -
cu ll 10 ~l ucJy than basins because , in man y
cases. the Mr.l1ig.rapbic record is eithe r inrom-
plete o r lolally missing. The major Preca m-
bri an shid J regio ns arc exposed beca use they
are ur lirlS. bu t the de tailed histo ry of their
 l N IR APL A l E If;.n tlf',I C
uplif t h a ~ no t , in ge ne ral. been recor ded .
Th ose region s o f the Northern He misphe re
cove red by the O uare mary icc shee rs show
high recen t upl ift rates tha t ha ve bee n ami-
bu tcd to po st -gtaciu l isostat ic response to the
rem oval of the load . H owever , these sa me
a reas ha ve acted as uplifts over much lon ger
pe riods , a nd the O uarcma ry movements mer e-
ly accen tuate a lon g-cont in ued tectonic trend .
Ma ny co ntine ntal up lifts a re associated with
rift zones , an d ar c tho ught to be ge nc nca tly
rel a ted to them (sec 4.3) . A mong uphtt s of lhi.;
type a rc the Ea st African a nd Ethiopian
pla tea ux. the R heni sh shield (sec Figure
4. 16A) and the Voronez h-Ukraine up lifl (If
the Ru ssian platform ( Figure 7.Jq . Th e origin
o f such struct ures is gene rally presum ed to he
thermal in view o f th ei r association with
vulcan icity and . in the rece nt examples. with
high heat 110w _ O the r upli fts ar c anrlbutcd to
present plat e-boundary processes (c .g. the
T ibe tan pla te au - sec 5.4 ) or arc associated
with past plat e bounda ries. The DeCCiUl
plateau , fur example , mark s the site of
Cre tac eous const ructlvc bo unda ry. Ma ny up -
lifts . howe ve r , ar c situat ed fur from plat e
bo und a ries o r rifl zo nes and th eir origin is nOI
so obvious.
W e shall nnw conside r two e xa mples of
active uplift s, t he Fe nno scandian up lifl a nd the
Co lo rado plateau .
The Fe nnoscandian uplift
Th e ' pos t-glaci al' uplifts of Lauren tia (north-
e rn N. A merica) a nd Fen noscand ia (Fi nla nd
and Sca ndi na via ] a rc familiar exa mples of
J( 1 ( ~t\ , e; 207
rece nt deformation . These uplift s involve ver-
t ica l movemen ts ra nging up 10 100 llun/yea r
over pe riods o f the o rde r of 10000 yca rs [Tabl e
7. 1). T hc forme rly glacia te d area s of N.
A me rica . Fennoscand ia a nd Sco tlan d yield
uplift rates ve ry similar to t hose of the prese nt -
day glaciated regio ns of G reenla nd a nd Fran . .
Josef Land .
T he patt ern of uplirt of Fe nnoscandia oh-
rained fro m ra ised pos t-glacia l sho relin es is
shown in Figure 7. 14. T he co ntou rs s how a n
ov al uplift. I XiK l k m lon g in :1 N E - SW dircc-
lio n, an d about II KKlkm ucross. T he cent ral
portion has heen elevat ed over 250 III since
NUIII ftC co rrespo nding to an a ve ra ge up lift
nne of :!X mm/yea r. A very sim ilar recen t upli ft
pancm has been de te rmine d hy precise rc-
levelling since IH35. Th e ma xim um uplifl o f
t) mm/ye a r occurs in the G ulf o f Bothnia .
The uplift corr espo nds with n ma rked , ncga-
live , free-air gravity a nomaly that has bee n
inte rpre ted as the res idua l mass de ficien cy
produced hy the re mo val of t he icc shee t. T he
,I e xisten ce of zones of active sei srnicit y. fogcthc r
with evidence of recent Iault r novcrncms ,
com plica tes the tec ton ic int erpre tat io n o f the
uplift . and suggests that <II leas t pari of the
isostat ic ' rebo und" of the regio n has taken
place b)' fault move men ts (Yita-F iuzi. 19X1l).
17,t' Colorado Plateau
This st ruct ure, sum ma rize d by McG cl chin et
al , ( 1982) is freq uently ci ted as an e xam ple uf
curre ntly active up lift . It lies imm edia tely ea<;1
of the Basin-and -R ange province of the .... es te rn
USA desc ribed in 4.4 (sec Figure 4. 17A) . T he

T." 7. 1 Upl irl (in m mlycill r) in curnnlty.1Id r«:en1lf glacia lcd arc.... f ro m ViII -finn ( 19tltJ), l iter Nikooov (t9HO) .
""..acn l icc ~ .. PrC'5l'nl-clay U ~l. lind ICC" <:&p"

Flan~ J.,..,I s.,,,,, rnay•

.......
"'''''''
( 10'
u UR'nlirk

Cen t re E..o
E.... ""'. ..

"","""""ndian ""',...
Ib......b Sr.

Sptzt>cr&<,n Koirel
,. ...
0 -........

W~
Zc:mlja

Aleu ndt a h..bhevil

Y"allo

'U-,
.-,
11("1

.
ItlI -7tJ
Pcril'i>cry

,..,
1U
cefllre

'"
lIl- U
= ,~

.-," 13
, "
1- 2
pcr;f'hc "

"'-1U .
pcripl>o:ry

s
Co""
a- to
1.5- U
I.

iz
208 G EOLOG ICA L STR UCTU RES AN D MOVING PUTES
o
I
km 200
,
plateau has a mean eleva tio n of 1&X)m and is
about 700 km across. Uedeformed Mesozoic
strata are exposed a t the surface.
The crust be nea th the Co lorado plateau is
un usually thick (4S km) an d ex hibits shield-
like propert ies from su rface- wave behaviour.
Th e upper mantle . in co ntrast, is chara cterized
by an anomalo usly low P" wave ve locity of
7.8 kmls. Heat now measur em ents ind icat e a
surface flux of about 70 mWm - 2:. Th e plateau
lies within the sa me regio n o f Ce nozoic igneous
activit y as the Basin-end-Range province. bur
has not suffered the e xte nsio nal effect s experi-
e nced th ere and in the Rio G rande rift 10 the
east.
The plateau is interp reted as a re mnant of a
large uplifted regio n of th ickened crust in the
western US A produced in th e late Cre taceous
Laramide o roge ny. Th e bulk of the present
uplift of l.S- 2km . however . occurre d in (he
Miocene . betw een about 18- 10 Ma HP, giving
n gU" '7.14 M.p 1howinl OOflIUUI'5. in m , o r
uplifl ul Ihe O.IIic: ara lino;c 6lIOO ec. From
Vit. ·finti ( 19Xb1. aller Zeunef (I~) .
an average up lift rate of about 200 mlMa
d uring th e period o f extension in the neigh-
bouring Basin-and-R ange provi nce.
Th er e is no general consensus regarding the
uplift mechanism for the Co lo rado plat eau . bUI
the most likely cause appears 10 be the isosra-
lac response to Ihe Mioce ne regional thermal
eve nt. Th is eve nt may have produced a region
of anomalously warm mantle beneath the
plateau crus t which, un like th e adj oi ning re-
gions, was too stro ng o r not warm eno ugh to
prod uce the exte nsio nal failure seen there .
Origin 01intraplate up/ills
or (he many mechanisms proposed to explain
up lifts. we shall conside r the two most plausi-
ble: isostat ic and neural. Isostatic uplift
may be the respo nse 10 a cha nge in either
lithosphere mass. or mean lithos phere density.
Th us an uplift may be the response 10 a redu c-
 INTRAP Uo TE TECTONIC IlI::GIMES
tion in density caused by loca l heat ing of the
lithosphe re . for exa mple above a mantle
plume . This mechanism is th e sa me as that
proposed for oce anic ridges and plateaux , and
is the rever se o f the thermal process respon-
sible for basin form ation . Uplifts produced in
this way exhibit high heat flow, are associated
with vulcanicity. and are likely (0 be related to
rifts. Examples of such structures are the East
African and Rhenish upl ifts refe rred to ea rlier.
Plateaux o n the ocea n floor have a similar
origin. Th e removal of mat er ial by erosion
from an uplift will also p rod uce an isostatic
response.
The second importan t mechanism is litho-
sphere flexure . Because of the short-term
mechanical rigidity of the lithos phere. down-
ward be nding tc for m , a basin in one place is
inevitably accompan ied by an upward bending
around the mar gins of the dep resssion. In o ther
words. the litho sphe re is tilted towards the
209
area of the down-bend . The uplift will be
compensated by the flow of asthenosphcric
mate rial into the bulge at the base of the
lithosphere crea ted by the up lift.
The processes of uplift and depression are
complementa ry, and probably balance out .
broadly. over long pe riods of time . Bo th
processes must be esse ntially self-limiting in
o rde r to conserve crustal thicknes.... Erosion of
uplifts results in crustal thinning, and ove r-
compensation by dense asthenosph ere will
produce a cou nterbalancing downwa rd force .
The reverse is true o f basins: over-thickening
of the crust prod uces a red uction in ove rall
lithospher e density. and results in a co unter-
balancing upward s force . Th is may explain
why the intraplate tecton ic patt ern ove r time
per iods of the order o f hund reds o f Ma is
cha racterized by periodic inversions o f the kind
seen in the Russian platfor m.
8 Phanerozoic orogenic belts: some examples
We have established in the foregoing chapters
a set of principles and methods, both on
theore tical grounds and by looking at 'act uatis-
tic' or active exa mples, linking geological
structure with plate movements and plate
behaviour. In this and in the following chapter,
we shall ap ply these principles and methods in
order to understand the structure of certa in
orogenic belts. Obvio usly. very few belts can
be discussed here, a nd much of the essential
detail must be omitted for reasons of space.
However , it is ho ped , by discussing a few
selected well-studied exa mples, to give a gen-
e ral impression of how the various tectonic
patt erns expressed in these belts have been
linked with plate tectonic models.
Plate tectonic interpretation has been acbie-
ved with varying degrees of success: in general,
the interpretation of young orogenic belts
formed during the Mesozoic- Cenozoic period
is much more tightly constrained than in the
case of Palaeozoic and , more especia lly, Pre-
cambria n examples. The reason for this dif-
ference lies in the co mparative certainty with
which the successive positions of the various
plates and plate fragments can be tracked , by
ocean-floor magne tic stratigraphy and other
means, since the break-up of Pangaea abo ut
200 Ma 81'. Before this lime, the oceanic record
is missing, and we have to rely on much less
accurate palaeomagnetic restorations in plot-
ting the former relative positions of the con-
tinental fragmen ts.
We shall look at four examples: the Alpine
orogenic be]t in the Western Med iterranean,
the Cordilleran Mesozoic- Cenozoic bell in
western North America , the Hercynian system
of Western Europe and its North American
counterpart , the Atleghenian , and finally the
Caledonian belt of the North Atlantic region .
These four examples provide a complete range
in tectonic environment : they e ncompass di-
vergent , convergent and strike-slip regimes,
subduction, and collision, of both continent-
arc and continent-continent type. Most oro-
210
genic belts will find anal ogues somewhe re in
these examples.
8.1 The Alpine orogenic be lt or the Western
Mroiterranean
An active destructive plate boundary extends
from the Gibraltar fracture zone in the At lantic
Ocean (see Figure 3.1) to the weste rn boun-
dary of the Pacific plate in eastern Indonesia.
Th is boundary includes subduction zones such
as the Aegean are, the Makr an and the Sunda
arc (see 5.2) and the major collision zones
between Eurasia in the north and Arabia and
India to the south. The Western Medlter-
ranean sector of this active boundary lies
mostly below the Med iterranean Sea , con-
tinuing the line of the Azores-G ibraltar frac-
ture zone to Sicily. Here a short subd uction arc
links it to the Eastern Mediterranean trench
system (Figure 8.1). This active boundary lies
within a wide zone of Mesozoic- Cenozoic
activity comprising several sepa rate but relat ed
belts. South of the suture lies the Atlas be lt
stretching from Morocco to Tunisia. Across
the Straits of Gibraltar is the Betic Cordillera,
along the south coast of Spain, which is
separated by a large stable craton, making
up most of the Iberian peninsula, from the
Pyrenean belt between Spain and France. The
latter belt meets the main Alpine belt east of
the Gulf of Lions. The Alps are joi ned to the
south by the Apennine belt, running along the
Italian peninsula, to the east by the Dinaride
chain of Yugoslavia, and 10 the north east by
the Carpathian chain.
The explanation for this complex pattern lies
in the plate tectonic history of the region.
which, according to Dewey et al. (1973) and
subsequent workers, has involved separate but
interre lated movements of a number of micro-
plates or minor continental fragments in addi-
tion to the main Europea n and Afr ican plates.
The microplates include Iberia, the Carnics,
Moesia, Apulia and Rhodope (Figure 8.2).
 PIt ANERO ZOIC OROGEN IC RU TS: SO ME EX.... MPLES 211

·....... -.
:;: :: ::: : ::.
,

·· , ...
·...

--
"
" .

--

de atrue:U"e o 0
E~ 1erfUl l lor el a nd a
eona1rue:U"e
I lr ik. ·lllp -~-
Pr.· ....lp lne bal.m.nl
unlp.em.d
"'igu ~ 8. 1 Map ~howing lhe h,:cton ic scllinll of Inc Alpine orog" nic bell in Inc Mcd ilcnanean rcgion . Microphu C5 o r
major cros!al 1'1101:"1(1 within the hell are ~n in bold k llen. Tbe main pblC5 bordering 1he bdl (nl lcd u rn.lffiC nl) arc the
Eurasian , Affican .nd Ar abian p1111C5. Tbe p1ale bouooary (lJlO!>l l ~ dnIl'\M."t ive) bl:IWtt n 1 ~ iI _hown n a hea¥) too thed
line . Arro ws indicate direct ions of movemcnt rehrlive to lhe- Eurasian plate. No1e the main lCdon o r the AI.... chain,
discussed in the tcxt ; FR , FrcflCh ; SW. Swiu; 100 E. Er..tem . Afler Wiook y ( 1977) aoo Dewey r'I al . (1973).

A 8

NOIt'"
AMERICA

....
Ell
~X
She l' c:orllone...
( ..pori . .
Ro<O-
TETHYAN Pl.ATE
.•
= Ac:_ t". ,.... - .ill ;..
Tro..'.'" ' 8111'

Fliun 8.2 (A) La te Trill~sit palaeogeographic and plate tectonic: teroJl5tf\lction or the A lpine orogenic belt system. From
Windley (1m). sner Dewey et al. ( 1973). (8) Scncmalic map . howinll timing (in MOl II'). direction and amount of
Mc:sow ic-Ccnowic motion of plates and bled. relative 10 NW Europe . From Dewey ( 1982)
212 GEO L.OGICAL. ~'RUcrUR £S
Th e Ca rnic a nd Apulian frag me nts ama lgama-
ted to fo rm the present-day Ad riatic micro-
plate (Figure 8.1) that forms the southern
hinterland of the A lps.
Regional tectonic context
A useful summa ry of the tectonic evo lutio n
is co ntained in Wind ley (lm). Mesozoic-
Ce nozo ic histo ry of t he Western Medite rran ea n
has bee n dominated by a major plate recon-
struction involving the opening of the Atlantic
Ocean to the west a nd the clos ure of the Tethys
Ocea n (see Figure 3.5). In the late Tri assic
pe riod, Western E urope formed a landmass
co ntai ning con tine nta l red-bed basins bordered
by a wide ca rbonate platfor m along the nor th-
ern side o f the Tethys Ocean (F igure 8.2A ). A
similar carbona te plat form formed the north-
ern and easte rn Ranks of the African-Arabian
contine nt. New ocea nic crust was fa nned in
extensional basins now reeognizable in several
abd ucted ophiolite complexes. The Triassic
carbonate platforms began to disintegrate in
the ea rly Jura ssic, when widespread exten-
siona l faulting a nd rifting we re experienced,
associated with volcanic activity (Figure 8.3A) .
Subsidence led to deeper -water, muddy and
pelagic facies throughout the region.
The next major change marked the com-
me ncement of convergence and subduction
(Figure 8.38). The forme r existence of tren-
ches is often deduced from the widesp read
appearance of the so-called 'flysch' facies in the
Cretaceous and Eocene pe riods. Th is sedimen-
tary assemblage consists of marine shales with
intercalated coarse clastic material, typically
turbiditic, and associated with olistostromes
or massive slump deposits. Assemblages of this
type are characteristic of modern trenches but
also of extensio nal basins such as those of the
present-day Western Mediterra nea n, and of
major submarine delta fans. They have there-
fore been regarded traditionally as synorogenic
depos its created as part of the orogenic pro-
cess. In pla te tecton ic term s, they represent
both the erosional prod ucts of the uplifted
zones of convergent boundaries (e.g . volcanic
AN D MOVING Pl.ATES
arcs) and also the associated deposit ional
environments such as tre nches, and fore- and
back-arc basins.
The main fl ysch deposits, which are of
Cretaceous age, are found in the external Zone
of the Alps, extending eastwards into the
Carpathians. These de posits have long been
regarded as marking the Alpine 'foredeep
basin' receiving the eros ional products of the
uplifted mountain range to the south and east
(d. Argand, 1916). Th is foredeep basin has
been interpreted in plate tectonic reconstruc-
tions of the region as a trench bordering an
uplifted arc 10 the south. Howeve r. Hsu (1972)
has pointed out that fl ysch sedimentation in the
eas tern Alps continued for abou t 50 Ma , and
that in a normal subduction zone , such mater-
ial would have been re moved much more
quickly. The explanation he suggests is tha t the
relative motion of the tre nch was largely strike-
slip. This is in agreement with the relative plate
movement vector , as we shall see .
Associated with this stage in the Alpine
orogeny was the development of blue-schist
metamorphism in the oceanic material, in-
terpreted as the effect of subduction; the
appearance of acid to intermedia te vulcanicity
indicating the presence of volcanic arcs; and
the development of thrusting and obduction
marking the closure of small ocea nic basins.
Continued convergence led ultimately to
continent-continent collision in several parts
of t he Alpine belt, and part icularly in the main
Alpine chain itself, whe re the Adriatic con-
tinental plate came into contact with the
European continent. This eve nt led to pro-
gressive movement of thrust sheets and to
general uplift. The process took place during
Eocene to Oligocene time, and was accom-
panied by high-grade metamorphism. The cli-
max of regional oro ge nic uplift in the Alps
occurred in the Miocene period (Figure 8.3C) .
During the final stages of convergence and
continenta l collision, an importa nt change look
place on the foreland, where largely contin en-
tal clastic deposits were formed in foredeep
basins situated along the craton margin. Non-
marine clastic sequences of the type formed in
 PH .... NEKOZ.O IC OROG EN IC BELTS : SOME EXAMPLES 213

A
NOItTH
""EIt IC"

APU LIA

.. 'ItI C"

( 0 '1 , J uran"
Too" .o" 1 7~ 1ft, BP

*\"'-
~ ~ ~~

Lo t, c.." . , . Ous
SOlllOllia n eo 1ft,
BP

{ '"'OPI c

F· I R AN
/ "" It ICA tlgure 8.3 Pro posed plate bo un-
dary schem es for ea rly Jurassic
(It) . laic C retaceo us ( 8) and tate
... ;OU". Ce nozoic (C) times for the Al pine
Bu"hgoloo n 17 1ft, BP system. from Windley ( 19n ).
aller Dewey t lal. ( 1973) .

the later stages of orogenesis are termed
'm olasse' in classical geosynclinal or orogenic
theory. These deposits contain a high propor-
tion of coarse, clastic material, along with
intercalated coals and evaporites. Molasse
deposition in the Alpine belt overlapped the
period of ftyschdepo sition in genera l, although
within the Alps proper, molasse deposition
-replaced ftysc h during the Oligocene period
and continued into the Pliocene.
214 GEOLOGI CA L STRUcrU RES At-lD MOVING r LATES
History of plate movements
The record of plate movemen ts within the
Western Med ite rra nean region was fi rst docu -
me nted by De wey et al. (1973) whose account
of the plate tecton ic evolution of the area
forms the basis for most subsequent models.
The lat e Triassic 10 early Jurassic riflin g phase
was expresse d not o nly along the line of sub-
seq uent ocea n o pening of the Central Atlantic,
but also along the boundaries of several
'mi cropl ates' : the Carnics and Moesia atta ched
to E urope , and Apulia, Rhod ope a nd the
Turkish pla te a ltached to Africa (Figure 8.3A) .
T hese con tinental blocks subsequently moved
eastwards a nd north eastwards respectively,
crea ting new ocean basins behind them .
The commenceme nt of ope ning in the Cen-
tral Atlantic is generally da ted at 180Ma ae
in the ea rly Jurassic. Th is date corresponds
with the collapse of the carbonate platforms
noted above. As a result of this op ening, the
African plate moved in a n ESE to E dire ction
parallel to the Azore s-G ibraila r fracture zo ne.
A t the same time , furt her opening of th e new
ocea n basins was accompa nied by subd uction
of the main Teth yan ocea nic plat e along the
Black Sea -Caucasus line (Figure 8.3A ).
Th is phase of movement continued until
abo ut 80 Ma UP in late Cretaceo us time , when
an important change in relat ive plate vectors
took place . The cha nge resulted from the
ope ning of the North Atla ntic Ocea n west of
Spain, and e xtending to the Davis Strait
be tween Greenland and N. America , togeth er
with the linked ope ning of the Bay of Biscay
and the conseq uentia l rotation of Iberia : Be-
cause this part of the A tlantic was opening
faster than the Ce ntral Atlant ic, the overall
movement vecto r of Africa reversed to become
NW to W relative to Europe (Figure 8.28) .
Th e rotation of the Iberian pe ninsula duri ng
this phase has been det ermined palacomag-
netically (Van der Voo, 1969). Durin g this
second phase of essentially sinistral relative
movement be tween Africa and Euro pe , con-
ver gent motion too k place in the Alps, marked
by Ilysch sed imentation in the Piemont trough .
As can be seen from Figure 8.28 , the conver-
gence vector at this time is appro ximatel y
perpendicu lar 10 the N c-Setre ndi ng Western
Alps, bUI almost parallel to the E- W-trending
Ea stern Alps.
At about 52 Ma DP another importan t cha nge
in relative motion occ urred . caused by the
opening of the main N.Atlantic- A rctic Ocean
between G reenland and Scandinavia. This
cha nge was marke d by a NW-d irected move-
ment of Africa towards Eur ope. During this
third phase, from Uppe r Eoce ne to Lower
Ol igocene time , the main deforma tio n and
metamorphism of the Alps took place , al-
though flysch sedi menta tion continued in
the Helveu c zone to the north. No te that the
convergence vector is now oblique to both the
Easte rn and We stern segments of the A lpine
chain, but with a stro ng converge nt compo nent
in each case . T hus movement is dextral trans-
pressive in the Eastern Alps bu t sinistral trans-
pressive along the N- S to NW-SE French
A lps, and only truly converge nt along the sho rt
NE -SW segment of the Central or Swiss Alps.
The movement uplifted the ea rlier fold belt ,
and crea ted the grea t gravity-sliding nappes of
the Pennine and Ultrahelveti c syste ms (see
Figure 8.5). Th is stage also corresponds to the
commence ment of molasse deposition in the
fored eeps to the north and in the Po plain to
the south.
By O ligocene times, all Mesozoic ocea n .
crust in the Western Medit errane an had dis-
appeared . The present oceanic are as result
from the opening of new marginal basins
created by the antidockwise rotation of Italy
(a nd the Dinarides) and of Sardinia-Corsrco
away from the Iberian peninsula in the Mio-
cene . Again these movements are reliably
det ermined from palaeomagneti c data (Zi jder-
veld et aJ., 1970a,b) .
The final change in convergence di rect ion
took place about 10Ma UP during the Miocene
(Figure 8.28). From then until the presen t,
Africa has been moving northward s relative to
Europe. This change is reflected in the intra-
plate structures such as the Rhi ne - R uhr rift
system (see 4.3). During this phase , the main
 PHANERO ZO IC OROGEN IC BELTS; SO ME EXAMPLES
defo rma tion occurred in the H elvetic zo ne and
in the So uthern A lps, o n the margins of t he
Africa n pla te . vand finally, in the e arly Plio-
cene, in the J ura.
Structural f rame work ofthe A lps
The A lps proper (as distinct from the A lpides
o r A lpine chains, which are much more widely
distr ibuted) com prise th ree main secto rs: the
French, Swiss, and Eas tern , or Austr ian , A lps
(Figure 8. 1). The Fren ch (or French-Italian)
Alps exte nd from the Medite rranean coast
ne ar Nice , to the Swiss border in an arc tha t
varies in tre nd from NW-SE in the south to
NE- $W in the nort h. The change in trend is
rat her sudde n and occurs in the regio n of
Gre noble. The Swiss A lps continue in a NE -
$W d irection but gradually bend into the E - W
trend of the Eastern Alps in Austria and N.
215
Italy. T he latter belt is truncated o n its ea stern
side by the unde formed deposits of the Hun-
ga rian plain.
The re is considera ble variation alo ng the
str ike of the Al ps o f which a usef ul summa ry is
provided by Debel mas et al . (1983) in th e form
of four characte ristic pro fi les across the belt.
We shall concentrate on the interesting centr al
region whe re the NW- SE French secto r be nds
around into the NE-SW Swiss secto r (Figure s
8.4 , 8.5). The re arc eleven main tectonic
zo nes, on ly some of which can be recognized in
any give n profil e . (1) the no rthern foreland
consists of undefo rmed Mesozoic- Ce nozo ic
cover on a Hercynian crystalline basement ; in
the central Franco-Swiss secto r, this zone is
known as the plateau Jura. (2) The fold ed Jura
zone , see n only in this central secto r. consists
of re latively simple fold-thrust cover resting
o n a shallow basal detachment. The synclines

figure 8.4 M3p showing the

main tectonic sub divisions o r the
Swiss and nort he rn Fre nch Alps.
f Ol DED JURA _~.• " The zone numbers lire refe rred to
in the texr . After Ramsay (1963).

II
. ...:.: 0 "",- -aU. A.W·....

::::::::g§::::'::::OOC: eovu
c.....~.-/.-.::::::::: E3 000.1' ''' - ' '
........... rsJ 0....-_. t _
.Dor l . " :::::::::: E:J.....·••' ~~Co-A" 10>0.
. :..::::::::::::~ __..:v:~ .( ''' '"
...~:::~tt~ ffiffi : :::::.
.....::::::::
."::"::
till! """'_t,_
._u
u.o .c
. . ...... . CAl ~.

60km
'.::::::: lTI
:::::: CD
-
"_aM
. " ""'-oooc.... ,_ ~ ., ..
_ t o" ' '''-"",,,,'
 tv
~
0\

EXTERNAL ZONES INTERNAL (PENNINEJ ZONES

Folded Dauphlnois Zone \laJaise Brien't0nnals Zone Piemonl Zone SesJa Ivrea
Jur. zene Lanzo' ZOne
Zone Zone

NW Molsue SE
Trough

• ",.x
,
f\
\
_
."w-, .
--....
tJ v"

..-....., x
'
~ 1I..A1

.. .. ... . 11'0
~ .-
o
.. Jl or .., III

. :;
Ie ~ __ "" •
s
Lanzo musH
,"

1 20 k',;; 5o
()
>
r
o 10 20 km
I , I
~
'"c:
EXTERNAL ZONES INTERNAL (PENNINE) ZONES SOUTHERN ALPINE ZONES ~
c:
Fore.land
(Plateau Molasse Trough I• Helvellc Zone ., BrlallJonnals Plemonl Zone '"
l3l
Zone
Jura) Pre-Alp. sesta Lenzo zone >
"I. Rosa massif z
NW Matterhorn o
Dent-BlancllS I»» ' - - -
o
~
_ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "t_N~Ppe oJ- , ~~~~:.-" :.-:.~:::~.~...
....... ..~. ~- :> I !. <

I;~:j;;-::::;:': 0.~~m~r~ ~a~p~

Sevigny
z
..=W::~'i?I_ ,'tJc,'C'o.lN" o

t ·.. " ..

A
Jl

••
Jl 1I(,It" ,

• ...
tC ,. •
"" "
,,~K

"
:-. .
.• A 'I "
11:

Jl
.,

•
•

J, JI
,. ~ '- . . =--
fA.1l.
~t\
.."
r
~
m
It K .. ",.. VJ

BASEMENT MESOZOIC/CENOZOIC COVER

Europeen African EXlernal Pia ~ont Bria~~meis Opoolltes Molasse intrusions
Zones FaCIes FaCIes

g Will m .····
DD...... _ _ ..-.... ~···· ~
~

Figure 8.5 Representative structural profiles across the northern French (upper diagram) and Swiss (lower) Alps (see lines on Figure 8.4). showing the
outcrop of the major structural units and tectonic zones. SB. Sub-Brianconnais zone ; P, Piernont zone; W. Wildhorn nappe; M. Morcles napp e ; DJ.
Diablercts nappe. After Debelmas et al. (1983) .
 PI-l AN ERO ZO IC O ROGENIC BEI.TS : SOME EXAMPLES
of Mesozo ic folded cover con tain weak ly-
defo rmed Miocene molasse depo sits. The
amount of deform ation increases so uth-
eastwards. (3) The Molasse srougn is a flexural
forela nd basin developed du ring the O ligocene
10 Pliocene pe riod in respo nse to thr ust loadin g
to the so utheast. The molasse is undeform ed in
the cent ral and western part s of the basin bu t is
involved in th rusting o n its so uthea st side . Th e
sole thrust passes beneath the und efo rmed
molasse to link with the next zone . (4) The
Dauphinais zone (o r sub-A lpine chains) con-
tains the most highly deformed of the external
zones of the Alps. In this zone , Hercynian
basement and a th ick platfo rm Mesozoic cover
has bee n involved in major thru st shee ts which
are para -autochtho nous in th at they have tra-
velled on ly a sho rt distance from thei r origin.
Gravity sliding in the Ti nee nappes of the
Alpes Ma ritimes north of Nice (Figure 8.6A ) is
described by Graham (1981). He attrib utes the
26 km o f shortening see n in the Triassic cover
to gliding on weak decolle ment planes in
Triassic eva porite deposits. The gravity gliding
is attributed to uplift of the A rgente ra base-
ment massif to the no rth (Figure 8 .6 B) .
This zone is replaced along-strike in Switze r-
land by the Heiv etic nappes. These consist o f
basement blocks of the Aiguilles Rou ge and
Mont Blanc massifs to get her with the ir para-
autochthonous Mesozoic cover . In a study of
the Helvetic nappes, Ramsay (1981) and Ram-
say et al, (1983) integ rate the major and minor
structure and fabrics developed in the p rogres-
sive strain histo ry o f the na ppes. He shows that
the folding and intern al strain are related to
movement along sub-horizontal shea r zones
that ar e the deeper-seated equivalent of
thrusts. Figure 8.7 is a pro file across the
Morcles, D iablere t and Wildhom nappes (see
Figure 8.5) , which consist o f detached Meso-
zoic cove r . The profile illustrat es the gene ral
form and stratigraphy o f the Heivet ic nappes .
By studying the strain histor y o f the variou s
parts of the nappe complex, Ramsay shows
that Ihe ea rliest strains result fro m NNW
elo ngatio n arising from sub-ve rtical sho rte n-
ing. These early stra ins are o nly shown in the
217
uppermost nappes which have experienced a
lo nger deform ation history than the lower.
Moreover , the 'ligher nappes were displaced
under condit ions of lowe r co nfining restra int
tha n the lowe r and sho w more variable strain
patt erns. Late r strains are due to mark ed
extension pa rallel to the fold axes. Th ese
observat ions are consistent with ea rly duc tile
tr anslations along lo w-angle shear zones that
steepen downwards into the intense ly defor m-
ed shea r zones seen in the basem ent.
The next thr ee zones co nstitute the internal
Alpine zones. (5) Th e Embru nais- Ebaye nap-
pes o f the Valais zone occur in the so uthern
French secto r, where they are thru st over the
rocks of the sub-Alpine chains. Th ey conta in
allochthono us material deri ved fro m the in-
terna l Pennine nappe zones , and comp rise a
lower unit of Mesozoic cover slices and an
upper unit of Cre taceo us flysch . The lowe r unit
continues no rth ward s as the suo -Brianconnais
zone. (6) Th e Brianconnals zon e consists of
numerous superimposed units exhibiting a fan
arra nge ment, with more weste rly structu res
verging west and mo re easterly ver ging eas t
(Figure 8.5). The stratigraphic seque nce is
characterized by very thick T riassic she lf de-
posits o n a Permo-Ca rboniferous basement,
o verlain by a very thin J urassic and Cre taceous
cover, with many stratigraphic gaps, and is
interpreted as a pelagic gea nticlinal zone .
Deformatio n is inte nse, and shows two main
phases; an earlier, characterized by nor th-
west wards thrusting, and a late r, related to
so utheastwards back-thru sting o r retroch arri-
age (see e .g. Platt a nd Lister , 1985). The
Brianco nnais zone in the Swiss Alps is rep re-
sented by the Sa int Bernard Nappe. Th e later
back-thrust ing phase is dated by H unziker
(l986) fro m mica cooling ages a nd apatite
fission-tr ack ages, a nd is att ribu ted to the N - S
Miocen e collision move ment.
(7) The Piemont, o r Schistes L ustres zone , is
the most easterly of the intern al o r Pennine
nappe zones. It contains a number of com-
ple xly defo rmed nappes co ntaining a strati-
gra phic seq uence that changes fro m west to
east. The externa l unit s possess a th ick Triassic
218 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTU RES AN D MOVING PLATES

sw
CO( OE C ROVS

,
UNIT
IH ' _ 1IIE1 / "'-- -- - - - - - -_
- NE

,
;<.>~.~~;;;:

COL CPOuS LISTRIC

NORHAL FAULT A

Fi~Uft 8.6 (A) Representative down-

plunge: structural p rofile across the note
nappe complex. (8) Sequence or dia-
grammatic profiles illustrat ing a gravity
sliding model for the Io rmaticn of the
Tinee nappes. (A) , (8) from Gra ham
B (1981)

shelf sequence on a Carboniferous base ment,
similar to that of the Brtanconnais zone . How-
ever . the internal units contain typical o phio li-
tic ocea n-crust assemblages with Jur assic to
mid-Cretaceous pelagic sediments . These nap-
pes show a similar cha nge in vergence across
the zone to the Brianconnais nappes . It is this
zone thai contains the evide nce fo r Upper Cre-
taceous obduction linked with high-pressure
met amorphism. In the northern French sector,
this zone is reduced to se veral klippen resting
o n the Brianconnais nappes (Figure 8.5). In
the eastern part of the zone lie the Lanzo
peridotites. interpre ted as the top most par t of
 PHANEROZ OIC O ROGENIC BELTS: SO ME EXAMPLES
Coml>!""" u,,;t~
I f J J J Ui'lJOIl"''' Is' .
H · t · 1· I 'i l(~u/I«JU'
Io'a /O" " in .., ,, lSI.
lllllllllllJ llu "'o.m Is'.
1'1gure 8.7 Co mpos ite structural profile across the western Helvetic Alps, showing the alloc hthonous Morcles and
Wild horn nappe s ove rlying the autochthon of the Dauphincis l one (see Figure s 8.4 , 8.5). Fro m Ramsay (1981)
the uppe r mantle, bounded on its south side by
African crystalline basemen t of the Ivrea zone.
In Switzerland , the lateral equ ivalents of the
Piemont nappes are found in the complex
Monte Rosa nappe, with its associated ophio-
lites. The Pre-Alps of Switzerland represent a
large klippe of Premont -zone material resting
on the Molasse basin, at least 50k m from the
nearest Pennine rocks, having travelled across
the intervening Helve ric zone.
(8) In the Swiss Alps and Eastern Alps of
Austria, the Penni ne nappes are over lain by
the next zone , the Austro-A lpine nappes .
These contain crystalline basement of the
Adriatic plate with its Triassic to Jurassic
cove r. T he Dent Blanche nappe in the central
Swiss Alps forms an Austro-Alpine klippe
resting on the Piemont nappes. These nappes
root in the Sesia Lanzo zone on the SE side of
the Piemcn t zone . (9) The So uthern Alps zo ne
consists of a simple south-verging fold-thrust
bell that is separated from the zones to the
north by the Insub ric a nd Tonale faults. This
zone is on ly recognized in the easte rn Alpine
secto r. Th e crystalline basement of the south-
219
ern Alps zone is known as the Ivrea zone. In
the southern sector , the Po basin (zone 10)
with its thick molasse deposits conceals the
southern Alpine margin . Zo ne 11 is the un-
deformed Adriatic plate or African fo reland . It
is concealed by the Po basin in the south, but is
represented by the Ivrea zone in the central
sec tor.
In summary, then , the three main tectonic
units of the central or Swiss Alps are the
Helvetic, Pennine a nd Austro-Alpine nappe
assemblages. The Austro-A lpine sheets a rc the
topmost unit, a nd represent the relatively thin
basement and cover from the African (Adria-
tic) plate, which have been 'fla ked' off the top
of that plate as first suggested by Oxburgh
1972 (see Figure 5.24). The Pennine nappes,
with their ophiolitic sequence, represent the
thinned contine ntal margin and oceanic crust
or the subducted margin of the Europea n
plate. The Helvetic nappes represent the plat-
Conn sedimentary cove r from the Europea n
plate, stripped off and transported back to-
wards the foreland. 11
The metamorph ic history of the Alps reflects
220 GEO LOGICAl. STRUCTURES AND MOVING PLATES

the above changes in tecto nic en vironment.
The ear ly high-pressure. low-te mper ature
me tamo rphism , giving rise to blue-schists and
eclog ites, is associa ted ..with subd uction and - -ctrate -thar the Par paillon nappe, a Pen nine
obduction d uring the early stages o f conver-
gencc in the late Cretaceous. The later,
higher-temperature, lo wer -pressure phase was
superimposed o n the former to give gree nschist-
facies co nd itions throughou t the intern al zones
coinciding with the peak of tecton ic act ivity.
A ttempts are being made in many pa rts of
the A lps to relate individual movemen t and
stra in histories of the nappes to an o verall
kine matic pattern that is compatible with the
plate tecto nic model o utlined earlier. This can
be achieved less easily in the intern al zones
than in the exte rnal, owing 10 the mo re ductile
deform ation and more complex strain history
of the former. Howeve r, in se veral areas,
northwestwards tra nspo rt di rections (see e .g.
Butler, 1983) ap pear to co rrelate with the main
NW-SE convergent phase in Up per Eoce ne-
Lowe r Oligocene limes. In the southern
French Alps. Merle and. Bron. (l 9R4} demon-
nappe thai has ove rridde n the exte rnal zo ne,
exhibits an earlier mo vement to the no rth-
west , followed by a southeastwards mo veme nt
attributed to gravity sliding away from the
uplifted bell to the northeast.
Butle r et 01. (1986) present a balanced
crustal-scale sectio n across the central (Franco-
Swiss) secto r of the Alps by restoring the
Frontal Pennine Thrust , which ma rks the
boun da ry bet ween the exte rnal and internal
zones (Figure 8.8). This section has bee n
resto red parallel to the main WNW-directed
convergence d irection in the exte rna l thrust
belt (i.e ., that of the Oligocene mo veme nts).
Shorte ning estimates from individual
balanced sections demo nstrate a minimum of
140 km displacement along the Frontal Penn ine

w.w
.-..,w·.
.'
e
.n<,
.-
::.t
,, ::
ESE

.'
-,
se
,
••
, .
- .- . . . . . . . .. -,
•......
."
- '"",-
l~~
800~,
-,
...
." • al"Nll ron ..
• • " ••• 10 .... .

Ju ' O Da uP ~ ;Nl - Ke IUil ic Ull . . ... l....l ic

figu re 8.8 Balanced IIfW restore d sections iIluslrating lhe dee p struct ure or the: nor thwestern ellie-mal Alpine lhru st belt.
Motassc. open circle orna ment; otber eete rnet rover sedimenu. slipp lcd ; EBM . exte rnal Belledon ne massir; FIT. rto nlal
Penninc thru st; UHT . Ulrra belveuc lhrust ; AA T. A ustro-A lpine Ihrust (suture ). from Butle r ~I Qf. ( 1986)
 PHANEROZOIC OROGE NIC BELTS: SOME EXAMPLES
Thrust (Figu re 8.8) . This imp lies an eq uivalent
widt h o f footw all in the form o f a mid- to lo we r
crustal wedge projecting be neat h the internal
zone o f the Alps . However . the geomet ry
of this wed ge is dep end ent upo n the pre-
conve rge nt crustal geo metry: in pa rticular, the
extent o f an y base me nt thinning . The au tho rs
assume an o riginal crustal thickness o f 25 km ,
corresponding to t he thick ness on the un-
deformed Fre nch crato n.
The pro fi le inco rpo rat es se ismic re fraction
a nd gravity data ( Perrier and vialon . 1980)
defining the depressio n o f the Moho to a depth
of c.Sn km below t he southe rn part of t he
interna l zo ne (sec Figure 5.26). Howev e r. the
Moh o has been displace d upward s and north-
war ds along a thrust regarded by Perrie r and
Vlalo n as the A lpine so le thrust. Th e dis-
place ment o f the high-density Ivrea body to a
relatively high crustal level (see gravity profile
in Figure 5.23 ) is attrib uted by Butler es al. to
the Fron ta l Pe nnine thrust. Th ey reg ard this
th rust as lying within the midd le crust for most
of t he widt h of the internal zo nes . since no
deep crustal rock s are exposed exce pt at t he
eastern ma rgin. T hus both the ex te rna l and
intern al zo nes are att ributed . according to this
model , to thi n-ski nned thru st movements. The
Aust ro-A lpine thru st, which t ransports the
European- Africa n suture over the Europea n
plate . restores to a po sitio n benea t h t he Po
valley.
No precise estima te is available for the
shortening across the Pe nnine nappes , which
are difficult to restore beca use of their com-
ple x three-dime nsion al strain. According to
T rumpy ( 1973), during the main converge nt
phase be twee n late Eocene and early Oli go -
cene time. at least 300 km o f crustal sho rte ning
took place acro ss the whole belt in a pe riod of
5- 6 Ma , giving an average deforma tion rate o f
5-6 cm/yea r.
8.2 The Cord illeran oroge nic helt of Nor th
America
At its simp les t, th e Co rd illera n o rogenic be lt o f
North America may be d ivided into two major
tectonic zones. Th e eastern zone comprises a
221
Mesozo ic to earl y Ce nozoic foreland thrust
be lt produce d by co nve rge nt defo rmat ion of
t he co ntinen tal ma rgin of th e A merican p late .
In the so uthern part o f this zone , a later
Ce nozo ic exte nsional regime has been super-
impose d , giving risc to t he Basin-and-Range
p rov ince desc ribed in 4.3 . Th e rocks an d
history o f this zo ne can be rel ated 10 each o the r
and to th e stable co ntine ntal interior in a
co he re nt and sensib le manne r, a nd will be
described fi rst. Th e weste rn zo ne is a co mple x
tecto nic collage of suspect te rranes (see 6.2) ,
man y of which are dem o nst rably alloc h-
thon ous. and whose relation sh ips with t he
co ntine ntal margin to t he east are eit he r
spec ulative o r no n-existen t. This western zo ne
was co nside red to re presen t the 'eugeosyn-
dinar belt. paired with the ' mio geosynclina!'
eastern belt in the o lde r lite ratu re . be fore the
importa nce of strike-slip displace ments and
exot ic terranes was d isco vered .
Th e str ucture o f t he o roge nic belt is summar-
ized in Figure 8.9 . Th e easte rn margin of the
be lt is re presented by the t hrust fro nt. which
possesses a sinuous course from the A laska-
Yuk on bo rde r to the G ulf o f Mexico , defi ning
a belt that va ries in widt h from 600 km to
nearl y 1400 km . Th e autochthono us par t o f the
fore land thrust be lt is defined by the prov ed
limits of the N . American craton ic basem ent.
The Nort h Slope terran e is co nside red to be
prob ab ly autochthonous, but all the te rranes
west of a line from the weste rn bo undary o f the
No rt h Slope te rra ne , southwards along the
weste rn cra tonic margin, are suspect. Seve ra l
a re invo lved in the thrust be lt (e. g. the Easte rn
assemblage o f Brit ish Co lumbia) . Man y of the
terranes in the western belt have unde rgone
lar ge strike -slip displace ments relative to
Nort h A merica.
The so uthwestern part of the orogenic belt
is traversed by the Sa n Andreas fault zo ne ,
along whic h de xtra l strike-slip mo tio n is pre-
sently taking place. Th is active zone is de-
scribed in 6.3. Act ive subd uctio n is also tak ing
place at the western mar gin of the o rogenic
belt alo ng the British Co lumbia - Washingto n-
O regon sector, an d is respo nsible fo r the
Cascades volca nic arc (see Figure 4. 18).
222 GEOLOGICAt. STRUCTURES AND Mo v ING p!.A u .s

the N. Ame rican craton. A detailed descrip-

tion of the southern Ca nadian Rocky Moun-
tains sector (Figure 8.10) is provided by Price
(1985). The sedimentary cover consists of an
~.,. .:~"""'- easte rly-thinning wedge, divisible into ' pre-
orogenic' and 'synorogenic' domains. The
: .-':;~1f;J~ft~ft.~ :::C Q n pre-orogenic cover consists of 'miogeoclinal'

. T"'I"'''' ~._". continental slope 10 continental shelf deposits

ranging in age from Late Prote rozoic 10 mid-
Ju rassic in the east, and in the west, of a
.~. 'eugeoclinat' assemblage of basic to acid '101-
eanic rocks and immature clastic ff yscb de-
posits, The synoroge nic cover consists of clastic
deposits of late Jurassic to Palaeogene age,
• ~., w··,··,··.······ accumulated in a foredeep Or foreland basin.
The axis of this basin appears to have migra-
ted north -eastwards during this period as the
thrust-thickened load moved towards the
craton.
The Late Proterozoic sequence comprises
two quite different units. The Belt- Purcell
Supergroup consists of up to 11 km of marine
clastic sediments followed by carbonat es de-
posited at a rifted continental margin. The
overlying Windermere Supergroup consists of
up to 9 km of coarse, immature sandstone s and
conglomera tes, interbedded with shales and
carbonates, lying unconformably on the Belt-
. ."1// ""'
-.....: \ Purcell rocks, and partly der ived from them.

--
':
"<
Figu ~ 8.9 Tectonic summary map or the Nor th Ame ri-
can Co rdilleran oroge nic be ll . showing lhe division be-
tween the western collage zone o r suspect and displaced
terranes, and Ihe eastern paramccruboncus fo ld-thrust
belt underlain by Nonn American enll onie basement. Sec:
socrce for a c:ontplele list o f the terranes, and thei r
descn rnions. NS, Nonh Slope and E, Eastern assemblage
are terranes referred to in Ihe text . The SOUl he m pa n of
the map should be referred to Figure 4.17(A) for grealer
detail. From Coney ~ ai, (1980)
The Cordilleran fo reland thrust belt in 1M
S . CAnadian sector
The eastern part of the Cordille ra n orogenic
belt of N. America consists of an east-directed
set of thrust shee ts defin ing a belt up to 300 km
wide, developed on Precambrian basement of
The basin in which these beds accumulated
appears 10 have been bounded by a major
extensional fault, which subsequently reve rsed
its displacement direction during the thrusting.
The Lower Palaeozoic strata consist of a thin
sequence, up to c.l km thick, of shelf car-
bonates and shales that thicken westwards to
about 5 km along a carbonate bank margin.
West of this line. the re is a facies change in
most units to dark mudstones with inte rbedded
basic volcanic rocks and coarse clastic deposits.
This facies change is interp reted as evidence of
a back-arc or marginal basin west of the
continental shelf, with a volcanic arc on its
western side.
The Upper Palaeozoic strata are unconform-
able on the Lower . In the basin domai n, the
Lower Carbonife rous deposits are similar to
those of the Lower Palaeozoic. a nd rest on
 PHANERozorc OROGENI C BELTS : SOME E.XAMPlES
them with angular discordance. In the plat form
seq uence, Upper Devonian carbonates over-
step their Lower Palaeozoic equivalents.
This distinction between shelf and miogeo-
clinal slope environments is maintained in the
Mesozoic seque nces. 100 m of Ju rassic marine
shales o n the platform are the lateral equi-
valent of a 1 km-thick seque nce of Triassic [0
J urassic shallow-marine deposits, consisting of
assorted sandstones , carbonates and evapor-
ites. The basin asse mblage of equivalent age is
10km thick a nd contains a high proportion of
volcanic a nd volcanogenic deposits of mainly
andesitic de rivation. Deformed mid- to late
Jurassic granitic pluto ns are associated with
these rocks. which are also cut by younger.
Cretaceo us granites.
The changes in depositional environment
recognized in these facies variations mark the
boundaries of major tectonic provinces within
the Rocky Mountains belt. Important changes
in thickness and mechanical properties of the
cover have con trolled the nature of the fold-
thrust defo rmation. Consequently. abrupt
changes in tectonic patt ern take place both
across and along strike, due to these lateral
changes in facies and thickness.
The belt is interpre ted as a typical. thin-
skinned , foreland thrust belt, where many of
the ideas incorpo rated into modern thrust-
tectonic theory we re develope d (see e.g.
Dahlstro m, 1970). The structure is dominated
by thrust faults that a re primarily west-dipping
and eastwards-verging (Figures 8.10, 8. 11).
Flexural-slip folds are developed in association
with the thrusts. many of which die out in the
cores of anticlines. Thrusts in the eastern part
of the belt commonly detach on weak horizons
such as the Upp er Cretaceous Alberta Gro up,
the Jurassic marine shales of the Fernie Group,
a nd a t the base of the thick Upper Permian
Paliser limestone.
The thru sts in the eastern part of the belt ,
from the thrust front to the Rocky Mountain
Trench, appea r to have developed in piggy-
back sequence, by eastward displacement of
the cover over the autochthonous platform
(Figure 8.11). Preca mbrian baseme nt with
223
similar geophysical prope rties can be traced at
least as far as the eastern part of the Purcell
anticlinorium (Figure 8.11) without any disrup-
tion of its distinctive NE-SW magnetic fabr ic.
In the western part of the belt, the Protero zoic
strata of the Bell-Purcell and Winderme re
Supergrcups show variable penetrative strain
and metamorphic grade, both of which in-
crease progressively westwards. Accurate sec-
tion balancing is therefore confined to the
eastern section.
A major change in str uctural level, amount -
ing to about 20 km o f stratigraphic succession.
takes place across the Kootenay A re, where
Belt- Purcell strata in the core of the Purcell
anticlinorium are adjacent to T riassic- Jura ssic
basin deposits to the west. The Kootenay Arc
is therefore interpreted as a major west-facing
monocline marking the western edge of the
North Amer ican craton. T his structure cor-
responds to a change in crustal thickness from
c.50-55 km at the Purcell a nticlinorium to
30- 40 km beneath the interior part of the
Cordillera, and also to a corresponding in-
crease in the negative Bouguer gravity ano-
maly. The size of this anomaly can be
explained by the calculated increase in crustal
thickness of IOkm. However, in orde r to
balance the thin-skinned crustal shorte ning in
the east, the 40km -thick crust of the autoch-
thonous platform is required to extend west-
wards beneath the Purcell anticlinorium to the
edge of the Kootenay Arc (Figure 8.11, 8.12) .
Th is crustal structure confirms the view, based
on the study of the sedi menta ry facies , that the
thick miogeoclinal strata of the Proterozoic
and Lower Palaeozoic sequences accumulated
on thinned continental crust at the contine ntal
margin. The minimum tota l shorte ning achie-
ved by the thin-skinned part of the belt is
estimated to be J70 km.
Deformation in the thrust belt a ppears to
have spanned a period of almost 100Ma from
late Jurassic to Palaeoce ne time. Uplift and
erosion of shelf assemblages is first recorded in
Upper Ju rassic deposits, and early reverse!
transfer faults in the Purcell anticlinorium are
cut by early to mid-Cretaceous batholiths.
224
G EOLOGICA L STlWcr UII.ES AN D MOVI NG PLATES
 PHANlRO ZOIC OROGENIC BELTS : SO ME EXAMPLES 225
f _ _' _
lo -e»o. ..'_
E -,· _ ..-
o
~ rM;LOCI. - rL ..r'........ TL'HIAlH ·llfC" "
' ·..
,..'.
ill
1I~ I<> Z OlC · C L IIO Z O JC

0 - , ""'. c_.
1::::::::1 _ If,.. 0-1• • ITIlIill

D
..__, f ,. __ )
... ~..

•••,.. - s "~
'.wlr•
~

------....
-=
M U - ~ "" CL U.

(",,':-=-:d v_ , - 1-
v........ ~. ll!O IOIC

D
.t o_t'il ~A.tf O IOlC

=
~
1:'1':>j - D c.._.
" gure 8.10 Geological map of the furd anJ Ih ruSI· fo ld he ll or Ih e so uthern CanaJi an Rock y Mountains. in tbe cent ral
sector of the N. Americ an Cordille ran o rogen ic he ll. For names of key faults an d batbofhhs distin guishe d by teue rs, sec
source. Fro m Price ( l'Jlll )

RO C KY
I(OO;rE N...Y ...AC PURCELL "' NT ICL I N O A I U ~
J,lOU N T ", IN
ow
,
-s

.,,1--- •

ROCK Y MOU N T ...rNS FOOT HIL LS

S... "_ I ..

S"'S EMENT

HE
o ZOk",
"

FigUR 8.11 SW- NE struc tural profile aeross upper line on Figure R.IO. Faults idcn lified on Ihe sec tion arc : Pu. Purce ll;
Ba, Bou r&C,)u; Sm. Sulphur Mountain; Ru, Rundle ; t".lnglismaldie; LD. Lac des Arcs; M,. McCo nne ll; HI. Burnt Ti mber ;
08. O ld Bald y; 8 z . Br azeau. Not e diftc renl ornament in Koot enay arc (nJlw ) and in foredeep elastics (blank) Ior clamy.
Fro m Pnce (198 1)
226 G EO LOGICAL STRU(.iURES AND MOVING PLATES

•m.se 3.
•, , ! ,
see
I

"URCEU
.. "Tlel/NOII/tVM

b.
DUP-M

0-
(-:.:.:.:.:J.
FiRU~ 8. 12 Diagrammatic sections 10 illustra te an iOIC' rprcli1lion o f the evoruuce of the Purcell an tid inori um (see Figure
8.11) (4) Restored original sectio n; (b) prese nt sectiofl drawn to eliminate effects o f erosion pre- and post- lhrusling: (c)
sehemanc representation showing d isplace ment (A 10 A' etc.). m, manue : c. continenta l Crusl;p. Bell- Purcell assemblage;
.... windermere lS."Cmblage;Lp . lower Palaeozoic assemblages; up -m . Upper Palaeozoic and T riassic-J unlssic
asse mblages . From Price ( 1981)

Th e late Cre taceo us gra nite plutons of the
Kootenay Arc a re pos t-tecto nic in relation
to the deformation fabric. Furth er east , the
McConnell and Lewis thrusts post-date
Upper Cretaceous slope de posits but pre-date
late Eocene -early Oligocen e foredeep-basin
molasse. Price estimates thai a t teast 100 km of
horizontal displacement occurre d across the
thrust belt during thi s pe riod o f less than
3O Ma, corresponding to a rate of 3 kmlMa. o r
3mmlyear.
T he Purcell anticlinorium is interpreted as
the geo metric co nsequence of lifting the thick
sed imenta ry prism . ori ginally deposited o n the
atte nuated crust o f the co ntinental margin, o n
to the main part o f the cra to n (Figure 8.12).
Crusta l conve rge nce of possibly 200 km o ver
the whole width of the be lt is thus acco mmoda-
led 10 a large exte nt by ove rlapping o f the
already thinn ed co ntinen tal crus t along the
continenta l margin . and is viewed by Price as
an exa mple of intraplate co nve rgence . invol-
ving the destru ction of a marginal basin sit ua-
ted behind (east o f) the main eastward-dipping
Co rdillera n subd uctio n zone .
The western collage zone ofsuspect terran es
Th e concept o f displa ced or suspec t terranes
(see 6.2) was developed in th is regio n (see
Wilson , 1968; Mon ger et al., 1972; Jon es et d .,
1972). In Figure 8.9 the distributio n o f more
th an fifty sus pect terranes ide ntified by Co ney
et at. (J 98O) is shown . Th e prin ciples govern ing
their recognition are discussed in 6.2. Adjoin-
ing terranes may be d istin guished by discon-
 PHAN EROZOIC OROGENIC BELTS: SOME EXAMPLES
tinuities of structure or stratigraphy across
their boundaries, tha t cannot be explained on
the basis of nor mal facies or tectonic changes.
Many terranes contain palaeomagnetic records
that differ stro ngly from those of the stable
craton, or of adjoining terra nes. Te rranes are
regarded as allochthonous or exotic if their
faunal or palaeomagnetic signatures indicate
that the y originated a considerable dista nce
from their present position relative to the
craton. Many terr anes show evidence of an
origin far to the south of their present latitude,
and many also have undergone translations of
hundreds of km after collision. Palaeomagnetic
evidence also indicates significa nt rotations
about the ve rtical in many cases (e.g. the large
terra ne in Oregon. labelled S in Figure 8.9).
The histor y of the western zone can be
pieced together by comparing the stratigraphy
of the autochth onous a nd parautochtbonous
foreland seque nces with those in the suspect
terra nes. As we have seen, the western boun-
dary of North America was a passive con-
tinental margin throughout late Precambrian
and ea rly Palaeozoic time. during which a
broad miogeoclinal terrace developed. Apart
from a brief period of convergence and colli-
sion in the mid-Palaeozoic, this situation con-
tinued into the late Palaeozoic. In late Triassic
to mid-Jurassic time, however. a subduction
zone became established which eventually con-
sumed the Palaeozoic proto-Pacific ocea n. All
the Palaeozoic te rranes now found outside the
Palaeozoic passive continental margin must
therefore be suspect, and must have accreted
to that margin during Mesosozic--Ce nozoic
time. You nger terranes outside that margin
must also be suspect, although their alloch-
thonous natur e may be more difficult to prove
unless they include Palaeozoic basement.
Most of the suspect terranes listed by Coney
et at. cont ain sedimentary and volcanic se-
quences of oceanic affi nity, and rocks olde r
than mid-Palaeozoic are rare . A few contain
pieces of oceanic crust (e .g. the Cache Creek
terr ane of Western Ca nada . and the Klamath
Mount ains terrane of Californ ia - see Figure
8.9). The Cache Cree k terrane contains Per-
227
mian Te thyan faunas quite distinct from those
found in adjoining blocks.
Other terr anes represent fragments of island
arcs of late Palaeozoic to J urassic age. The
large Stikine terrane of Western Canada (Fi-
gure 8.9) contains a Lowe r Carbo niferous to
Perm ian volcanic sequence overlain by Upper
Triassic to mid-J urassic volcanogenic strata .
This terr ane has no continental basement.
O ther terranes represen t volcanic arcs fonn ed
on older basement sliced from a distant con-
tinen tal margin.
Several terranes ca n be shown to have
amalgamated before their final accretion to the
North Ame rican craton . For example Jones et
at. (1977) de monstrate that Wrangellia collided
with the Alexande r te rrane before final accre-
tion to Western Ca nada and Alaska. These
terranes contain diffe rent Palaeozoic baseme nt
rocks originating far to the south, but display
similar Upper Jura ssic to Cre taceous sequen-
ces and evidence of volcanic arc activity. The
combined terrane accre ted to the continental
margin in mid-Cretaceous times. Since its
accretion, furthe r fragmenta tion has occurred,
and the terr ane now extends in several de-
tached pieces ove r 2000 km from Oregon to
Alaska.
The process of strike-slip terrane accretion
appears to have extend ed over a period of at
least 120 Ma from mid-J urassic to ea rly Ce no-
zoic time. Dur ing most of this period, the
continental margin was a subduction zone, so
that accretion took place by a process of
oblique convergence combining underthrusting
with strike-slip moveme nts. The former pre-
sence of subduction zones is at tested by the
belts of highly deformed chert , ophiolite and
greywacke sequences, metamorphosed in blue-
schist facies, such as the Franciscan comp lex of
California.
The strike-slip compo nent appears to have
been dextral throughout , so that the accreting
material seems to have originated consistently
to the south of its final resting place. Many of
the fragments of volcanic arcs may be totally
foreign to North or even South America, and
may have travelled from the far side of the
228 GEOLOG ICAl. STRUCTU RES AND MOVING PLATES

Pacific Ocean. Erns t (1984) provides a q ua nti-
tative analysis o f the process . By assu ming
symme trica l sp rea d ing at the East Pacific ridge ,the Wes t E uropean Variscides are the type
a figu re o f about IOQ(Xl k m of western over-
riding o f Pacific ocean plate is derived . To this
E - W co nve rgence sho uld be added se veral
thousand km of northward drift of t he Pacific
plate .
8.3 T he Her cynian orogenic belts of Wester n
Europe a nd Nort h America
An o rogeni c belt of Hercynian age. often
termed the Variscan belt. occupies most of
Wes tern E urope south of a line thro ugh the
sou t hern Bri tish Isles and northern Ge rmany,
and west of the Tornquist line mar king the
edge of the R ussian platform (Fig ures 8. 13,
8 .16). O n the eastern side of the Russian
platform , the Urals be lt formed during the
sa me pe riod . In Nort h Am erica, the equi-
valale nt oroge ny is termed the Alleghenian,
and in Nort h Africa , the Maurilanian.- - .- " chia ns '- To the so uth iay the proto-T eth ys
Th e o roge ny spa ns mid-Devonia n to ea rly
Perm ian time . and immediat el y follows the
Caledonian oroge ny. In E urope , the Hercyn-
ian belt is oblique to the earlier Ca ledonian
belt , but in Nort h America , the two he lls a re
pa rallel . and partl y supe rimposed , and are
d ifficult to d istinguish from each othe r in man y (e .g . A rthaud and Ma lle , 19n ). A ge ne rally
areas. Useful ge ne ral de scriptions of the be lt
are provided by Windley ( 1977), Zi egler ( 1975)
and Weber (1984) . The preferred name fo r the
Euro pean oroge nic be ll is the Variscides (H ut-
to n and Sanderson . 1985). but Hercynian is
pr obably the more inte rnationa lly accep table
name for the orogeny world-wide .
The width of the bel t in E uro pe is abo ut
2000 km. and the structural and stratigraphic
pat tern is difficult to interpret beca use the vari- Hercynian fore land o n which fo rmed basins of
o us o utcrops are separated by post-He rcynia n
cover a nd . in the so uth , by the ove rprinting
effec ts of t he Al pine orogeny . The E uropean
He rcynides, or Variscides , have tr aditi onall y
been regarde d as a different type o f oroge nic
belt to both the Ca ledo nides and the Alps.
Thus Z wart ( 1967) classifies orogenic be lts int o mari ne ea rly Devo nian sed iments, mid -
Hercyno-t ype and Al pine -type on the basis
of their struc tural, metamo rphic and igneous
cha rac teristics. The Hercyno-typc , of which
example. were diffe rentiated fro m the Alpino-
type by (i) large volumes of gra nito id pluton.
(ii) regional low-pressure , high-tem perature
metamorph ism , and (ii i) poorly-developed
fo ld-thrust tectoni c sho rte ning. However these
c haracteristics do nOI apply to the who le
Hercyni an be lt. In No rth A mer ica the Her-
cynian o roge ny is represented by a linear fold-
thru st be lt co nta ining Barrovian meta mo rphic
rocks and few gra nites. Mo reo ve r linear fold-
thru st be lts ex ist also in t he ma rginal zo nes of
the E uro pean Hercynioes . in SW E ngla nd and
S. Wales. and in the Ca nta bria n- Asturian
chain . for exa mple ( Figures 8.17, 8. 19).
The regional co ntex t o f the Hercynian
be lts is summarized in Figu re 8.13. Following
the Caledo nian orogeny, the co ntine nts of
Laurentia a nd Baltica had become we lded
to gether as far south as the nort hern Appala -
Ocea n , with Gondwanaland on its so uthe rn
side . At the end o f the Hercynian o rogen y,
A frica had co llided with La ure ntia to fo rm the
All eghen ian sec to r of the Hercynides. Many
autho rs have pointed o ut the importan ce o f
de xtra l shea r with in the E urope an He rcynldcs
no rt hwest wa rds move me nt o f Africa in rela-
tio n to La ur entia -Nor the rn Euro pe explains
both co nverge nt mo vement in the Alleghenian
sec tor a nd dextral st rike-slip effec ts in Western
Eu rope . and fo rms the basis of most plate
tectonic re const ructions.
A simple subdivisio n of the Hercynian belt
(f igure 8. 13) is made by Dewey and Burke
( 1973) . T he o utermos t ZOne is part of the
contine ntal deposit s duri ng the De vo nian.
she lf deposits in the Lo wer Ca rbo niferous. and
coal basins in th e Upper C arbo niferous. T his
zone is represented in S. Wales and in the
west ern side of the Alleghenian belt . The
mid dle zo ne conta ins bo th ma rine and no n-
Devo nia n basic volcanic roc ks, and mainly
 PHANElt07-OlC OItOGENIC BELTS : SOME l:XAMPLES
L AURENTIA I SA LTlCA
,
•
TETH YS
OCEAN
lONES
em 1 characterized by basement massifs, high-
BID 2
IT] 3
• GA....IlES
shales in the early Carbonifero us. Flysch
basins, exhib iting the ' Culm' facies , formed
in the mid-Carboniferous, and were subjected
to northward -direc ted thrust movements. Th e
inne r zo ne contains a number o f Prec amb rian
basem ent blocks, such as the Bohemi an (Mol-
danubian) , Ar mo rican, and central Iber ian
massifs. Devonia n sedim ent ation in this zone
was largely co ntro lled by t he distributio n of the
basement bloc ks. Sedimentary sequ e nces are
generally thin, and carbo nates are typ ical. In
the Lower Carbo nifero us, sedime ntat ion was
inte rrupted by tholeiitic vulca nism. The zone
is cha racterized by high-temperatu re , low-
pressu re regio nal metamorphism. and by
abundant gra nitic plutons and loca l migmat-
ites. In t he uppe rmost Ca rbonifero us, a
numbe r of intermontane sed imentary basins
deve loped , together with pot assic ignirnbritic
vulca nism.
Three main phases of deformation a re re-
cogni zed within t he period occupi ed by the
Her cynian orogeny in the West European be lt,
eac h of which ca n be detected over most of the
belt. Th ese phases are the Bretonic (c.345 Ma
DP) , the Sudetic (c.325Ma) and the A sturic
(290-295 Ma ). Th e Bretonic phase is respon-
sible for the wides pread Devonia n-Carboni-
ferou s u nconformity. Acco rding to Ziegler
(1975) , significant shorte ning occu rred across
th e be lt at that time. T he Sudetic deforma -
229
Figurt 8.13 Outline map o f the tectonic
setting and pr incipal subdivisions of the
He rcynian o rogenic bell system of w estem
Eur ope and No rth America. Zone s: 1. dis -
continuous forela nd basins; 2 , externa l zone
characterized by Upper Carboni ferous flysch
basins and fold·t hrusl belts; 3. internal zone
temperature , low-p ressure metamorphism
and abunda nt granite plutons. A fter Windley
( 19n) and Dewey and Burke (1973).
tion corres ponds to the main uplift phase o f
the inte rio r o f the Hercynian belt , and was
associated with t he main episode of granitic
emplacement and acid to intermediate vul-
canicity. Th e Asturic ph ase , in the uppermost
Carbonife ro us, p rod uced the marginal belts
o f fold-t hrust de fo rma tion as well as furt her
defo rmat ion in the inte rior zone .
The A l/eghenitm bell
The Phanerozoic orogeni c syste m of eastern
North Ameri ca is d ivided into three separate
secto rs: the Nort he rn Appalachians, exte nding
from Newfoundland to the Hudson River; the
Ce ntra l-Sou thern Appalachians fro m the re to
Ce ntra l Al abama ; and the O uachita -Mara-
thon belt (rom no rt hern Mississippi to Texas.
Th e Nonhern Appalachians are prima rily
Ca ledo nian in age ( Aca d ian and Taconic), but
in addition suffered Hercy nian de formatio n in
the so uth-easte rn pa rt o f the belt.
Th e Ce ntral- Southe rn Appalachian belt is
the type area o f the Alle ghe nian orogeny. Th e
belt he re is abo ut 2000 km lon g and 500 km
across (Figu re 8. 14). It consists of fo ur main
zones bo unde d o n the At lanti c side by younger
deposits of the coa stal plain. Th e outermost ,
fo re land , zon e comprises (he Appalach ian
and Black Wa rrior basins, which contain
unde formed o r wea kly-defo rmed Upper
230 GEO LOG ICA L ST RUCTU RES AN D MOVIN G PLATES

Palaeozoic (mainly Carboniferou s) stra ta .
Lower Ca rbo nifero us (Mississipp ian) marine
ca rbo nates are ove rlain by Uppe r Carbo ni-
fe ro us (Pe nnsylva nian) fluvia l o r de ltaic de-
posits, wit h an ove rall thickness o f gene rally
unde r I km. These st rata a re affected by
fold ing near the so utheast margin of the zone.
Th e th ree zones making up the Alleghenian
o rogenic be lt are k no wn as the va ltey-ond-
Ridge, th e Blue Ridge a nd the Piedmont
provin ces (Figure 8. 15) . Th e Valley-and-Rid ge
prov ince contains a thick Palaeozoic successio n
without apprecia ble break between Silurian
and Devo nian , o r be tween Devo nian and Ca r-
bo nifero us . Th e facies o f the Carbo nifero us
are similar to those of the foreland. Import ant
coa l-be aring deposi ts occur in the Upper Car-
bo nifero us. Thi s p ro....ince has long bee n
con side red to be an example of a major thin-
skinned thru st belt (see e .g. Gw inn, 19(4 ) .
The eastern bo undary of the pro v ince IS
marked by a ma jo r fau lt. southeast o f which
lies the Blue Ridge pro v ince, co nsisting of an
upth rust block o f Precambrian (Or enville ) crys-
talline basement together with late Precam-
b rian to early Pa laeozo ic sedimentary cover .
Th e Pied mo nt belt consists of meta mo rphic
rocks of probably pre-Carbonife rous age , cut
by ab undant granite and gab bro intrusions of
Carbo nifero us age (330- 260 Ma) , so me of
which are st ro ngly deformed and gneissose .
Thi s be lt is inte rpre ted as a Ca rboniferous
isla nd arc.
Th e A lleghenian structu re o f the Ce ntral-
Sou thern A ppalachians is dominated by wes t-
wa rds o ver thrusting towards the fo reland . A
major decollement ho rizon within Silurian sa lt
deposits forms a rela ti....ely shallow detach-
me nt surface for thin-skinned thrusting in the
Valley-and-Ridge pro v ince . Th e COCO RP deep-

~lgurr 8. 14 Tec romc summary map o f

the Ap p.alachian eroge nic ben of North
. America . No te lhe subdiv ision inlo ex-
tem at thru st-fold bells and interna l Pied -
mont and Slate bells. TIle eas tern end of
the Ou achita-c Mararhc n be ll is shown in
lhe extreme S\\'. After Coo k i f at.
( 1981).
CANAD'

• ,.,- THRU st ''''u~ T$

C ATS 1 "' ~ ~ ' ,",

OUACHITA
§ "' ~ ~ OCH'TtoOH S
RIDGE IN SOUT H )
recue

-MARATHON BELT ~ C" T S T"'U"'E

~ ME T ...S EOlM E N T$ ...
3 r/.O"
;--,"","""" " E T "' '' O ~ C ''' N I C & OF
PI ED MO NT ... SL ATE
eEl l S

[ j GR ...HI1 E PL UTO NS
 PHAN EROZ OIC OROGl::NIC BELTS : SOM E EXAMPL ES
seismic profil e across Ge orgia (Cook et al.,
198 1) ap pear s to confir m this model (Fig ure
8. 158 ) in resp ect of the Valley-and-Ridge .
Blue Rid ge and inne r Pied mo nt be lts. Two
alte rn at ive mod els ar e propose d for the ea stern
Piedmon t be lt; on e env isages a mid-cru stal
det achme nt ex tend ing to the edge of the
Coastal Plain , then descen ding to the Moho ;
and the ot he r a zone of deep thrusts desce nd-
ing to the Moho beneat h the eastern Piedmont ,
along the King Mo unta in be lt. In both models,
the con tinen tal crus t of the easte rn Piedmont
and C oastal Plain is shown 10 be substan tially
thinne r - abo ut 30 km , co mpared with
c.45 km in the ma in Appalachian be lt. T hus the
maj o r pan o f t he be lt is allochthonous, in-
volving disp lacements of up 10 severa l hund red
km. T he age of the defo rmat ion ap pears to
span a lo ng pe riod of time . Ea rlier t hrusts have
bee n dat ed at c.380 Ma and 356 Ma , but the
main A lleghen ian de forma tio n appears to re-
late to post-met amorphic displacements o f late
Carbo nifer cc us to Permian age (270- 240 Ma
BP) . T he ma in de fo rmation is gene ra lly am i-
buted to co llision with- No rth Africa .
T he Ouachita -Ma rathon be lt to the south
( Figure 8.14) is thou gh t to be related to a qui te
sepa rate co llision with a differe nt micro-
co ntine nt , wh ich took place in mid-Upper
Carbon ife ro ust imes . Both orogenic belts in-
volve seq ue nces of shelf-slope sediments of t he
North American plate , toge ther with portions
belo nging to the adva ncing Go nd wanala nd
plates. A n earlier collision took place in the
No rt hern Ap palachian belt (see late r) whe re
a co ntinental fragme nt known as A valonla
collided with the No rth American craton in
mid -Devonian time , giving rise to a n Acadi an
orogenic phase the re . Th us both to the north
and 10 the south of the main A lleghenian
sec to r of the North American Hercynian be ll ,
co llision with microplates preceded the main
Afri ca n-North Ame rica n co llision in end-
Ca rbo nife ro us time .
The WeSl European sector
We ber (1984) summarizes the evidence for the
nat ure of the p re-Hercynian basement in the
231
West Europea n Var iscides (Fig ure 8.16), and
concludes that , ove r most o f the re gion, the
basement is no o lder than ab out 700 Ma BI' {i.e .
de rived in the Cadomian o roge ny of Late Pro-
tero zoic age) . Exception s are the Armorican
and Bohem ian massifs. which are found ed on
o lder Precam b rian blocks. T he evid en ce fo r
the nature of the basem ent co mes mainly from
a study o f 81Srfl6Sr initial ratios ind icating that
the Hercynian gra nite s are derived from me lts
of re lat ivel y yo ung contine nta l crust (Vidal et
01. , 198 1). T he Ca domian orogeny appears to
have succeeded a period of ge ne rally oceanic
sed ime nta tio n over mo st of the West E uropean
regio n . We be r a lso d iscusses the eviden ce
re lating to the ex iste nce of the Ca ledonian
o roge ny within the Va risca n be ll. A ltho ugh
there has bee n no seve re regional de form ation ,
invo lving significant crusta l shortening, a wide-
sp read suite of gra nite plutons was emp laced in
O rdov ician to Silurian times . This Lower Pal-
aeozo ic magm ati sm is broadly coeval with a
high-grade metamorphi c eve nt represent ed fo r
ex a mple in the granulite-facie s rocks o f the
Saxon G ran ulitg eb irge . T he stratigraphic re-
co rd sugges ts that this high-grade event took
place at depth du ring co ntinuo us sedime nta-
tion at the surface , since a complete stra ti-
grap hic sequence from late Precambrian to
Ca rbonifero us occurs within the adj acen t
Sa xoth uringia n zo ne . We be r s uggests, follow-
ing Catstere n et al. (1978), th at bot h the
gra nite e mp lace ment and t he subsequent high-
tempe rature metamo rph ism we re produced by
e xtensio nal cr ustal thinning and rifting , en-
ab ling the warme r as the nosphere ma terial 10
rise to high leve ls within the lithosphere (see
4.2) . If these ide as a rc co rrect, the imp lication
is that the nature of the Ca led onian 'o rogeny'
changes d ra ma tica lly from no rthern to south-
ern E urope , from an essentia lly co nvergent
regim e to a d ivergent one .
Another importa nt o ro ge nic event that is
usually regarded as pre -Hercynia n is a pre -
Upper Devonian phase of deformation and
gra nite emplacement recognized in the base-
ment co mple xes of the Saxot huri ngian zone ,
t he Bohe mia n massif, and the Massif Central,
for example , where me ta morphic rocks with
 N
W
N

BLACK WARRIOR VALLEY & RIDGE PIEDMONT ZONE

FORELAND BASIN FOLD / THRUST BELT
SE
Cambrian To SeQuetchie Murphrees
NW Anticline Valley
U. Carboniferous Sand Mountain Anllcllne . Sleeping
Syncline Blount Mountain ' C0088 Glanls Klippe Coosa Block
Cover P M 0 SUMO Syncline Synclinorium
M Ccr
/ C')
Saa Level ' . rn
.•• •.•••.••••.•• ••••••••••.•.•. .. .•.0;.: •.•••.•• •. ..
0
r
0
C')
10km n
>
r
en
.-j
:>J
C

BLUE RIDGE BEL T PIEDMONT METAMORPHIC BELT

ClC
Northern Inner Southern
. .
COASTAL PLAIN

E . '"
:>J
8!
NW ~Io SE >
!! .. Z
Towallga Goat rock <ICl 0
Talladega Front Fa~t Brevard Zone Faull Zone Feull Zone Phen ix CilY; 3:
A Pine 0
Tallad.ga Tallapoosa
I sz
Coosa Inner Piedmont
., Block Block Block Block G IMoun,.ln
Block
.... ~~~::::-­
C')
~
"
r
'Okm~ ~
m
en

om PRECAMBRIAN
BASEMEPfT
f:::;:;:;:;:;'i:::j
:~"::':': '.,;.: .:
CAMBRIAN-
L . ORDOVICIAN W- "
.. 't"
't" GRANITES o 5 10 15km

Figure 8.15 (A) Structural profile across the Southern Appalaehi an orogenic be lt. sho wing the main tecton ic units and structures. Pcb , Precamb rian ;
Ccr , Cambrian; S. Silur ian ; D. De vonian ; M, Mississippian ; P, Penn sylvanian .
 PH A /'II EROZ OI C OROGENIC BELTS: SOMI'. EXA M PLES 233
NW SE
VALL EY &
EASlER N PIEOMQ"" AF COASTA L PL AI N COAST
"
INNER PIEDMON T
, AlDOl'.
•
so

"

"

0.'
• .
Prl carrtl" .., IOr....'-')
COOlinenlai ~l
•• F. ....U ' O> m

Figure 8. 15 (8) Schema tic restored cross-sccuo ns based on COCO RP deep-seismic renec no e data showing two possible
imc rp rc tuun ns: ill [he upper sccnon <I sub-horizon ta l de tach me nt e xte nds to benea th the co asta l pla in; in the lo we r, the
inne r Pic d rno nt Bluc Rid ge a llocht hon is shown as roo ting alt he weste rn edge of til<: in ne r P ie d mont zone . A fte r Cook
c

~I .. I. (IIJXI )

~ ..... ~~ ......
.. ..........,e~~ y

[]3 ,........ .. - -/..-.. •.- . . .oc- _·

""'" •.• ~
~_ ... I
........ .. t . - ........

Figure 8.16 Tectonic summary map or the Variscan be lt system of w estern Europe. From Franke (1985)
234 GEOLOGICAL
int rusive granites, yie lding ages in the range
370 - 400 Ma, are overlain by Uppe r Devonian
clastic sedime nts. Unlike t he ea rlier rifling
phase , t his mid-Devonia n (A cadian) event was
assoc iated with significant crus tal shorte ning,
invo lving fold ing a nd th rusting o f the meta-
mo rp hic basement, and producing nappes of
granulite-facies rock s restin g o n lower-grade
materi al. In the Saar 1 borehole, within the
Mid-Germa n C rysta lline Rise (Figure 8.17A ),
unmetamorphosed mi d-D evonian sedi ments
rest o n Lowe r De vonian crys talline basem en t,
indicating rapid uplift during Ihis episode .
Howeve r other basemen t complexes show
much younger K-Ar cooling ages, indicat ing
that uplift to high crustal lev els d id no t occur
until the Lo wer Car bo nife rous.
A lthough t he maj or folding and me tamo r-
phism of t he baseme nt comp lexes is of ea rly
Devonian age , the wea kly me tamorphosed or
un met amorp hoscd Upper Palaeozoic cove r
was not fo ld ed until the Ca rbonifero us. Web er
NW
SUbVQfI SCQl'l Rht tlOt\<tl cYl'likum
F ortdup
,,
.•..---,• .,., ...."•-
"
..
..
..-• .• ....
o .
Figurt 8. 17 Schematic slructural pron jes IICIOSS the Variscan be ll of w esre m E urope . (A) NW - SE trave rse across the
Rh enohercynik um (R henisches Schiefergebirge) to fhe Saxcthuringian zone . From Weber ( l911S)
sr eucru aes AN D M OVI NG PLA1'ES
suggests that co ntinued uplift of the ba sement
massifs too k place under co nditions of ge ne ral
crustal sho rte ning t hroughout Upper Devo nian
and Lowe r Carbonifero us time , documen ted
by repea ted influxes of turbiditic fl ysch in the
neighbo ur ing basins. such as the Rhemschcs
Schieferge birge. These moveme nts too k place
alo ng shear zo nes, producing belt s of mylon itic
gneisses in the basemen t crystalline complexes.
In Figure B.l7A a sectio n across the Rh e no-
hcrcynikum ( Rhenisches Schieferge birge ) and
nor thern Saxothuringian zo nes of nort hern
Ger many is sho wn. The profile illustrates con-
siste ntly Nw -verging overfolds and reverse
faults in the greywacke cove r thro ugho ut the
Rhenohercynikum. Th ese structu res are in-
te rpr ete d as a t hin-sk inned th rust co mplex
detaching at a shallow dept h. Webe r estima tes
that the basement o f the Mid -German high has
trave lled up to 100 km to the northwest. In
the narro w No rthern Phyllite zo ne, betwee n
the Rhen o hercynik um and the Mid -G erman
SE
.,,
Mid -Ocrman
..
Cr ySIQIIIl'lt Rise
.-
, ••~ -.i . .- z•
• .
;
•
o
..
••
: .
W E
WESTERN GALICIA GALICIA

"'C
::c
;J>
Z
m
:e
o
N
o
(=i
o:e
o
AUVERGNE CEVENNES ROUERGUE MONTAGNE" NOIRE o
m
N cleovoqe front
....
s Z
(=i
, :;: .:- _ x
- ,
, .../ ..~:" " , "X. .,~.,

. .,
""~ ~..-";..

),;~:
/-
.'.
'"m
E
C/l
o
. · . · .; · . ·r~. : :· : ....', 3:
m
tn
><
;J>
3:
"'C

l°':.' : 11 C]2 1: >·~ ·::13 ~4 I-K-Kjs r::: -=-1 6

! 50 Km , r
m
C/l

Figure 8.17 Schematic structural profiles across the Variscan belt of Western Europe. (8) W- E traverse from western
Galicia to the Cantabr ian mounta ins (N. Spain) ; and N-S traverse ~ c ros s the Massif Centr al (France). From Matte and
Burg (1981)

tv
w
Vi
236 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTU RES AND MOVING PLATES

Crys talline Rise. metamorphic temperat ures
reached 400 -4S00C, bu t elsewhe re in t he cove r
o f the Rhc nober cynlkum . temperatures were
typically in the range 200 - 300"C. T he age of
the Nw -directed fold-thru st defor mation is
late Devoni an to ea rly Carbo niferous ( Bre-
Ionic) and the re is ev ide nce of a northward
prog ress ion of t he deformation from about
330 Ma in the so ut h to c.300 Ma in the north.
Weber notes that there is no evidence of the
developm ent of ocea nic crus t. o r o f its subd uc-
tio n , in the Ger ma n Va riscides . He explains
the o roge ny as an initial phase of int racratonic
extension a nd rifting in the Lo wer Pal aeozoic.
follo wed by intracon tinental crustal shortening
by A-subd uctio n, o r intra-c rusta l slicing. o f the
kind sugges ted in the Himalayas (see 5.4). Th is
co nve rge nt d eformat ion co ntinued into the
early Carbo nifero us ( Bre to nic) .
He po ints o ut that th e structures o n the
so ut he rn side of the West E uropean Vari scides
ve rge sout hwa rds (see e.g, pro file across the
Massif Central in Figure 8. 17B). giving the belt
as a who le a bila teral str uct ural symmet ry . A
N-dip ping subduc tion zo ne o n the south side of
the Variscan be lt . along t he no rthe rn margin o f
the prot o -Tethys O cean , is co nside red to be a
possible explanati on of the str uctural patt ern
(see Figure 8.20). However evidence as to the
natu re of t he Variscan st ructure of the south-
ern pa rt of the bel t is difficult to assemble
ow ing to the effects of the Alpine oroge ny.
The S W British Isles
The western exte nsio n of the R he nohe rcynia n
zone of north Germany (zo ne 2 of Figure 8. 13)
occ urs in SW England an d SW Ireland ( Figure
8 .16A) . T o the no rt h is the foreland zone (zo ne
I) o f Dewey and Bur ke ( 1973) rep resented in
S . Wales . T he rocks of zon e 2 sho w on ly low-
grade met amorphism (up to gree nschis t facies)
and are cut by a maj o r post -tectonic gra nite
pluton of probable Permian age . the Co r-
nubian ba tholith. The sedi me nta ry seq uence
invol ved in the de forma tio n co nsists mai nly of
Devon ian to late Ca rbo nifero us flysch , gradi ng
laterally no rth wards (in the Devoni an) into
shallow-marine shelf dep osits a nd co nt inen tal
red-beds . Lo wer Palaeozo ic rock s occur in

A N

r
front (probably 1101 the -
lip} to hiqh le vel imbricates .

S. Pe mbrc ke s hire

s
50 km
arcuate trend
..... "
problbly more
~ m ovemenl in .. lo ld llcing d irection
",?/;; -=~""""""'" wesl """-thru $t CORNWALl.
~~ X Inlilorm »r I ~'r'
X sy nfo rm
b
 PHANE ROZOIC OROGEN IC BELTS: SOME EXAMPLES 237

HERCYNIAN
FRON T / ~ RHE NO HERCYNIAN ZONE
A::'''' <:. v.> \ SA X(} THURINGIEN ZONE

........8 / ?.. )
, ...
:' <.. . -.. ...J
/'
Y\.
"-' . r-,

..;
~ ') P'-. '-...... '-•."""
-, > ~. , ..~~~ \ ?/ .,~
. .. ./'
lit 8M
VENDE MOLDA NU8IAN
\ ZONE
8RITTANY ~ ( ~ICARTIA~ --...... ./ ~\ . •
SHEAR ZONES ~, -, ;'CA OQM IA N <, ./ .'~ .- -.
\ <, ZONE _ ...... _ _ / ......
.......... /--;'-,
- ., PFAHL SHE AR ZONE
/ ·-···..··-i / \
. v OUTCROP LI MIT
\ Me M OVEMEN T DIRECfJDN
B \. III I I '" SU TURE ZONE

brittle str~tehing on CQfIjugau: faults Figurt 8. 18 The external fold-thrust

bel! o f t he SW British Isles. (It ) Tecto nic
,--~-"Yy,""",J~ rotationlJ l displacement summary map showing the tre nds of the
~or:::::;'=::'I!r;,-=",-;,_,,,,
~ o.genic front - thrus t front main folds and thrusts in SW Ireland , S.

-
~ --v 9 follo ws rxiginaf Wales, the Mend ips, and SW England,

-
'-...
ductile ~J(tension v~ _ basin margin with the positions or the profiles M - N.
.
-~::~;:::;::::::-";obIique
-- folds
& th rus ts
P- Q , and R-S o f Figure 8.\9. After
Co ward and Smallwood ( 1985). (8) Sum-
mary map or the v ariscan bell of W.
Euro pe. B , Brussels; L , London: P,
Paris: 8M . Bavarian massif; RM , Rhen-
ish massif. (C) Schema tic diagram show-
ing structures associated with postulated
ob lique closure : major th rusts, pinned at
one later al tip , suffer some rotational
displaceme nt and develop extensional
strains along their traces. ( B), (C) from
Coward and Smallwood ( 1985)
c

anticlinal fold cores in S. Wales , a long the mar- areas the de tails of the thrust geometry a re
gins of the belt. However , there are no large obscure d by the absen ce of a well-dated layer-
nappes carrying Lowe r Palaeozoic or basement cake stratigraphy. In Figure 8.18 the main
rocks such as those in the Alleghenian. elements of the regional stru cture are shown.
Dewey (1982) and Leede r (1982) attribute There are conside rable changes both along-
the formation of the Uppe r Palaeozoic basin strike and from north to south. SW Ireland is
of SW Brita in to back-arc crustal exte nsion, dominated by rather upright folds which face
related to a subduction zone through southern south in the south (see balanced section by
France, and est imate a stretc hing facto r P of Cooper et ai., 1984, and Figure 8.19) . In
about 2. S. Wales and the Mendi ps, good layer-cake
The structure of the fold-thrust belt of SW stratigraphy defines a series of Nvergi ng over-
Britain is summarized by Coward and Small- folds and thrusts, and enables balanced sec-
wood (1985) . T hey point out that the belt tions to be constructed across the belt (see
shows many characteristic fe at ures of a thin- Williams and Chapman , 1985; Hancock et ai.,
skinned foreland thrust belt, but that in many 1983).
238 GEOLOGICAL STRUCH JRES AND MOVING PLATES

,'--------'" .
SOOTH

B
(IZARD

CAA 8ONIF£ROUS
(;/lAN/FE"
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...sE OF CfllJ$ 1
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figure 8.19 Simplified 5truet \lu l profiles across the Variscan be lt of (he S W Brit ish Isles. (A) S-N section , long the west
Pem brc kesnue coast . Vertica l and honzc ntal scales eq ua l. (8) Syno ptic N- S secnc ns: (a) fro m Pem broke 10 SW Cornwall
( P- Q ); (b ) th e Mend ips 10 S. Devoe ( M -N) ; (t) an inte rpret ation of (a) ; and (d) ac ross SW Irela nd ( R-S). From Coward
and Smallwood (1985)

Coward and Smallwood show two sections
across the south Pemb ro keshire sector th at
illustra te the general nature of the de forma tio n
(Figure 8. 19). The northern part of the section
crosses an imbricate zone develop ed in Uppe r
Ca rboniferous strata. These structures detach
on a shallow sole thrust dipping gently south.
This zone is bounded on its southern side by
the John ston and Ritec thrusts. which defi ne
the northern limit of a zone of major folds in
 PHAN EROZOIC OROGENI C BELTS : SO ME EXAMPLES
Devonia n and Lower Ca rboniferous cover.
Some of the major anticlines expose Lower
Palaeozo ic strata in their co res, and Precam-
brian basem en t is bro ught up along the Jo hn-
ston thrust. Th e structures verge northwards in
the northe rn belt but fan throug h the vertical in
the southe rn belt to verge south in the souther n
part of the sector. The authors suggest a rather
deepe r detachmen t level for the structures in
the sout he rn belt. T he folds are considere d to
have been fo rmed by buckle-shortening and
subseque ntly thrust northwards alo ng the Ritec
thrust , which is o ut of sequence. Resto red
sections indicate abou t 45% shorte ning in the
southe rn belt, and 25% in the northern . The
structu res in the imbricate northern be lt are
considered to have fo rmed in piggyback man-
ncr , but the majo r Johnston a nd Ritcct thrusts
appea r to have climbed up, out of seque nce,
from a deeper detachment leve l. The autho rs
suggest that this lat er movement has folded
and uplifted the higher-level detac hme nt , at
the base of the Upper Carbonifero us, above
the e rosion surface in the southern belt (Figu re
8.19A) . The roc ks in tbcsouth show intern al
strain and cleavage indicating compression
across the strike of the bell, and so me exte n-
sion along it.
Th e str ucture of Devon and Co rnwall pre-
scnts a more complex geometrical problem .
The Culm synclinorium in the no rth exhibits a
fan-like arrangemen t of folds, and is separated
by a zo ne of nor mal fa ults from a central zone
of napp es that face no rthwards (Figure 8. 198).
The southern belt co nsists of Nw-directed
thrusts, one of which carries the high-grade
metamorphic-igneous complex of the Lizard
(see Rattey a nd Sande rson , 1984). Cleavage
throughout the area is we ll-developed , show-
ing high strains. A majo r high-strain zone,
25k m wide, marks the Tintagcl decoupling
zone, for which a displaceme nt of over 20 km is
estimated (Shackleton et al., 1982). This zone
is considered to mark the de tachment below
the C ulm structures, and to cont inue beneat h
the southe rn belt .
A ltho ugh the primar y di rection of thrust
transport is to the no rth, major back-thrusts
239
are recog nized alo ng the sout h side of the
Culm synclinorium, and may explain the steep
zone affecti ng the south Devon nappes (Figure
8. 198). Th rou ghout south Devon and Corn -
wall, the exte nsion lineations indicate a NNW
tra nspo rt di rect ion, approximately normal to
the thrust outcrops. The back-th rusts, however ,
are E - W, ob liq ue to the ea rlier structu res.
Cowa rd and Smallwood suggest that the ob li-
q uity reflects diffe rential displacement with a
dextral sense. They rela te this o bserva tion to
the pattern of struct ures ove r the region as a
who le (Figure 8. 188) and obse rve that the
slightly arcuat e patte rn of the fold tren d in SW
Ire land is no rmal to the NNW transport direc-
tion , whe reas the eas tern extension of the
front al be lt thro ugh S. Wales and the Mendips
exhibits an E - W to WNW- ESE trend , o blique
to the inferred transport direction. This
prompts the autho rs to suggest a bow-shaped
displace ment with the maximum displacement
in SW Ireland, becoming less to the cast. This
variable displaceme nt mod el could explain the
exte nsion pa rallel to the fold axes in S. Wales
by rotat io n of the thr ust sheet arou nd its lateral
tip (Figure 8. 18C).
Th e age of the deform atio n appears to vary
from south to north . Uplift of south Devo n and
Co rnwall occurred in late Devonian to ea rly
Ca rbon ifero us times, from K-Ar datin g of
slates . However, stra tigra phic evidence points
to mid-Carboni ferous movement s on the majo r
thrus t shee ts co ntributing flysch sed iments to
the Culm basin. Late Ca rboniferous ages are
ind icated for the uplift of the Culm synclino r-
ium and the fold-thrus t be lts of S. Wales and
the Me ndips. A n Upper Carbo niferous age is
also indicated fo r the back-thrusting in south
Devon . Coward and Smallwood estimate the
total sho rte ning across the belt to be about
150 km within a tot al time of about 90 Ma,
giving a rat her slow aver age rate of 0.4 emf
yea r.
T he lack of angular uncon formities through-
out the main Devonian and Carboniferous
outc rops of the region suggests submarine
deformat ion, without the developm ent of
major uplifted la ndmasses. The presen ce of
 ~.j
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A c MISSOURIAN
o
KINa:fH)OK1AN
[)NANTIAN 3J.OMo WESTPHALIAN

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PERMIAN 275Mo o
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 PHA NEROZOIC O ROGENIC ll ELTS: SOM" EXAMPLES
Devonian olistostromes a nd the Culm fl ysch
deposits, ho wever , suggest submarine tectonic
instability rela ted to the migra ting thrust
sheers.
The structure of the SW British Isles repre-
sents a westward co ntin uatio n, the refore, of
the outcr thin-skinned Variscan zone, and
shows obvious similarities 10 the Rhe noh er-
cynian zo ne of north Ge rma ny. Th e transport
direction there a nd e lsewhe re in Western
Europe is also to the northwest , suggesting a
continuity throu ghout the Variscides from the
Massif Central and Bohem ian Massif north-
wards. The bend in the Variscan front from
Ireland to Ge rmany is a pparently dete rmined
by the limits of the o rigina l basin. T his shape,
markedly o blique to the transpo rt direction of
the nappes , co upled with the prese nce of the
Il-'SS easily defo rma ble Armorican Massif, may
be respo nsible , acco rding to Coward and
Smallwood, for the later al displaceme nt of the
main outer compressio nal zo ne from SW Bri-
lain 10 the Rhen ohe rcynian, and suggests a
strongly u ansprcssivc belt between (Figure
8.188 ). An importan t implication of the esti-
mated 150km shor te ning across the British
sector is that the o rigina l co ntinental crust of
the southe rn British Isles must ex te nd beneath
F"JgU~ 8.20 Plate tectonic evolunon o r the Appalachian-
Hercynian system. (A) Early Dinantian tectonic setting:
BBl. Brevard-Blue Ridge zone; CC, Cedar Cree k. uplifl;
MCO , Ma s..~ir Central ocean; MV, Midland Valley; D B,
Oquirrh basin ; PCD , PreCaspian depression; RM, Ro-
berts Moun tain thru st complex; RSG, Rheniscbes Schie·
Iergebirgc graben; SU J' , St Lawrence graben; UO, Urals
ocean; YJ, Ymer Island defo rmatio n; coarse stipple.
oceanic crust; vertical lines. ddormat io n; arrows, move-
ment dn ccnoo s: black. circle , average Laurasia -Good-
wana rcrauon pole . (B) Namurian; AB, Anada rko basin;
DL. Dimple limestone ; 11., Idaho lineament ; MO. Mara·
then ocean; NR , Nema ha ridge ; RC, Rough C reek fault
zone; S8 , Sverdrup basin; crosses. are.. or uplift; ot her
ornament as (A ). (C) Westphali an (A sturie phase) : C. coal
basins of the He rcynian foreland; PB , Pa radox basin; V ,
mafic volcanism and sill intrusion ; other symbols as for (A )
and (B) . (D) Early Pcrm ian ~ DB , Delaware basin; MNSH .
mid-Nort h Sea high; OG, Os lo graben ; RB , Rotliegendes
basin; VV, Val Verde basin; light hachured line . limits of
Zc:mslein marine transgression; broad arrow, boreal
provenance of Zc:ch.Slcin transgression; ot her symbols as
for (A) - (C) . (A) - (D) from Dewey ( 1982)
24\
the A rmorican Massif which there fore should
be regard ed as allochtho nous.
Plate-tectonic interpretatio n of the A tlar uic
H ercy nian region
The evolution of this regio n is d iscussed by
Dewey ( 1982) , who points out that the best
approach to the prob lem of Uppe r Palaeozoic
plate movements is to work backwa rds from
the relative certainty of the ea rly Permian con-
tine ntal fi t, using palaeom agneticall y der ived
movement vector s (Figure 8.20) . This exercise
co nfi rms previous views expressed by A rtha ud
and Mall e ( 1977) and o the rs that the West
European Variscides are con tro lled by an
importan t compone nt of dextral strike-slip
motion d uring Upper Ca rbo niferous times.
Arthaud and Matte had suggested that the
Eu ropean Variscides fo rmed a be lt of complex
strike-slip movement joi ning the northern end
of the A lleghenian co llision suture with the
so uthern end of the Uralides suture. Many of
the complexities of the West Europea n belt can
be att ributed to the effects of a str ike -slip
regime: (i) varying and loca lly stro ngly-curved
structural trends; (ii) rapid changes in meta-
morphic grade across major stee p shea r zo nes;
(iii) low-angle thrusts emplacing thin flakes of
crustal and 10000IIy upper-ma ntle rocks; and {iv)
obducted oph iolites generated in small intra-
co ntinental basins. Th is tecto nic patt e rn co n-
trasts marked ly with the linear Alleghenian
be lt. att ributed to relatively straightforward
co llision normal to its strike. A minimum
shortening of 200 km acro ss the be lt gives a
minimum strike-slip d isplacement for the West
European belt.
Accord ing to Dewey's mod el, in the ea rly
Lower Carboniferous (D inantian), closure of a
mino r ocea n basin prod uced by late Devonian
crusta l stretching (see above) led to collision in
the Massif Ce ntral, a nd the southwestwards
e mplacement of nappes (Figure 8.20A , and
Figure 8. 17). Probably at the sa me time,
collisional sho rtening occurred in the Pied mont
zone of the Alleghen ian.
In mid-Carboniferous times. the Sudet ic
242 GEOLOG ICAL STII.UCTU RES AND MOVING I'LA1"ES
ph ase in E urope is a ttrib uted (0 co ntinued
Intrac rustal shortening of the flysch basins
genera ted no rth of the collisional uplifts of the
previous phase ( Figure 8.208). Nort hwa rd
migration of thrust stack ing led to flexural
crustal depressions o n the margins of the
forel and . giving rise to the coa l basins of S.
Wales and the Ruhr . Similar effects of the
progressive westwa rds migration of the thrus-
ting a re see n in the Allcghenian bell. The main
collisiona l deformation and uplift appears to
have been comp leted in Westphalian limes in
Weste rn E urope, during t he Astu dc phase
(Figure 8.20C) In late Ca rboniferous time. and
con tinuing into the Perm ian, changes in plate
vectors re lat ed 10 the collision arc expressed in
th e fo rmati o n of rifts in the No rth At lantic.
between G ree nland and Norway . and in the
Os lo graben . Mea nwhile. continued collision
took place across the Central Appalachians
until well into the Permian period (Figure
8.20D) .
8.4 T he Caledonia n orogenic: bell of the
North Atla ntic reg;on
R~;onal setting
The Ca ledo nides of the British Isles, togeth er
with thei r extension no rthwards into Scan-
di navia and G reen land . and southwards into
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , are prob-
ably, after the A lps. the most inte nsively
studied and best known of the Phanerozoic
o roge nic be lts. Much of the early work on
str uct ural and metamorphic geology too k place
in the Scott ish Highlands, which has experi-
e nce d pe riod ic invasion s by geo logists. in order
to test out new structural or tectonic ideas,
since the early mapping was completed .
The exte nt of the belt before the opening of
the Atla ntic is shown in figure 8.21. Il occu-
pies a coasta l belt in East G reenland and
Western Scandinavia, extending northwards to
include Spitzbergen and Franz Josef Land in
the A rctic Ocean. SOuthward, the belt em-
braces most of the Brit ish Isles, and extend s to
Newfoundland and the Northern Ap palachians
in North Amer ica. To the eas t and southeast.
the belt is tru ncated by the younger Variscan
belt. Ziegle r ( 1985) summarizes the available
evidence from Western and Central Europe .
which indicates that a co mplex system of late
Caledonian fold bells occupied much of this
region. The eas tern margin of the be ll in
southe rn Norway crosses beneat h younger
cover through Denmark and Poland. The
southweste rn branch of the Caledo nian belt is
usually known as the Acadian belt . and is
cha racterized by a rather later o rogen ic climax
(mid- to late Devon ian). Th e fo rma tion of the
main Caledo nian belt was completed by the
ea rly De vonian .
The prese nt width of the main Caledo nian
belt, afte r removing the interven ing oceanic
crust, is abo ut 1000 km , bu t this ove restimates
the Devonian width by probably about 300k m
becau se of ea rly Mesozo ic cru stal exte nsion
along the Atlantic margins. Th e foundat ion s of
the be lt are to be see n in the Precambrian
shield regions of No rth Ame rica- Green land
to the west, and Fennoscandia to the east.
These regio ns are mainly composed of large
Archaean and Early Proterozoic crat ons. hut
are also crossed by linear Mid- and Late
Proterozoic orogenic belts that form an impor-
tant component of the Ca ledo nian basement.
The ea rlier of the se belts is the G renville-
Sveconorwegian bell, which ceased to be active
about tOOOMa ago. The Grenville sector lies,
parallel 10 the Acadian secto r of the Caledoni-
des, along the southeaste rn side of the Cane-
dian shield, and crosses the British Isles to join
the Sveconorwegian branch in sou thern Nor-
way a nd southwest Swede n, where it forms a
N-S bell along the western side of the f enno-
scandian shield. Most of Scotla nd appea rs to
be fo rmed from a basement of G renville age,
reworked during the Caledonian o roge ny. The
later of the Precambrian belts that in8uenced
the Caledonian basement is the Tim anides of
northern Russia, which form the northeaste rn
bou ndary to the fennosca ndian shield, and
has a possible counterpa rt in northeast
G ree nland. Th is belt remained active until the
mid-Cam brian. A belt of similar age in south-
 PH .... N EROZ.OIC O KOGEN IC Bf. LTS : SOM I::: ex.. . MP Lf. S 243
• • • •
• •
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • • •
• • • •
• • • •
? • • • ••••
• •
• • •

•
• •
• • •
• • TIME OF CONSOLIDATION
• •
•
• •

l%~ g Mod ·Comb<ic:,,'

~ Earl in. De\/OrMan

ABBREVIATIONS
•
L8M c London- BrabanT M.
• •
• N.A. Narlh Atmari<:an M.

• •
• • •
• • • •
•••••••
• • •
• •
• •
• • • • • •
SHIELD • • • ·
- -
• • • • • • • •
•
• • • • • •
.
• •• • •
• •
, ,
• • • •
•
• • • • • • • 'r • • •
Fll:urt 8. 2\ Locauon and e ~ te nt or the Caledonian orogenie belt o r the North Atlanti c regio n prior to Mesozoic opening
of lhe Atlantic ocean . showing its relat ionship 10 the older Precambrian shields and to ot he r Palaeozoic orogenic belts.
From Ziegler ( 1985)

ern Brit ain and Western Eu rope is known
there as the Cadomi an. Rocks affected by the
Cadomian o roge ny form a num be r of isolated
cratonic areas within th e younger orogenic
belts in th e so ut h of the region. Of these . the
Londo n-Brabant massif and the Ava lon plat-
form are importan t in defining the so uth-
easte rn margin of Cale do nian tect on ic activity
in E ngland a nd Newfound lan d respectively.
Th e re lat ive posi tio ns of eac h side o f the
Caledonian be lt have cha nged conside ra bly
du e to large sinist ra l strike-slip move ments
(c. IBOO km according to Dewey a nd Shack-
let on , 1986) of mid- Devonia n age . Wh en this
movem ent is restor ed , we find that no rthern
Newfou ndlan d is co ntiguous to S. Britain , the
244 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES AND MO VING PLATES
G reenland craton faces t he Scandinav ian Ca le-
donides, and the East Greenland Ca ledonide s
face the A rctic Ocean.
We shall now discuss the British Isles a nd
Scandinavia n sectors of the belt in some de tail ,
refe rr ing brie fly to (he A ppalach ian secto r as
well.
Tectonic subdivision of the British Isles
T he pr incipal tectonic units of the Caledonides
o f Br itain arc shown in Figure 8.22. T hey a re :
( 1) the N W forel and; (2) the Northern H igh-
lands ; (3) the G ramp ian Highlands ; (4) the
Midland Valley ; (5) t he Southern Uplands ; (6)
f Nort h-W est
Fo reland
'I" "'"
1:-: :',:.1Lo- ... lMOlOic .... belt
"""""'....
}
1-- -I D.l~pine t-lt
Flgurc 8.22 Location of the main tectonic zones of the
Caledonia n orogenic bell in the British Isles.
t he Lake Dtstria, (7) the lrish Sea block ; (8 )
the Welsh basin; and (9) the Midlands platform
(t he British part of the London- Brabant
massif of Figure 8.21). Most of these zo nes,
no rt h of the Welsh basin , ca n be traced into
Ireland . A fundamenta l distinction has bee n
recognized for many years between the north-
ern ' meta mor phic' Ca ledon ides ( Read , 1961)
and the southe rn Caledon ides, which ex hibit at
most the lowest metamorphic grades and arc
charac te rized by slates. Following the original
suggestion of Wilson ( 1966) th at a suture
t hrough the middle of the British Ca ledo nides
represe nted the line of closure of the ' proto-
Atla ntic' Ocean , Dewey ( 1969, 1971) pre-
se nted the fi rst plate tectonic model for the
Ca ledonides of the regio n. Dewey (1971)
highlighted the significance o f Read's subd ivi-
sion , and termed the northern part (zo nes 2-3)
the orthoteaonic bell , interpreted as part of a
No rt h American plate , and the sout hern part
(zo nes 4 - 8) the paratectonic bell, most o f
which was interpreted as part of a so uthern ,
Europ ean , plate . The suture is now universally
regarded as lying between zones 5 a nd 6,
through the Solway Firth .
Since t he pionee ring work o f Dewe y, many
plate tecton ic mod els have been proposed , and
the British Isles secto r of the Caledo nian belt
is no w regarded as a co llege of terran es, all dis-
placed to a grea ter or lesser exten t from the ir
o rigina l positions relative to the North A meri-
ca n cra to n. Major strike-slip bo undaries sepa-
rate zo nes 2 and 3 (t he G reat Glen Fault ),
zones 3 and 4 (the Highland Boun dary Fault)
and zones 4 and 5{the South ern Upland Fault).
Strike-Slip d isplaceme nts are also recognized
betwe en zones 6 and 7, a nd zones 7 and 8, and
proba bly ex ist along the Solway suture as well.
Thus all six intern al zo nes are suspect terranes
(see 6.2) .
Much of the eviden ce required in any analy-
sis of the tecton ic pattern and history o f this
region co mes from the study o f the base men t in
t he differe nt zones (Watson and D unning,
1979) . Dewey poin ted o ut the majo r d ifference
betwee n the gneissose basement of the or tho-
tecto nic Caledo nides (i.e . the northe rn plate)
 PHANEROZOIC OROGENIC BELTS : SOME EXAMPLES
and the low-grade rocks cut by acid plutonic
complexes that formed the basement of the
southern plate. These differences correspond
to importa nt contrasts in geophysical charac-
teristics of the deeper crust. The deep seismic
U SPB profile (Bamford et al .. 1977) indicates
a layer with high seismic velocities at depths of
6-12 km below zones 2- 4. This layer is absent
south of the Solway Firth (Figure 8.26A ).
Studies of crustal heat production by Richard-
son and Oxburgh (1978) suggest that much of
the upper contine ntal crust of E ngland and
Wales consists of low-grade metamorphic
rocks with acid plutons.
There are important differences also in the
age of the basement in each case. The last
major oroge ny to affect the southern basement
is the Cadomian, yielding dates ranging from
c.800 Ma downwards. In the north , the base-
ment is either Lewisian (c.1700Ma IlP) or
Gre nvillian (c.l000 Ma). These differences in
the nature of the base ment are compleme nted
by differe nces in the age of the cover. The
Caledonian orogeny is, by genera l agreement,
post-G renvillian in age, and in the north
involves sedime ntary cover at least as old as
800Ma (the Torridon Gro up and, possibly, the
Grampian Group). In the south, the oldest
cove r rocks to be affected are usually Cam-
brian, or very late Precambrian, in age. We
shall describe the general stra tigraphic and
structural features of each of the zones in turn ,
before discussing their possible plate tectonic
context.
The NW fo reland [z one I )
This region , often termed the 'Hebridean
craton' , is neither a true foreland nor a true
craton. It is transected by a major low-angle
fault zone (the Outer Hebrides fault) which
may have acted as a Ca ledonian thrust. and
another major low-angle structure , the Flan-
nan fault zone, is identified by deep seismic
refraction at depth, and projects to the surface
on the continental shelf west of the Outer
Hebrides. It is likely therefore that all the
nonhero zones are allochth onous with respect
245
to the 'true' foreland of North Ame rica-
Gree nland. However, on either side of the
Outer Hebrides fa ult zone, the rocks of zone 1
are virtually unaffected by Caledonian defor-
ma tion except near the ma rgin of the Moine
thrust zone, where the cover is tilted ge ntly
towards the southeast.
The baseme nt consists of the Lewisian com-
plex (see 9_5), which comprises late Archaea n
crust formed about 2900Ma BP, and reworked
during the Laxfordian orogeny about 1700 Ma
SP . The rocks consist predominantly of granu-
lite- or upper amphibolite-facies gneisses. The
Lewisian basement is overlain by three distinct
units of unmeta morphosed pre-Caledonian
sedimentary cover, the Stoer Gro up (c.
1000 Ma old), the Sleat and Torridon Gro ups
(c.800 Ma old) and the Ca mbro-O rdovician
sequence. The Stoer , Slea t and Tor ridon
Groups are largely continental, flu viatile red-
beds, whereas the Cambro-Ordovician is a thin
marine shelf sequence consisting mainly of
or thoqua rrzites and carbonates.
This forela nd zone is involved in the major
Moine thrust belt, in which a number of
distinct nappes or thrust sheets can be recogn-
ized , usually with complex intern al deforma-
tion . However , the typical zone 1 stratigraphy
can be recognized throughout this thrust belt
except in the uppermost thrust shee t, the
Moine nappe . The Moine thrust, which under-
lies the Moine nappe, marks the western
boundary of the Northern Highland zone (zone
2), whose stratigraphic and structural charac-
teristics are quite distinct from those of zone 1.
Structure Of the Moille thrust bell
The structure of this classical forela nd thrust
belt is summarized by Elliott a nd Johnson
(1980) a nd McClay and Coward (1981). The
first mapping and compre hensive description
of the belt were carried out by Peach et al,
(1907) of the UK Geo logical Survey, and a
considerable amount of detailed research has
been directed at the belt subsequently. The
belt extends along strike for over 190km
(Figure 8.23) and is up to 11km in width. A
246 GEOLOGICA L STRUCTU Rl;.S A N D MOVIl" G PI.ATES

A
OtJrI'leSS Ii~s lo~e ............
serpul~te grll __ lSS'Moine
i5Z.zr,.th qrust! T:? !
M
...
M oine com plex
fUCOldbed s -
q uart zite -
l
' "
' _. _. .
... .
Lew isian com plell
.
l
. ---.l
M
MT Moine
Loch E,ibo U th rust

l l l l

UAT . ~----_ l ,L ...

M1
~: ... -'
,..
_ M
- I I ) L N~" ..
..;.;.;,.:....i .... ,r.-._l" ~ . ' ,
. ' . -. ', ', " ....'""'..: .. ....- . -~ ""' - ... M
51 - - - - - - - - - - - ... ~~ :... ~"'t:~ M1
l l l l

B
• ,
--- • t

. . . .. . . . ... . .. . . . . '"

_.
'"
~'.~. - 'f . . ...
. .. . '"

Figuft 8.23 Struc ture of the Moine thrust zo ne of NW Scotland . ( A ) Locat ion map (inse t) and diagrammatic sections
across the northern end of the be ll at loch Eriboll. showing slages ( 1-4) in its evolution. Profile (5) shows a late r stage (If
the central part o f (4) . Note the propa gation of the thrust ing ncrt bwestwercs, in general, (i.e . piggyback ) but with some:
oer-o l-sequeece move ments along the Arnabollr hrusts. MT. Moine: thrust; OHT, Outer Hebrides thrust (fa ult) ; ST, sole
Ihrust ; VAT, upper Amabcllthrusr: SBS, Sgurr Beag slide; GGF, Grear Glen Iault; M , Moine complex; L, Lewisi an
com plex. Afle r McCay and Coward ( 1981). (B ) Structural profile across the Kinlochewe are a, towards the sout hern end of
the Moine thrusl zone , illustraling out-of-sequence movemenl of the Kinlochewe thrust (k) which cuts dow nward s aeross
lower rhrc sts, and is interp reted as extensional, due probably 10 grayilalional gliding. Fro m McCay and Coward ( 1981)
 PHANEROZOIC OROGENIC BELTS : SOMi: EXAMPLES
series of nappes o r thr ust sheets are recogn-
ized , resting o n the basal or sole thrust. The
nappes appea r to be lensoid in character.
wedging out laterally to be rep laced by o ther
nap pes along strike. The uppermost nappe.
termed the Moine napp e, resting on the Moine
thrust, mar ks the western limit of the Moine
Complex a nd is discussed belo w. The nappes
are divided into a lower se ries of imbricate
shee ts that are esse ntially thru st duplexes of
stacked Ca mbro-O rdovician cover. around
300 III thick. Above the imbricate nappes are
several large nappes carrying Lcwisian base-
ment toget her with Ca mbro-O rdovician cover.
South of Vllapoo l, T orri donian cover also
appears in the higher nappes. Th ese upper
nappes arc up to 500 m thick and usually
deformed inte rna lly by minor thrusts and
overfold s. T he main nappes, fro m north to
south, are the A rna boll, G lencoul, Ben More.
Kinlochewe-Kishorn a nd Tarskavaig nappes.
The nappe zone is widest at Assynt, where the
Glencoul and overlying Ben MOre nappes
result in a n an tiformal bulge of the o verlying
Moine thrust, a nd in so utheas t Skye, where the
thick Tarskavaig nappe o verlies the Kishorn
nappe. Elsewhe re , for example between UlIa-
pool and Klnlochcwe, large nappes are absent
at the surface o utcrop.
In Figure 8.23A a series of diagrammatic
sections across the thrust belt at Loch Eriboll
in the north is shown. Th e thrust seq uence
here co nsists of lowe r and upper imbricate
duplexes carrying o nly Cambro-O rdovician
cover, ove rlain by the Arnaboll nappe . Th is
nappe is a dou ble duplex structure with in-
ternalth rust Slacking of rather thicker slices of
Lewisian baseme nt and Ca mbrian cover. The
Moine thrust for ms the roof thrust to this
complex duple x.
The tra nsport direct ion of the thru st sheets is
towards WNW and the thru sts appear to have
propagated from eas t 10 west . since the uppe r
thrusts are defo rmed by the lower. However.
in some parts of the belt the higher nappes
appear to have unde rgone later re activation (in
some cases involving local extension) that
resulted in the ir cutt ing aero ss structures in the
247
underlying imbricate nappes. Th e Kinlochewe
nappe , for example, locally cuts down the
stratigraphic sequence in the underlying nap pe
(Figure 8.23B). McClay and Coward suggest
that late re-activation took place on some of
the uppe r thrusts due to gra vitatio nal sliding. If
the Ca rn bro-O rodovician strata are returned
to their o riginal hor izontal o rientatio n, the
Kinlochewe thrust has an ap preciable dip
to wards the fo reland. It is possible that several
of these higher roof thrusts, deform ed into
hangingwa u amifo rms by mo vements o n
underlying thrusts. may have become gravita-
tionally unstable and slid towards the forelan d ,
cutting down Ihrough the underlying nappes.
It is also possible tha t ren ewed movem ents
on thrusts at a deeper level caused o ut-of-
seq uence movement s near the surface .
Displacements on the lower thrusts, csti-
mated by section balancing. vary from 3.5 10
30 km; however. movemen t on the Moine
thrust is much grea te r: a minimum displace-
ment of 40 km has been estimated by various
aut hors but the actual displacement may be
nearer 100 km (E lliott a nd Johnson , 1980).
The da te of the movem ents has been estab-
fish ed at 430 Ma DP (mid-Silurian ) from the age
of intrusive igneous rocks e mplaced d uring the
thru st seq uence (Va n Breeme n et at.• 1979).
How this relates to the movem ent s in o ther
majo r thrusts to the south, and to the colli-
sio nal o rogeny as a whole , will be discussed
below.
The Northern Highlands terrane (zone 2)
The Northern Highlands exte nds from the
Moine thrust in the west to the G rea t G len
faull (Figure 8.24) and varies from 30 to 50 km
in widt h. The Caledo nian part of this te rrane
consists of the Moine Co mple x, toge the r
with its interleaved Lewisian basement. The
psammites an d petites of the Moine succession
represent a thick seque nce of fluviatile o r
deltaic sediments that rest unconform ably on
the Lewisian basemen t. The Moine Co mplex
and its Lewisian basement were highly de-
formed and metamorphosed in the Gre nville
 ...'
248 G I:::OLOGlC ..... L ST RUCtU RES AND MO VI N G PLA T ES

.0
,

• 0'

.0 '

'rounll.' rock.0
0' "
Silun a ••• Nappa frE

B.~t,b111 Comple x ~ 5"

Moina Nappa 0
_.... For.land B

o o •
Flgurt 8.2..4 O utline tectonic map o f the foreland and Nonbe m Highlands zones of the Caledonides in north Scotland .
Note the two major nappes, Moine and Sgun Beag. making up Ihe Northern Highlands. From wtectesrer ( 1985)
 PHANf.RO ZOIC OROGE NIC BELTS: SOME EXAMPLES
o rogeny at c.1oooMa BP, and were late r re-
worked in the Caledo nian orogeny. The
o riginal margin of the Grenvi lle belt probably
lay a sho rt distance east of the present Moine
thrust o utcrop , and paral lel to it, but has
bee n tra nsported westwards abo ve the Moine
thrust , so tha t the margins of Grenvill ian
and Caledo nian defor mation are no w almost
coinc ident.
Caledo nian effects within the Moine com-
plex arc difficult to distinguish from the earlier
Grenv illian. Pervasive d uctile defor mation has
appreciably a ffected the whole terra in, but
effects are most intense along several majo r
ductile shear zones or slides. The Moine thrust
itself is the most westerl y of these. It is a dee p-
leve l structure, as shown by the development
of a wide zone of mylonite (over 600 m thick in
places), that possesses a well-developed elong-
ation fab ric in the direction of thrust transport.
T he mylonite shee t is cut by later , brittle , high-
le vel thrusts that have transported the deeper
mater ial to the surface. It is considered that the
high-leve l brittle thru sts pass downwards into
mylonites and ultimate ly to broad ductile shear
zones , with increasing depth.
T he supe rimpositio n of Moine comp lex '
abo ve Lewisian ap pears to disobey the usual
rule that thrusts place olde r rocks above
younger. T he expla nation see ms to be that the
Lewisian-Moine unconformi ty had been high-
ly deformed in the G renville o rogen y prior to
the thrust moveme nts.
The G lenelg a rea (Ba rber and May, 1976)
provides a link between the complicated struc-
ture of the Moine Complex and the rather
simple structure of the thru st belt. Immed iatel y
cas t of the Moine thrust in this area , the
Lewisian baseme nt and Moine cover are inter-
folded . Howe ver, the degree of de formation in
the Lewisian in the western and easte rn parts
of the area shows a marked cont rast. In the
Lewisian of the weste rn outcrop , the deform a-
tion is similar to that see n in the basement
nappes of the thrust zone to the west. In the
easte rn part of the area, both Lewisian and
Moine rocks are highly deformed. Three
phases of deformation ca n be distinguished,
249
associated with high-grade met amo rphism of
Grenville age, prio r to the development of the
mylonite fabric, which is the first Caledo nian
str ucture see n here , and is affected in turn by
two furt her phases of Caledonian deformation.
These latter three phases are the only defor-
ma tions see n in the cove r west of the Moine
thrust.
Furthe r to the ea st, the situation becomes
even more co mplicated. The grade of Catc-
do nian me tamo rph ism increases to amphibo-
lite facies. and complex interfe rence patterns
are formed o n both minor and major scales by
the superimpositio n of duct ile defo rmatio ns of
Grenville and Caledo nian age. In the regio n
between Strathcono n and Gle n Affric, To bisch
et al. (1970) summarize the results of detailed
structura l mapping ove r a region, 450 km2 in
ext ent, of inte rfo lded Lewisian and Moinian
rocks. The authors recognize seven distinct sets
of folds , of which the last four are Caledo nian
and the first three probabl y Grenvillian. The
second Caledonian phase (termed the Monar
folds by the authors) produced the typical
'Caledonoid' NE-SW folds , with gene rally
stee p axia l planes, found over wide areas of the
Scott ish Highlands. Th e Caledo nian folds
affect a majo r shear zone, termed the Sgurr
Beag slide (Figure 8.24; Tanner , 1970; Rath-
bone a al., 1983; Kelley and Powell, 1985)
which is a deeper-level counterpart to the
Moine thru st zone. Th is slide exte nds fo r
the whole length of the Northe rn Highlands
terrane (it is known as the Naver slide in
Sutherland) and divides the western part of the
Moine Complex (the Morar Division ) from the
cent ral part (the G lenfinnan Division). The
slide consists of a zone of highly defo rmed
rocks in which the strain increases ove r a
dista nce of abo ut 500 m to a maximum alo ng a
nar ro w zone that usually corresponds to a
Moine - Lewisian j unctio n. Linea r shape
fabrics in the slide zo ne indicate a WNW
transport direction similar to that of the Moine
thrust. Although now usually stee ply-dipping,
the slide is co nsidered to be an originally low-
angle displacement plane, eq uivalent to the
Moine thrust but at a mid-crustal level.
250 GEO LOG ICAL STRUCTURES AND MOV ING PLATes
Winchester (1985) , by matching amph ibo-
lites on e ithe r side of the slide . estimates a
westwards displacement of more than 140 km .
Kell ey and Powell ( 1985) co nclude that it m ust
have formed at de pths grea ter than 15 km at
around 450 Ma S f . duri ng t he peri od of Cale-
do nian me tamorphism. T hey suggest that a
period of c.25 Ma may have elapsed betwee n
the d uctile movements on this slide and th e
mo vem ents alo ng the Moine thru st zone .
T he la rge disp lace me nts in both the Mo ine
an d Sgurr Beag structures , co upled with th e
lac k of a ny deep c rustal roc ks brought up along
t he m, a nd wit h the ge ne ral unifo rmity of grade
ac ross the nappes, suggested to Co ward ( 1980)
a nd Rathbone a ul. (1983) thai the d isplace-
me nts in itia lly had a ve ry low angle of inclina-
t io n, pe rha ps follo wing major horizo ntal zone s
of weak ness within the midd le crust fo r lar ge
distan ces (see Figure 8.268) . O n t he othe r
ha nd , So pe r a nd Ba rber ( 1982) a rgue in favo ur
of a ' thic k-skinned ' model for the No rt he rn
H igh lan ds (Figure 8.25) , whe re bot h the
Mo ine thrust a nd t he up pe r slides steepe n a t
de pth then become l ist ric a nd det ach a t the
Moh o . This model is simila r to the one sug-
geste d for the H imalayas (see Figure 5.26). A
co m pa rison with the deep seis mic reflection
profile (Fi gu re 8.268) s ugges ts that the thr usts
in fact detach at a level about 8 km above the
Mo ho . Sope r and Barbe r att rib ute most of t he
dis place me nt on the Moine thrust to an early
ph ase of defo rmat ion (D I-D2) prior to the
peak of Ca ledonian me tamorphism at c.450 Ma
BP, a nd o nly a bo ut 30 km to the lat e pos t-
metamorphic ph ase at c.420 Ma seen in the
thrust be lt.
A n int e resting geomet rica l result of this
mod el is the requ iremen t fo r a n exot ic ' roo f
nap pe ' , now co mplete ly re moved by e ros io n,
to provide the roof of the c rustal d uplex
structure a nd to bu ry the Moine Comple x to a
suitable depth during the pe riod of Ca ledonia n
me tam orphism. The a uthors po int out that
only crusta l-sca le overt hrusti ng produces the
degree of cr ustal th icke ning required in majo r
orogenic belts. T he sigmo idal nat ure of the
thrust/shea r zo ne displace me nt surfaces is a t-
Iribu ted to deep-crusta l ductile sho rte ning. a nd
uppe r-c rusta l grav ity sp rea d ing , act ing o n a
plane with a n initially e ven dip o f around 3QO.
Coward et ai , ( 1983), in a discussio n of Soper
a nd Ba rbe r's model, poin t out that the mea-
sured displacements on the thin nappes of the
thrust zone require a low-a ngle d isplace men t
e xte nd ing a t least 60 km bac k from the present
Moine thrust outcrop. Thus the majo r ram p
must be at least 60 km be hind the thrust fro nt .
Soper a nd Bar be r, following Mitc hell
(1978), a tt ribute t he Ca ledo nian o roge ny of
the No rt hern Highla nds to the effects of a
co llisio n , duri ng the pe rio d 470 - 450 Ma DP, o f
the North A me rica n con tine nta l margin with a
subduction zone an d isla nd a rc syste m lying to
t he so ut h. The pos tula ted up per exotic nap pe
could be a n obducted ophiolite nappe derived
fro m the subd uction zone as a result of this
collisio n. Th e la te r ( D4) events at the thru st
fro nt (a t 420 Ma ee) are a n rib ute d to t he final
continenta l co llisio n along the Solway s uture .
The co nce pt of a missing high-le vel o phiolite
na ppe is also a feat ure of t he Dewe y an d
Shackleton (1984) mod el fo r the pla te tecto nic
evolut ion of the who le Caledonia n be lt (sec
be low) . T he y po int o ut that the U nst ophioli te
complex in She tland ma y be par t of such a
nappe a nd tha t ophio lite nappe s a re we ll
known in the Appalachian be lt.
The G rampian Highlands terrane (z one 3)
T his te rrane (50-75 km in widt h) is se pa rat ed
fro m the Northe rn Highlands terra ne by the
G rea t G len Fau lt , which has lon g bee n recogn-
ized to have a maj or sinis tra l st rike- slip dis-
place me nt, o rigina lly es tima ted a t IOQ km
(Kennedy, 1946) a nd more recentl y at 160km
( Winc heste r, 1973) o n the basis of th e appa re nt
displacem e nt of me ta morp hic zones. A much
smaller Mesozo ic de xtral disp lace ment of
30 km has also bee n recognized ( Hol ga te ,
1969 ). Sinist ral displace me nt of the North
American co ntine nt in re lation to Euro pe ,
based on palaeom agne tic da ta , is m uch large r,
appro xima te ly 2000 km ( Van der -voo a nd
Scctese, 1981) . Much of thi s displace me nt ,
 PHA NE RO ZO IC O ROGEN IC BELl'S: SOME EXAMPLES 25 1
O . ' U - DI • • 'OMO
WNW "".,. .... TO",clQft (in & C. mO,O_o.oS

,I

.'
' .,i ;}., ;' ;-;,' ;-. ••".ftu.,.d
•• 01'" ........
'"
" & h.,.,.n o... _ft'
'"
'"
'"
" -. no...

I ""'u·. _.' ,,, ,••

CAl EDO N IAN 01 - 0 2 DEfOtlMAlION
b. M2 MfTAM OllrHIC 'EAI( c • .so M"
~
_____-r- - - ----- - ..-.- r ' " ~' ..':-;,O<I."
.,
02

-
." .. ,. " .. , ..- .....'" ..."".. ''''n' '00'
~~ _ _ ~oc .... ,
- ..,. - -~ . " o n,oo"" .

0 1 DIS' l AC EMEN J ON I ~ '\ -

C. M O IN E THIU ST c 120 Mo
_L
, ------ : . l,S ..,..." 0 2 _ 0 0

, -- --
I .... . I•• • " .~

-,--
r _ _ -- --
---- -:::--- --
--

--- - -~ _; ;A S 1
-~ . ,
"
,-_ "".,-{)01

- -- -
--- --t-----
I
,
-----------
(o'igure 8.lS Schematic profiles across the Northern Highlands illustrating a thick-thinned mOUeI for the ir tectonic
evolution. Note the imponanee of the postulated exotic roof nappe , now eroded , in 10e model. From Sope r and Barber
( 1982)

however , may be take n up a long other major graphy and structure e xist betwee n them, it is
strike-slip faults. and possibly along a hidden difficult to make direct connections. Recon-
fault near the contine ntal margin. stru ctions involving profiles across the Scottish
Consequently, the Grampian Highlands Highlands as a whole should be lh c refo~ be
ter rane is displaced in relat ion 10 the Nort hern viewed with caution. With the Winchester fit,
Highlands and, althoug h similarities in strati- at the DI-D2 period, ther e is an overlap of
 A OISTANCE(KMS) FROM N 2

'0
.,
o S.po. h... l t.,.. ~ ,,, - , .. ....... . _ .... l ~'. l · .....l

IIIIJ talt. ,.. ..U ...,- . . . . . I ' I. U ... , . , l1li I..... " ..\ l~ ' _ . 1

•§§
fZ] 0,,0, _ l it t- U "". I

~"' l.I • •" ..,...

B . .. 1000 100

•
••• " •>•
•0" ~
...
1
I ~

MOINE THRUST: CASf: IB) •

[g;1 DnD."'. THfilU "'UI. Ste .f~NT' .
20 k m

D Of'P-S"I!\,F SI I ' _N ' S , ? g ALII"CHAM)

~ C.. _ _OfI00VICIA N IKUI' IRIMf NTI

mJ ~. INCU,HO IIOCII I

Fip ~ S.U (A ) Mndel o f (he crustal structure of nonhero Britain based on the u s ee deep-seismic rd leelion survey
profile. Seismic P·wave velocities of (he different lajers are shown in (he ke~ . From Bamford ~t Ill . ( 1978). (8) Possible
interpretation of the MOIST de ep-seismic reflect io n pro file across nort bem Scotla nd . Reflecto rs indicated b y solid lines ;
faults (dashed) inferred ; D. Devo nian ; PI , Permo-Triassic. Th e depth conversion exaggerates the dep ths of sedimentary
basins by a IitCIO, o f 1.5- 2. M T( B) is the preferred position of the Moille thros!. from Iwo possible solutions given ill the
source reference. Note that the major faults an: extenssoeat, hut are inferred to be reactivated Caledo nian thrusts. From
Brewer and Smythe (1984)
 PH A N ERO Z OIC OROGEN IC BELTS : SOME EXA M PL ES
only around 50 km of presently-exposed
ground across the fault.
Th e majo r difference be tween the Gr ampian
and No rthe rn Highlands lies in the nature
of the pre-Ca ledon ian cove r. The Gra mpian
Highlands is made up of an extremely thick
seq uence of late Precambrian to Ca mbrian
sedime nts formin g the G ramp ian Group and
the overlying Dalradia n Supergroup. The
Gra mpian G roup , often te rmed the 'yo ung
Moines' consists of a very similar sedimentary
association to the Pre-G renville Moine rocks of
the North ern Highla nds. A n inlier of rocks
corre lated with these older Moine rocks has
been ide ntifi ed in the nort heastern G rampian
Highlands by Piasecki and Van Breemen
(1979) who gave them the name 'Central High-
land Division' . Afte r restor ing the postulated
movem ent o n the Great Glen fault, these rocks
lie alo ng-strike from the Gle nfinnan Division
of the Moine co mplex. T hey are separated by
a major slide , the G rampian slide, from the
G ram pian- Dalradia n cover sequence. The
main moveme nt o n this slide is dated at
c.750 M a ee in an event widely known as the
Morar ian (La mbert , 19(9) . Since this event
affected both basement and cover, the deposi-
tion of the G rampian Group must predate
750 Ma ae. No majo r unconformities have been
ident ified in the thick G rampian-Dalradian
seque nce, which implies that movements on
the slide were tak ing place at dept h du ring
co ntinued sedime nta tion at the surface. Th is in
turn suggests that the G rampian slide , in
commo n with seve ral of the oth er major
displacement zo nes in the Scottish Highlands,
originated as an early extensio nal fault and was
later reactivated in the Caledon ian orogeny as
a co mpressional thrust (d. Sope r and Barber .
1982).
Lewisian basem ent appears at the south-
western end of the G rampian Highlands
terrane, in lslay, where it is overlain by
Da lradian rocks above the Loch Skerrols
thrust, tentatively co rre lated with the Moine
thrust. Plant et al, (1984) suggest that the
Moine co mplex (G renvillian) basement ends
along the NW- SE Cr uacha n line in the south-
253
west of the terrane , allowing Dalradia n sedi-
ments to rest directly on Lcwisian baseme nt.
Several lines of evidence indicate that the
nature of the baseme nt of the G rampian
Highlands is the same as that of the Northern
Highlands. The L1SPB seismic profil e (F igure
R.26A) shows that the IWO lower layers re-
cognized by their different seismic velocities
can he traced across the Highland Boundary
Faull. An analysis of inherit ed zirco ns fro m
Caledonian granites in bo th terranes shows a
similar pattern, suggesting a de rivatio n by
partial melting of mid-Prot erozoic crust in the
age range 1800-1000 Ma. T he G rampian base-
ment is inferred therefo re to be co mposed of
Lewisian crust modified and added 10 du ring
the Grenville orogeny . A regio nal geo che mical
ana lysis of the Caledo nian rocks of zones 1- 3
(Planl et 01. , 1984) brings out a majo r geo-
chemical discontinuity within the G ramp ian
te rrane , following the Moine -Dalradian boun-
dary betwee n the G rampian Group and Dal-
radia n Supergrou p. The To rrodinian , Moine,
and G rampian G roup sedime nts indicate de ri-
va tio n from a commo n source domi nat ed by
interme diate to acid calc-alkaline rocks of
Archaean and Proterozoic age, resembling the
present Ketilidian belt of S. G reen land. T he
geochemistry of the Da lradia n sedime nts in
contrast, point s to significant co ntributio ns
from basic to ultrabasic vulcan icity a nd from
Ba , Pb and Zn mineralization .
T hese geoche mical features confirm previ-
ous inter pret ations (e.g. Harr is and Pitcher,
1975) suggesting that the Dalradia n success-
sion accumulated in a mari ne, intracontine ntal
basin formed by stretching and rifting of the
conti nental crust. The original margin of the
basin, where much thicker Da lradian seq uen-
ces formed o n thinned Moine crust, probably
ra n o bliquely across the present G rampian
terrane in such a way that the main G rampian
division o utcrop represents the edge of the old
continent , and the Dalradian o utcrop of the
SW Highlands and Highland borders repre-
sents the basin.
The structure of the Grampian Highlands
has occasio ned co nside rable debate over the
254 G EO LOGICAl- STKUCTUII:fS AN D MOVING PLATES

yea rs. Th e o riginal interpretation in terms of a
se ries of large nappes was put forward by
Bailey (1922). This model has been consider-
a bly modi fie d bUI, in its fundame nta l aspe cts ,
still re mains the basis for modern inte rpreta-
tion s. A re gio nal synthesis o f the structure in
the SW Highlands is presen ted by Roberts and
Tr eagus ( 1977). The majo r nappes in this
region (Figure 8.27A) are: (i) the Appin
nappe, rest ing o n the Fo rt William slide , which
m arks th e co ntact betwee n th e G ra mpian
Di vision and the ove rlying D alradian; and (ii)
th e Ba/lachu/ish -Tay fUlppe which rests on
the Ballach ulish slide . Th e latt er slide passes
southwa rds into the Iltay bounda ry slide that
underlies the Tay nap pe to the south. In the
northeastern part of the G rampian Highlands
terrane , these nappe s are overlain by the Banff
nappe which includes a sheet of gncissose
basement dated at c.700 Ma Sf (Stua rt et aJ.,
1977). Th is nap pe is regarded as allochthon -
ous, and possibly de rived fro m a southern
continental block of Cado mian age. An in-
teresting aspect of the major structure of the
region is that the nappes in the no rthwest face
to the northwest, where as those in the south-

A
~ majO!" slides
fold axial planes
lautt
.... lacing d irection

/--.
.i Highland
/ / boundary
/ teen

B
02
'"

Figure 8.27 Struct ure o f the G rampian Highlands. (A ) Interp retative model showing the principal majo r structu res of the
G rampian Highlands. 01 structures : AS. Appin syncline; KA , Kinlochlevcn anticline. 02 structures: 5 85. Sgurr Beag
synfo rm; BLA , Batlachulish antiform; DO. Drurnocbter dome ; SMS, Stob Mhor synform. 0 3 structure; BA. Bohespic
antiform. Arte r Thomas (1979). (B) Interpre tative profiles illustrating a possible two-stage model (0 1, D2) for the tectonic
evolution of the G rampian Highlands. 1, Abe rfoyle-Ardrishaig anticline; 2, Batlachulish-c Loch Awe syncline; 3,
Kinlochleven - Islay anticline; 4, Appin syncline; I, Ben l ui-Stob Bhan fold ; II , Kinlochleven- Ben Chulm fold; square-
too thed lines. major slides. O rnament indicates different subgroups: from boncm to top : Gra mpian Grou p (blank), and
the Locheber , (slay, Easdale , Crinan subgroups, and the Southern Highland G roup (oute rmost). From Rcoe rts and
Tre agus (1m )
 PHA1'IEROZO IC OKOG l:1'IlC l:lI, LTS : SOME EXAMPLES
east face southeastwards (Figure 8.27A). Th is
gave rise to the 'fo untain of nappes' hypothesis
that visualized the Dalradian cover being
squeezed laterally by converging basement
hlocks on either side and escaping sideways by
gravitational flow.
Robe rts and Treagus sho wed that three de-
forma tion phases controlled the major struc-
ture, and that the D I phase was associated with
major isoclinal folds and with a penetrative
fi ne-grained fabric. Several major recumbent
folds , forme rly thought to be 01 , were shown
to be of 0 2 age. T hese folds developed during
the metamorphic climax. The later upright 0 3
folds refold the earlie r recumbent structures
into locally steep attitudes . T heir model to
explain this structure (Figure 8.278 ) attributes
the or iginally upright 01 folds to the lateral
squeezing effect, and the recumbent 0 2 folds
to the consequential gravitatio nal spreading,
followed in 0 3 by a further horizontal contrac-
tion. The major slides appear to have been
initiated in 01 times but have clearly also been
re-activated in D2. Harris a al, (1976) suggest
that the southeastwards transport of the large
Tay nappe was largely accomplished during the
0 2 deformation, when about 6 km of hori-
zontal transport took place. Both the Fort
William and Ballachulish slides emplace
younger strata on olde r, a nd arc lags rather
than thrusts. Like the Gr ampian slide to the
north , these slides may be primarily exten-
sional in origin.
The age of the main 0 1-02 deformation
overlaps the main Caledonian metamorphism
in this region. This is the "type area for the
'G rampia n orogeny' (La mbe rt and McKerrow,
1976) which is dated at c.490 Ma BP (Arenig)
by a va rie ty of methods. Note that there is
a progressive change in the apparent age of
initial movement on the main slide zones from
490 Ma in this region to 450 Ma at the Sgurr
Beag slide , and 420 Ma in the Moine thrust
zone.
An alternat ive to the 'fountain-of-nappes'
hypothesis is provided by Dewey and Shack-
leton (I 984), who believe that all the early
(0 1-02) structures were NW-facing and that
255
there is no 'root zone' within the present
boundary of the terra ne (Figure 8.34). They
attribute the NW-directed nappe pile to an
obduction oro geny in which the highest nappe
is the lost ophiolite nappe of Soper and Barbe r
(1982). T he obduction is thought to have taken
place by detachment at a ridge-fracture ZOne
inter action (Figure 8.34C) producing an over-
riding young ocea nic plate that progressively
abd ucts on 10 continental shelf and ultimately
over the continent itself. Th is major nappe is
represented in the Belts' Cove and Bay of
Islands oph iolite complexes in Newfoundland ,
at Trondhjeim in central Norway, and steep
slices are prese rved along the faulted southern
boundary of the terr ane , for example along the
Highland Boundary fault. Later SE-facing
structures are att ributed to 'retrocharriage' or
back-folding, resulting from northward sub-
duction commencing a t c.460 Ma BP. The latt er
process resulted in uplift of the Scottish High-
lands during the period 460-440 Ma BP . The
Southern Uplands accretionary prism, or its
lateral equivale nt , is thoug ht 10 represent the
southern margin of this subduction zone.
The Midland ValLey (z one 4)
Major strike-slip displacements have occurred
along both the Highland Boundary and South-
e rn Uplands faults that form the north-western
and south-eastern margins of the 40 km-widc
Midland Valley terrane (F igure 8.22). Sinistra l
displacements duri ng the Devonian have been
established by Bluck (1980), and de xtral dis-
placeme nts during the Carboniferous are de-
scribed by Read (1987).
Th is zone is therefore a displaced terrane
with no direct relationships to the zones to the
north and south. The terr ane consists of a
hidden baseme nt of probable Grenville type
(Watson and Dunnin g, 1979) , similar to that
underlying the main part of the Grampian
Highlands (Figure 8.26A). The upper layer
of metamorp hic Grampian- Dalradian sedi-
ment s, however, is missing, and in its place is a
thick, gently folded sequence of Ordovician to
Permi an sediments and volcanics. Over most
256 G EO LOGICA L STRUCTURES AND MOVING PU,TES
of th e zone, the Caledonian histor y is obscured
by the younger Devo nian and Carbonifero us
cove r. T he absence of an unconform ity at the
base of the Devonia n in the Silurian inlier of
Lesmahagow indicat es that the e nd-Siluria n
collisio n did not result in deform ation of the
Lower Palaeozoic cover here. In the south-
weste rn part of the terrane, however a majo r
I
unconfo rmity separates the a bducted oph iolite
shee t of Girvan -Ballantrae from the over lying
mid-Ord ovician strata.
The Upper Devo nian tectonic history of the
Midland Valley is discu ssed by Bluck ( 1980)
who demo nstrates thai , du ring this period, it
formed a strike-slip extensional graben or pull-
apa rt basin (sec 6.1) bounded by sinistral
bou ndary faults o n eac h side . Over 3 km of
con tinenta l red beds formed in this basin, fed
by rising Caledo nian mou nta in belts o n both
sides. Th e Upper Devoni an sed ime nts rest
unconform ably on a gently-folded Lower
Devonian sequence that accumulated in two
basins, sep arated by a volcanic chain. Bluck
con siders that the Midland Valley acted as a
sinistral strike-slip-co ntro lled grabe n basin
during both the Lower and Upper Devoni an ,
but his detailed acco unt is confined to the
Upper .
A n ana lysis of the deform ation patte rn in the
Lower Devonian rocks indicat es a preferred
orie ntation of folds in a E NE - WSW direct ion,
350 clockwise from the o rientat ion of the
bo undary fault. Th is is consistent with the
relationship predicted for a sinistral strike-s lip
region (see Figure 6. 1).
The Upp er Devonian (U ppc rOld Red Sand-
sto ne) seque nce begins with alluvial fan de-
posits and e nds with coasta l sed iments. Palaeo-
curren t directio ns are generally eastwards or
northeastwards. To explain the d isposition of
the coarse conglomera te wedges in the alluvial
fan deposit s, Bluck post ulates a se ries of fault-
bounded basins along the NW margin of the
main graben , within which each sequence
thickens to the northwest (Figure 8.28). As
the basement moves north-eastwar ds with the
creation of each new extensional fault, a
succession of new basins is formed, filling from
this same sou rce . Each is an asymmetr ic half-
grab en, with a wedge-shaped co nglome rate
de posit thinning so utheastwards away from the
source . This type of sedimen tar y basin struc-
tu re is typical of strike-slip exte nsio nal regions
(see 6. 1, and Reading, 1980).
The Sou/hem Uplands (zon e 5 )
This terrane is bounded on its no rthwestern
side by the Sout hern Uplands fault, and o n its
southeaste rn side by the hidden Solway suture
(Figure 8.29). It has suffered strike-slip dis-
placement in relation to the Midland Valley
and the terranes to the northwest. Th e extent
of displacement is not known but may be
considerable, as the source areas for the
O rdovician sediments in the terrane can no t be
fou nd in grou nd prese ntly adjacen t to it.
Moreover the prod ucts of the Ordovician uplift
of the G rampian terrane to the north are not
foun d in the O rdovician basin to the south
(Bluck and Leake , 1986).
Th e terrane is approximately 75 km in width,
and consists of a thick seque nce of highly
defo rmed Ordovician and Silurian strata,
resting o n a hidden basement thought by
Watson and Du nning ( 1979) to be of G re nville
or Lewisian type. A seismic discon tinuity at a
depth of 12km beneat h the central part of the
terrane is inter preted as a major deco llement ,
the Ettrick Valley thrust, which carries the
folded and thrust cover o ver the weak Moffat
Shales horizon (Weir, 1974). A major seismic
discontinuit y dipp ing northwestward s at an
angle of 15- 250 has also bee n detected in
dee p seismic profiles offshore (Beamish and
Smythe, 1986) and is equated with the Solway
suture . The deep basement of the Southern
Up lands thus underlies this suture and pre-
sumably belongs to the southern plate .
The major component of the sedimentary
pile is a thick sequence of greywackes of
turb idite o rigin, attributed generally to a
trench environment. Associated with the sedi-
ments is an older sequence of pelagic sed i-
ment s with occasional basalts.
 PHANE ROZOIC OROGt'NIC [Hi LTS: SOMI::: EXAMPLES 257

o
<
" . .. . d

eot to w le

•
E • b

,
/

Figu re 8.28 Diagrammatic interpr etation o( Ihe U ppe r Old Red Sand stone (Upper Devon ian) facies distribut ion in the
so uth west Midland Valley of Sco lland in terms o f a sinis/ra l strike-slip model . A . B and C rep rese nt the pr ogressive
evolution of sedi me nta ry bas ins as ItIc oa!lemen l 10 the Mid land Valley moves nc nhea srward s in relation 10 the bloc k
bo unded by lhe Highland Boundary fau ll on the NW side o f the Midland Valley. S uccessive po suion s of the SW boundary
fau lt <II . p . fJ ) to the mai n basin occ ur progressivel y sout hwestwards, each !iving rise 10 a sepa rate source of coarse clas tic
material. D is pro file c- d ;!crQSS rbc basin and E i:; profile Q- b along lhe basin (sec C) . From Bluck ( 198(1)

The structure is dom inated by NE - SW-
trending, SE-facing, monoclinal folds separa-
ted by tracts of unfolded , stee ply-dipping beds.
Mudstones exhibit gene rally steep slaty cleav-
age. The terrane contains te n or more distinct
stratigraphic sequences which differ consider-
ably across-strike over distances of a few km,
but which can be followed along-strike over
distances of 100km or more. Conside rable
re petition of stratigraphic seque nces takes
place across the strike, much of which is a ttn-
butable to a series of steep reverse faults. Some
of these are relatively minor, but others separ-
ate blocks with major stratigraphic differences,
whose constituent strata were originally formed
large distances apart. Within these major
fault-bounded blocks, shown in Figure 8.29A ,
the overa ll sequence generally youngs towards
the nor thwest, while progressively younge r
deposits are found towa rds the southeast.
Leggett et at. (1979) interpret the Southern
Uplands as a Lower Palaeozoic accretionary
 G EOLOGI CAL STRUC ru ll. ES AND MOVI NG PLATES

--- ---- - -
-::::--
--
---
---
-
- ---
........

[IIJ post -CaledonIan co.....,

~ l.-te Celedon;an g,anites
[ ] upperslopeba,; n
--
o ecc.elio poism 30km
• Ballant ophiolites

B
uppe r slope l,emergent
tre nch I lo we< trench
,I..,. I lf ench c
basin s lo pe ,
', bre a k ;
Southern Upland : : Solway fi n h
fault
NW I ,
Coekbumtand s,
1 ~ /t 0 l
,') t ,'
• Oldest
Midland Velley
inti" ".

FiguI'"C 8. 29 Str ucture of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. (A ) 'Tecton ic summary mapof the Southe rn Uplands showing
the positions of the main Iaults bounding the different blocks. (B) Diagrammatic profile a,r055lhe area 10 iIlustrale the
acceeuoe ary prism model. (A) , (B) , ene r Leggett t l al. (1979). (C) Diagram 10 show how the emplacement of successive
undert hrust wedges, using the Moffat shales as a detachment honzon, can result in steepe ning a nd back-rotation of the
ea rlier-formed IhfUst blocks . After EalC5 (1979).

prism, formed at a subduction zone on the conjectural 'Cockbumland' long recognized by

nort hwest side of the Iapetu s Ocean, along the
Laurentian continental margin.
The fault-bound ed blocks are interpreted as
packets of sediment , offscraped from the
downgoing plate, a nd stacked up and steep-
ened in the fore-arc region to form an even-
w ally e mergent ridge at the trench - slope break
(Figure 8.298) . Th is ridge corresponds to the
stratigraphers as a Silurian landmass in the
northern part of the te rrane. This tectonic
enviro nment is reminiscent of the Barbados
ridge complex discussed in 5.2. Accretion is
considered to have commenced during Llan-
deilo time {mid-Ordovician) and continued
until the end of the Wenlockian , a period of
about 45 Ma.
 PHAf'I"'WZOIC O KOG Ef'lIC BELTS: SO ME EXAMI'l. ES
The south side of the Sol W il Y suture (zones 6-8)
A majo r intracont inental suture has long been
postul ated within the Caledonides of the Bri-
tish Isles beca use of differences between the
Camb ro-O rdovician fa unas of Girvan and the
NW Highlands on the on e hand, which exhibit
No rth Ame rican affinities, and those of Wales
o n the o the r, which exhibit Euro pean affin-
ities. The suture is therefore held 10 represent
the site of closure of a vanished Lowe r Palaeo-
zo ic ocea n, part of the Iapetu s Ocea n.
T he suture can be de tected by majo r differ-
e nces in base me nt characteristics on either side
of the Solwa y line , and can be traced through
Ireland alo ng the Navao-Shannon fault ( war -
son and Du nning, 1979).
So uth of the suture, four Caledo nian Icc-
Ioni c units a rc recognized , the Lake District
zon e, the Irish Sea block , the Welsh basin . and
the Midlands platform . The Lake Disrricr- fslc
of Ma n-Lelnstc r belt is generally rega rded as
the site of an early O rdovician volcanic arc o n
the northern margin of a southe rn continenta l
plate (Figure 8.32) (see e.g. Moseley, 1977).
So uth of this zone , the Irish Sea block ex-
poses pre -Cale do nian Cadomian basement in
A nglese y, the L1eyn peninsula in N. Wales,
and in SE Irelan d. Th is basement is pa rt of the
Cadomian o roge nic belt, subjected to defor-
ma tion and metamo rphism prior to the Lower
O rdov ician. The age of this o rogeny in Angle-
se y, and the strat igrap hic relationship between
the Irish Sea block and the zones on either
side, is still controversial. All three zones arc
suspect terranes with possib le strike-slip d is-
placeme nts betwee n them.
T he Welsh basin has long bee n regar ded as
a classical geos yncline , following Jones ( 1938).
It conta ins a thick sequence (c. IO km) of Lower
Palaeozoic sediments, including a high pro-
po rtion of turbid ites. Volcan ic rocks form an
important compo ne nt of the basin, part icularl y
in the O rdovician of north and southwest
Wales. Deformati on is highly variable, ranging
from tight folds associated with highly-strained ,
cleaved slates to rather gentle flexures with
no associat ed cleavage. Rocks from dee per
259
parts of the basin exhibit pre hnite -pumpcllyite
metamorphic facies.
The Welsh basin has been widely inte rpret ed
as a back-arc extensio na l basin, formed on
thinned con tinenta l crust , and related to a
southw ard-d ipping subd uction l o ne (see Fi-
gure 8.32) . Ok ada and Smith ( 1980) point out,
howeve r. that a better tectonic analogy fo r the
Siluria n is a fore-a rc basin of the type presently
forming la ndward of the Nankai trough off SW
Japan . A similar basin was described west of
the Barbados ridge , in the Lesser Antill es
subd uction zone of the Caribbean (sec Figure
5.13). In the mo dern Japanese analogy, the
Japan ese islands co rres pond with the Midlands
platform, and the Nankai trough subductio n
zone is repr esent ed by a postulated trench
no rthwest of A nglesey. Ok ada and Smith
believe tha t the subd uction zo ne may have
migrated southeastwa rds towar ds the Midlands
platfo rm. due to tecto nic e rosion, fro m its
position in the O rdovician when the North
Wales volcanic rocks were for med . The Ir ish
Sea block, forming the tre nch-slo pe break in
early Silurian times, became emerge nt in the
later Silurian, thus iso lating the basin. The
main Caledon ian defo rmation of the basin, like
that of all the zo nes up to and including the
Southern Upla nds. is e nd-Silurian in age and is
attributed to collisio n between the Midlands
platform and the Lau ren tian continent.
Woodcock ( 191)4) has demon strated the im-
porta nce of dextral strike-slip movemen ts
along majo r lineam ents running pa rallel to the
south-eastern mar gin of the Welsh basin.
A long o ne of these featu res , the Pontesford
lineament , Woodcock demonstrates patte rns
of branching faults in basement inliers and
localized belts of comp ressional folds in the
cover cha racteristic of a strike-slip regime
(Figure 8.30) .
Th e Midlands platform is not , as o nce
tho ught, the no rthe rn margin of a large Euro-
pea n co ntinent in Lower Palaeozoic times, but
a co mpa ratively small region of undcformed
Lower Palaeozoic strata resting on late Pre-
cambrian volcanic a nd sed imentar y rocks thai
have bee n affecte d by the Cadom ian orogeny.
 ~ Post Silurian Co ver
L~

o ~;~~m,,--, t;.c~r

i
Snvtan

t::/ ",,:j Uocer Orcovlcan

R:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:::J Lower Ordovician

f:,~~:~'cJ Precambrian &

' • • • ~+

Cambrian

A B
J
" < , •• ,

"

Figure 8.30 Map sum ma rizing impo rta nt Ca ledon ian structures o f mid-Wales and the Welsh Borders. Folds, con tinuous
thick lines; faults , dashed lines . Note : (1) the: major C wm MaWl- Po ntcsfor d - U nley and Q lUrch SUc llon {aull zones; (2)
the oonccnlral ion of Iaults , and part icularly folds alo ng a relatively narrow zone between U aodri ndod Wells and a un; (3)
occasio nal o blique rela tio nships be tween fol d axes and the majoc faults. A - 8 and C-D arc cress-sections across the central
pa ri of the linea ment , showing positive flower structures (sec Figure 6 .4). After w ccdccck ( 1984).
 PHANEROZOI C OROGEN IC BELTS: SOME EXA M PL ES
Th e late Pr eca mbrian sequence rests in turn o n
an earlier Precam br ian basem ent, of which
on ly a few frag me nts a re pr eser ved , bu t whose
geophysical characte ristics diffe r considera bly
fro m those of the Laure ntia n base men t no rt h
of the sut ure (W atson and Dunning , 1979).
Similar rocks form the A valon te rra ne th at
co nstit utes the sou thwestern margi n of the
Appalachian belt fro m Newfo undland to east-
ern Massachuse tts (F igure 8.21). Ou r knowl-
edge of the natur e of this so uthe rn crato n in
Caledon ian times is ve ry limited , but it is clear
that, in co ntras t to t he two large co ntine ntal
masses of Laurentia and Baltica , the Midlands
platform was pa rt of a relatively minor block .
T he e nd-Silurian coll ision gave rise to rela-
tively mild de format ion with litt le sho rte ning in
the southe rn pa rt of the Briti sh sector, quite
unlike the co mplex thrust belts o f Sca nd inavia
and NW Scotla nd .
The Scandi navian Caledonides
T he relation ship bet ween th e Scandina vian
and British Caledonides is shown in Figures
8.21 a nd 8.33. Althoug h the Scand inav ian be lt
appears to be a d irect co ntinuatio n a long-strike
of the Scott ish Highlan ds, sepa rated by o nly
500 km across t he North Sea , the re a re co nsi-
derable d iffe rences in str uct ure . T he Scand i-
navian Caledo nides co nsist of an 1800 km-lo ng
belt, with a pr esent outcrop width of up to
300 km, of na ppes directed east wards o n to the
Fennosca ndian shield . The polarit y of the be lt
is t hus opposed to th at of the NW-directed
nap pes of zo nes 1- 3 in th e Bri tish sector . Th e
eastern margin of th e belt curves t hro ugh
Den mar k towar ds the Po lish Ca ledon ides and
there is no d irect connection with the so uth-
eastern part o f the Briti sh Caledo nides.
T he alloch thonou s nappes of th e Scand i-
navian Ca ledonides ( Figure 8.31) conta in
stratigraphic successio ns ex tend ing up to t he
early Silu rian , and the main Caledonian
o roge ny (the Scandian) is dated as mid-Silur ian
to Ea rly Devon ian . T he re is evidence also , in
certa in districts, of a n early -Caledo nian defo r-
mat ion ( the Finnmarkianv of Late Ca mbrian
to early Ordov ician age (540-490 Ma ee).
261
T he nappe sequence , summarized by Ro berts
and Gee (1985) , is divided into fou r se parate
comp lexes: the Lowe r, Midd le , Upper and
Up permost Allochthons. T he Lo wer Alloch -
thon is composed mainly of a sequ ence of late
Precam brian to early Palaeo zoic sed ime nts
t hat have been invo lved in t hin-skinned t hrust
defor mat ion in a zone along the enti re eastern
margin o f the belt , bo und ed in t he east by a
sole thrust. Further west , Preca mbrian cry-
stalline basem ent is also involved in nap pes o f
t he Lower A llocht ho n. Th is seq uence is over -
lain by the Middle A llochthon , which is com-
posed main ly of highly-defo rmed Precamb rian
crystalline rocks, together with unfossilifero us,
prob ab ly late Precambrian , psammites. T he
roc ks of th is unit a re extensively mylon itized ,
ex hibit grea ter and mor e penet rative defor-
mat io n than the underlying unit , and arc meta -
morphosed in midd le- to upper-greenschist
facies. T he Midd le Allochthon co nta ins a suite
of late Precam bri an pre-tectonic basic dykes
and an exte nsive syntecto nic mafi c/ult ramafi c
to alka line igneo us com plex of late Camb rian
to ea rly Ordovician age .
Th e Upper Allochthon co nta ins defo rmed
volca no-sedimentar y successions derived from
a variety of tectonic envi ro nments: island a re,
fore -arc and back-arc bas in, and ocea nic. T he
nappes containing these seq uences have been
transported seve ral hund red km eastwa rds.
Two defo rmatio ns can be reco gnized , an early
Ordov ician phase that has bee n attributed to
the o bductio n of the ophiolite asse mb lages,
and a later Siluro- Devonian event. Metamor-
phism during both phases reached upper
amphibolite facies . T his unit may th us co r-
respond with the missing op hiolite nap pe of
t he Scot tish Highlands.
T he Uppermost Allochthon co nsists of a
series of nap pes co mprising migmati tic gneisses
and high-grade met asedi ments, together with
units of lower-grad e suprac rustal rocks. T hese
roc ks are int ruded by synorogenic gra nito id
and gabbro plutons. Some of the gneisses in
t hese nap pes appear to represen t pr e-Caledon -
ian base ment with the Precambrian supracrus ta l
cover.Seve ral lhrusts licescontain ophiolite frag-
ments and associated low-grad e metasedime nts.
262 G EO LOG ICAL STRU(T URf"S AND MOVIN G PL ATES

~ Ba...-u see GfOuo

~ OtMlni an

Ed bolic Nappe C~

• Ck eri; ~
UJ Cf yalallinll She ets

D Ba ilie eo.- Sr-ts

o .....-
AIIOCtdh:>noo..-

~ =-I::::¥
, .. Thrust flgnt

Figurr 8.JI Structu ral summary of the

Scand inavian Caledonides. ( A) Map
showing principal tectonic units: exter nal
un ils com prise the a utoch thonous base-
men t and cove r and the ex ternal crys tal-
line nappes ; intern al units comprise (he
oceanic and exo tic na ppe co mple xes.

Th e later stages in the evolution of the belt
were marked by regional uplift of the western
part of the orog enic be lt, le ading to the accu-
mulation of early to mid-Devonian molasse
deposits in fault-controlled extensional basins. .
Ramsayer at. (1985) est imate that a total
shor tening o f c.400 k m may have taken place
across th e be lt in northern Norw ay. although
the displaceme nt o n the lowermost nappe
diminishes to the nort he ast. In the nort hern
section a dear dist inction can be made into two
groups of nappes: an e arlier Finnmark ian
nappe complex and a later Scandian nappe
complex, e ach containing distinctive sedimen-
tary sequences - late Preca mbria n to Ca m-
brian, and Ordovician to Silurian respectively.
The Finnmarkian orogeny commenced dur -
ing the Upper Cambrian in the interior of the
bell and progressed toward s the craton, e nding
in ea rly O rdovician times. The Scandian oro-
geny created a new group of nappes that in
places overrode the Finnmarkian nappes , at-
 PHANEROZO IC OROGENI C BELTS: SOME EXAMPL ES
,m c
,
",
o -- - -- - -
- - - _ Jo>l..,""""
--_
..',
t 'iJ:url:' 8.3 1 Structural summary or the Scandinavian Caledonides. (8) Schematic profiles across the lines marked in (A ).
Note thai A -A ' is at a dilfcrcm scale to the others. Vertical scate equals bonzont al. From Hossack and Cooper (19R6) ,
afte r various sources.
ready dee ply eroded. In addition, Finnmarkian
thrusts were locally reactivated . Hossack and
Cooper (1986) divide the nappe complex into
two zones (Figure 8.31A): an external zone of
thrust sheet s that have been emplaced south-
eastwards onto the Fennoscandian craton, and
an intern al zone of exotic nappes with NE-SW
stre tching directions, parallel to the strike of
the belt. These two sets of nappes must
therefore have differe nt emplacement his-
tories. The external zone comprises the Lower,
Middle and Upper Allochthons of Roberts and
Gee, and the inte rnal zone corresponds to their
Uppermost Allochthon.
Hossack and Cooper claim that the pre-
e rosion thrust front lay much further to the
east than the present ou tcrop, based on its
position in the Oslo Graben (Figure 8.31A).
T hus the width of the thrust belt in the cover
263
c
....
l ' a dihon a l
Iron\.
...>--- -
sheets of the Lower Allochthon is very much
wider (up to nearly 3OO km) tha n is apparent at
outcrop . The widt h of this zone expands in the
north to cover the whole exposed width of the
belt (see section AA ' in Figure 8.318 ) . The
exposed thrust front , according to Hossack and
Cooper, corresponds to the position of a series
of frontal ramps where the sale thrust cuts
down from the Ca mbrian black shales into the
late Precambrian sequence.
The crystalline basement nappes of the
Middle Allochthon, like the cover of the
Lower Allochthon, are thought to have been
derived from the Fennoscandian shield. A
restored section of a profile in the south
through Oslo (section DD ' in Figure 8.318)
indicates that the sole thrust ramps down
through crystalline basement beneath the
Jo tun nappe , about 475 km west of the present
264 GEOL OGICA L STRUcrU RES AND MOVI NG PL AT ES
t hrust fro nt , but ca st of the autochthonous
basement outcrop of SW No rway.
The 'oceanic' nappes of the Upper Alloch-
t ho n cove r a wide surface area in ce ntral a nd
northern N orwa y (Fi gure 8.31A ) and include
the well -known Seve and K oli nappes. Sedi-
men ts within these nap pes contain faunas with
Baltic affinities but a higher oceanic nappe
contains material with No rth American affin-
ities (Gee, 1975). Th e geochemistry of the
volca nic rock s is consiste nt with an ocea n-fl oo r
origin (Fu mes et af . , 1(82). These nappes a re
there fore con sidered to rep resen t abducted
slices of oce anic crust originat ing o n bo th sides
of the Iapetus Ocea n. Since the major defor-
mation of the op hiolites of the Upper Altocb-
t ho n is Finnmarkian in age, the auth or s date
t he obduction of the ocea nic mat erial as Lo wer
to Midd le Ordovici an.
Th e exotic nappes of the internal zone , o r
Uppermost A llocht hon , form large ou tcrops
alo ng the coastal bell of centra l and no rt hern
Norway (Fig ure 8.31A ). They overlie the
Lofote n base men t complex, which Hossack
and Cooper believe to be alloch thonous and
pa rt o f t he Midd le A llocht hon (see Figure
8.318, sec tion 88') . Hossack and Co oper
point ou t that t hese internal nappes must have
bee n derived either fro m a micro -continent
within the Iapet us Ocean separat ing Baltica
fro m the Laurentian co ntinen t, or fro m the
latter co ntine nt itself , since the y over lie the
oce anic mat erial of t he Upper Allocht hon.
Th e highly deform ed rocks of these nappes
exhibit NE -SW--o ricnted shea th folds and
elongation lineat ions indicat ing either emplace-
men t parallel to the strike of the orogen, or
possibly oblique sou thward emplace ment in a
transpr essional regime. Th e main deformation
of the Up per mos t, Upper and Midd le Allo-
cht ho ns is regarded as a Finnmarkian eve nt,
rath er similar to the G rampian o rogeny in
Sco tla nd .
The Scand ian or end-Caled onian or ogen y
produce d the first deforma tio n in the thrust
sheets of the Lo wer Allocht hon, but can also
be recognized in the higher nappes, suggesting
tha t their e mplacement was in part a Scandian
even t. Some re activatio n of the earlier thrusts
is indica ted by a met amo rp hic overpr int of
" .420 Ma BP found in certa in of the upper
nappes. Th e dat es of the Scandian event arc
dia chronous across the oroge n fro m c .450 Ma
BP in the central part o f the belt to c.420 Ma at
the thr ust fro nt, indicating a movemen t rate of
c.2.Bcm/yea r.
Hossack and Cooper pro pose a plate tectonic
mod e l for the e volutio n of the Scandinav ian
Ca ledo nides that explains the Finnma rkian
event in terms of the obduction of a slab of
oceanic crust co ntain ing an islan d a rc; and the
Sca ndian o r e nd-Ca ledo nian eve nt as a colli-
sio n of Laure ntia with Baltica during wh ich t he
latt er und erth rust the form er (see Figure
8.348 ).
Plate tectonic iruerpreuuia n ofthe Norrh
A tlantic Caledon ides
Th e first plate tecton ic inte rp reta tion of this
region was made by Dewey (1969) . He de-
scribes a model ( Figure 8 .32) invo lving a NW·
d ipp ing subdu ction zone be low t he Gram pian
Highlands in the British secto r, and two SE·
d ipping subductio n zo nes, one below the Irish
Sea block in Cambrian to Lowe r Ordovician
times, and a later one below t he Lake Dist rict
in Upper Ordovician ti mes , with ccntinent-.
co ntine nt co llision takin g place du ring the late
Silurian. Many subseque nt refinements an d
alternatives ha ve bee n suggested , but the
tectonic fra mework suggested by Dewey is still
the basis of most modern views,
T he evo lutio n of the belt may be said to
co mme nce with the brea k-up of a late Pre-
ca mb ria n co ntinen t that is doc umented by
palae omagnetic ev ide nce (P iper, 1985) and by
the diversification of fau nas in the ea rly Cam-
brian . Differen ces in early Ca mb rian shelly
faun as between Lau re ntia and Ba ltica are well
kno wn. McMenamin (1982) presents ev idence
t hat this faun al sepa ration co mmenced in the
late Precam brian with ce rta in be nthic ' Ed ia-
ca ran' soft-bod ied faun as in th e period 650 -
600 Ma ee. Ev ide nce for widespread rifting
and intraco ntine nta l ex te nsion prece ding this
 PHANEROZO IC OROGEN IC Bf.l.TS : SOME F. XAMP l. ES 265

"'........e-.n

c ,--

E , i

,...-f l o... C
0<1"0 •••1 _

Hg urt 8.32 Schernanc sections Illustratin g me Dewey (1969) model for the tectonic evo lution of the British Caledonides .
DL , Durncss lirncstoae ; M , Moine complex; D , Dalradian sediments; G V. Girvan ; MN C, Moine thrust ; BV , Baltantra e
vokan jcs: M e . Mona complex: ISH • Irish Sea block: PH F, Pomesfo rd Hill (ilull ; CSF, Church Snenon Iauir; IIBS . l llghtand
Bo rder Series; SMT, South Mayo trough: Rfl WV. Bcrrowdale volcanics; D F, Dinorwic Iault; SV. Su okesrown volcanics;
8 Z1, 2, 3, successive sul>duction zones. From Dewey (1%9 )

continen tal separatio n is pro vided by the de-
velopme nt o f fault -controlled To rrido nian
and Grampi an-Dalradian basins in Scotla nd
around 800 Ma ago .
Th e Iapetus Ocean is widely regarded as
having opened initially in the early Ca mbrian
(Ande rton, 1980) at a time of dr amatic chang e
in the nature of the Dalradia n basin. Aft er the
de position of the Port Askaig tillite , a product
of the Ve ndian glaciation of c.640 Ma Bi>, rapid
su bsidence took place along growth faults,
producing turbidite-filled basins, succeeded by
the extrusion of basic volcanics and by further
subs ide nce and t urb idite sedimentatio n. By
266 GEO LOG ICA L ST RUCTU RES A ND MOVING PLATES

Low er Ca mbrian times, both fa unal and pal aeo-
magnet ic evidence indicate an appreciable
se para tio n of Laure ntian, Ba ltic and southe rn
co ntine ntal masses, with an interve ning Ia pe-
tu s O cean . The nature of the so ut hern con-
tine ntal mass is unclea r. Th e Britis h pa rt,
termed t he Midlands platform , is usuall y re-
garded as the lateral eq uivale nt of the Ava lon-
ian te rra ne in the Appal achia ns. T he fa unas of
this continental mass show diffe re nces from
bot h Laurentia and Baltica, and Avalonia
probably represents a large island or series of
islands se parated from Baltica by oceanic
cr ust.
In a revised model, Dewey ( 1982) demo n-
str ates the importance of obliq ue plat e co nver-
gence d uring Ordovician and Silurian times , a
possibility explored ea rlie r by Phillips et at.
( 1976) . Dewey' s model involves a large dextral
strike-slip compo nent of relative mov em ent
along the British secto r o f the belt d uri ng t he
life of the subd uction zon es. Thi s relative
mo tion changed aft e r end-Silurian co llision to
a sinistral strike-slip regi me which produced
around 1000 km o f re lative moti o n along the
Ap pa lach ian- British sect o r of the belt.
Dewey and Shack leto n ( 1984) prese nt a
furt her revised tectonic mod el ( Figures 8.33 ,
8.34) in which the early C aledo nian e ve nt,
termed t he Grampian in Sco tland and Irel an d ,
the Finnmark ian in Sca ndina via, the Hum ber-
ian in Newfou nd land , and the Taconic in the

D.. .
CIIJ
....... , 5

rn:m 2
~--
--- 6

['2ZJ 3 D:JJ 7

~ 4

LAURENTIAN FORELAN D

.r .
..
~

Connema,a
NI *loun dll nd ~ AF
~ OF ;S~
AVllon iln Zonl

ql
F"lgun 8.33 Tect c mc 5ummilry map o f the British and Scandinavia n Caledonides and Nonhero A ppalachi ans, restored to
the pre-Mesozo ic fit of Bullard t l al. (1965) : 1, inrraCa mbrian 10 ea rly Ordovician sequence s in Gr amp ian zone ; 2.
O rdovician are terranes; 3, oceanic and arc terranes so uth of the suture ; 4, ophiolite co mplexes ; S, O rdovician·SiJurian
accretionary prisms; 6. G renville basement within the oroge n ; 7. Avalonian-Cadomian terrane on the south side of the
o rogen. BOI , Bay of Island s; LR . Lon g Range ; HB. Hare Bay oph iolite; M , Mings Bighl op hiolite ; B, Ben's Co ve
ophiolite ; RF, Reach Ieuk: DF, Dove r fault; CB, Cle..... Bay ophio lite; LN, loch Nafooe y faull zone ; BL, Ballantr ae
op hiolite ; PO , Port soy: SUF. Southern Up lands fault; fPS. Iapetus sUlure; U, Unst op hiolit<:; BA , Bergen ares; TR,
Trondheim. After Dewey and Shack jeton ( 1984).
 PHA N EROZ O IC O ROGEN IC HELTS : SO ME EXAMPL ES 267

,
--~-'"'-L-~
.;'jr--_._
_ .
"'''
A
""
LAt" Cetnbo' ian
•
Ii o
i! . . " ' ,,. "

tl1 ~

z"""
c
. . &-.r
•
_ Oceen i" cr.-'

<U>c;:;:'! ._
Conl......... 1 e ,,*
M:
La.. SoIur_
o !<MnU"

F1gur<e 8.34 (A ) Schemat ic N -S structural profile along line indicated in Figure 11.33. Mr, Moine mrcst: SBS, Sgurr Beag
slide ; f WS , Fon William slide; BA S, Ballachulish slide; 185 , (hay bound ary slide; G GF, G reet Gle n fault; H8FZ ,
Highland Boundar y fault zone; SUFZ , Southern Uplands faul! zone. From Dewey and Schackteto n (1984). ( B) Seque ntial
cartoo ns 10 illustrat e a tecton ic interpretation o f the Scandinavian Caledonides . From Hossack and Cooper (19116) . (C)
App roximately true-scale schematic sections illustrating a model for the evolution of the G rampian o rogeny. An o phiolite
is overthrust onto oceanic lithosphere at a fracture zone and thereafter progressively obd ucred onto the contine ntal rise and
shelf, prod ucing the 0 1- 2 de fo rmations in the Grampian Highlands (sections a- t-). Section (d) shows shortening and
thickening of the sedimentary pile. leading eventually to a reversal of subduction polarity (..). Fro m Dewey and Shackleto n
(1984)

Appa lachians of New York and New England,
is att ributed to the obd uction of a giant
op hiolite nappe, up to 15 km thick, generated
at a ridge-transform intersection in the Ordo-
vician Iape tus Ocea n. T his eve nt appears to
have been diachronous, taking plaee in pre-
L1a ndeilian times in Britain, before the end of
the L1andeilo period in Newfoundla nd, and in
mid-Ca radoc time in New York a nd New
England . In Newfoundland, progressive dia-
ehronous defor mation ca n be established ,
commencing at about 495 Ma BP in the south-
east, and e nding at 455 Ma BP in the northwest .
The obducted ophiolite complexes were
formed in early Ord ovician time a nd only a
short period elapsed before their obduction.
The earlier stages of this process would have
been submarine (Figure 8.34C). Emergence
would only have taken place whe n the stacked
crust reached thicknesses of c.30 km. During
268 GEOLOGICAL ST RUCTUR ES AND MOVING PLATES
the sa me pe riod, a volcanic arc, resting on an
oce anic fo undation, lay to the southeast of the
abdu cted portion of the ophio lite , and is
rep resented in numerous places along the be lt ,
includ ing th e Mid land Valley terrane of Britain
and t he Noi re Dame terrane in Newfoundland .
T he co llisio n of th is arc terrane with Laurenti a
may have ended the obduction. De wey and
Shackleton sugge st that t he co ntinue d co nver-
gent motion caused firstl y (i) the northwest-
ward s obducti on , then (ii) sou th-eastwa rds
subduction , for ming (he volcanic arc , then ( iii)
co llisio n of t he aTC with Laurentia , followed by
(iv) nor th wcstwa rds subduction in the mid-
Ordovic ian to prod uce the Sout hern Up lands
accret io nary pr ism. T he latte r, Llandeilian ,
e ve nt is held to explain the late 5-facing
str uct ures in the G rampian Highlands refe rred
to earlier , a nd is cor re lated with the upl ift of
that te rrane .
A fte r this dia chro nous orogenic phase , dur-
ing which co nverge nt moti on was obliq ue with
a dextr al strike -slip compone nt , the direction
o f plat e co nve rgence appea rs to have changed .
Evidence for large . sinist ral displacement s
have already been discussed , for exa mp le t he
160km sinist ral d isplace ment of Grampian
meta morphic zo nes alon g the G reat Glen
Fault. Dewe y and Shacklet on suggest th at a
tot al sinistral displace me nt o f 1800 km occur-
red be tween the Ca radocian and the early
Devon ian .
Ocea nic closure and co ntinental collision
appea r to have been dia chronous. Co llision of
Laure ntia and Ba ltica took place during the
Silurian period , and was followed by end-
Siluria n to mid -D evonian co llision of Avalonia
with the co nsol idated Lau rentian- Balt ic co n-
tinen t. Th e au thor s sugges t that it was the
latter collisio n event which ind uced the sinis-
tral st rike-slip motion between La ure ntia and
Baltica , and between Laurent ia a nd Ava lon ia.
Of the 1800 km st rike-slip d ispl acem ent be-
. tween Lau rentia and Avalonia, the y estimate
that 500 km may have been tak en up by
co nvergence across the nor th Ge rman - Polish
branch of the Caledo nides and th e rem aining
1300 km in the d isp lacem ent of Sca ndi navia
re lat ive to No rth A me rica (see Figure 8.33 ).
9 Orog eny in the Preca mbrian
As we have see n in the previous chapter , it be-
comes pro gressively more difficult to int erpret
the st ructure of o rogenic belts as we loo k
furt he r back in lime , beyo nd the period when
accurate continental reco nstructio ns can be
made fro m ocean ic palaeomagne tic da ta . Th is
d ifficulty is magnified in the Precambrian be-
cause of t he inherent inaccuracies of con -
tine ntal pa laeo magnet ic reco nstructio ns. and is
compounded by o ther problems. Th e familiar
stratigraphic certa inties co nveyed by accurate
palaeo ntolo gical dating in the Phanerozoic are
abse nt throughout much o f the Precambria n.
T he widely-used radiometric da ting meth ods
cann ot ye t give the same p recision in subd ivi-
d ing and corre lating stratigraphic sequences.
The na ture of the roc ks is different: much of
the Precambrian o utcrop consists of uplifted
deep-crustal material. ofte n highly-deformed
and meta morp hosed , whose original geometri-
cal relatio nships to adjo ining outcrops and
regions cannot be accuratel y reconstructed .
Pro bably the most importa nt prob lem, and
cer tainly the most stimulating one , in interpre-
ting Precambrian rocks is the uncertainty over
the extent to which present-da y processes can
be regarded as useful analogues in the Precam-
brian. Alth ough it is a fundamenta l tenet of
geo logy that ' the presen t is the key to the
past', we find d ifficu lty in unlocking so me of
the o lder doo rs!
Precambrian chronology
In this chapter we shalt discuss examples of
Precambrian o roge nesis from the fo ur main
periods of Precam brian time : the A rchaean ,
and the Early, Middle, and Late Proterozoic
(Table 9. 1). The basis of the stratigraphic sub-
d ivision of the Precamb rian is chrono logical:
arbitrary dat es are chose n to re present the
bounda ries betwee n the subdivisions, which
may corre spo nd to major stratigra phic break s
in so me areas but not in others. The size of the
time division s is much la rger than in the
269
T llblt 9.1 C hro no logical subd ivision of Ihe Precamb ri<l n.
Eo n Er a Ca nadian sche me M,
t.." Had rynian
1000
Pro terozoic Middle Hehk ian
1600
Ea rly A phebia n
2500
t.."
2900
A rchaea n Middle
3400
Ea rly
4000 ?
Phanerozo ic. Thus the major subdivisions ,
Proterozo ic a nd Archaean, have the status of
eons , like the Phanerozo ic, and the bounda ry
between them is at 2500 Ma BP. The subd ivi-
sions Late , Middle and Ear ly Proter ozoic are
in widespread use, altho ugh the time pla nes
marking the bound aries be tween the m are not
yet gene rally agreed . Tab le 9.1 sho ws the
system used in the Ca nad ian shield as an
example . Fur ther stratigraphic subd ivisio ns ar c
in use in seve ral d iffer ent co untries (sec H ar-
land et al., 1982) but a re no t intern atio nally
agreed.
Major oroge nies in the Phanerozoic occur at
intervals of the o rde r of 200 Ma , and last for
period s of the ord er of lOOMa. In the Pre-
cambrian , a series of 'o roge nic cycles ' have
been recognized (Sutto n, 1963) that a re much
lon ger than the Phaner ozoic o rogenie s. The
Archaean alone extends at least from 3800 Ma
Dr, the age of the oldest da ted co ntine ntal
rocks, to 2500 Ma - a pe riod lo nger than the
whole of Phane rozoic time . Within this period ,
it is not generally possible to recognize se pa-
rate widespread o roge nies such as the Ca le-
do nian o r the Hercynian .
Nor can we define o roge nic be lts in the
Archaean . A lthough local mobile be lts have
bee n recognized , such as the lim popo be lt of
southern Africa , bordered by more stable
zones, these are not com para ble in scale or in
inferred process to the Pha nerozoic orogen s.
270 GEOLOGICA L STRUCT URES A ND MOVI NG PLAT ES
9. 1 Plate movemen ts in (he Preca mbria n
The quest ion of what kind of plate tecton ic
process ope rated during the Precambrian (a nd
particularly during the Archaean) , is one tha t
has caused considerable debate among Pre-
ca mbrian geo logists since the plate tecto nic
theo ry was established. O pinion has ranged
wide ly. Alone ex tre me is the view he ld by
Baer (1977) and others tha t ' mod e rn ' plate
processes did not com me nce until the late
Precambrian . T his view is bas ed on the argu -
men t t hat in warme r. thinn er . early Precam-
bria n lit hos phere , eclogi te could not form in
the mafic ocea nic cru st , mak ing the ocea nic
lithosphere too buoyan t to subduct. Hea t loss
and tecto nic movements were concentrated in
the softer co ntine ntallithosphere . At the ot her
extre me is the position taken by Burke et al.
(1976) and Tarney and Windley (1977) for
example, who believe that the early Preca m-
brian plate tecton ic processes were essen tially
similar to those ope rating at presen t, and differ
o nly in thei r rate , in the size of the plates , and
in other relatively mino r respects.
Th e key to the problem lies in understand ing
Precambrian heat productio n and heat loss.
This problem is addressed by Bickle ( 1980)
who, fo llowing McKenzie and Weiss (1975),
points out that higher heat productio n during
the earlier histo ry of the Ea rth would lead to
mo re rapid movement of thinne r plates, whose
mo tio ns would be governed by smaller-scale
convective cells tha n those inferred fo r the
prese nt. .
Since the thickness of the ocea nic litho-
sphe re is governed by the supply of heat to the
base of the lithosphere , an increase in heat
supply will result in a thinn er lithosphere and
less e fficient operation of the plate creation-
subd uction processes. However this effect may
be offset by a faster rate of plate creation, and
by the subduction of younger, hott er oceanic
plate. Bickle points out that about 45% of the
prese nt heat loss throu gh the Ea rth's surface
arises from the plate crea tion-subduction pro-
cess . a nd that if this process ceased , average
thermal gradie nts in the continents would be
nea rly doubled . Our knowledge of Archaean
ther mal gradie nts is imperfect, but it is clear
from pressure - tem perature estimates in
Archaea n tower-cr ustal rocks that the rmal
gradients in the A rchaean continental crust
were not greatly diffe rent from today's values,
despite the much higher rate of heat produc-
tion . Pressure estimates from lower-crustal
gran ulite-facies gneisses, suc h as the Archaean
Scou rie gne isses of NW Scotland, indicate
crustal thicknesses of at least 30km and pos-
sibly 50 km, at the time of formation (see e.g.
Cartwright a nd Barnicoat, 1987). A marked
rise in geothe rmal grad ient would have re~
suited in the wholesale melti ng of the rocks at
such dept hs.
Bickle concludes that the prolific eruption of
vo lca nic rock s appea rs to be the on ly mechan-
ism capable of transpo rting sufficient heat , and
that a plate tectonic process is necessa ry for
recycling these volcanic rocks. Bickle 's thermal
model suggests a sixfold increase in the areal
rate of plate productio n in the late Archaea n,
compared with the present. A corresponding
increase in the overall rate of subduction is
requi red to keep the system in balance.
Many authors have no ted the high propor-
tio n of to na litic pluton ic intrusions in the
Archaean that are interpreted as melting pro-
ducts of subd ucted ocea nic crust, the dee p-
seated counte rpa rts of volcanic-arc andesites.
It is gene rally be lieved by Precambrian gee-
logists that a large proportio n of the present
con tinental crus t was created during the late
A rchaean (see e .g. Dewey and Windley,
1981). A de tailed study by Ta ylor et al. ( 1980)
of the Pb-isotop e composition of the Arc haea n
crato n of So uth G ree nland (see below) indi-
cates two ages of derivat ion for the mantle-
derived Pb in the igneous rocks: one at aro und
3000-2800 Ma BP and the o ther at c.3700 Ma.
The y found no evide nce in regions of younger
A rchaean crust of the material with olde r Pb,
suggesting that the grea te r part of the craton
was fo rmed, ra ther than rewo rked, in the late
A rchaean. Rb- Sr and Sm- Nd isotope studies
of Ea rly Proter ozoic terrains in Canada indi-
care that the bulk of the crust there was also
 OROG EN Y IN THE PRECAMBRIAN
fo rmed in the late Archaean period (Mc-
Culloch and wasserburg, 1978).
The opin ion of many Precambrian workers
seems to be in favour of a convective plate-
tectonic process in the ea rly Precambrian,
op erating at a much faste r rate tha n at pre sent ,
and that this process was respo nsible for the
creation of a substantial proportion of the con-
tinental crust d uring the approximately 500 Ma
pe riod of the late Arc haea n.
Th e way in which this plate tectonic process
opera led must have been rather different fro m
the mode l accepted for the Phanerozoic. One
of the most significant features of ea rly Pre-
camb rian mobile belt s is the absence of oph io-
lites and of low-te mperature , high-pressure
metamorph ic rocks , the accept ed indicators of
subd uctio n in mobile belts from the La te
Proterozo ic o nwards. T his was o ne of the
facto rs that led Bae r (1977) to reject subduc-
tion in the early Preca mbrian. Baer a rgues that
in a thinner , warmer lithosphe re, eclogite
cou ld not form, preventing the density inver-
sio n necessary to power the subd uction process
from taking place . A possible solution to the
A rchaea n subductio n problem is suggested by
A rndt (1983) and by Nisbet and Fowler (1983) ,
who point ou t that the A rchaean oceanic crust
may have bee n largely komatiit ic in composi-
tion, corre spo nding to that of the ultramafi c
ko matiitic basa lts found in Archaea n green-
t U An UII •
o~ "!!."!9"!IP'
..!.!"" _
f-
w.:- - - --I
."'"
Figure 9 . l Plo t showing the vena tio n in magnetic palaeolatitud e with lime for the Lauren tia n shield. No te the ab rupt
changes ('hairpins') al 1750, 1150 and 1(0) Ma Dr. Calc ulated for Winnipeg (5O"N, 97"S). Age uncerta inly of individ ua l
poin ts are in Ma . Fro m Irving and M~>(j ly nn (19M)
271
sto ne belts. An ocean ic crust of this co mposi-
tion, moving over an asthenosphe re that was
hotter , and consequently less den se and less
viscous than at present, would move late rally
more easily. When coo led, such a lithosphe re
could be denser than the asthenosphe re and be
read ily subdu ctible.
Proterozoic plate mo vements
Appa rent polar wande r paths have bee n con-
structed for the Prote rozoic of a ll the majo r
Precambrian shield reg ions. T hese arc regard-
ed as evide nce of co ntinental plate movem ent s
during this period . The polar wande r curves
exhibit a number of ' hairpin' be nds interpreted
as major collision orogenies resulting in ab rupt
changes in plate mo tion . Irving and McG lynn
(1981) discuss the Precambrian palaeom agne-
tic reco rd from No rth America (Laure ntia) and
conclude thai the data are not suffi ciently
se nsitive to de tect relative moveme nts within
the Lauren tian domain d uring the Archaea n
and Early Proterozoic, but that large lati-
tudi nal move me nts relative to the pole occur-
red with an average rate of 5-6 em/yea r. Three
loops and hairpins in the Early to Mid-
Proterozoic ap pare nt polar wande r pa th for
Lauren tia (Figure 9.l) arc identified with the
Hudsonian orogeny at c, 1750 Ma BP t the
Keween awan or ea rly Grenville extensional
"'" "'" - "'"
272 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTU RES AND MOVING PLATES
eve nt at c. 1150 Ma BP, and the ma in end -
G re nville co nve rge nt deformatio n a nd up lift
at c.950 Ma 8 f> (see 9.3) .
Pipe r ( 1982) believes tha t the polar wand er
path s for the var ious co ntinen tal blocks during
the Proterozoic are sufficie ntly similar to be
interpre ted in te rms o f a Prot erozo ic supe rco n-
tine nt (Fi gur e 9.12) . Howe ve r, it sho uld be
e mp has ized thai co nside rab le rela tive motion
may be concea led by th ese paths, an d that
there is still so me contro versy ove r this pro-
posa l.
Ne ver theless, we ma y co nclude tha t the pal-
aeo magne tic dat a for the Proterozoic sup porl
contine ntal pla te mov eme nts similar 10 those
of th e Pha ne rozoic . The re is con side rab le
controversy a bout t he possible e xiste nce of
collisional s utures in Precambrian mob ile belts.
We shall discuss so me o f the ev idence in the
examples 10 fo llow. On the o ne hand , there is
th e belief t hat most Prot e rozoic mobi le belts
are intraco ntine ntal with res pec t to a major
Proterozoic supe rco ntine nt, and tha t plate
boundary processes, if they exist, occur o nly
around the margins of the superco ntine nt.
O the rs believe that cryptic sutures are present
in man y supposed ly intracontine nta l bells but
are pa laeo magnet ica lly undet ectable. Th e evi-
de nce hinges at p resen t on the interpretation
of magmatic roc ks: wheth er or not they ca n be
interpreted as subd uction-de rived . We shall
d iscuss exa mp les of intracontinen tal belt s
where suc h roc ks are abse nt; in such cases a
co llisional model is difficult to substantiate.
T he impressio n ga ined is tha t intraplate co n-
tine ntal mobi lity was mor e widespread d uring
the Prot erozoic than d uring the Pha nerozoic,
and that this differe nce is to be exp lained by an
increase in contine ntal lithosphere strength in
late Precam bri an times.
In t he ir study of the evo lution of the co n-
tinen tal crust , Dewey and Windley (1981)
inte rpret t he Precambria n record as follows:
the Archaea n is a period of rapid crustal
growth ach ieved by the amalga mation of vol-
"canic arcs to form abo ut 85% of the presen t
co ntinental mass by 2500 Ma SP . Duri ng th e
Early Proterozoic , large crato ns were formed
by th e amalgamatio n of Archaean fragmen ts,
and grad ually stabilized, th icken ed and d iffer-
entia ted . Intern al mo vement belt s resulted
from marginal collisio ns. By Late Prot erozoic
time , modern accre tionary margins were in
existence .
9.2 Late Proterozoi c Pan-Africa n belts
Are as of Lat e Proterozo ic to ea rly Palaeozoic
tecto no-the rmal act ivity form a lar ge part of
the surface are a o f Gondwa nalan d ( Figure
9.2), part icu larly in A frica . Th ese tecto nicall y
active zo nes cannot be ter med orogen ic be lts,
since in many instances they do not form
clearly de fi ned linear features. Nor is the term
'o roge nic' necessarily app licable, since it im-
plies an analogy with Phan erozoic mountain
belts whose tectonic o rigins are clearly es ta bl-
ished . Many Precambrian geologists prefer the
term mobile bell or mobile zone fo r such
regions, and we shall follow this practice here .
Th e Pan-A frican system of mo bile cr ustal
zones co mp rises a reas of tec ton ic, magmatic
and metamorphic activity in the age ra nge
1000-450 Ma. These mobile zo nes sepa ra te
cratons that were tectonica lly stable d uring
th is period . such as the West Af rica n. Co ngo
and Kalahari crato ns o f Africa , Guya na -
Brazil in So uth Ame rica, and Pe ninsular Ind ia .
Palaeom agnet ic evidence ( Mcwilliams ,
1981) shows that Gondwanaland existed as a
supe rcontine nt o nly fro m latest Prec ambri an
or early Palaeozoic time un til its break-up in
the Mesozoic. Th e formatio n of Gondwana-
land is therefore a Pan -Africa n eve nt. Prior to
this event, the palaeomagnetic reco rd suggests
that two supercontine nts e xisted with markedl y
differe nt app aren t polar-wand er pat hs. O ne
comprises the Precambrian shield areas of
Africa and So uth Ame rica. and may be termed
West Go ndwana ; the o ther. East Gond wana ,
co mprises the Precambrian shie lds of Ind ia ,
Austral ia and A ntarctica . Th e two supe rco n-
tinen ts are presumed to have co llid ed along the
Pan -African Mozambiqu e belt that extends
along th e eas t coast o f Afr ica (figure 9 .2).
Other Pan-Afri can mobil e be lts may be inte r-
 OROG EN Y IN TH E PRI::CA M HRIAN
1,
pre ted as intracrat on ic or int racontinental .
such as t hc Dama ra - Zam besi be ll betwee n the
Congo and Kalahar i cratons. In th is case there
is no pa laeoma gnet ic evide nce for ocean clo-
su re . A th ird type o f Pan -African mo bile zone
is rep rese nted by th e large regio n o f tectono-
therma l activity co vering much of north ea stern
Africa from Morocco to Ethiopia and t he
neigh bo ur ing Ar ab ian shie ld. T his zo ne is
marginal to the We st Gondwana continent.
and co uld be analogou s, to some ext ent. to
the Co rdille ran o roge nic belt o f the western
Am ericas. Wc shall d iscuss three diffe rent Pa n-
Africa n domai ns to illust rat e t hese co nt rasting
tecto nic se ttings: the A rabian-Nubian shield ,
t he Mozambique belt , and the Da mara bell.
Pan-African history of the A rabian-Nubian
shield
T he Pan-African mobile zo ne of no rt heast
Af rica and Arabia is exposed in the ad joining
shield area s o f Nubia a nd Saudi A rabi a. A fter
closing t he Cenozo ic Red Sea rift , the zo ne is
abo ut llOOkm in width , a nd exte nds fro m the
nort hern end of the Red Sea to Et hiopia ,
where it is inte rrup ted b y younger rock s of the
African Rift syste m . To the south, it is co n-
tinuou s with the Mozamb ique belt .
Thc tectonic inte rp ret ation of the region is
273
~'i gu rt 9.2 Tecton ic summary map of
Gondwaoatnnd reconstructed acccrdrng
In Smith and Hallam (1970) , showing the
extent o r Pan-African mobile regions and
the Late Proterozo ic cratons . A , Arabian
crat on ; W, West African ; C , Gu yana n:
n, Brazilian; S, Sao Francisco ; C, Co ngo;
l , Indian; Y , Yilgarn ; N , Kimberley erc.;
G . SE A ustralian. M B. Mozambique
belt ; D B, Darnaran bell. The area with
' V' ornament is the Hejaz accretionary
arc province. The Palaeozoic orogenic
belt is shown in ruled o rnament . After
McW illiams ( 19KI) .
discu ssed by Ga ss ( 1981) , who points out that
tectonothermal activity ex te nde d fro m c. 1200
Ma unlit c.450 Ma Hr . fro m Mid-Pro terozoic to
Lower Palaeozoic lime s. This period of mobil-
iry thus spans a longer time th an the who le of
the Phanerozoic , altho ugh it is compar ab le
with the life of the Co rd illera n o roge nic be lt
of Nort h Am e rica , for example . T he Pan -
Af rican as o riginally de fined by Ke nnedy
( 1964) was restricted 10 the peri od 650-450 Ma
BP. G ass recog nizes t hree maj o r divisio ns
termed Lower, Middle and Upper Pan-A frican
respectively. although th ere is co nsiderable
ove rlap in the radiom etric age ranges o f rocks
assigned to t hese divisio ns (Figure 9.38 ).
Th e o ldest roc ks of the Lower Pan -A frica n
a rc metasedimen tary qu artzites tho ught to
represent a passive- ma rgin sedim ent ary wedge
fl anking the Archaean Nile craton (Fi gure
9.3A) . No ev ide nce of co ntine nta l basem e nt
o lde r than 1200 Ma BP has bee n found within
this Pan-A frican zo ne . The quartzites ar e
overla in by a thick seq uence (> 12 km) of
basalts and basaltic a nde site s with ocean ic
affinities , inte rcalated with greywackes. car-
bon at es and che rts. Th ese supr acrus tal rock s
we re invaded by basic plutons dated at
c.900 Ma BP.
In the Midd le Pan -A frican , the bulk of the
rocks of the region were formed ; 50 - 60% o f
274 GEOLOGICA L STII.UCTU RES AND MOVING PLA1'ES

Cairo
100
I li m it of Precambrian
Outcrops
v v v C&lcalkali ne Volcanics
=-=-.: Marble
- .. Ophiolite
Jlll!m Po ssibl e Suture Zone
1/// Generafized Str ike
Fau ll

v- v W Umn o f Calcalkali ne
Volc.nicslafter V.ill 98J )
25"N .....
f

f ....\ .

,
•• I I
"·E
Figun: 9.3 (A ) O utline tectonic map of NE.Africa and the related part of Arabia, allowing for the: CS timill cd displacement
on Ihc: Najd Iault. Note: Ihc: positions of postulated suture zones. From Sllacklc:lon (1986)
 OIWG f.N Y I N THE PRECAMBRIAN
fGYPT '~ EIl ~!.I.~_+-__ ~-.l • •
~- ----- -~. -~- - - ~-- - - ~- ---- - ----~­
SAUDI AflAllA
--~~-H-~---~---+~
dOll
figure 9.3 ( B) Schema tic represe ntatic n of the age ra nges of magmatic activity in NE Africa and Arabia , divided into
Lowe r. Middle :md Uppe r Pan-African an d post-Pan-A frica n periods. NOll' lha l activity is effectively continuous. From
Gass ( 1981)
these comprise pluton ic rocks of gabb roic to
gran itic composition. These invade supracrus-
tal volcanic rocks of andesitfc to rhyolitic
character. Stro mato litic limestones and cherts
a rc widespread, but form a relatively minor
component by volume of the supracrustal
assemblage. The overall picture obtained from
a very complex outcrop pattern is of a series of
e mergent volcanic arcs depositing material in
sha llow subsiding basins, some of which accu-
mulated more than 10km of material. The
volcanic rocks appea r 10 have become more
siliceous with time. T his supracrustal assem-
blage was deformed and invaded by a series of
syntectonic and post-tectonic dioritic to grano-
dioritic plutons. The latter range in age from
c.820 to c_660 Ma. The plutons often form
broad linear zones around 50 km wide, aligned
in a N-S to NE-SW direction. These zones
a re interpreted as the roots of volcanic island
arcs. Between the zones lie belts of mainly
supracrustal material in which a number of
ophiolite masses have been identified (Figure
9.3). Bells of ophiolite fragments are inter-
preted as pieces of ocea nic lithosphe re pre-
served along collision sutures (Shackleton ,
1986). The relationship of some of these linear
ophiolite zones to adjoining dated rocks sug-
gests at least three periods of emplacement,
and therefore collision, at c. lOOO Ma, 800 Ma
and 600Ma BP respectively.
The base of the Upper Pan-Af rican is mark -
ed by a regional unconformity at the base of a
series of unme tamorphosed and undeformed
275
- - lo_ Po"... h.<o"
---- M ocfdlo ._
.......... u_ ..
- _ POC\ _
-----1-----
-··ll··_·,.········_·····.···_··· - ++-- --+--
··_··.··H·_··
-++- 1+-+-.........-.... lit II t II
•••__·,·····..1+···..···1···..·-+···
.00 100
- ..............
&tio
- - - Wo- -
silicic volcanics and volcaniclastic sediments.
The basal units comprise fl uviatile to shallow-
water clastic sediments with intercala ted strom-
atolitic limestones. This supracrustal asse mbl-
age is intruded by calc-alkaline granite s and
granod iorites with ages in the range 650-
610 Ma. The geochemical characteristics of the
Uppe r Pan-African igneous rocks are also
indicative of a volcanic arc, but the lack of
metamorp hism and defor mation , except for
block faulting, suggests that this arc was
developed on continental crust.
T he end of the Pan-African, according to
Gass, is signalled by the cessation of calc-
alkaline magmatism (i.e. of subduction) and
the incoming of pera lkaline magmatism com-
me ncing about 600 Ma BP.
The above sequence of events is interp re ted
as evide nce of the grad ual and progressive
cratonization of northeast Africa by the succes-
sive building and subsequent accretion of
ocea nic volcanic arcs. Evidence for inte rvening
ocea nic material is present in the form of
ophiolite zones, which may represent either
cryptic sutures Or the remnants of obducted
sheets (Shackleton, 1986). According to
Shackleto n, in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, a
huge shee t of oph iolitic melange overlain by
calc-alkaline volcanic rocks has bee n thrust
over continental shelf deposits. T he thrust has
a gentle regional dip to the southeast, but is
refolded so as to form a number of separate
outcrops (Figure 9.4) over a distance of
350 km. A NW-SE elongation lineation
 ~
wsw ENE

0 "" ~-
~/¥
''''' '--
•
'oj

W1 0"N E 10" S c
Aow.. $0 1Ham ed
Granit. Ophiolite 5
,, g
R. Nil, W . HalmUf HllI.ib
<:3"0'.1.1,
Se_ level
32' e
IA ! ;;:e
..
,
Unconlormity
: 374 e
'--"-
~
c
..... . --- ft _ ... <:" .
~
....
I: : ::
.... c
~
'"
~

~
>
z
c
+-- Appr ox. 600 km W to
s
Arch al an of J . Uw.inat ~
ii
>:•
0CflltaceoUS fIIOP hiOlitiCme lange
a
"•••, Grani te
....
[ill I I Ophiolite

1:.:.:'.~ :.IH.mm.m.t Imola. se) ! : :!Schil tl. IImphibotillS. mvlonites

I·,,"!Calcelkalina Volcanics 1~ ;i;lp·r.gn.i"" o, 100 km

!

FI&u~ 9.4 Interpretat ive struct ural profiles across the Eas ter n Desert o f Egypl al 2fl"N (u ), and from weo! Haimur in EgypilO Sol Ha med in the Suda n
al around 2O"N (b). to show how Ihe ophiolite outcrops may he linked 10 form lhe regional gentl)' di pping sbeeu interpreted as IUIU Il: zones (see Ihe
three nor thwestern sheets of Figure 9.3A). From Shackleton (19RS)
 OROGE NY IN TH E I'RE CAMB RIAN
indicat es northwestward s t ranslat ion with a
minim um displacement of 100 km. T he shee t is
con sidered to re present a co llisio nal suture
tre nding NE - SW across t he Red Sea and
dippi ng so uth-eastwards.
Prese nt-day vo lcanic island arcs rar ely ex-
ceed 150 km in width with active magmatic
cor es less tha n 50 km across. If th e Pan-Africa n
a rc system were of similar dimensions, more
than ten coul d be acco mmodated within the
Nub ian-A rabian belt duri ng the 300 Ma o r so
o f subd uctio n-re late d magmatism , represen-
ling nume ro us subd uction zones probably
wide ly separate d in time and space .
T he prese nce of older co ntinental crust on
the e aste rn side o f the Pan-African belt , in
Sa ud i Ar ab ia (Stacey and Hedge. 1984) sug-
gcsts that a rc accretio n may have been finally
te rminat ed by co ntinent -continent collision,
pos sibly rep rese nti ng the northward co ntinua-
tion of the Moza mbique belt now to be
descri bed .
The Mo zambique belt
Th e Pan-A frican mo bile zone of the Arabian-
Nub ian shie ld is dir ectly along-strike of the
Moza mbiq ue belt , which. acco rdi ng 10 Shack-
leton (1977, 1978). is a d irect co ntinuation of
it. However, as Shac kleto n po ints out , the low-
grade met amorphic assemblages of island-arc
deri vation in the north are very different from
the high-grade metasedim ent s and gran ito id
gne isses of th e Mo zambique belt in East
A frica . Th is belt co ntains lar ge areas of o lder
co ntinen tal basement yield ing A rchaean to
Mid-P roterozoic ages a nd variably affected by
Pan-A frican deformat ion and metamorphism
with ages ranging from c. 950 to 550 Ma . In the
cen tral part o f th e Mozam biqu e belt in Kenya
and Ta nza nia, o nly Pan-African ages have
been obta ined, which suggests that olde r con -
nn en tal materi al her e may have been thoroughly
re wor ked and its geochro nological signat ure
obli tera ted .
T he wester n front of th e belt in the E .
Af rica n secto r lies alo ng the marg in of the
Tanzanian craton , whe re E- W Archaean stru c-
277
lu res are sharply tr uncated along a zone of
mylo nites several km wide (Figure 9 .5). East
of the mylon ite be lt, th ere is a tra nsition fro m
britt le 10 ductile deformatio n co rres ponding to
an increa se in metamor phic grade . T he eastern
limit of this zo ne of stro ng Pan -African defor-
matio n and metamorph ism is thought to lie
between mainland A frica and Madaga scar,
which co nta ins extensive Ar chaean and Mid-
Prote rozoi c doma ins. O n th e easte rn side o f
Mada gascar , prior to the Mesozoic brea k-up of
Gondwanaland , lay the ea rly Precambrian
shie ld of Penin sular Ind ia , which exhibits a
quite different pa laeo magnetic pola r-wander
path fro m Africa and is therefo re co nside red to
have collid ed with Africa d uring the Pa n-
African period of activi ty.
T he rock asse mblage in the Mozamb ique
bell in the E. African sector consists o f
granitoid gneisses with wides prea d and abun -
dan t intercalatio ns of metasediments. inclu-
ding qua rtzites, marb les and graphitic pe lites.
Th e qu artzites are more abundan t in the west,
whe reas marbles are co mmone r in the east.
Along the wester n fro nt , q uartzites rest un-
co nfo rmab ly on the A rchaea n base ment of the
Tanzan ian crato n. Shackle to n co nsiders that
the metasedim enta ry assemb lage as a whole
prob ably rep rese nts a con tine nta l shelf se-
quence with an o rigina l ea stwa rds facies
change fro m near -shor e sands to deeper -water
limestones, rest ing o n older granitoid base-
men t now transform ed to gneiss. II is a fam iliar
problem in P reca mbria n resea rch that the de-
tailed stratigraphic data necessary to subst an-
tiate this interpretation ca nnot be o btained.
There are thr ee zones within the be lt tha t
Shack leton identifies as poss ible ophio lite hor i-
zons, one of which can be traced for more than
150 km. Met avolcani c roc ks associated with
one o f these op hiolite bodi es yields a Pan-
A frican age of c.660 Ma .
Th e western half of th e E . African sector of
the belt is domi nated by E- o r NE -dipp ing
planar structures (my lonite fabri cs, foliations
and litho logical layeri ng) . Thi s st ruct ura l pack-
age is interpreted by Shac kleto n as a n imbri -
cat e stack of th rust slices of Ar chaean base-
Archae.n ....
I
MozambiQue Belt Mozambique Belt
'"
~
00

(Craton) I
Boundary
'to
ob'seure \. Bara ga i

..,1l1<
z >
Mylonites
+--+
~Oo.
:.0
Oph iolite
lone
,
<z
,,~
w oph iolite
lone
35· 15' E
I .
~ - -- - - ~ ~ ~. - ''"0'0 'E ~ : ".. B'
" '"" + ~
A I
I
. . . . ,~':':'~' " .' 0
','
0

Arch aean
r
--10!4- M ozambique Belt
s
r-
0
(Tanzan ia Crlton) I 0

Mylon ites
Thru st shelf sed im ents
!I Arch.68n
Imb rieallt l one of
shelf s&dimenls
Ophio lite s 0 1
Sakerr sul ure "
>
r-
• • ""
c•
. . . . . . ...',..,....
c C'
......... ...
......
................. .... ...............'1t%
. . . . ............... ... . ~
c
.... .
....................
• • • •• • • ••• • • •• • • • • • • 1
......
.....
.... .. .. .. .
•
~
>
z
,
0

~
I IShalf sediments
z0
,
[BGranite >
"
Prctereeclc ~
Mafic } Ophio lite
• Ultramafic
r::lShelf led ime ots
U including marbles

... .
I:: : :jGranite . granod iorite
} "',h.... oI 50 100 km
l I
l: -:: !K, vlrondia" metasedime nts

Figure '1.S Interpretative W_ E sections across the Mozarnhiquc belt showing the generally west-ve rging nappe structure. with ophiolite sheets . From
Shackleton (1986)
 O ROGE NY I N TH E PREC.... MBR I....N
rncn t and subordinate Proterozoic sed ime ntary
cove r, with t he o phiolite shee t represe nti ng a
high structur al level. If the o phio lite bel ts
represen t t he same shee t, ove rlying th e plat-
form cove r, this shee t must root in a suture
lying on the easte rn side o f the be lt (F igure
9 .5) . Elongat ion lineatio ns in th is zo ne are
co nsiste ntly NW-SE in trend . However, in
the ce nt ral pa rt o f the secto r. the linea tions are
N- S. Shackleton an d Ries (1984) interpre t th is
cha nge in trend as the res ult o f a later st rike-
slip relative move me nt betw ee n the two con -
tine nts after collision. They point in support to
t he lack of cor responde nce betw een the E- W-
t rend ing A rchae an greensto ne belts of the
Tanza nian cra to n, o n the west side of the belt ,
an d the N- S-trending high-grad e gneisses of
t he Mad agasca r A rchaean.
The Dumaran belt in Nam ibia
T he Pan-A frica n mob ile belt syste m in SW
Afri ca co nsists of two branc hes ( Figure 9 .2):
o ne pa rallel to t he coast o n the west side of th e
Co ngo and Kala har i cratons, the Gab on-Cape
belt , an d the o ther trend ing almost at right
angles to it and sepa ra ting the two cratons. T he
la tter belt is known as th e Damaran belt and
links with the Zambcsi belt further cast. T he
struct ure of the sou thwe stern end of the
Da ma ran bel l, representing the zo ne of inter-
sect ion of the two Pan -A frican bells, has bee n
studied by Cowa rd ( 1981) . Th e Da ma ra n belt
is oft en descri bed as an exa mple of an intra-
crato nic mo bile belt (see e. g. Shackleto n ,
1976) . T here is no evide nce of relat ive mo ve-
ment be tween the Congo and Kalah ari cratons,
within the limits of resol ution of the palaeo-
magnetic data . T he West Gondwana craton
(F igure 9.2) appears to have beh aved as a
cohe re nt unit bot h before and afte r the Pan -
Af rica n eve nt s. However, q uite large re lative
moveme nts (of pe rha ps up to 1000km ) co uld
not be de tec ted palaeom agnetically, and the
evidence leaves open the possibilit y eit he r o f
quite large intraco ntine ntal displace men ts, or
of the opening and subseque nt closure of a
small ocean basin.
279
A map of the Dam ara belt (F igure 9.6A)
is described by Hawkesworth et at. (1986).
Basement granites o f the Co ngo and Ka lahar i
cratons form respectively the north western and
southeastern margins o f the belt , which is
about 350 km across . Sma ll basem ent inliers
occur with in the belt as well. A large propor-
tion of the ou tcro p is made up of metased i-
me nts divided into two separate sequences.
T he olde r seque nce, the Nos lb Group , co m-
prises coa rse clastic deposits ove rlain by shelf
carbonates up to 4 km in th ickness. Po tassic
lavas an d assoc iated alkali ne plutons found
alo ng the northern mar gin ar e t ho ught to be
coe val with this G ro up. T he ove rlying se-
quen ce con sists of ca rbonates, qu artzites, peli-
tes a nd, locally, graphitic schists tha t reac h a
thickne ss of 16 km in the no rt h. Ca rbonates are
dom ina nt in the nort hwest, but biot ite-schists
rep resenti ng clastic deposits a re more abun-
dant in the so uthwest. T he latt er contain a
layer o f mafic vo lcanic rock , t he Match Less belt ,
tra ced for over 350 km , although only a few m
th ick.
T he centre of the belt is marked by a zo ne of
syntecto nic to post-tecton ic granitoid plutons
ra nging fro m diorites 10 gra nites and including
highly potassic varieties . The Dam aran sed i-
men ts were depo sited between 1000 and
750 Ma BP, an d most of the Damaran intr usions
were emplaced :n the peri od 570- 450 Ma BP
during the later part of the Pan-African time-
span. Widespread regional metamorphism
occu rred at the same tim e. Acco rding to
Coward (1981) , th e major phase of deforma-
tion in the belt , which pro duced the NE -SW
struct ural t ren d , predates the earliest gra nites
dat ed at 560-550 Ma. Later deformation in the
ce ntra l zone produced block-faulti ng an d a rch-
ing. However , along th e sou thwestern mar gin,
defo rma tion associated with SE-directed thrus-
ting co ntinued until abo ut 500 Ma OP . A later
suite of pos t-tectonic gra nites was emplaced
around 500-450 Ma OP.
Geoche mical stud ies of t he me tased ime nts
suggest that they co ntai n ve ry litt le new
material, but th at t he rocks of the bel t, both
sed ime nta ry and igneou s, mainly co nsist of
280 G EOLOGICA L STRUCT U RES A N D MOV ING Pl.AT FS

. . . ..
Select ed
rAltl amorphi<;
Iloq.a d l
1- S iollle
\ 11111:1 2 - SilUmo nite
3 -Analul ,
. "
\ '0"5
, ---
--
PORTO
ALEGRE
5

100 km
-, I ' . ~

-, ~~~P1:,:·::t.r \
o, .
50 100 km
,
::::;
' ,'
1 Pon 0 =~ a nd JOunq l r

A I Alr icon .
8 ,o.iliGlI(l r;:::!Sou.... I
'1<::1. , U:.:J n B

Figure 9.6 Str ucture of Ihe Da ma ra bell. (A ) Tecto nic; ske tch ind icating I ~ infe rr ed mo vement duecnoes rela ling 10 the
three main phases of de form at io n. N K. Na uklof l nappes; ."ii, Swakopmund; W. Windhoek ; A. area of inter fe rence structures
be tween F ilind F2 ; too thed lines , thrust zo nes. From Cow ard ( 198) . wit h pe rmissio n. ( 8) Simpl ified map o f the Da mar a -
Ribeira be ll, showi ng the diSiribu,ion o f basement. grani tic intrusions arid metasedimentary cover . and the arrangement of
met a mo r phic isog rads in the re gio n o f inte nect ion bel"....cc o the Dama ran a nd coastal be lls . F rom Hawkesworth ~I af.
( 1980 ). with permissio n.

rewo rked basemen t ma teria l. A possible ex-
ce ptio n is the mafic Matchle ss be lt, which has a
mid-ocean-ridge basalt chemistry. However,
the gran itoid intrusio ns display intrap late
rat her than subd uction-related magma tism.
The balance of the geoc hemical evidence is
the refo re in favo ur of an intraco ntinent al
origi n for the belt .
T he structural study by Coward (1981) ide n-
tifies three main region al moveme nt phases
from the structural histo ry (Figure 9.68): the
first involved sinist ral converge nce along the
nort hern arm of the Gabo n- Ca pe be lt. pro-
ducing overthrusting towards the so utheast
along the Sesfonte in thru..s t zo ne. This phase ,
according to Co ward, is not represented within
the Da mara be lt itself. Th e second ph ase
produced refolding o n N-S axes in the north-
ern arm , but in the Da mara belt is associated
with recumbent west-verging structures with an
ENE-WSW elongation lineation . The se struc-
tu res are interpreted by Coward as a tow-angle
shear zone with a movement sense sub-parallel
to the trend of the be lt. The most intense
deformation occurred along the central zone,
where the synkinematic granitoid int rusions
 OROGE NY IN THE PIlECAMBIlIAN 281
are concentra ted . T hese structures in turn are the Ea rt h, and Deamley (1966) believed tha t
defo rm ed by more upright folds, tr end ing the Grenville mobile be lts he ra lded the sta rt of
NE- SW to E NE - WSW, that ve rge no rth- a third major o rogenic cycle, f unda mentally
wes twards alon g the northe rn margin of the diffe rent fro m the preceding t wo, that was to
be lt . and so utheas twa rds alo ng the so uthe rn ex le nd into Phanerozoic time 10 include all
ma rgin. T he latt e r marg in is a major thrust subseque nt orogenies . H is belief was fou nded
zone car rying stro ngly-defo rmed Dam aran on the observatio n th at the Grenvi lle mobile
me tase dime nts onto the Kala ha ri craton. be lts were relat ivel y na rrow, regu lar , an d
Coward inte rprets the s tructura l paucm in linear, cutting across all pr evio us be lts , and
term s of an early NW -SE ob lique co nverge nce we re more a nalogous to t he Pha nerozoic be lts
alo ng the no rthern arm , follo wed by ortho- than to the mo bile zo nes of the preced ing
go nal conve rge nce ac ross the northern be lt. H ud sonia n cycle and of the Archaean.
coupled wit h diff erential strike-slip movemen ts La te r work, and the a pplicati on of plate
in the Dam ara n belt alon g a low-angle shea r tecto nic p rinciples , has tended to red uce t he
zon e para llel to th e tr end of the belt . Th e significance of the G renville ' revol utio n' and to
t hird pha se re pr esen ts o rthogona l conve rgence emphasize simila rities be tween pre -G renville
across the Damaran be lt. However , Hawk es- and post-G renville be lts . Thus there a rc Ea rly
wort h er al, ( 1986) cite evidence indicatin g that Prote rozoic be lts with strong similarities to
t he Damaran belt may be olde r than the so me of the Pan-Africa n zones described
G abon- Ca pe be lt. above .
The re seems to be no ge neral agree ment Th e Mid -Prot erozoic mobi le belt system of
co nce rning the plate-tec ton ic inte rpretati on of the North A tlant ic regio n comp rises three
t hese two belts. It has bee n sugges ted that the bra nches : one is the G renv ille bel t, sensu
Mat ch less ma fic be ll may re present a co lli- stricto, along [he south-easte rn margin of the
sio na l s ut ure . Howe ver the re is no evide nce for Ca nad ian shie ld; the second is th e Svcco no r-
subduction -re la ted magmati sm , and the o the r wegian bel t o f SW Swe de n and so uthern
ev ide nce is suggest ive more of an ex te nsiona l Norw ay ; and the third is the Ca rotinidian belt
rift environmen t, producing a high-tem pe ra- of E . Greenland ( Figure 9.7) . After resto ring
tu re belt . Subseq ue nt t ran spre ssionel and co n- the Mesozo ic ex te nsio n acros s t he North
ve rge nt mo vements along this thinned and Atlant ic, these three be lts form a co ntinuo us
th erma lly weakened zo ne co uld have been Y-sha pe d syste m intersecti ng in the region of
purely intracontinental, reflecting differential the British Isles. T he northern o r C arolinidian
movement s bet ween t he neighbouring crato ns. arm is poorly known a nd is interrupted by the
U ncertainties of thi s kind are co mmon in the Caled o nian belt . W e sha ll d iscuss o nly the
int erpretation of Precambrian mobi le be lts and Grenville an d Svecono rwegia n be lts , and the ir
illust rat e t hc problems caused by impe rfectio ns possib le interrelationships .
in the quality of the evide nce availab le 10 us.
Th e Grenv ille Province
9.3 T he Mid-Prot er ozoic Grenville-
The e xposed part o f the Nort h American
Sveecnorwegie n system
G renville be lt , in C anada a nd in th e Ad iron-
D uring th e Middl e Proterozoic period (1800 - dack Mounta ins of New York State in the
1000 Ma BP) , an ex te nsive network o f mobi le - no rt he ast USA , is known as th e G renville
belts was form ed in bot h Lau rasi a and Gond- Province (Fi gur e 9.8) . In C anad a, t his be lt
wanala nd . The 'G re nville o rogenic cycle' was exte nds for 1500 km alo ng strike, and is over
recognized by Sutt on (1963) as o ne of t he 600km in widt h. The date of t he G renville
ma jor s ub divisions in the tecto nic histo ry of 'orogeny' has traditio nally been regard ed as
282 GEOLOGI CAL STRUCTURES A ND MOVING PLATES

fig u~ 9.1 Location of the Mid-P ro -

terozoi c G renville -SVC:COllOrwcgia n o ro-
UPOSE D £="'1 ge nic belt syste m o f the No rt h Atlanti c
La regio n (do tted ornamen t). together with
oascUll(o r:-:--:l the late r non bcm and sou the rn Cale-
L:....:..J donide: belts.

c. 1000 MOl BP, a nd the Gre nville Pro vin ce was
affected by a majo r tectono-the rmal even t
a roun d this time . Most K-A r ages ra nge from
1100 M Ol to 8(X)MOl . signify ing slow uplift and
coo ling over a lo ng pe riod. However o lder
igneo us and tectonic e ve nts a lso affect the
Pro vince: in particular , a region al suite o f
intrusive plu tons with da tes ranging fro m
c. 1500 to c. 1400 Ma . A general description of
the Pro vince and a tecton ic interp retat ion are
prov ided by Baer ( 198 1) and Da vidso n ( 1985) .
The maj or par t of the Province appears to
co nsist of A rchaean and Ea rly Prote rozoic
basement th at can he tr aced into the Gre nville
be lt from the ad jo ining cra ton . T he distinctive
sed ime ntary asse mblage of th e La br ado r belt
(see 9.4 ), deformed about 180Q Ma BP in the
Hudson ian orogeny, can be recognized o ver a
distance of 400 km from the margin of the
G renville belt into t he inte rior. whe re it is pro-
gress ive ly deformed and d isrupted by Gren-
villian defor matio n ( Roach an d Duffel l, 1974).
Thi s de formation has p rod uced ove rt urne d
fo lds tre ndi ng sub-pa ra llel to the Gr enville
front. A second maj o r phase of deformatio n
produced N - $ to NNW- SSE· t rending folds in
a wide zone in the inte rior of the be ll .
Th e Archaean and Early Prot erozoic base-
men t of the Province is intruded by a major
suite of plutons co nsisting of anorthosites and
related rocks dated at 1500- 1400 Ma . T hese
bodies for m a wide be lt that e xtends from t he
Hopedale reg ion o f northern La brador to t he
Adiro ndack s (Figure 9.8A) . The belt th us cuts
oblique ly across th e G re nville Province . ex-
tend ing 400 km north o f the G renville fro nt at

Figun: 9.8 (A ~ Simplified tecto nic ma p of lhe G re nville be ll. Note the detnbunon of pre-G renville anon hcsue -mangerue
pluton s and of Prot erozoic su pracrustal reek s. Th e Early Pro tero zoic sedime nts of the Labrador be lt (sec Figure 9.15) can
be traced lo r a lon g distance inlo the Grenville belt. Th e princip af tccto nic zone s are : I, the Forelan d zone ; II, the G re nville
Iro nt zo ne, consi$ting dominantly of basement gnei$.<;CS uplifted in re lat ion to the forelan d ; III , the Ce nlral G neiss zone,
co nsisting of high -grad e gne iSSC$ with inte rfoldcd G renville Group met asedim ents, sub-div ided into the O nta rio (A ) and
Q uebec (8 ) sectors, which differ mainly in the orie nta tion of the st ruct ures ; IV, the Ce ntra l Mel ascdi menlary zone, which
co nta ins the mai n o utcrop of the G ren ville Supe rgrou p ; V, the Ce ntral Granulite terrain, characte rized by gra nulile-Iacie:;
gneisses and anorthosites; VA is the Adiro ndack sector ; VI, the Baie Comea u segment , whidt is similar to V bUI in
amphibo lite Iacies; V II , the Eas te rn G ren ville zone, which co nta ins simila r roc ks to V I bu t co nta ins in add ition lo w-grade
suprac rust al cover similar 10 th ai of the Nain pro vince 10 the eonb. (8 ) Struct ura l sketch sections across th e G re nville belt
(N W- SE) to illustrate the gene ral relatio nship between basem en t gneisses (wiggly o rna ment) , A rchaean metasedim ents
(g ree nsto ne belt facies) (close stipp le), and Proterozoic supracrustal cove r (dashed o rna ment). Silts and diapirs of the
enerthosue-mengerue suite are also shown. Alter Wynne-Edwards ( 1972).
 O ROG ENY I N TH E PRECAMBRI AN 283

Nova Scotia

. . ..
". D AnonlloS<le . Ma ~;le .

MOtllO", t e p Lutona

c
L2.J P<Olo'ozoic sUD'a eru s lal
rod s
0 11>0' tect ork: b~".,
I

auart Zo·loklsP. I~ >C

0 a_sse, (me.....' )
- " ". ~ Bouodar y w,th younge. co"", roc~ .

".
0 16 0 ~m
B
284 GE O LOG ICAL. ST RUCTURES AND MOVING PLATES
its no rthern end. Th e emplace ment of these
plu to ns is genera lly co nsidered to pre-date the
deposition o f the sedi me nts of the G ren ville
G ro up, altho ugh Bae r be lieves t hat later
mo bilizatio n of ce rtain plu to ns occ urred dur ing
the G ren villian deforma tio n . The weste rn
boundar y of the ano rthos ite belt co incides
with the Chibou gam au- Ga tineau lineament .
which ma rks a majo r cha nge in characte r of
t he basem ent gne isses. BaCT suggests thai a
ve rtica l displaceme nt o n this lineament pre-
dates the deposition of the Grenville Group
sedime nts th at occur on both sides of it.
T he metased ime nts co mpr ise a sequence o f
carbo na tes. q uartzites and petit es associated
with both felsic and ma fic volcanic roc ks. Th e
mar bles alo ne are at least l 5 km thick. Da tes
of 1300Ma and 1250 Ma on members of the
volca nic suite are he ld to give the depositio nal
age for the Group. T he nort hwestern margin of
the metasediment ou tcrop is mar ked by a line
of alkaline pluton s da ted at 1280 Ma, which is
interpr eted by Ba er as ev ide nce of a co ntine n-
tal rift grabe n, in which th e thick sed imentary
pile was deposited . Regional exte nsion is also
ind ica ted by the fo rm ation o f graben at Seal
Lake (a t c. 1300 Ma 81'). along the Kewee na-
wan rift (at c. l 130 Ma), in the Ga rda r Province
ofS . G reenland (a t1245- 1020 Ma) , and by the
occurre nce of dyke swa rms pa rallel to the
G re nville fron t (a t c. 12OQ Ma).
T he greater part o f the G renv ille Prov ince
has been affect ed by a high-grad e metamorph ic
event yielding uppe r-a mph ibo lite to gran ulite-
facies assemb lage s in sed iments and base ment
rocks. This event is d ated at c. 1150 Ma ee in
the southwes te rn part o f the Province . Bae r
no tes the co nce ntratio n of Rb - Sr whole-rock
da tes of aro und 1100 Ma in a cent ral zone of
st ro ng NE - SW de forma tio n , and suggest s th at
the re may be two main G renville tectonic
eve nts , o ne at c. l 100 Ma ee, and the second at
c. 950 Ma, re late d to the final uplift of the
Pro vince .
Major th ru st be lts occ ur along several sec-
to rs o f the Gre nville fr ont. In the nor th , in the
Seal Lake region , thrustin g is da ted at c.950
Ma ee. In the Cent ra l G ne iss bell (zo ne II of
Figure 9.8) , a series of sinuo us she ar zones
separating d istinct gneissose doma ins is de -
scribed by Da vidso n (1985). A majo r SE-
dipping shear zone also separates this doma in
from the adj oining Central Met ased ime ntary
belt (zone III ) . The minor str uctu res indicat e a
no rthwestward s sense of movement on these
zo nes, tentatively d ate d at c. l l 00 Ma ae. The
present crustal thickness of the Pro vince var ies
fro m a maximum of 50 km alo ng parts of the
front to between 30- 45 km elsew here . Th ese
data sugges t that tectonic th ickening by th rus-
ting in t he marginal zone is still preserv ed ,
whereas the high ly metamor phosed ce ntral
zo ne co rrespo nds to an up lifted seg ment of
o riginally thickened crus t, now mu ch reduced
in thickn ess.
Acco rding to Baer and Dav idso n, there is no
good evidence in t he exposed Grenvi lle belt for
oceanic closure in the form of a bd uct ed ophio -
lites or crypt ic sut ures; however , Windley
(1987) believes that there is ev ide nce fo r a
collisio nal sutu re wit hin the Ce nt ral Met a-
sedimen tary be ll. We sha ll co nsider the plat e
tecto nic implicat ions of t he Gre nville o rogen y
later , after d iscussing t he Svcco norwegian .
The S vecono rwegian belt
T he Mid-Pro terozoic Sveconorwegia n mobile
belt occupies the western half of so uthern
Sweden, and form s the Precambrian fore lan d
to the Ca ledonides in southern Norway. Mid -
Pro terozo ic dates in the Prec ambr ian base ment
gneisses within the Caledo nides e nab le the belt
to be traced northwards to link pres umably
with the Carolinides belt of E . G reenla nd
(F igure 9.7). This be lt, and t he associated
tecto no the rmal events, h as been co rrelated
with the G renville belt for many ye ars . Th e
maxi mum exposed width of the belt is about
600 km acro ss south Nor way a nd the northern
part of the Swed ish secto r, and is divided into
two parts by the Permian Oslo G raben . The
ma in Sveco norwegia n tecton othermal eve nt
(orogeny? ) is ge nerally assigned to the period
1200 - 900 Ma Bp.
A general description of th e Sveco norwegia n
 OROGEN Y IN T HE PRECAMBRIA N
bel t (Figure 9.9) is provided by Berthelsen
( 1980) . The easte rn boundary of the belt is
mar ked by a major shea r zone , term ed the
Protogine Zene , se parating the Eastern Seg-
ment of the be ll from the Svecokareliun (Ea rly
Prot er ozoic) crato n 10 the east. This shear zone
ext end s from Skene in the south to the Cale-
donian fron t, and is marked by a wide bell of
inten se defo rma tion, know n in Sweden as the
' centra l Swedi sh schistosity zone'. South of
La ke Vattc rn, and in the v armtand- Kop par-
berg secto r no rth of Lake Vancm . the zone is a
low-angle west-dipping thrust that, in the latt er
sector , carries c.1670 Ma-old late Svecoka rel-
ian granites eastwards on to post-Sveco karel-
ian se dimentary cover o n the eastern cra ton.
Berthelse n est imates a minimum d isplacement
of 50 km o n the th rust in ViirmlanJ . This th rust
cuts an earlier easterly-dippi ng shear zone
from Lak e Vanc m northwards.
.... P '01 01l1ne Zone
-,
,/
10 0 km
285
The rocks o f the easte rn segment consist
pre do minantly of gra nito id gne isses apparently
der ived mainly from Svecokarelian plutons,
and known as the Pregothi an gneisses. Occa-
sional sup racrustal remn an ts beco me more
freq uent to wards the west, a nd minor amphi-
bo lite bod ies of vario us ages are common.
K- Ar cooling ages record regio nal uplift of the
belt bet wee n 1050 and 950 Ma RP. Most of
the dcto rma tlon of the Pregoth ian gneisse s in
the Easte rn Seg ment is pro bably Sveco karclia n
in age (La rso n tt al. , 1986).
Th e Eastern Segm ent is separa ted from the
Median Segment by another major west-dip-
ping shea r zo ne te rmed the Mylonite Zone .
No rth of Lake Vanern, this zone also cuts an
earlier NE·dipp ing shea r zone (Figure 9.10) in
a similar mann er to the Pro togine zone to the
east. Th e rocks of the Median Segment consist
of Pregothlan basement gneisses similar to
FiR,urt 9. 9 Principa l tec to nic sub-div isions of the
ce ntr a l part of thc Sveconorwc gian mobile be lt in
SW Swede n a nd S . Norw ay. SVK, Svecokarclia n
( Ea rly Prot e rozoic) c ra to n; £ S , Eas tern segmen t :
MS, Med ia n segme nt: O. OSlfold - Marst ra n<l seg-
mcnt ; K, Koesberg ilnd 8 , Bam ble , se para ted part s
o f lhe Kongsbc rg -Ba mbl e seg me n t; WSP , Weste rn
sub-p ro vince . Th e import ant O Slfo ld -Mars tr a nd
segment is suppted ; the box shows thc Lysekit-
Mars rrand a rea o r Figure 9. J 1, di scussed in the ! Clt! .
Ho rizon ta l ruling , Del Iorrnarion; o bliq ue ruling.
yo u nge r cove r; la te Sveccno rwegian geanues shown
in hach ure d orna ment , A rte r Park et ul. ( 1987)
\
\
\
\
1
286 G EOLOGIC A l- STR UCl"URES AN D MOVI NG Pl,.ATE S

EA STER N

---

I
SEG ME N T I
LAKE VANE1N
• "
r1
l<1gu", 9.10 Simplified lecton;c map of the Ostfold , Median and Easte rn segments or the Svewnorwcgian belt in SE
No rway and adjo ining area s of Swede n. Note the paue m o f linear structures (do ts with Oil";) re-o riente d near the majo r
lo w-a ngle shea r zon es . The o utcrop of the D al fo rma tion is sho wn with de nse shadi ng. The post-tecton ic Bo hus-dddefj ord
granite is also shuwn. Afl cr Be rthelsen ( 191lO).

those of the Eastern Seg ment but more grano-
dio ritic in co mpos itio n , on ave rage. Th ese
rocks have yielded an Rb- Sr age o f c.1700 Ma .
In the western part of the zone , supracrustal
gneisses of the A mM- Kroppc fj .1i. 1I Gro up,
thou ght to be of Svecoka retia n age , occur to-
gethe r with a younger seq uence known as the
Oa1 G ro up , deposited abo ut l050Ma S P.
The Dal G ro up consists of weakly-meta-
mo rph osed sandsto nes, pelites and impure
carbo nates, with basic vo lcanic rocks, and rests
unconformably on the Pregothian and Amal
gneisses (Figure 9. 10). Both the Da l seq uence
and the under lying gneisses are involved in
stro ng Svecono rwegian defor mation , pa rticu-
larl y alo ng a thi rd majo r west-dipping shea r
zo ne known as the Dalsland Boundary Th rust.
T his th rust separates the Median from thc
Ostf old or Ostfold-Marstrand Segment , and
displaces o lder gneissose basement of the
Os tfo ld Segment over Dal rocks. T his major
displacement see n in the nort h appears to be
replaced southwards by a net wor k of shea r
zones . one o f which is the prominent Gota A /v
Zon~ th at runs through Gothenb urg (Figure
9.9).
Th e Ostfold Segme nt is dominated by
supracrusta l gneisses kno wn as the Stora Le -.
Marstr and formation. These rocks com prise
se mipelitic to psammitic metasediments and
 OROGENY IN TH E PRECAMR RIAN
mafic volcanic rocks, and are cut by a large
nu mbe r of intrusive bodi es of vario us ages and
compos itio ns. The older of these yield Sveco-
karetian ages of c. I7DO Ma that provide a
minimum age of deposition for the supracrustal
seq ue nce.
The structural histo ry of the No rwegian pa rt
of this complex segment is described by Hage-
skov (1980) , a nd of the Swedish part by Park et
at. ( 1987; see Ta ble 9.2). The magmatic rocks
are described by Samuelsso n and Ahiill ( 1985)
and A hiill and Daly (1985). The o lder calc-
alkali ne granitoid plu to ns of groups A and B
give Sveco karelian ages, and may be regarded
as pa rt of the basemen t to the Sveconorwegian
be lt. However , the group C intru sion s dated at
1420-1 220Ma rep resent an impo rtan t post-
Svecoka relian magmat ic suite, which has
e xperie nced o nly Sveconorwegia n tectono-
the rmal activity. The suite includes a regio nal
mafic dyke swarm that is recognized along the
west coast from the Oslo district to western
Oru st , including the Koster islands west of
Table 9.2 Simplified chro nology of the Lysekil-Marstra nd erea
Rocks and saructures
I. Deposition of Sim a Le-Marstrand sediments and
Z emplaceme nt o f conte mporaneous mafic volcanics
< 2. Emplacement of group A intrusions (mainly graniloid)
:;
~'"< 3 o I deform ation
§'" ••Emplacement of group B intrusions (ma inly granitoid )
~
>
5. 0 2 deformat ion
6. Emplaceme nt or group C intrusions (bimodal)
z; 7. 0 3 deformat ion
-e
. _ - ------------------- -- ----- - - _ ._------- - --- - - -- -- -- ? - - ? - - ., ----- - ., -------_.
:ii 8. Da deform ation
~
~ locally retrogressive
o
z
§ 9. D5 deformation
>
VI 10. Emplacement of group 0 Bchus gran ite
287
Stro mstad. The suite also includes alkaline
auge n granites of ma rke dly d iffere nt chemistry
to that of the preceding calc-alka line pluto ns.
Three main phases of Sveconorwcgian de-
formation a re recognized by Park et al., the
ea rliest of which is accompan ied by amph i-
bolite-facies metamo rphism dated a t c. l090
Ma, and the later by mainly gree nschist-facies.
The late Sveconorwegian structures arc cut by
the post-tectonic pera luminous Bo hus-
Iddefjo rd gra nite, da ted at 891 Ma.
The Sveconorwegian structures In the
Ostfol d-Marstrand belt (Figure 9.11) are re-
lated by Park et al. to movements o n seve ral
shear zones, including a major lo w-angle she ar
zone with an early NE- SW and a late r
NW- SE movement direction. The bel t is
bounded in the west by ano ther major N- $
shear zone, which is steep , with a sinistral,
strike-slip se nse of mo vemen t. Th is zone ex-
tends off the west coast of Sweden to co nnect
with the Oslo Fjo rd shear zo ne in so uthern
Norway (Figure 9.9). The Ostfold-Marstr and
(~e Figure 9.9). From Park ~I al. (19R7).
Age ,
Metamorphism M,
c. 1700
MI amphibolue-Iacies with
(weak?) migrnatiric vei ning
c. 1650
M2 arnpbibohee-Iacics with intense
regio nal migmatitic veining
~ 420­
,2."0
M3 amphibolne- Iacies 1090
probably lower grade, and
 28R G EO LOGICAL STRUCTU RES AN D MOVING PLATES
•• /- - ? - .....
,
r <,
.,.
Segment is interp reted as a deeper-leve l. more
ductile pari of the mobile belt whe re the
basement is more intensely reworked by the
Svecono rweglan deform ation than in the more
easter ly segments.
West of the Oslo Fjord shear zone lies the
Kongsberg-Bamble segment of south Norway
(Figure 9.9), interpreted by Berthelsen as a
western eq uivalent to the Os tfold segment.
However, the precise relationship be twee n the
two segments is obscured by the yo unger rocks
of the O slo graben, and by an unknown str ike-
slip displacement along the Oslo Fjord shea r
zone . The Ko ngsberg-Bamble segment is sepa-
rated from the Western Subprovince by yet
ano ther major shea r zone , the Kristiansand-
Bang shea r zone (Hageskov, 1980). Thi s zone
d ips to the east beneath the Kongsbe rg-.
Bamb le segment. The Western Subp rovince
contains large num bers of pluton ic igneous
rocks including charnockit es, monzo nites and
, anorthosites , in addition to granites and gra n-
od iorites. Most of these intrusions appear to
have been emplaced between 1200 and 850 Ma
--- ........
~,
,
-, r
\ J
,.,
fil:,ur t ' .11 lntc rpretanv e structu ral
profiles across the L~sekil - Marst rand
area (see Figure 9.9). 52 and the
e mplacement of the A, B and C
gra nites are prc-Svecon c rwegia n in
age. The Svcconorwcgian structures
0 3 and D4 are related 10 movemen ts
o n major lo w-angle shear zones and
D slee p tr ansfer wnes. Fro m Park el a/.
(19&7 )
BP, alt hou gh o lde r Sveco karelia n ages have
also been o bt ained (see review by De maiffe
and Michot , 1985) .
In western Ro galand , two major Sveconor-
wegian deformatio ns arc recognized (F alkum
and Pede rsen , 1979) dat ed et c. l l00 Ma and
c.l 000 Ma respectively. Th ese produce large-
scale west-verg ing nappes with a N- S tre nd.
Magmatic episodes preceded , separated and
follo wed these deform atio ns. Th e re gio nal
metamorphism is characteri stica lly high-tem-
per at ure granulite- to amphibolite- facies in
this wester n sub-pro vince.
Th e Telemark supracrusta l sequence in the
easte rn pa rt of the sub-province, co nsisting
predomi nantly of qu artzites and metavolcanic
rock s, probab ly deposited between 1225 and
l000Ma BP, may re prese nt the lateral equi -
valent o f the Da l Fo rm ation of the medi an
segment to the east.
Despite t he fact that the Svecono rwegian
mo bile belt is comparatively well known , the re
are majo r d ifficulties in explaining it in terms of
plate tectonic models. Th e wide zone of calc-
 OROGENY IN T H E PRECAMBRIAN
alka line plutons mak ing up the baseme nt of the
ea stern segments is ge nerally considered to
re p resen t an e asterly-dipp ing subduction zon e ,
o r seri es of zo nes (see Ber thel sen , 1980) , which
is a westwards con tinuatio n of the Svecokarel-
ian magmatic arc. There is no ev idence of any
pre-Svecok arelian baseme nt within t he Sve-
co no rwegian be ll , which is probably co mposed
of a succession o f Sveco karelian volca nic arcs
si tuated alo ng the Sveco ka relian contine ntal
margin . Th e po st-Sve cokarelian histor y of the
region co mmences with extensional rifling
associa ted with the emplace ment of dyke
swa rms and alkali-granites in t he period 1420-
1220Ma BP in SW Sweden and SE Norwa y.
During th is period , the Telemark shelf se-
q uen ce was de posited in SE Norway and,
possi bly later , the Da l deposits were for med in
Sweden in an ex te nsional basin.
T he ma in Sveconorwegian deforma tion in
th e pe riod 1100 -1 000 Ma BP represents, acco r-
din g to Berthelsen , a co llision be tween the
We stern Subprovince and the easte rn seg-
ments. T he structural evidence from SW Swe-
de n sugges ts that th e conve rge nt movements
invo lved an ear lier northeastwards movemen t
o n a low-angle s hear zone and on a related
stee p NE-SW tr an sfer zo ne, followed by later
so ut h-eastwa rds or eas twards movem ents
on th e zones furt her eas t ( Pa rk et 01., 1987).
In Norway, the so utheastwards movement s
ap pe ar to be domina nt (Fig ure 9.10).
Plate-tecton ic interpretation of the G renville-
Sveconorwegian system
T he pala eo magn etic evidence sugges ts that the
maj or Early Pro tero zoic shield regions may
h ave fo rme d a single supercontinent at the
co mme nce me nt of Mid-P rot erozoic time
(Piper , 1982) . On Piper's reco nstructio n
(Figure 9.12A), the G renville an d Sveconor-
wegian be lts a re sub-paralle l, and for m th e
so ut he rn margin of the supe rco ntinent . An
impo rta nt rifti ng phase is reflected in magmat-
ism and in th e form ation of ex tensiona l sedi-
ment ary-volcanic basins both in the Grenville
Provi nce a nd in the Ostfold -Marst rand seg -
289
menl of the Sveconorwegian belt. T his phase
may be re lated to a region al rifting th at
resu lted in the bre ak- up of the eastern end of
the supercontinent ( Figure 9.12B), and its sub-
seque nt rotation between 1200 and 1000 Ma
SP ( Pa tchett el 01., 1978; Stearn and Piper,
1984). Subsequent closure of the interven ing
oceanic region wo uld have resulted in collision
alo ng the Grenville sector, and conve rgence
<across the major she ar-zone boundaries in the
Sveconorwegian belt (Figure 9. 12C) .
The Western Subp rovin ce in S. No rway,
with its apparen tly mant le-derived Sveco no r-
wegian magmat ic rocks (see Dem aiffe an d
Micho t, 1985), re presen ts t he no rthern pan of
a hypo thet ical con tine ntal wedge thai is inter-
posed between the Gren ville and Swedi sh
sectors at the time o f co llision . The relation-
ships between the basem ent rocks in the re-
ma inder of the wedge have been obl itera ted by
subseque nt orogenies. However, the shape of
the wedge is de termined by palaeo magnetic
co nst raints assuming a co ntinuo us con tine ntal
area between the IwO sectors at the time of
co llisio n, inte rpreted . as the end-G renvillian
deformation . The geome try of th e wedge
necessita tes obliqu e dextr al conve rge nce along
the Grenville be lt and sinistral con vergence
along the Svcconorwegian be lt (Fig ure 9.12C).
The late sinistr al co nvergen ce in the Sveconor-
weg ian secto r may have followed an earlier
p hase o f co nverge nce with a mo re easterly o r
nort heasterl y direction. Thi s event may be
re lated to the init ial co llisio n with the West ern
Subprovince (Figure 9.12B) . Th e c. 1l50 Ma-
o ld defor mation in the Grenville bell may also
be attributab le to an early phase of o rthogonal
conve rgen ce, possib ly involving a western ex-
ten sion of the same continental block .
9.4 Early Proterozoic belts of the North
Atlantic regi on
Mobil e belt s or zon es of Ea rly Proterozoic age
form the largest pro po rtion of the Pre cambrian
surface a rea of the North At lantic region , an d
surround several A rchaean cratons, o f which
th e lar gest is the Superior Province of the
290 GEO LOGICAL ST RUCI"URES AND MO VING PLATES

,, •
•
•,
•• AN T A RCT ICA
NORTH
A I.IERICA

-~~._ -
..-
MO Bil E BEL I S

Wih]
o Ea . ly-Protef Ozoic

30 0N

e. 1200Ma
dY ~ . , ,,,a, ml.

D yo .... g• • 0'_ ' '.t

l2E] uuS-P r ot er Ol o ic 0'011. ... ~
.". /
\~':.:;;.;
O Olda. Cfll ona

....g un 9.12 (A ) Palaeomagnetic reconstruct ion of the continents in the Proterozoic (the Proterozoic 'super-contiaent"]
based on Piper ( 1976). A US, Australia ; IN , India ; EU. Europe. Note the ~il ion and exte nt o f Earl y Proterozoic mobile
belts in Nort h America and Europe (H , Hudson ian; N. Nags., ugloq idian; K. Ketilidian; SV. Svecoka relian) and the
position or the Grenville -Sveconorwegian belt alo ng the margin of the supe r-cc nnne nt. (8 . C) Schemali<: mode l based on
the palaeom agnetic resto ratio ns (see Stea m a nd Piper. 1984) of North A merica-Europe be fore a nd afte r the I(KX) Ma-cld
end-G renville event, interpreted es a collisional o rogeny. Note Ihat the com mencement o f ecratioe of Europe retauve to
North America is related 10 Ihe regional extensio nal eve nt al c. l200 Ma, and that early Sveconorwegian movements (and
perhaps Grenyillian al<.o) are attributed 10 cclfisicn o f a micropt ate at c.1100 Ma, prior to the main collision event . Note
abo Ihe difference in conve rgence direction beth betwee n the (Wit events, and. in the late r event, betwee n Ihe sinistral
component along the Sveconorwegia n suture and the dexlral component along the G renyille suture .

Ca nadian shield . O ther important Archaean
cratons are the Slave craton in northwest
Ca nada, the North Atlantic craton of S. Gre en-
land , and the Kola craton of northern Finland
and the USSR. The mobile zones that sur-
round these cratons are very much wider than
the Grenville or Sveconorwegian belts or , for
example, the Caledonide belts of the Phanero-
zoic, but are not dissimilar in some respects to
certain of the Pan-African zones, or to the
Cenozoic bell of Central Asia. The Svecokarel-
ian of Scandinavia and the Hudsonian of the
Canadian shield both occupy zones abou t
1000km across. These mobile zones differ
 OROGEN Y I N TH E
fundamen tally in characte r from o ne part to
another, both along and across strike . Gene ral-
izatio ns made abou t Ea rly Prot erozo ic tectonic
regimes, part icularly in contrast with A rchaea n
and Mid- Pro terozoic regimes, a re ofte n base d
on one o r two par ticular exa mples, whereas the
ne twork as a who le should ideally be viewed in
its e nti rety.
We shall discuss briefly two parts of this
comp lex network: the Labr ador be lt, which
forms pa n o f the Hudsonian regime of
Ca nada; and the Lewisian-Nagssugtoqldian
belt of Scotla nd and S. G reenland.
P R ECAM8 l{I A ~ 291
9. 14). The southern sector deve loped into an
ocean that subsequently closed , whereas the
If -shaped no rthern pa n of the syste m formed
intra-cont inental rift basins by crus tal thinning
and stretch ing. This nor the rn belt was subse-
quently defo rmed by shorte ning, which rc-
.... :
1

The Labrador belt

This belt fo rms pa rt of the circum-Supe rio r belt
of the Canadian shie ld (Figure 9.13) sum-
ma rized by Ba raga r and Scoates (1981). They ........".',
believe that this belt evo lved from an an nular
rift surrounding the Superior crato n (Figur e
2

Figure 9. 13 Arra nxemenl of Ea rly Proterozoic mob ile

be lts and A rchaea n crato ns in No rth Am erica-G reen land .
The circum-Superior be ll co nsists o f the Southern province
in the south and lhe Ch urchill pro vince in the nort h and
no rthe as t Within the latter province are the nar rower
sup racrus tal belts of the Belcher islands (88 ). Cape Smilh
(e S8 ) and Labrado r (L 8) be lls. Th e Labra do r sector of
the Churchill province (see Figure 9.15) is bo unde d on its
northeast side by the North Atla ntic craton ( NA C) _ see
Figure 9.23.
Figu re 9. 14 Interp retation o f the circu m-Supe rior belt
(see Figure 9.13) in terms of an initia l annu lar extensio na l
zone created by southward movemen t of a cont inent al
pla te (2) Iollowed by co llision and co mpressio n (or
tran spression . as appropriate ) as plate movement was
reverse d. Th e eve nts relating to the SE side of the cra to n
are speculative becau se of ove rp rinting in the Gr en ville
belt. Fro m Baragar and Scoates ( 1981)
292 GEOLOGICA L STRUcrU RES AN D MOVING PLATF.5
suited fro m the convergence accompan ying
oce anic closure along the southe rn secto r. A
simple open ing and closing model along these
lines wou ld sa tisfy the palaeomagneti c da ta,
which preclude any large relat ive displa ce-
ments be twee n the Slave. Supe r ior a nd North
Atlantic crato ns. The simple geom etry of the
system demands that bot h dive rgent and con-
verge nt mo vements sho uld be ob lique (trans-
tensional then t ran sp ress iona l) along the
no rtheaste rn a nd west ern sec tors respectivel y,
hut more orthogonal on the no rthwestern
sec to r.
T he L abrador belt . form ing the north-
ea ste rn sector of th is syste m , is s imilar in man y
respects to the C ape Smith a nd Be lche r belts
o n the no rth-weste rn side of the Supe rior
crato n (Figure 9.13). It consists of a weste rn
supracrustal zone (Figure 9.15) , often term ed
the Labrado r ' geosyncline' or ' trough' , about
100 km across, with a much wider zone of
mod ified Archaea n basement rocks o n its
nort hea stern side : T he belt is bound ed to the
so uthwest by the Supe rior crato n, and to the
no rthea st by the East Nain Province (part of
the N. Atlantic crato n -see Figure 9. 13). The
Lab rador trough has been inten sively stud ied,
and is described by Dimrot h (1981). To the
sout heast . the belt is truncated by the Gren-
ville belt (see abo ve) and to the northwest it
ben ds round into the Cape Smith be ll.
The supracrustal rocks of the Lab rador
trough consist of a thick seque nce of sed iments
a nd volcanic rocks. The earliest deposits rest
o n A rchaea n baseme nt of the margins of the
supracrustal belt, and co nsist of about l500 m
of coarse arkosic red beds. These are overlain
by shelf deposits of orthoqua rtzite. dolom ite
and iro n-for matio n, reaching a maximum thick-
ness in the west of about 1500 m also. The she lf
deposits are par tly e roded and uncon formab ly
over lain in the central pa rt of the tro ugh by
locally-derived conglomeratic mass-flow de-
posits a nd greywackes. These a re succeeded by
voluminous basaltic and andesitic lavas mo re
than 5 km thick. Most of the clastic sed iments
appear to have be en derived from the fore land,
and the greywackes are compo sitionally dis-
tinct from the typical synoro genic fl ysch of the
Alps and other Phanerozoic orogenic belts.
The western margin of the belt is defined by
a zone of imbricate th rust sheets dipping to the
east. Those detach o n a low-angle deco llem ent
plane as in the classical thin-skinned thrust
model. East of the thrust belt is a zo ne of tight
10 isoclinal fo lds overturned to the west. Fold
axes generally trend NNW and are associated
with a strong foliation. Seve ral gene ration s of
fo lds with associated foliat ions are superim-
posed on the large-scale overfold s in the more
complex eas tern zone. Accordi ng to Dimrot h,
the structural patte rn is st rongly influe nced by
ea rly syn-sedimentary growt h fau lts defining a
series of blocks, some of which have subse-
quent ly become overt hrust.
The overall structure is illustrated in Figure
9. 16. It is clea rly asymmetric with a westerly
vergence . The meta morphic grade increases
from pumpellyite-prebnite in the west to
amphibolite in the east. Th e metamo rphism is
believed to be caused by de ep burial unde r a
moder ate geothe rmal gradient. Metamorphism
was syntectonic in the west but syn- to post-
tectonic in the eas t.
The age of the trough deposits is not accu-
rately known, but must post-date the 2700 Ma-
old Archaea n basement. The main de forma -
tion and me tamorphism have bee n dated at
1800-1600 Ma. mostly by the K-Ar me thod ;
however the data are poorly constrained a nd
their significance unclear . The neighbouring
Cape Smith volcanic rocks have yielded a n
Rb -Sr date of 2300 Ma , which probably
represent s the date of formation of the supra-
crustal sequence in both areas .
Dimroth emphasizes that the mafic volcanic
seq uence is not an op hiolite complex bu t bears
more similarity to plate au basalts of submarine
origin. Mo reo ver , none of the units is alloch-
tho nous: the thrusts are not continuous over
long distances, and basement inliers can be
recognized in the interior of the be ll. The
shortening of abou t 100 km estimated from the
exposed structure is attributed by Dimroth to
A-subdu ction, in which an eastern lithosphere
slab is detached from the crust and dips be low
 OROG EN Y IN THE PRECAMB RIAN 293

o ..
"
..
" ,
M it u
o ta
"Kilo...e t,..

··· . ..
·· ..
·· ..
··""... ....
" ' ':-
' ' ' ~~W'
. . . ..
" ,

\\ "
,..
~
t •
..
\', '....: .
.'.' ..' .
.' ,
"

.'
., ,

".
-~
"",.nI, pi lo... " b" ool'

"' ......... mau•..,. bo ""I1 "'" gOb""

S...""nl itNI••
.,
'" ,
•

ee-

-BlII " "'o_ mel;""1 _ .......hO..

Poo l -tf\od oo",a n O"oni l .

,
..
CJ ' Arc"n"n

0 . "'....."'_.,"".."
.,' .... d.u ..n
\'i.'\4
.\
0 SUIi.... n ....' , och \~
...
.-!---< S ""'o<ophiC o-e:t_
\,\ ...
... ... •r ... ...
Figure 'U S Simplified geological map of the central part or the Labrado r belt . From Dimrot h (1981)
294 GEOl.OG ICA.L ST RUcrURES AND MOV I NG PLATES
La er Proterozoic cover
D allt"1I
~ YOlea"i<;s
D ,halM
• dolomilt.s, q .... m'l. and ironst one
9t._~_~
f<'il:ure 9. 16 Diagrar nrn anc tect onic !"rofile across Ihe Lab rador he ll (see Figure 9.15) 10 illustrate the asymmetric
arrangemen t o r SW -ve rging thrusts and folds. Afle r Dim roth ( 19M 1).
the weste rn craton. He thus visualizes the '
crustal sho rte ning be ing transferred to the base
of th e crust by the thrusting and then taken up
by overlapping of th e man tle lit hosphere .
Seve ral quest ions are posed by this interpr eta-
lion ; the ori gin of th e wide belt of reworked
basem ent a nd Hud so nian granites in the eas t is
not acco unted for . no r doe s the mode l explain
th e ea rly stretching phase in which the basin
was formed . Th er e seems no reaso n to suppose
th at th e origin of this belt is any differ ent from
th at o f other intra -con tine ntal belts, such as the
Damara belt already described , where ea rly
divergen ce a nd crusta l th inning is followed by
co nve rgent shorte ning. How the mantle part o f
th e lithosph er e acco mmodates to such move -
ments is as yet speculative . If t he mod el
sugges ted by Baragar and Scoates is correc t.
we might ex pect the co nvergen t deform atio n
in the be lt to be achieved by dextral trans-
pression .
The Lewisian -Nagssugtocidian system : the
western Nagssugtooidian
Th e Nagssugtoqidian mobile be lt of S. G ree n-
land mar ks th e northern bou nda ry of the North
A tlantic cra to n (Figure 9.17A). On the west
coast . the belt is ove r 300 km in width. A major
sinistral shea r zone separates it from the
Rink ia n mo bile belt , o f probably similar age ,
to the north, but the relat ionship betwee n the
two belts is not yet understood . O n the east
..,
__::3,,o Itm
coast. the bell is 240 km acros s and is bou nded
to the north by an A rchae an block. A general
descrip tion o f the be ll is given by Escher et at.
and Brid gwater ( 1976), and in a series of
papers ed ited by Ko rstgard (1979). The belt
cons ists pre dominant ly of re-worked Archaean
basement gneisses with interl ayered and in-
folded belts of suprac rustal metased iments and
me tavolcanic rock s (Fig ure 9. 178).
T he sup racrustal rocks are d ivided into an
ea rlier Archaean group . consisting of pelltes.
impu re marb les. and q ua rtzites. and are asso-
ciated with amphibolites of probable igneous
origin. Younger supracrustal rocks tha t post -
date the Archaean met amorph ism occur o nly
in isolated outcrops. mainly in th e nor thern
part of the be lt. Th ese consist of pelitic schists,
q uar tzites, ma rbles and a mphibolites. Th e
qu artzites preserve current bedd ing, and the
metasedimen ts as a who le exhibit a lo wer
degree of meta mor phism than the base ment
gneisses. O nly a few small gra nitic intrusions
occu r, which post-da te the main Nagssugtoqi-
dian deformation. Pegmatites, on the ot her
hand , arc ab unda nt. In th e so uthern part of the
belt . a region al swa rm of met adole rite dykes ,
the Kangamiut dykes, intru des the A rchaean
crato n; these dykes are prog ressively deform ed
and met amorphosed with in the Nagssugtoql -
dian be ll.
T he Nagssug toqidian deformation has p ro-
duced seve ral broad , NE - SW, steep shea r
zones sepa rated by areas of wea ker dcform a-
 OROG El" Y IN THl:': PRECAMBRIAN 295
55 '
0, 50
, lqo 'm
69 '
N ag ssug t OQ id ia n E2l Archaean

WI OS'

-""
g ' an ile th rust
/'
~ QUlI 'U · d i orft$
~ Wi. I ·,lip I. u l1
su pracr u5tal roCk,

gn a'",,' i nland ice

Ncrcr e
$ tr!Smfjo,d

Holsteinsbor

A
•
Figu re 'J. 17 Th e Ea rly Pro te rozo ic Nagssugroqidia n mob ile bell of G ree nland . (A) Regio nal summ ary Sk': ICh [pre-
Meso zoic res to rat ion) of the Nagssugtoqidia n-Lc wisia n be ll situated o n the no rt he rn margin of the Archae a n North
A tlantic 1;,3 100. Th e coeva l Kelilidian bell lies o n the south side of the cra to n. A rro ws de note inferred movemen t
direc tio ns o f the: CI ;LI00 in relat io n 10 the mo bile belt infe rred from shea r zones. A fte r Watt e rson ( I97R). (8) Tectonic
sum ma ry map of the Nagssugtoqidian belt of SW G ree nland sho wing str uctu ral tre nds a nd di stribution of main rock Ullil' .
Note the Ihru SlS 111 and nea r the bo undary "' ilh the A rc haea n cra to n in me SO Ulh.

tion. Figure 9.18 is a map of the Nordre
Stre rnfjord shear zone, south of Agte . which is
a 16 km-wide zone with a sinistral strike-slip
sense of movement. Near the southe rn margin
of the belt . between Itivdleq and Holsteins-
borg, two main phases of Nagssugtoqidian
deformation ean be distinguished : the earlier.
termed Nag I by the Gree nland geologists.
produces dextral strike-slip movements on the
stee p E- W ltivdlcq shear zone. and pre-dates
the e mplacement of Kangarmut dykes. T he
later N ag 2 phase is a regionally more impor-
tant and pervasive deformation that results in
overthrusting to the southeast. Detailed stu-
dies of the structure of this critical marginal
region of the belt have been made by Watte r-
son and his colleagues (eg. see Grocon , 1979).
The Nagssugtoqidian metamorp hism is high-
grade throughout the belt; a central granu lite-
facies zone is bounded to the north and south
by regions of amphibolite facies.
The Lewisian complex
Afte r removing the effects of the North Atlan-
tic opening. the easte rn Nagssugtoqidian and
the Lewisian complex of NW Scotland lie
along-strike, and only about 400km apart
(Figure 9.22A). Similarities between the two
belts have been noted by Myers (1987) . How-
ever as the Lewisian complex is probably the
most intensively studied piece of Precamb rian
crust in the world. we shall concentrate our
attention now on that region. A general de-
scription of the Lewisian complex is provided
by Park and Tarne y (1987). and a structural
296 GEO LOG ICAl , ST RUCTU RES A ND MOVING PLAn..s

6S' ~
-- -... : - --~ ~::. ...

6 7'30'

Figun' 9. 18 Simplified structura l map of the No rdr e Stre mfjord shear zone in the ceeual part o f the be ll (see Figure
9 .178) . Th is sinistral shear zone is defined by various roc k units and structural tren ds that become aligned within a NE- SW
bell of intense deformat io n. Black , amphibolire s; ruled omamcm, metasediments: crosses, gra nitic and chamoc kitic
intru sio ns; blank areas , gra nitic to tona litie gneisses. Afte r Ole se n t: f af. (1979) .

interpreta tion by Coward and Park (1987). The
complex forms a well-exposed strip along the
northwest coast of the Scottish mainland and
in the islands of the Outer Hebrides (Figure
9.19). The exposed width of the belt is about
260 km but, unlike the eastern Nagssugtoqi-
dian, the margins of the belt are not seen . The
bulk of the complex is formed of Archaean
tonalitic to granodioritic gneisses that are
preserved in a relatively unmodified state in
the central mainland region and in seve ral
small enclaves elsewhere . The remainder of
the Lewisian complex has experienced intense
Ea rly Proterozoic deformation and high-grade
metamorphism.
In addition to the Archaean basement gneis-
ses. the complex includes two narrow belts of
Early Proterozoic supracrustal rocks and asso-
ciated intrusions, at South Harr is in the Outer
Hebrides and at Gairloch and Loch Maree on
the mainland. The supracrustal assemblage ,
known on the mainland as the Loch Moree
Group, consists of mafic volcanic rocks with
associated narrow bands of siliceous schist,
banded-iron-formation, graphite schist and
marble, overla in by a thick seq uence of meta-
greywackes. These rocks were deposited prob-
ably around 2000Ma BP. The other importan t
Proterozoic addition to the complex is the well-
known Scourie dyke swarm. These mafic dykes
are dated at c.2400Ma ee, but some mem-
bers of the swarm may be as young as 1900Ma
in age. They occupy the same key stratigraphic
position in Ea rly Proterozoic chronology as the
Kangamiut dykes in Gree nland, separating the
ea rlier Inverian deformation from the later
Laxfordian phases.
As in W. Gree nland, the Early Prote rozoic
deformation appears to be related to the
development of major steep shear zones, the
effect of which, over much of the Lewisian, has
been obscured by the younger deformations.
 OItOGE~ Y IN '[ HE I'RECAMRRIAN 297
,'w e 20

CE NTRAL
REGION
-,
58' 5 •

SOUTH
90 90

Loxfordian
~ in tflJ SiOn\

fM'-j
,., l oxfordlon
rntqrrcnte

e:::=a
<$--,
• "
--:::. ,:
0: ; : ' , UItl.·o U~ rl!'d
Ar<;ho..,,,
5,"
'0

,,
o
-
, u n d;f1er~tiolt<l llt w iSlon

,,
r
suproc.ruslol r oc k s
COLL/.? :
p '
TIREE ff!fP :/ """
I:..:.=j

-~

50km
-:'-
~

:.:::....
....estern margin o f
Cole<lonion orogenIC bell

e 5'
"
t"lgure 9. 19 Loca tion map iIlu ~ lfal in g some impo rtant feat ures o f tbe Lewisian complex of NW Scotland . OH F. Ou ter
Hebrides Iaulr; SH IC. SO\l1h Harris igneous co mplex; UZ. Laxford shea f zone; CSZ . Canisp shear zone ; GF, G ruinard
'front'; LMG , Loeh Maree G ro up; C, Carnmore; D. Diabaig; K. Kcomore ; R. Rona . From Park and Tarney ( 1987).

T he major Inverian shea r zones probably
occu pied (he whole of the no rthe rn and sooth-
e rn regions of .the mainland Lewisian, and
most of the O uter Hebrides. Their initiation is
tho ught to be associated with the uplift of the
central Archaean block that is dated at c.2500
Ma by the K- Ar method . The Inverian defor -
mation took place under am phibo lite-facies
conditions, resu lting in extensive retrog res-
sion of Archaean gran ulite-facies assemb lages.
 GEOLO GICAL STRUCruKES AN D MOVING PL A.TES

Qi. b . ig

--

Oi. b . lg G.ifl o"h Qr uln . r d B .~

L MG YOI". ..I". LUQ •• dlm .nll "'

-J ii~J:St '- J_ J;::,S" "" " " "
'J' t T---, ~ I '
2

sw N'
SOUl h Ul n NOf\h Uls l H."I. Il; . nmo , . Gt l' IO"h

-J'- - - '..:--."'.''.:/.- - _.
SOUl h L. . l ord

- , G'Uln . r (l

[~
_LMO r _
- .:-:-: .:.. ca- :.,'... ..-:-. ~;:..- _~
3 ~
~ -~"""'--------
"1"'r'IT ~
-
~""'"-==- ? I
-""'
, •
• • 1 1 --
:.l:.: •
=~
~ ~"\(,
'"'-- '"- -- . ;).: : : :··..:.:.:
- .r··.·.~-
·· ·· f-:::~
/ (:..-.. ..-
-" \ - / ~ ~ --- - -
L. wi. '
't
.
-== ~= ?-=-=-
L.xlor (l; . .. g, . nulll • •

s
•o
"
4

flgurt 9.20 Sequence o f eenocn pro files i1tu$lrating the Ea rly Proterozoic tecto nic evolution or the Lewisien complex. (I)
The l nve nan event , inte rpreted as resetting from the iniliation o r a network of shear zones: note lhal deep-crustal
granulites from A are transferred to A ' . (2) The emplacement or the Scoune dykes and tbe Locn Maree Group ( LMG) in
an extensio nal (lra nsle"" ronal) environment. (3) The Ladordian 0 1- D2 events, attr ibuted 10 movement s approximately
perpendicular to the line of section o n the shear zone netwcrk .estebhshed in (1). NOle that the relationship betwee n the
Outer Hebr ides and mainland pans o r the composite profile are speculative. (4) The Lad ordian 0 3 event, producing
upright folds and shear zones by movements oblique 10 the line of Section and with a component o r compression along it.
ca, central block (central region o r Figure 9.19). From Park and Tarney (1987)
 O ROGEN Y IN TH E PRECA MBRIAN
Minor I nve rian shear zones also cut the ot he r-
wise unmodified Archa ean centra l block.
According to Cowa rd an d Park , the majo r
zo nes dip be neath the central block , det aching
on a low-an gle shear zo ne t hat underlies the
block ( Figure 9 .20 (l». The In vcrian shea r
zo nes of the mainlan d exhibit a mainly d ip-slip
sense of movem ent but with a sma ll de xtra l
st rike-slip co mpo nent.
T he Sco urie dyke swarm was emplaced over
a wide are a from t he no rth coast to as far south
as Barra in the O ute r Hebrides. In areas where
the y arc less deformed , the dykes ex hibit
ev ide nce of d ilatation al emplaceme nt in a
d extr al she ar regime . An extensional regime is
also ind icated by th e emplace ment of the
su p racr ustal rocks of the Loch Maree G roup
(Figur e 9 .20 (2» . Alt hough deposited poss ibly
400 Ma after the ea rliest dated Scourie dykes ,
it is likel y t hat later me mbers of the dyke
swarm may have bee n associ ated with the em-
placem ent of t he G roup , and supracrustal
rock s at G ai rloc h are cut by dykes with typical
Sco urie d yke chemistry. The dyke swarm and
t he supr acrus tal bas in may repre sent a long-
co ntin ued ex tensiona l or tran stensional regime.
A lthoug h fou r phases of Laxfor dian (post-
dy ke) de format io n ca n be recognized over
mu ch of t he Le wisia n outcro p , the seq uence
ca n be simp lified to two events of majo r
regional significance . The ea rlier (0 1/0 2) is
associated with amphibo lite-facies metamor- :
p hism , and is more pervasive and intense t ha n
t he second (03), which results in a refoldin g of
t he 0 1-2 fabric under mainly greenschist-
facies co ndit ions. The 0 3 phase is respo nsible
for t he widespre ad , upright , NW -SE folds
wh ich are a promi nen t feature of the Lewisian
outcro p pa ttern . Minor pegmatite and granite
sheets wit h an age of c.1800 Ma post-da te
01 - 2 and pr e-date 0 3. The latter eve nt is
p rovisionally dated at c_ I600 Ma from wide-
s pread resetting of K- A r ages in the range
1600- 1400 Ma .
The major 0 1- 2 she ar zones are oriented
NW - SE, approx ima te ly paralle l to the In -
ve ria n st ructures and to the Scourie dykes .
They vary in att it ude: steep zo nes occur within
299
the ce nt ral block; inclined zone s at Laxfo rd in
the no rth and To rri don in the so uth dip
ben eath the central block and detach on a low-
angle she ar zo ne that co mes to the sur face in
the north and so ut h, acco rding to the mod el of
Coward and Park ( Figure 9. 20 (3». Th e whole
of the Ou ter Hebrides is interp reted as part of
this o riginally gently-inclined zo ne . The she ar
zo nes are regar ded as an inter-co nnected net-
wo rk of displace ment planes separating less
deformed or und eformed bloc ks whose rela tive
move ments ca n be est ab lished by st udying the
sense of movem en t o n the shear zo nes. Th e
inclined 0 1 zo nes sho w typically mod erate-
plunging lineatio ns ind icating both de xtral
st rike -slip and no rmal dip-slip compo ne nts,
whe rea s the sub-horizo ntal 'flats' d isplay NW -
SE movemen t directions (Fig ure 9.21). 'In c
0 1- 2 defo rmation pa ttern ove rall is prob ably
indicative of a co ntin ued co mpone nt of dextra l
st rike -slip move me nt. Dur ing the D3 defor -
mation, two majo r stee p NW -SE shea r zones
we re fo rmed , at La nga vat in So uth Harris, and
at Ga irloc h. Both ex hibit a de xtr al st rike-s lip
co mpo ne nt of movem e nt and arc associated
wit h stro ng compress ional sho rte ning ac ross
the be lt, forming the prom inent NW -SE up-
right F3 folds ( Figure 9.20 (4» . The D3 regime
is interpreted as dex t ral transprcssio nal ove r-
all.
These changes in tecton ic regime arc sum-
marized in Figure 9 .22 , which shows ho w the y
might be interprete d by ch anges in conver-
ge nce direction across t he Le wisia n-Nagssug-
toqidian o ett. The first phase ( Invcrian-Nag 1)
may relate to ove rall N- S or NNW - SSE
co nverge nce . Th is arra nge me nt was o riginally
suggested by Watte rson (1978) to expla in the
co njugate pattern of E arly Pro tero zoic shear
zo nes . It relates the coeva l sinist ral displace -
ment s o n NE -SW zo nes in W . G ree nland an d
the dextral/overt h rust displace ments on the
NW-SE zo nes in Scotla nd . Th e ea rly Lax-
fordia n-Nag 2 regime is marked by a change 10
dextral strike-slip in Scotl and a nd overt hrust in
W. G ree nla nd .
There is no evide nce e ithe r in th e Lewisian
o r in the Nagssugtoqidian complexe s of colli -
300 G EOLOGICAL STRUCfU RES AN D MOVING PLATES

E' E
A I
I
I ,
LEWIS I
/ c.~
8~/$,. .

se"

NORTH
UIST

{
I
ON'

i'
d" D A r Cha • • "

,~ / <
.e
~ lIanlle

o "--""inCh ,."n /
, ~ mod ar at a
I
SO km
'------''-'-='------',
C o li
+' yO I
I
I
• ~ Slee p

l ol d

TI. . . & I
I
E'
~----~

sw ,,,.,o
G. .. 8a,
N.E
1o O' e l> .'o

L. .le,'

rigu~ ' .:U Block diagram illustratin g

the effects o f obtique-slip ' extensional
movements e n the inclined shea r zones al
Laxford and be tween Oruinard Bay and
Diabajg, comb ined with NW- SE strike-
parallel movement s on me shear-zone
f lats 10 lhe northeast and southwest.
From Coward and Park ( 1987).

sia n sutures or of for mer ocea n basins. Nor is
there any indication of calc-alkaline magmat-
ism that might betray the former presence of a
subd uctio n zone . The belt appears to consist
almost entire ly of pre -exist ing Arc haean base-
me nt that has been subjected to essentially
int raplate tecton ic movements. These move-
men ts have not on ly ca used intense defo rma -
t ion, but have resulted in considerable crusta l
heating and the loca l e mplaceme nt of magmas.
It is instructive to compare this intra plate
belt with the coeval Ketilidia n belt to the so uth
(in S. Greenland) a nd with the Svecokarelian
belt to the east (see Figur e 9.12A). These bells
display ab undant calc-alkaline volcanic and
pluton ic magmatism, and are widely tho ught to
represent an Ea rly Proterozoic destructive
co ntine ntal mar gin. It is tempting, following
Watterson (1978) to ascribe the intraplate
defor matio n of the be lts we have j ust examined
to processes occurring at that margin. about
lOOO km to the so uth.
 O ROGE N Y IN TH E PRECA MBRIAN 30 1

INV, NAG 1

L AX 1.2. NAG 2 (5
fit:u ~ 9.21 (JI) Recomtruction or the Ea rty Prot trozotc
belts of Gr« nlol'n,j a nd Srotland a lte r rc~nl l he: enccu
o r the No rth A llani te ope ning . 1be rn.tonoho n is ~d on
or
the rcll'lO\l a l oceanic CTU!>I and oa lhe: 3!o1lU mpl lOn or
an a~e rage SO% lh inn ing o r COnl ine ntal et u51 o n lhe
eontinemal sk lvcs . Tbe NagMugloqidian-Uwi§.ian hell
(blad ) a ppcal5 10 lie between two more 5lablt A rchaean ?
·ptatC$· 10 the no rt h and sou th (ruled omamcn l) . Th e
Kel ilidi an belt Ii« o n tbe south side of the A rchaea n
craton o r S. G ree nland . (8) Sequ.eoce o r ca rtoo n diagrams
i llu ~t rll i ng an interpretation o r th e kinem atic history of the
be lt, based o n a change in movement direc tion of th e
northern plate with respe ct 10 the southern . Do minan tly
co nve rgent mo vement during the lnvcria n and Nag. I
pe riod cha nges to dominantly srrlke-shp in the Lcwisian ,
but co nvergen t in the western NagMugtoq idian, d uri ng
Laxfordian 01 - 2 Nag . 2, and back to do minanlly eoe -
vergcn t in LAxlo rd ian 0 3 limes in the Lcwisian. From B
Co ward and Park ( 1987).

9. 5 Th e Arc haean: a different kind or
orogeny?
Rocks of Archaean age for m a number of
stable crato ns within the Proterozoic shield
regions of all the main contine ntal masses (see
e.g. Figure 9.13). In addition, a large propor-
tion of the Proterozoic shields consists of re-
worked Archaea n crust, as we have seen .
Archaean regions are traditionally divided
302 GEO LOGICAL STRUCTURES AND MOVING PLATES
into two q uite differe nt t ypes: th e granite-
greenstone terrains and the high-grade gneiss
terrains . The granite-gree nsto ne terrains co n-
sist of greenstone belts surro unded an d cu t by
granito id plutons. and meta morphosed typi-
ca lly in greenschist o r lower facies. T he high-
grade gneiss terra ins consist predom inantly of
granulite- 10 amphibolite-facies gneisses of
varying type s bu t inclu ding a high pro port io n
of broa dly gran itic co mposition.
T he high-grad e gneiss terrains a re the pro-
d uct of tectonoth ermal activity of a similar
na ture to thai assoc iated with youn ger Pre-
cambrian mobile belts, altho ugh the Arc haea n
terrains exhibit certain special character istics.
Th e gra nite-gree nstone terrains ar e unique to
th e Archaean : there are no precise analogues
in t he younger stra tigraph ic recor d . Ce rta in
Archaea n crato ns co nsist entire ly of o ne or
ot he r of th ese two types of terrain , while in
others the two are found in association . We
shall discuss two example s in de ta il: the high-
grade gneiss terr ain of t he North Atlantic
craton, an d the Superior Province of the
Ca nadi an shield . Th e latter is basica lly a
gra nite-gree nstone ter rain but is crossed by
seve ral belts of high-gra de gne iss, and is bo r-
dc red by region s of high-grad e gne iss te rrain
o n its no rth- western and north-ea stern sides.
The North A tlantic craton , Th e A rchaean high-
grade gneiss terrain of S. Gree nland and the
lEW ISIA, N C;l
£3 Pro : o : .lIl
Ar~n Q"110ll
[9 _ _ '111
~ l~hIt>oIil'
leel'l
EliJ OI',null, ' 1 _
adjoi ning part of Labrad or is known as the
North Atlanti c crato n (B ridgwater et al. ,
1973). Th is craton (F igure 9.23), about 700 km
across from north to south, and over 500 km
fro m west to east, was a regio n of continuo us
mob ility durin g A rchaean times, an d con sists
almost solely of gneisses in upper amphibolite
to gra nulite facies. Bet ween 80 an d 90% of
these gneisses ar e broad ly granit ic in composi-
tion, predomina ntly to nalitic to gra nodioritic.
Within the gne isses are relatively narr ow ba nds
an d inclusions of met asedimentar y gne isses
such as quar tzites , pelitic an d semipelitic
schists, marbl es and banded-Iro n-format ion ,
and of met a-igneous amp hibolite s and anor-
thosites. In the pas t, the or igin o f the gra nito id
gneisses has bee n hotl y de bated , and the
opinion was widely held that many of the
gneisses represented gra nitized sediments
of broadly se mipelitic co mposition . However,
modern geoc hemical studies have dem onstra-
ted t hat the bulk of the gneisses are defo rmed
and metamor phosed calc-alkaline rocks prob-
ably of pluto nic origin (see e .g . Weaver and
Tarn ey, 1987). The sed imen tar y asse mblage is
suggestive of an ep icont ine ntal shelf env iron -
ment, and co ntras ts markedl y with the green-
stone-belt assemb lage . Another importan tco m-
ponent of the terrain is the anorthosite-
leu cogabbro co mplex described by Windley
( 1973) . T his co mplex co nsists of an essocla-
FiKU~ 9.23 Summary tectonic map of the North
Atlantic craton, with the surrounding Early Pre -
rerozoic belts. After Bridgwate r t ' 1;1 /. ( 1976) .
 O ROG l:NY IN THE r Rl:CAM8R IAf'I 303
tion o f anort hosite , teucogabbro , and minor Bridgwater et al, (1976) propo se a seque nce of
gabbro , and exhibits p rom inen t igneous layer- 15 separate events for the A rchaean of S.
ing . The assemb lage is expose d over a large G ree nland, summarized in T able 9.3. Th e
a rea (F igure 9.24) due to complex fo lding, but seq uence may be d ivided into two main cr ust-
is co nside red to represe nt a single sheet. for ming cycles. T he ear lier cycle (events 1-3,
T he rocks o f the crato n have undergo ne Table 9.3) culminated in the emplacement o f
inten se and rep eal ed defo rmat io n and met a- granites at c.3750 Ma UP. The later cycle
mo rphism over a pe riod of mar e than 100 Ma . includes a number of separate intrusive event s,

ea-

! , ,

o 5 10~ m

".
F,·'··..) ~ _ w....1to
c:J G~-' _ ""
I ,·... ,~ ___ _ .- Fe....

F"lillre 9.24 Simplified geological map o f the Flskenaesset region, in the central pari o f the Archaean craton on the west
coast o f G reenland. From Bridgwarer ~I Qt. (1976)
304 GEOLOGICAl. STRUcrURES AI'lD MOVING PLATES
T a ble ' .3 Simplified seq uence of Archaea n e ve nts in
S. G reen land . A fte r Esc he r ~I al. ( 1976) .
M. 1. Formation of early cr ust (source for
? lsua sediments)
2. De posilion of lsua sed ime nts a nd
vo lcan ic rocks
375" 3. Int rusio n of A milsoq gran itic loeb
4. Deformation and me tamorphism
5. E mplacement of Ame ralik ba sic
d yke swarm
6. Deposition of Male nc sedim e nts
and volcanic roc k ..
7. Emplacement of stratiform gabbro-
enonhc sncs
8. Inte nse deformation
9. E mplaceme nt of uhraba sic bod ies
and calc-alk aline 8ra nilic shee ts
( Nuk gneisses)
10. Intense deforma liq n
3000- 11. E mplace me nt of gra nite s and o the r
2800 igneous bodies
3000- 12. H igh-grade metamorphi sm
2700
13. De position of Ta rto q G ro up
sup racrustal rocks
c.2700 14. Local ized dcf orrnaticn in shea r
zones
c.2bOO 15. Em place me nt of K-gran ill."Sa nd
regio nal pcgma ntes
of which the most important is the emplace-
me nt of the Nuk granitic suite and the accom-
pa nying deformatio n a nd metamo rphism in the
period 3040-27()()Ma BP. Th ere is very little
evidence as to the history of the region in the
intervening pe riod of about 7ooM a.
T he lsua supracrustal assemblage of the
earlier cycle bea rs some similarity to that
of the gree nstone belts described below. 11
consists of a mafic and ultramafic volcanic
suite with associated metasediments including
carbonates, banded -iran-formation , quartzites
and metagreywackes. The supracrustal belt is
only about 2 km wide at its maximum , but
extends for over 30 km in an arcuate o utcrop.
Because of the limited outcrop and the effects
of later eve nts, it is not possible to draw
definite co nclusions about the tectoni c en-
vironment of these very early rocks, except
that they indicate , in a general way, a similarity
in all essential respects to the much later
(c.3300 Ma old) greenstone belts of Africa,
Aust ralia and elsewhere.
As pointed out earlie r, the Pb-isotopic evi-
dence indicates that the early crust-forming
event is limited to a relatively small area and
that the bulk of the co ntinental crust of the
craton was add ed d uring the younger cycle.
The Malene supracrustal assemblage of this
yo unger cycle represents a sequence that is
much more typical of the high-grade gneiss
terrains in gene ral. It consists of basic meta-
volcanic rocks, including well-preserved pillow
lavas, together with semipelitic to pelitic
gne isses, pure and impure marbles, and thin
quartzites. T his assemblage is ve ry widely
distributed throughout the craton, and has
been interpreted by Bridgwate r and Fyfe
(1974) as indicating small marine basins ove r-
lying thin co ntine ntal crust. However , other
autho rs (Burke et al ., 1976; Windley and
Smith, 1976) view the high-grade terr ains ,
including the No rth Atlantic craton , as the
prod uct of Andean-type active continental
ma rgins crea ted by the subductio n of oceanic
lithosphe re. T he voluminous calc-alkaline ton-
alitic magmas in their view are generated by
subd uction. It has bee n pointed ou t that the
smaller thick ness and lo we r relative density of
Archaean oceanic lithosphere may produce
much shallowe r angles of subduction (see e.g.
Dewey, 1977) that wo uld have important im-
plications for the width of the mobile belt, the
pattern of magma emplacement, and the style
of deformatio n.
A dominan t feature of the North Atlantic
craton and of o the r high-grade terrains is a
high-str ain structure, produced by very intense
defo rmation, which is e xpressed in complex
interleaving of basement , supracrustal cover ,
and various intrusive igneous sheet s 0 0 a
regional scale. Th is structure appears to have
been initially sub-ho rizo ntal, although subse-
quently refolded by more upright folds. The
defo rmation praducing this structure in S.
G reenland embraces eve nts 8 and 9 of Table
9.3_ Figure 9.24 shows the outcro p pattern of
the Fiske naesset anorthosite sheet. Although
refolded by later structures , it is still traceable
over an area of aro und 3600 km, indicating that
the high-strain structure is e ffectively horizon-
tal over areas of that size .
 OROGE NY IN THE rRECAMDRIAN 305

Ki ll I O <Q I .

D3 ? 1
...
D301 ' l a ,I, (; tOld ?

-I " -
~
,
:m
c

Figure 9.25 WNW- ESE structural profiles across lhe eortbwcsr Buksefjorde n erea in the central west -coast A rchaean.
The section illustrates the refolding o r the e arly recumbent rold-lhrusl structure (DI- 3) by later upright roros (D4). Ma,
Malene amphibonte ; A m, A mitsoq gneiss: N , Nuq gneiss: A a, Arnitsoq augen gneiss: Ms, Malene supracrustal gneisses;
A kA , Akilia association; Q . pegmatite and rrucrogranite; orr, 02 lhrusl. From Chadwick and Nutman (1979)

Chadwick and Nutman (1979) describe in
det ail the str uctural e volution of the Bukse-
fjorden area in the centra l part of the west coast
outcrop of the craton. They divide the struc-
tural seque nce into four main events, of which
the first is related to the early Amitsoq crust-
forming cycle. Their 02 event is the fi rst
regional high-strain defor matio n (correspo n-
ding to even t 8 of Tab le 9.3) and resulted in the
isoclinal folding and thrusting of Amitsoq
basement and Malene cover. The 03 struc-
ture s are large recumbent nappes, refolding
the 0 2 structures and also deforming the Nlik
granitic shee ts. 04 prod uced the upright folds
that dominate the outcrop patte rn. High-grade
metamorphism accompanied the 0 3 deforma-
tion and continued after 04 .
No mode rn ana logue has been established
for the regional, sub-horizontal, high-stra in
structure of the 02-03 type. According to the
uniformita rian view expressed by Windley
(1981) and others, the high-strain horizontal
structures would be found at low levels in a
typical modern volcanic arc complex. How-
ever , this ana logy has not yet been satisfac-
torily demonstrated .
Park (1981, 1982) discusses a number of
possible mechanisms that could explain this
type of structure: subduction, gravity spread-
ing, mantle deco up li ngv thinned-crust collision,
and tectonic underplating (A -subduction) (Pi-
gure 9.26). Majo r differences in the subduction
angle, the thickness and strength of the litho--
sphere , and the ease of detachment of
306 G EOLOGICA L STRUCTURES AN D MOVING PLATES

' . .'

., :'
'.'i.~ B
."
A

... .. '... . :.i ...' . ' .. . ' ~ . . ' . • . ' , ,

f i

-
c
~ -
~- -

- -
- "", o

-- --
E
-
e
•o
•

Figurt' ' .16 Possible mechan isms for u plaining the high-strain stl'\lCtU~5 of, Arch aean high-grade terrain s. (A)
Subd uctio n: mor e likely to produce SIU P to mod er atel y inclined high-strain zones at deep levels in the crust . (8) G ravity
sp reading associated with solid diap irism: requires sub-horizontal mass flow in source a rea for domes (blank) which would
produ ce radial o r conve rgent a>nSlrictional strain patte rns (not observed ). (C) Mantle deco upling: horizo ntal shear zo ne
forms al the base of the auSI (see Figure 2.29) d ue to differe ntial movemen ts in either convergent or dive rgent regimes
(this mechani sm is similar 10 thai req uired in Ampfere r subd uction) . (D ) Com press ion of thinned au$!: extensional strain
in the extensional phase is re-inlorced by th rust-se nse shea r zones during subsequent conve rgence. (E) Tectonic
underplating: Ihis process is associated with Ampferer scbducucn, and requires the tec ton ic se para no n or crust from
ma ntle lithosphe re. Repeated slid ng o f the crust ju xtaposes supracrustal and dee p-crus tal mererial as fou nd in SW
G ree nland . (A) - (D) fro m Park ( 1982) ; (E) from Park and Tamey ( 1987).

continental from ocea nic crust, or from mantle
lithosphere, can be expected in the Archaean.
Any tectonic model for the Arch aean at
present will be highly speculative, and no
generally acceptable model yet exists. If we
assume that subduction opera ted at a faster
rate during the Archaean than at present ,
the 3000-2700 Ma crust-building cycle of the
North Atlantic craton must presumably involve
the welding together of a whole series of
volcanic arcs. The structural pattern should
therefore reflect a succession of extensional,
tra nslational and collisional eve nts associated
with the gradual accumulation and tectono-
 OROGION Y I N THE PRECAM8RIAN
magmat ic thickening of the A rchae a n crust.
Th e high-strain horizo ntal structures probab ly
fo rmed in low-angle shear zones represe nting
large horizo ntal translat io ns at deep crustal
levels at some stage in this process.
Greenstone belts of the Superior Pro vince
Th e Superior Province (Figure 9.27) is one of
the best examples of a gra nite-gree nstone
terr ain (see e.g. Goo dwin, 1981). It is the
lar gest of the A rchaean crato ns, be ing abo ut
450 x 300 km in exte nt , and is se parated from
the neighbo uring No rth A tlan tic crato n by the
300 km-wide Lab rador belt (see Figure 9.13) .
Th e Pro vince contains two main components:
crysta lline gran ito id rocks varying fro m un-
deformed igneous plutons to highly-defor med
gneisses , and the gree nstone belts , which are
o utcro ps of supr acrusta l seq uences consisting
of volcanic rocks of va rious kinds , predomin-
antly mafi c, togeth er with metasedi ments.
The proportion of greenstone belt to ' granite '
varies thro ugho ut the province , being much
higher in the south than in the north (Figure
9.27) . High-grade gneisses occur in several
narrow be lts, a nd also in the north-western and
north-eastern pa rts of the pro vince . Since the
gree nsto ne belt outcro ps are usually delimited
by the discordant margins of yo unger plutons,
the former exte nt , shape and relation ships of
the belt s is impossible to reconstruct. It is
tho ught that many of the greenstone o utcro ps
rep resent the fragmented re lics of much larger
gree nsto ne basins. However, some of the large
gree nstone belt s, such as the Abitibi be lt,
con tain mo re loca lized basins that existed for
part of their evo lutionary histo ry.
The supracrustal assemblages of the gree n-
stone be lts co nsist of roughly eq ual propo rtions
of sedi ments and volcanic ma te rial deposited
around 2700 Ma BP. Ther e is typically a lower
sequence dominated by mafic lavas, and an
upper do minated by coarse clastic sed iments,
especially greywackes. Freq ue ntly, an uncon-
formity sepa rates the two seque nces. In the
Abi tibi belt in the so utheast, a number of
separate volcan ic piles can be recognized , that
307
grade late rally into sedi ments. The lavas are
co mmonly tho leiitic basalts and andesites, but
rhyolites , rhyo-dacites and ultramafic types
also occur . Of lesser import ance vo lumetrically
are sed iment types such as quartzites, ba nded-
iron-formation , sulphide-rich black shales, and
minor carbonates . These sed iments are usua lly
fou nd in associatio n with the earlier volcanic
seq uences, whereas the coa rse clastic deposits
are mo re common in the uppe r part of the
successio n. Est imated thicknesses shown in
Figure 9.27 range from 20000- 59000 feet (6-
t 8km). While some of these fi gures may be
overestimates, due to unrecognized struc tural
repet ition , the re can be no do ubt that the
gree nstone sequences are commonly of the
orde r of 5-10km in thickness. A lthoug h the
original extent of the basins is impossible to
estimate , it is thought that , in ge ner al, green-
stone sequences we re formed in relatively
shallow ma rine basins of probab ly regio nal
extent. Through time , vertical move ments
thought to be due to differential load ing of the
granitic basemen t, caused a restriction of the
basins to approximately their present size , and
gave rise to the younge r clastic-dom inated se-
quences (see e.g. Bickle and Eriksson , 1982).
The granitoid element of the ter rain consists
partly of gneissose basement that pre-dates the
forma tion of the gree nsto ne belts, a nd partly of
younger post-greensto ne pluton s. In practice,
it is not possible at prese nt to determine the
o rigin of much of the granite outcrop because
of poor geochronological contro l. Ages of
c.2900-3000 Ma have been o btained from
some of the olde r basement gneisses, in which
fragme nts of an o lder series of greenstone belts
occur.
Overall, the province exhibits an E - W
structural trend, expressed in the elongate
e lliptical shape of ma ny of the gra nito id are as,
by the orientatio n of the gree nsto ne belt s
themselves, and a lso by the o rien tation of the
high-grade gneiss belts. O n the scale of the
individual gree nstone belts , the defonnat ion
patte rn is much more variab le . Figure 9.28A is
a map showing the gra nite-greenstone relation -
ships in the Keno ra district , in the south-
 VJ
o
CO
CO
ce
~ ::
-,
-,
\~
-J
"1.
o
00

H U 0 SiD N "
""
"
-,

o
m
0
r
0
o
n
»
r
(/)
-i
)Q
c
Q
c)Q
m
(/)

»
z
0
:::
0
s
z
48 0 ,
I ~II~ ~\~J1PAb ....~ 41l1l~iliiiiiliMiI~Q"oo 'olllllllllrtl .;' \ - 48 0
J
o
"0
r
»
-i
rn
(/)

Volcanic and sedimentary rocks . , .

Boundary of Canadian Shield . . ,
Boundary of Superior Province. , , , ;;.:.:.~s;:.:
Thickness in feet. . . . . . . . , . , . .28.000. I ~

Figure 9.27 Distribution of greenstone belts (ruled ornament) in the Superior province of the Canadian shield . The blank areas are mainly granitoid
rocks . The Abitibi belt is the large green stone outcrop in the southeast , crossing from Ontario to Quebec. From Stockwell et at. (1970), with permission .
 OROGENY IN T HE PRECA MRRIA N 309

A
.. .... ... . . . .. .. . ....
,

.... .
.. ,, ....
. .. .. '
... .
.. .. . .
,
.. .
, "
, .,
, ,
, ... ---- . ..

20km
. .. .. . ~
. . , '
~.
. .

F1

f
,,'
....:.. . '.

<,

6km

Figure 'J.28 Tectonic patt erns in greenstone belts (A ) Gra nite-greenstone relat ionships in the Kenora area . SW Superio r
prov ince. G ranite . dotted ; green stone out crop . blank ; fold axes. dashed . Note the roughly eq uidlrne nsional shape of the
gran ites , and how they ex hibit convex margins to the green stone s, which, togeth er with the {old axes, ' wrap around' them.
( B) Simp lified structural map of the Bigston e Lak e greens tone belt , nort hern Manitoba. The ea rly foliation (5 1) wraps
arou nd the gra nite margins whereas the late r deformation ap pears to relate to large strike-slip she ar zones (5Z1 - 3). (A) ,
( B) {rom Park ( 1982).
310 GEOLOGIC.... L STRUCf UIUiS AN D MOVING PL.ATES

LE VEl.");" _
10"[ 0 ' . All T l E [ P "O N[
ov o_ . nc. •
l ( 'IU,. . y" - - - - , , M [ S Ol ON [
1 0 " ( 0 ' " l " 51 11;
I)HO . IIUoo<o " 01(1
FLOW ' OU IING
CATAI ON[

.
,,
,
,
,
e , ,,
-= •• - ~ .lOOll( 01'

. , ~••••n IZATOOOl

B
1 0l'l [ Of ItIG1'h U lIGl,.[
R[vERSE AHO Bt.OCIl
PlEuRO TOIO MARGINAL
Z()H~ or TN Il'UST l fltG
FAUl l l NG
N APPE SJ" CU '[

fl [ I: .... 8[" 1

....... ..
\ • , s, " "" ' 1'
o ... ~ /. • • ? " •
y . i' ;~" .
•
..
•
." .,/ .
0,
/
•

"
•

, /
,
e 1SOC\.1HAl. fOUl"' G WITH
UlftGlT UOWlhU.. ' AUl T'S
•• ALOftG N H K UN ES

Figure 9.19 Strut lural moeJd s 10 show the pane rns of Sl ruCUlfe5 associated wilh tbe so lid d iapirism model for greensto ne
be lt e volutio n. (.4) Structu res expected nea r the eem ee of th e sutnid ing g ree nsto ne bell. A llitudc: of faults a nd fold axial
plan es changes from Sleep to inclined , moving fro m the anna t 's ink' lowilrd!;the margi ns. ( 8) Structures expected nea r (he
mu gi"" of a subsid ing gree nstone bell. A highly asymmetric penern of Iojds and thrusts is predK'ted attbe site o r lbe rim
syncline produced by marginal depression of the greenstones. (A ), (8) from Gorman et ill . ( 1978).
 OROGEN Y IN TH E PRECAMBR IAN
weste rn pari of the province. Here , t he gra nite
pluton s are weakly deforme d or un deformed ,
and mo re or less eq uidimensional , a nd their
o rigina l rela tio nships to the g reensto ne o ut -
cro ps is clear. T he rocks of the gree nsto ne
se q ue nce a re deformed in such a way that the
fold axes and folia tio ns ' wra p a rou nd ' the
ma rgins o f the plutons. Th is rel ationship .
obscured in ma ny be lls fur lhe r no rt h beca use
of mor e int e nse la te A rchaean deformat ion ,
is typical of greenstone be lls of many o ther
gra nite -greenstone te rr ai ns.
In a stu d y o f the Bigsron e Lake greenstone
be ll in no rth e rn Ma nito ba , Pa rk an d Ermano-
vies ( 1978) de mo nstr a ted th a i the deforma tio n
se q ue nce in the gree nston e belt consiste d of
tw o mai n phases. The first is associate d with
re gio na l high st ra ins, pen e tr a tive fabrics , an d
isoclina l folds which loca lly a re seen to wra p
ar o und the ma rgins of the borde ring plutons
(Figure 9.288). The second prod uces loca l
re fold ing and cre nula tio n schis tos ittes, an d is
associa te d wit h m ajor stee p du cti le shear zones
that cut across the be lt and affect both gree n-
sto ne and gra nite ou tcrops.
Th e type of struct ural pattern associa ted
311
with the first deform ation he re , a nd in the
Kenora ou tcrops , is most easily ex pla ined by
th e d iapir ic behaviou r of a solid granitoid
basem e nt loaded by a den se r greensto ne ba sin .
T he gra vitationa l e ffec t of th e de nsity inve rsio n
is 10 ind uce upward a nd outward flow of the
gra nitoid substra tum. T he gree nsto ne materi a l
becomes trap ped in synclina l kee ls whose
shapes a re controlled by the diapir ma rgins.
This process has bee n discussed by Gorman et
al , (1978) a nd Schwe rd tne r et at. ( 1979) and
mode lled numerica lly by Ma resch a l a nd W e SI
(1980) , Figure 9.29 illustra tes th e s tructural
patte rns expected in ce ntra l an d ma rgina l ar eas
of g ree nstone be lts accordi ng to the Gorman et
al. mode l. T he symme trica l uprigh t or m ildly-
fann e d Dl structu re of th e B igston e Lake be lt
fits profile A of the model. Tight c verfold s and
t hrusts found as e a rly stru ctu re s in o th e r
gree nstone belt s (see e.g. Coward , 1976 , fig ure
4) fit profile B of the mode l.
T he late r stee p d uct ile she a r zones tha t
affect the Bigstone La ke bel t a re pan of a
regional ser o f such structur es t hat domi nate
the la te r A rchaea n deform ation o f the Supe r-
io r Pro vince . Pa r k (1981 ) shows th at , in th e

~ ~ . .. .. 0- _ _ -:::-:-=
.-1'7 - · - fil -
A
l.te 1( · 9r~ni tli!S
I
1 11 11 11 '~'~&!~J'l'~~)o11 1 1 1

B
Figu,n.' 9.30 Ur uformirarian plate-tectonic mterp re tanon ofbi gh-grade gneiss and greenstone terrains. High.grade terrains
an: Interp reted as Andean -type convergent margins and greenstone belts as back-arc basins (A). Collision welds micro-
connne ms toget her and causes greenstone deformation (8) Contrasl Figure 9.26. After Windley (1977).
 3J 2 GEOLOG ICAL SnUCTURES AND MOVING ?LA TES
weste rn part of the pro vince , these shear zones
fo rm a co njugate set of NE -SW sinistra l and
NW - SE dex tral zones tha t indicate a late
Arch aean N-S compressio n across the pro-
vince . and suggests tha t the erato n was by tha i
time stro ng enough to transmit a constant
. regional stress. This tectonic regime is very
similar to the one described for the Ear ly
Prote rozoic shea r zones of the S. Greenland-
Scotland region (see Figure 9.17A). Bot h sets
o f str uctures probably formed aro und the time
of the Early Proterozoic-A rchaean bo und ary
be twee n 2600 and 2500 Ma BP.
The orig in and tectonic significance of the
greensto ne basins is sti ll speculative . Figure
9.30 shows the Farney-wi nd ley mod el in which
the gree nstone belts are interpreted as back-
arc extensional basins related to subd uction. In
an alte rna tive model suggeste d by Drury
( 1977). the basins are visualized as resulting
fro m late ral compression of a thin. wea k litho-
sp here exerted by a shallow-subd ucting slab .
Pa rk ( 1982) interpre ts the basins as intraplate
extensional str uct ures ana logous to the initial
stages of present-day con tinental rift zones.
None of these explanations seems enti rely
satisfactory . The subductio n-collisio n mod el
requires a number of unrecognized su tures;
th e compressio nal model fails to explain the
init ially no n-linear pat te rn of t he gree nstone
de fo rmat ion; and the intrap late mod el igno res
the bimodal nature o f the volcanic suites.
which argues for a volcanic arc analogue .
Opinion since these papers were published
appears to favour some kind of exte nsional
basin model . involving thi nned continen tal
crus t in the Supe rior exa mples. but oceanic
crust in some of t he o lde r examples. closely
associated with volcanic island arcs derived by
subduction . Present-day beck-arc basins arc
the closest mod ern analogues . but many im-
portant d iffere nces are appare nt be twee n such
basi ns and the gran ite-gree nstone terr ains.
The gran ite-greenstone te rrai ns represent
o ne of t he best demonstratio ns in the geo logi-
ca l reco rd. that uniformita rian principles and
prese nt-day plat e tecto nic analogues may not
always be ap pro priate in dea ling with the
d istant past.
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Index
A-subduction 142, 144, 236, 292, Andaman Islands 140 island accretion 139
305 Amgl gneisses 286 volcanic 9, II, 14, 22, 96, 99,
Acadian phase 229, 234 Amgl-Kropp.:.(jjill .Group 286 102,112, 113, 117, 120. 125,
Acadian sector 242 Amits;q cycle 305 133, 134, 136. 159, 163, 165,
accretion 175 Ampferer subduction see A-subduction 175, 176,212.222,227,259,
arc 277 Anatolia 134 268, 270, 272, 275, 289, 305,
Irontal 120 Andean-type active continental 306, 312
accretionary complexes 119, 120, margins 304 volcanic island II, 277
131 Andean-type convergent margins 311 Arctic Ocean 61, 200, 242, 244
margins 272 Andes 141 Asia 140, 147, 152, 159, 188,290
accretionary prism 112, 118, 119, Anglesey 259 eastern 148
120, 125. 157, 266, 267 anteclise 190 Assynt 247
Makran 131 Ukrainian 191, 193 asthenosphere 5, 9
S. Uplands 255, 258, 268 Volga - Ural 191, 193 asthenospheric diapirism 84, 86
accretionary terrain 159 Voronezh 191, 193 asthenospheric mantle 18
active transform domain 184 anticline, rollover 203 Asturic phase 229, 241, 242
Adirondack Mountains (USA) 281, Appalachian - Ouachita orogenic Atlantic coastal province
282, 283 belt 147 (Appalachian orogenic belt) 34
Aegean Sea 110, III, 134, 136, 138 Appalachians 144, 145, 228. 243, Atlantic coruinental margin 204
Afghanistan block 152 266 Atlantic ocean, evolution of 58
Agt~ 295, 296 Central 242 Atlantic (stress) province 37
Aiguilles Rouges 215 Central - Sout hern 229 Atlas mountains 139, 211
Airy anomaly ISS Northern 229, 242. 266, 267 aulacogen 83, 190, 191
Alabama, Central 229 Apulian microplate 212 Dneiper-Donetsk 191,193
Alai range ISS Arabia ·139, 210, 274, 275 mid-Russian 19~
Alaska 166. 227 Arabian - Nubian shield 273. 277 Australia 139. 140, 159. 160, 161,
Alberta Group 223 Arabian Sea 119, 147 162, 173,304
alkali-granites, plutons 279, 284. Arabian shield 140, 273 Australia - Irian Craton 160
287,289 arc Austro - Alpine klippe 219
Alleghenian 237 Aegean 134, 210 Avalon platform 243
Allochthon Aleutian 38, 39, 66, 67 Avalonia 231,268
Lower (Scandinavian Caledonides) Banda 159. 160. 161, 162. 175 Avalonian - Cadomian (orogeny)
264 Caribbean 266
Middle 264 Cascades volcanic 96,97,221 Azores 75, 79, 186
Upper 261, 264 Hellenic 134, 136,139"
Uppermost 261, 263 Izu-Bonin 66 B-subduction 142
Alpes Maritimes 217 Japanese 7. 10. 12, 32, 38 lJ·value 53
Alpine (orogenic) belt 190, 210, Kootenay 223. 225, 226 back arc 14, 112
211,212,213,230 Kurile 10, 12, 38, 66, 67 basin see basin, back-arc
Alpine collision 95 Makran volcanic 131, 210 extension 136, 161,237
Alpine front 188 Marianas 66,67, 102, 103, 104 extensional provinces 73, 86
Alpine - Himalayan system 139 Peru - Chile 38 spreading 66, 100, 102, 104, 113.
Alpine orogeny 94, 212 Puerto Rico 114 us, 136, 144, 159, 162
Alps 93, 95. 139, 140, 145, 146, Ryukyu 66 back-thrusting 143, 157,217
211,212,214,215,217. 219, Scotia 100, 166 Baja California 178
220,221,292 Sunda 140, 159, 161,210 balanced sections 220, 237
Austrian 215 Tonaa - Kermadec 102, 104 Ballachulish slide 254, 255, 267
Eastern 211,214,215,219 arc - trench gap 116. 117 Ballantrae 265, 267
French 211, 215, 216,.220 arcs Baltic (Fennoscandian) shield 190,
Southern 215 island/trench systems 100 191, 193, 243
Swiss 211.214,215,216,219 island 7, 9, 10, 18, 66, 112, 113, Bahia 228, 261, 264, 266, 267,
Western 214 134, 139, 159, 173,227,230, 268
Ahai range 140, ISO 250. 261, 264, 275, 277 Baltimore trough 204, 205

327
.:l28 INDEX

Bamble 285 Blue Ridge 231 (see Blue Ridge Blue Ridge Province (zone) 230,
Banda Sea 161, 163, 165, 175 province) 233, 241
Barbados 125, 126, 127, 133 Cadomian 243 blue-schist (belts, facies) 220, 227
Barbados ridge complex 258 Caledonian (orogenic) 190, 200, Bohus granite 285
Barra 297, 299 210, 228, 243, 290 Bohus-Iddefjord granite 286, 287
Barrovian metamorphic (sequence) Cape Smith 291, 292 Borneo 159, 161
228 Carolinidian 281 boundaries
basalt - eclogite phase change Central Gneiss (Grenville collisional 39
115 Province) 284 conservative 3,39, 71
basin Central Metasedimentary constructive 3, 16, 39, 70, 71
Aegean Sea 134, 136 (Grenville Province) 284 convergent 212
Anadarko 241 Cordillerian (orogenic) 98, 171, destructive 3, 16, 144
Appalachian 229 210, 221, 222, 225 breakouts, borehole 33, 35
back-arc 212,259,261,311 circum-Pacific 139 Bretonic phase 229, 236
back-arc extensional 64, 197, circum-superior 291 British Isles 228, 242, 243, 244, 259
198,222, 312 Damaran 273, 279, 280, 281, 294 south-west 236, 237, 238, 241
Black Warrior 229 Damara-Zambesi 273 buckling (of slabs) 119
cratonic 189, 198 fold-thrust 119, 222, 228, 229, Buksefjorden 305
Cretan Sea 134, 136 237 (see also thrust-fold bell) Burma ISO, 153, 175
Culm 239 Gabon -Cape 279, 280, 28\ Byerlee's law 30
Dalradian 265 Grenville 249, 282, 290, 292
East Texas 33, 34 Grenville - Sveconorwegian 242, calc-alkaline magmatism 275, 300,
extensional 212, 259, 262, 289 282 304
fore-arc 120, 212, 259, 261 Hercynian 210 plutons 287, 289, 302
foredeep 212,222, 226 imbricate (thrust) 239 volcanics 274, 276
foreland 188,217, 222, 229 Ketilidian 253, 300, 301 Caledonian front 285
Grenada 126 King Mountain 231 Caledonides 146, 190, 242, 248,
intracontinental 241 Labrador 282, 283, 291, 292, 259, 264, 268, 282, 284
intraplate 188, 194, 197, 198 293, 294, 307 British 261, 265, 266
Japan 100, 102 Lewisian - Nagssugtoqidian 291, East Greenland 244
Lau 102, 103 299 German - Polish 268
Lau - Havre 104 Limpopo 269 Polish 261
marginal 103, 104, 214, 222, 226 Matchless 279, 280, 281 Scandinavian 144, 244, 261, 262,
Marianas 104 Mauritanide 195 263, 266, 267
Michigan 194, 195 Mozambique 272, 273, 277, 278 Canadian shield 281,282, 290, 291,
Molasse 219 mylonite 277 (see mylonite zone) 302, 308
North Sea lOS, 108, 194, 199, Nagssugtoqidian 294, 295 Cantabrian - Asturian chain 228
200,204 Nagssugtoqidian - Lewisian Cantabrian MO'lOtains 235
Pannonian (Hungary) 199 295, 301 Caribbean 119, lIS, 259
Parece - Vela 100, 102, 103 Northern Appalachian 231 Carnic (microplate) 212
Paris 49, 194 Nubian - Arabian 277 Carpathian (chain) 139,210,2\1,
passive-margin 204, 205 onhotectomc 244 212
Po 219 Ouachita - Marathon 229, 230, Caspian Sea 194
pull-apart 178, 256 231 Cascades volanic arc 7
Santa Maria 175 paratectonic 244 Caucasus chain 139
Shikoku 103 Piedmont 231 Central Asian collage 152
South Fiji 100, 102, 103 Pyrenean 210 Central Atlantic, .peniag 59
Taoudeni 194, 195, 196 Rinkian 294, 295 Central block (Lewisiaa) 298
Tarim ISO, 151 slate 230 Centntl Highillftd Diviaion 2S3
Welsh 244, 259, 266 Svecokarelian 300 Central North Sea dome 199
West Philippine 102, 103 Sveco- Norwegian 282,284,285, Central Tibet blocks IS3
Basin-and-Rallle Province 7, 28, 286, 288, 219, 290 Chibougamau - GIltineau lineament
32, 36, 46, 5 I, 86, 96, 97, 98, Urals 228 284
99,100,101,105,111,180, Valley-and-Ridge 231 Chilas complex 154, 156
207,208,221 Variscan 228,231,235,236,237, Chile ridge 64
Bay of Bisay 109, 214 238, 242, 243 China block 147
belt Zambesi 279 Churchill Province 283, 291
Abitibi 307, 308 Belt-Purcell SUJ!"I'Broup 222, 223 Coast Ranges 177, 171, 179, 180
Acadian 242, 243 Betic Cordillera 210 Coastal plain (Appal1ldlian) 231,
Alle.henia.. 210,229,241,242 Big Bend 175, 177, 178, 179, 180 232,233
Appalachian 261 Black Sea 134, 214 Cockburnland 258
Appenine 210 blocks COCORP deep seismic reflection line,
Atlas 210 allochthonous 171 profile 100, 230, 233
Belcher islands 291, 292 exotic 171 data 99
 INDEX 329

coefficient of cubical expansion 22 Darn Law 43 focal mechanism solutions 33,

collage (tectonic terrane) 154, 159, creep strain rate 48 34, 37, 39, 54, 83, 90, 96, 97,
175 Crete 134, 137 135, 136, 150, 183
collision 136, 147, 152, 153, 154, critical taper 120 Kern County 177
159, 161,231,256,259,261, Cruachan line (Scottish Caledonides) magnitudes of 176
264, 266, 279, 289, 311 253 San Fernando 177
Central Asian 149, 150, 171 crust-forming cycles 303 East Africa 277
continent - continent 19, 136, Culm facies 229 East Nain Province 292
212, 277 Culm synclinorium 238, 239 East Pacific Rise 123
continent- island arc 19, 136, 159 Eastern assemblage (British
India - Asia 160, 166 Dal formation, Group 286, 288, Columbia) 221
thinned-crust 305 289 Eastern Desert (Egypt)' 276
collision resistance force 47, 144 Dalradian Supergroup 253 Eastern Segment (Sveconorwegian
collisional (orogenic) belts 136, 140 Darfur 87, 90 Province) 285, 286
Columbia River basalts 98 Davis Strait 214 eclogite 19, 220, 270
compressional regions 71, 135 Dead Sea 171 electrical conductivity 9, 74
shortening 299 decollement 4, 119, 120, 125, elongation lineations 264, 275, 279,
structures 168 133, 135, 140, 146, 154, 280
Conrad seismic discontinuity 51 167, 181,217,230,256, Embrunais - Ebaye Nappes 2\ 5
continental collision 67, 139, 250, 292 Emperor seamount chain 66, 67, 68
268 (see also collision) deformation England, south-west 228, 236, 237
continental margin 289 collisional 242 Ethiopia 87, 88, 273
active 113, 139 compressional 94, 98, 99, eugeoclinial 222
passive 27, 139 143 eugeosyncline 112, 22\
convection 20, 22 convergent 236 exotic terranes 221·
cell, currents 6, 18, 19, 25, 270 dry-quartz 5I extension 92, 93, 95, 98, 99, 106,
convective circulation pattern 20 fold-thrust 236 110, III, 136, 138, 150, 167
convective flow system 16, 23 plagioclase 5 I back-arc 38, 99, 102, 104
convergence 70, 139, 140, 144, 147, wet-quartz 5I crustal 89, 90
152, 154, 169,281,292,299 front 123, 126, 129, 133 intracratonic (see also intraplate
continental 147 depression extension) 236
direction of 4, 160, 214, 220, 289 rate of 191 oblique-slip 300
oblique 71, 171, 172, 173, 175, Ul'vanovak-Saratov 191, 193 extension factor (6) 138, 202, 206
227,268, 281, 289 detachment 4, 141, 142, 144, 146, extensional basin 188
oblique (plate) 266 177,215,223,230,231,239, duplex lOB
rate of 114, 115, 116, 152 250, 258, 299, 305 fault systems 105, III
convergent movement 71,214,289, detachment horizon 5I, 53, 99, faults 84, 110
301 105, 106, 109, 142 fissures 105
convergent shortening 294 Devon 238, 239 movement 148
Cord illeran collage 173 dewatering 119, 120 provinces, regions 71, 73, 95,
Cordilleran orogenic belt, province Diabaig 300 105,221,299
7, 34, 175,273 diapir 85 rifting 204, 281, 289
Cornwall 238, 239 dilatational emplacement 299 strain 99, 100
craton 190 Dinaride chain 210, 214 structures 94, 168
African 195 dip-slip movement 105 extrusion tectonics 147
Archaean 301 direction, facing 4
Brazilian 273 vergence 4 facing direction .255
Congo 272, 273, 279 Discovery Chain 68 failed arm (rift) 94
Guyana - Brazil 272 displacement rate 177, 226 failure, Griffith 43
Guyanan 273 divergence 70, 169, 294 whole-lithosphere 41, 42, 46
(Peninsular) Indian 272, 273 direction 4 FAMOUS project 75,77,79
Kalahari 272, 273, 279, 281 oblique 71 fan .
Kola 290 rate of 91 counter 107, lOS
Nile 273 divergent motion 71 horsetail 107
N. Atlantic 290,291,292,294, divergent regime 188 listric 106, 107, 108, 110
295, 302, 304, 306, 307 DSDP 125 fault
Slave 290, 292 duplex (thrust) 133, 146, 165, 170, (_ also transform fault)
Superior 291, 292 247,250 Alpine 166, 171
Svecokarelian 285 strike-slip 169 Altyn Tagh 151, 152
Tanzanian 277, 278, 279 dyke swarm 284, 289, 294 Bil Pine h5, 179, 181
West African 272, 273 Scourie 296, 299 Church Stretton 260, 265
West Gondwana Elsinore 175, 177, 178
cratonization 275 earthquake Flannan 53, 245
creep, dislocation 43 focal mechanism of 32, 37 floor 108
.J.JV IN!>"X

Garlock 175, 177, 179, 180, 181 natjack measurements 29, 37 Gardar Province (Greenland) 284
Great Glen 144,246, 247, 250, nat 145, 146 geoid 16, 20
252, 253, 254, 267 footwall 145 geoid anomalies 16, 18, 19,20, 21
Herat 150 flexural depression 242 geosyncline 259
Highland Boundary 244, 252, flexure model 199 Timan 191, 192
253, 255, 257, 267 flower structure 169, 260 geotherm 5, 49, 140
Imperial 177 negative 170 geothermal gradient 27, 30, 32, 41,
Insubric 219 positive 169, 170 44,45,46,47,51,112,270
Najd 274 flysch 140, 212, 213, 214, 217, 222, Gibraltar 186
Navan - Shannon 259 229, 234, 236, 239, 242, 292 Girvan 258, 259, 265
North Anatolian 234 fold belt, Southern England 188 Glen Affric 249
Ornach Nal-Chaman 131 force, buoyancy 29 Glenelg 249
Outer Hebrides (Outer Isles) 53, force Glenfinnan Division 249, 253
245, 297 critical 48, 49 GLORIA side-scan sonography 122,
Pontesford Linley 260 plateau uplift 26 187
Quetta - Chaman 150, 151 forces Gondwanaland 61,62, 153,228,
roof 108 mantle drag 25, 27, 29, 32, 37 231,272,273,277,281
San Andreas 178, 180, 181 plate boundary 24,41, 150 Gothenburg 285, 286
San Gabriel 175 resistance 25, 29, 38 graben 83, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96,
San Jacinto 175, 177, 178 ridge-push 25,21>,27, 34, 37, 38, 109, 120, 122, 171, 172, 190,
shortcut 108 41 197, 203, 204, 256
sale 107, 109 slab-pull 16,24,26,27,33,37, Central 200, 202
Southern Uplands 244, 252, 255, 38,41 formation of 105
256, 258, 266, 267 subduction - suction 22, 24, 26, half 109, 202, 256
Tonale 219 27,37,41,46,85,95,118 0510 83,241,242,263,284,
White Wolf 177, 178 trench-pull 41 288
fault overlap 168 trench suction 24 Shansi 150
fault plane, focal-plane solutions 3, fore-arc 258 Viking 200, 202, 203
32, 37, 39, 95, 114 fore-arc complex 125 graben-horst morphology 183
faulting underthrust 114, 115 foredeep 214 Grampian Division 254
faults foreland 215 Group 245, 253
antithetic 95, 107, 110, 168, 177 African 219 Highlands 244, 253, 254, 264,
antithetic strike-slip 167 Baltic 266 266, 267, 268
Chugach-Fairweather, Queen Hercynian 228 slide 253, 255
Charlotte Islands 166 Laurentian 266 granite - greenstone terrains 302,
en-echelon 89, 168, 183 Fort William slide 254, 255, 267 307,311
extensional 94, 95, 105, 109, 145, fracture zone (oceanic) 166, 181, gravitational sliding (51'1' gravity
212 182, 186, 187, 189,267 sliding)
growth 265, 292 Alula 183 .raYity spreading 120, 250, 255
listric 96, 105, 106, 109, 133, 202 Azores-<:iiltraltar 58,166,210,214 gravity anomaly 181, 197
offset 181 Chain 181, 183 Bousuer 89, 113, 114, 141, ISS,
splay 89 Charcot 113 t65, 223
synthetic 95, 110, 168 Charlie Oi. .s 183, 184, 185, 186 free-air 89, 113, 114, 184, 195,
synthetic strike - slip 167 Chile 58,65 207
transfer 109, 223 Discovery 186, 187 gravity data 204
transform 2, 3, 25, 27, 39, 54, Gibralter 210 profile 154, ISS, 202, 221
58, 59, 61, 62, 64, 70, 75, 78, Gloria 184, 186 slidiftg 112,217,218,220,247
80, 91, 109, 161, 166, 178, Gofar 186, 187 sliclina nappes 114
182, 183, 187, 197, 198 (51'1' K~chatov 184 sh. .ping 120
atso transform fault) Mendana 122, 123, 124 gravity-spreading model 136, 305
White Wolf - Kern 175 'fountain of nappes' Great llasin (USA) 96
fault zones, San Andreas 3, 36, 40, hypothesis 255 Great Lakes (N. America) 189
58,59,64,96,97,98, 100, 101, fractures Great Valley 177, 180
166, 175, 176, 177, 179,221 en-echelon 80 Greece I 10, 134
faunal separation 264 extensional 83, 167 Greenland 214, 242, 270, 281, 284,
Fennoscandia 207 tensional I 10, III 290, 291, 294, 295, 299, 300,
Fennoscandian craton, shield 190, fraClllrina, hydraulic 33 301, 102, 303, 304
242,243,261,263 (51'1' Baltic Francisean complex (California) Greenland - Scotland resion 312
shield) 227 greenstone belt 279, 302, 304, 307,
Fernie: Group 223 Franz Josef Land 242 301, 309, 310, 311
Finllrnarkian (oroamy) 263, 266 BilStone Lake 309, 311
Fiskenaesset 303 gabbro-eclogite phase change 198 Grenoble 215
fissure eruptions 80, 82 Gairloch 296, 297, 298 Grenville front 282, 283, 284
flake tectonics 141, 142 Galicia 235 Grenville group 284
 INDEX 331
Grenville province 281, 282, 284, ice-sheet Labrador 302
289 Pleistocene 15 geosyncline, trough 292
Grenville Supergroup 283 Scandinavian 15 Sea 61, 202
Grenville - Sveconorwegian system Iceland 79, 80, 82 lag 255
281 Iltay boundary slide 254, 267 Lake District 244, 259, 264
Gruinard Bay 300 imbricate 236, 277 (see also Lake Viinern 285, 286
Gulf of Aden 61,85,87,91,94 imbricate zone, thrust sheet) Lake Viittern 285
Gulf of Bothnia 207 indentation model 67, 136, 147, Lanzo peridotite 218
Gulf of Califbrnia 39, 64, III, 149, 150 Laramide (orogeny) 33, 208
166, 178 indenter 148 compressional deformation 99
Gulf Coast province 34 Indian ocean, evolution of 58, 61 lateral tip 239
Gulf of Mexico 189 Indo - China block 147, 160 Lau trough/Havre basin 100
Gulf of Suez 91, 111 Indonesia 139, 144, 161, 162, 175, Laurasia 281
Gullfaks block 203 210 break-up of 95
interference patterns 249 Laurasia - Gondwana 241
hairpin bend 271 intracontinental shortening 236 Laurentia 207,228,261,264, 266,
hanging wall antiform 247 extension 264 267, 268, 271
Hawaii 64 mobile belts 272 Laurentian shield 271
Hawaiian ridge 68 movements 281 Laurentian - Greenland shield
Hawaii - Emperor bend 68 intraplate basin 204 243
chain 20,67 compression 24 lavas, sheet-flow 78
heat now 10, II, 12, 13, 14,20, convergence 226 Laxford 298, 299, 300, 301
42,44,46,47,48,49,51,53, extension 24, 47, 204 Laxfordian (deformation) 296
74,75,80,96, 140, 177,207,208 magmatism 280, 312 Lesmahagow 256
Hebridean craton 245 movements 300 Lesser Antilles 125, 126
Hercynian belt 190, 231 structure 188, 191, 193,206,214 Lesser Antilles volcanic arc 126
foreland 241 uplifts 206 Lewisian complex 245, 295, 297,
front 236, 237 Inverian 296, 298, 301 298
orogenic belts, regions 51, 228, 229 inversion 191,209 Lewisian - Nagssugtoqidian system
Hercynides 228 1reland 241, 259 294,299
high-grade gneisses 307 South-west 236, 237, 238, 239 Lhasa 154, 155
high-grade gneiss terrains 302, 304, Irian Jaya 160 LlSPB deep-seismic reflection profile
311 Irish Sea block 244, 259, 264, 265 51, 53, 109, 245, 252, 253
Himalayan fold-thrust belt 150 Isle of Man - Leinster (zone) 259 listric (geometry) III, 250
front 147 isostatic rebound 207 lithosphere, compressional strength
Frontal thrust 151 Isua supracrustal assemblage 304 of 47 •
Himalayas 139, 140, 144, 146, 148, Italian peninsula 210 continental extension of 49
150, 151, ISS, 159, 236, 250 Itivdleq 295 (definition) 55
Pakistan 158 Ivrea body 221 mathematical model of
Hoggar 87 deformation 43
Holsteinsbolll 295 J aglot syncline 156, 157 evolution of strength of 47
Hopedale 282 Jamdena 165 extension of 49, 51, 85
horse 108, 146 Japan sea 103 extension factor (Il) 48, 49
horst 96 Java 159, 160 flexure 24, 27, 209
hot-spot Jura 215 long-term strength of 41
Hawaii 67 folded 2U strain hardening of 49
Iceland 67 plateau 215, 216 stretching of 198
hot-spot frame of reference 20,-69, stretching factor (see lithosphere
104 Kangamuit dykes, Greenland 294, extension factor)
hot-spots 20, 26, 67, 78, 79, 80, 295,296 thinning 86
84, 188, 189 Karakorum 154, ISS, 157 L10yn peninsula 259
H unsarian plain 215 Kazakhstan block 152, 153 loads, topographic 31, 32
Hudson River 229 Kenora 307, 309, 311 Loch Eriboll 246, 247
Hudsonian 190, 291 Kenya 17,89, 277 Loeh Laxford 297
Hudsonian Cycle 281 Keweenawan event 271 Loch Maree 296, 297
Humberian (orogeny) 266 Kinloehewe 246 Loeb Maree Group 296, 297, 298,
hydraulic fl'llCtare (hydrofracture) Kohistan U6, 158 m
technique 29,30,37, 177 complex 157 Loch Torridon 297
hydrothermal activity 75, 77, 78, sequence 154, 156, 157 Lofoten 264-
79 komatiitic oceanic crust 271 Lysekil- Marstrand 287, 288
Konasberg 285
Iapetus Ocean 258, 159, 264, 265, Konpbera - Bamble segment 285, Madaaascar 277, 279
266,267 288 magnetic anomaly data 152, 181
Iberia, Iberian peninsula 210, 214 Koster islands 287 pattern of 91
332 INDEX

Makran complex 119. 125. 133. intracratonic 273. 279 Helvetic 215.217.219
134. 144 Moffat shales 256, 258 imbricate 247
Malene supracrustal assemblage. Moho 154. 155,202,221,231.250 Pennine 214.217.219,220.221
gneisses 304. 305 Moine Complex 247, 249, 250, 253. Piemont 219
Mali 195 265 S. Devon 239
Manitoba 309. 310 MOIST deep-seismic reflection profile Tinee 217,218
mantle convection 15. 19.69.85, 51,53, 109 Naver slide 248. 249
100 Mojave block 180 New Brunswick 242
decoupling 305 molasse 213,214.217,219. 226. New Caledonia 173
diapir 95 276 Newfoundland 229, 242, 243, 255,
dr.g (force) 23. 24 Molasse trough 215.216. 217 261,266.268
plume 19. 67. 85. 99, 209 Moldanubikum 233 New Guinea (Irian) \40, 159. 160.
marginal basin 100 Mon. complex 265 162. 173
margins Monar folds 249 New Hebrides 173
active 3 Morar division 249 New Jersey 204. 205
p•• sive 3 Morarian event 253 New Zealand 166, 171
M.ssachu.ells 261 Mor.y Firth 200 Nice 215,217
massif', Aiguille.-Rouges 216, 217 Morocco 210, 273 Nordre Strornfjord 295. 296
Ardennes 195 movements Norman WeUs 33
Argentera 217 cratonic 189 Nonh American Cordillera 175
Armorican 195.229, 233, 241 direction of 3, 237, 280, 284, craton 222. 223, 227,
BeUedonne 216, 220 287. 299, 301 231
Bohemian (Moldanubian) 229. oblique 70 North Allantic - Arctic Ocean 214
231,241 recent vertical 189, 191, 194 Nonh China block 152, 153
Central (France) 195,231,235, strike-slip 39, \47. 171, 172,241, Nonh Sea 195, 200, 202
236,24\ 266. 281, 287. 295, 299. 101 Nonh Sea basin 49, 83. 189. 202
Centro-Iberian 233 movement rate 264 Nonh Sea furrow 93
Iberian 229 Ml Everest 154 Noth Sea graben 95
London-Brabant 199,243. 244 Murray transform fault 58. 131, 175 North Slope terrane 221
Mt Blanc 215, 216. 217 NW foreland zone
Rhenish 237 N.gssugtoqidian 296 (Scottish Caledonides)
Mauritania 195 N.g (Nagssugtoqidian) 244,245
McKenzie extensional. stretching model 2,295 Nosib Group 279
198, 204, 206 Nain Province Nova Scotia 242
Median seament (Sveconorwegian N.mibi. 279 Nubian shield 273
proviace) 285, 286 N.n Shan range ISO, 151 Nilk sr.nitic suite 304, 305
Mediterr.nean 119, 136, 140, 147, nappe 217, 262, 263, 264, 278, 288 obduction 141, 142, 143, 212. 218.
210, 211 allochtbonous 261 220,255,261,264,261,268,
eaSlern \)4 Appin 254 275
Mendips 237, 238, 239 Arn.boU 247 ol;>lique scarps 186, 187
m.-phere 6 Ba1acltulish- T.y 254 ~.noor f.bri<: 116
metamorpbi<: cere complexes 99 Banff 254 ~ pl.leallx 117
microplate 211,214 Ben More 247 _ ridse 210
micropl.les Dent- BI.nche 215. 216, 219 OC*. ridse vulc.nicily 75, 16
Aeaean 211 Diableret 217,219 ~sweU
Apulia 211 exotic roof 250, 25 I lIcrmudan 16
Camics 210, 214 Glencoul 247 .....aii.n 16, 18
lberi. 2'0 Jotun 263 oc:eanization 198
Moesia 210, 214 Kinlochewe - Kishorn 247 off-.pilll 119, 120, 125, 258
Rhodope 210, 214 Koli 264 olisdloltrome 163, 212, 241
Turkish 211 MoiRe 245, 2047, 248 ophiolite 140. 142, 143, 144, 152.
mid-Qa-man Crystalline Rise 234, Monte Reas 215, 216, 219 153, 165, 171,211,219,227,
236 Moreles 217,219 255,261,264,166,267,268,
mid-Nonh Sea HiSh 200,241 ophiolite 261, 267 271,274,275,276,277,278,
Midland Valley (Scotland) 171, P.rpaillon 220 292
141, 244, 155, 256, 2H, 258, St Bernard 216. 217 Ballantr.e 166
167 Seve 264 Bay of Islands 255, 266
Midlands platform (Ensland) 244. SPiff BeaS 248 Bell'S Cove 255, 266
m, 161, 266 Tank.v.ig 2047 Girv.n - BaIl.nlrae 256
miopoclinal 222,223,227 T.y 254,255 UIlSI 250
mioposYftclinal (belt) 221. 293 Wildhorn 217,219 ophiolites, abducted 241, 250, 284
Mississippi 129 n.ppes, Austro-Alpine 219 ophiolile CDmplelles 212
mobile bell 272 Embrunais - Ebaye 217 Oregon 166, 227
iatracontinental 273 exotic 25I. 262, 263. 264 orogenic bell

Alpine-type 228
Appalachian 230
Ca\edonian '24'2, '244
Hercyno-type 228
Southern Appalachian 232
orogenic cycle 269
orogenic phase, Acadian 231
orogeny
Alleghenian 228, 229, 231
Alpine 236
Cadomian 231, 245, 254, 259
Caledonian 159,228,231,245,
249, 264, 269
collision 139, 271
Finnmarkian 261,262,264
Grampian 255, 264, 267
Grenvillian 245,247,253,281
Hercynian 269
Hudsonian 271,282
Laramide 97, 98
Laxfordian 245
Mauritanian 228
Scandian 261, 262, 264
Sevier 97, 98
subduction 139
Orust 287
Oslo 263, 287
Oslofjord 285
Ostfold - Marstrand segment 285,
286,289
Ostfold Segment 286
Outer Hebrides 245, 296, 297, 298,
299
overcoring 29, 37, 94, 136
overthrust, frontal 125
overthrusting 139, 143
Pacific Ocean
evolution of S8, 61, 6S
palaeomagnetic data, evidence ·147,
171, 2S0, 264, 266, 269, 272,
279, 289, 292
reconstruction 61
Paliser limestone 223
Pamir range ISO, isr, IS4, IS',
IS7, 1S9
Pan-African ('orogeny') 272, 273,
273,277,279,281,290
Lower, Middle and Upper 273,27S
Pangaea 19,26,27, S8, 61, 83, 8S
break-up of 210
parautochthonous (structural units)
217
pBSlive (contiMlltal) margin lOll,
188, 197, 198,199,227,273
Peloponnesos 134
Pembrokeshirc 238
PenDine nappes 214,217,219,220,
221
peralkaline ma.matism 27S
Pernambuca lineament 90
Pharuside fold beh 196, 197
phase transitions 28
Philippine islands 1S9
INDEX 333
Piedmont province 230 plate motions
Piemont trough 214 absolute 20, 67
viel-ometet ~sttess metet' 1\ l<:'\~\\'l<:' \~
olivine grain-size 31 plate velocities 3
piggyback (thrust) sequence 146, plateau
223, 239 Colorado 36, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101,
pillow-flow eruptions 78 207, 208
plate Deccan 207
Adriatic 140, 219 East African 207
Aegean 135 Ethiopian 207
African 3, 55, S8, 62, 80, 134, Iranian 140
13S, 136, 144, 186,211,214, Snake River 98
215 Tibetan 140, ISO, lSI, 154,207
American, Americas 3, 26, SS, plateau uplifts 26, 27, 29, 46, 73
S6, S8, S9, 64, 6S, 69, 96, plateau, oceanic 209
125, 126, 175,221 plates, elasticity and rigidity of 7
Anatolian 134 Poisson's ratio 43
Antarctic 3, 54, SS, 56, 62, 67, polar wander curves 271, 272, 277
69 Pontesford lineament 259
Arabian 58, 62, 87, 90, 91, 131, pole of rotation 2, 3
134, 140, 144, ISO, 166, 171, Po plain 214
211 Po valley 221
Asian (see also Eurasian) Port Askaig tillite 265
Caribbean 65, 116, 125, 126, 130 post-glacial rebound 189
Cocos 56, 64, 65, 69, 116, 118 pre-Alps 21S, 216, 219
Eurasian 3, 55, 56, 58, 67, 69, Precambrian chronology 269
86, 131, 134, 135, 140, 147, heat production 270
159, 161, 166, 173, 186, 190, pre-Caspian depression 241
200, 211 Pregothian gneisses 285, 286
European 221 prehnite - pumpellyite facies 259
Farallon 58,61.63,64, 175 pressure, pore-fluid 30
Iberian 140 Proterozoic supercontinent 272, 290
Indian 39, 55, 62, 64, 67, 69, 80, proto - Atlantic Ocean 244
131, 140, 144, 150, 151, 154, proto - Pacific Ocean 227
157, 159, 160, 166 pull-apart (basins) 171
Indo - Australian (see also Indian) Purcell anticlinorium 223, 22S, 226
3, 159, 160, 161, 166, 173, 175 Pyrenees (range) 139,140,211
Juan de Fuca 96 ramp 133, 145, 146, 250, 263
Kula 61,62,63, 178 hangingwall 145
Nazca 33, S6, 58, 64, 65, 69, ramp-flat geometry 106, 169
117, 118, 122, 123 Rangely oilfield 33
N. American 116, 178 Rayleigh number 22
Nubian 87, 90 recesses 147
Pacific 3, 26, 33, 55, 56, 58, 59, Red Sea 85, 87, 88, 94, 277
61,63,64,69,98, 100, 147, regimes
159, 161, 166, 173, 175,228 convergent 3,4,231
Phoenix 61, 63 divergent 3, 231
Somalian 87, 90, 91 extensional 4
S. American 27 intraplate 73
Tethyan 214 oblique 3
Turkish 214 strike-slip 3,4, 73, 166, 171,241
plate boundaries relative motion
collisional 86 convergent 54
conservative 54 diversent S4
constructive 73, 83, 166 strike-slip S4
convergent 25,86,95, 171 retrocharriage/back-folding 217,
dalruetive 112, 166, 210 2SS
diver.ent 73,:w.l Reykjanes peninsula 80
oblique movements at 166 Rheinisches Schiefergebirge 234,
plate convergence 19 241
direction of 268 Rhenish shield 93, 207
plate divergence 75, 79, 187 Rheno-Hercynikum 233, 234, 236
direction of 80 rheology
plate evolution, Pacific Ocean 63 dry olivine 44
334 INDEX

dry quartz 44 Dead Sea 171 Scottish Highlands 2S I, 2S9

gabbroic S I East African 74, 83, 8S, 86, 87, Scourie 297
grandiorite S I 89, 90, 94 dykes 298
non-Newtonian 147 Ethiopian 94 gneisses 270
plagioclas. 43, 44- Gulf of Aden 83, 87, 90, 94 Sea of Crete 137
power-law 148 Gulf of Aqaba - Dead Sea Sea of Galilee 171
quartz 43 (transform) 91 SEABEAM sonar 133, 13S, 136, 137
wet quartz 44 Gulf of Suez 87, 92, 94 Seal Lake 284
Rhine Graben 49 Iceland 81 sea-mounts 116, 117
riders (on 501. fault) 107 Kenya 88, 90, 94 section balancing 223, 247
ridge (oceanic) 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, II, 13, Ngaound.r. 87, 90, 94 sediment loading 197, 199, 200
16, 2S, 26, 28, 39, S6, S7, S8, 61, proto - Atlantic 90 lei5lftic coupling 114
62,67, 73, 7S, 117, 143,209 R.d Sea 39, 83, 87, 87, 90, 94, discontinuity 2S6
Atlantic 77 273 profiles 12S, 133, 154, ISS, 256
Atlantic - Antarctic 62 Rhine 84, 86, 94, 9S seillllic refieaion data, profil.s
Barbados 119, 12S, 126, 127, Rio Grand. 34, 36, 83, 96, 97, 119, 121, 129, UI, 183, 184,
129, 133, 13S, 2S9 98,208 203, 204, 2S0
Carlsberg S8, 80, 91 rift formation lOS seismic r.fraction data, prcfiles 7S,
Carnegie 118 rift pillow 84 140,201,202,221
Caroline 66, 67 rift system seiMlic slip II S
central Indian Ocean 62 African 39, 86, 273 seilMic velocities 141
Cocos 3S, 117 African - Red Sea - Gulf of Aden P....ave 201
Chagos 61 (Afro-Arabian) 83, 86, 87, 94 seillftic wave 7
crenellate 79, 80 Central African 90 .tenuation of 9, 74
East Pacific 11, 13,33, 3S, S6, Rhine - Ruhr 37, 83, 93, 214 p. 7, 154
S8, 64, 6S, 77, 78, 99, 166, rift vall.y 76, 77 . Sa 7, 74, IS4
17S, 186, 187,228 rift vulcanicity 84, 8S, 86, 87, 89, Iei_icity 117, 147, 177
Farallon - Kula 63, 178 90,94 Scram 160, 162, 16S, 173
Galapagos S6 rifts, rifting 70, 8S, 190, 191, 198, Sevier Desert derachment 99, 101
Juan d. Fuca 166, 17S 200, 214, 242, 264 Sgurr Beag slide 246, 249, 2SS, 267
Juan F.rnand.z 117 active 8S shallow SUbduction 312
Kyushu - Palau 66, 102 aseismic 90 shear zones (see also zones) 4,
Marcus - Necker 66, 67 axial 78, 79 lOS, 109, 146, IS4, 167,202,
Mediterranean 134, 13S, 143 continental II, 73, 83, 2S3 203, 204, 234, 237, 241, 249,
mid-Atlantic 10, 12, S6, 62, 73, extensional 200,212, 289 250, 210, 281, 284, 286, 287,
74, 7S, 76, 78, 79, 101, 12S, fail.d arm 83, 84 2111, 119, 294, 296, 298, 300,
166, 182, 184, 18S, 186 intrtplat. 83 307, :J09, '11, 312
Nazca 117, 118 lithosph.r.·activaled, "Ienerated Canisp 197
Ninety-East 61 8S, 87, 94 Diabe!J JOO
Reykjan.s 79 mantl.-aaivated 8S, 86 <i6&a Alv :liS, 216
SE Indian Ocean 62 plsUv. 8S ONi..rd Bay JOO
SW Indian Ocean 62 Itrcss....nerated 94 '-rian 1'7, 299
stepped 80 Rocky MOUnlaias 34, 36, 101, 144, Idwdleq m
Trillan d. Cunha - Walvis 67 145, 146, 123 ItriltiansaINI- .... 288
Walvis 6lI Canadian 122, 22S LMford 1'7, JOO
ridge offset 166 ronever 106 Nenlre Strflllfjord 29S, 296
ridle pllSh 24, 144 root zone (of nappes) 25S GIIofjord 217, 2IlI
ridle system, Indian Ocean 83 Ruhr 242 s'-" folds 264
ridge-transform intersection 267 Ruuian platform 189, 190, 191, S1MIIHd 202
ridges 18, 26, 56, 62, 69, 70, 178, 193, 194,207,209,228 ~hiIW
181
aseismic 66, 103, 113, 116, 117, Sahara 195
_iomtal
PIwambrian
'2
10, S1
118 saJimu 147 shoot"';nl rate 239
fast-spreading 79 Salt rtlll. 158, 159 Siberia (block) 153, 154
slow-spreadina 77 San Gorlioni t1cnd 17S, 178 Sicily 210
Riedel shears 167, 186, 187 Santa Maria 178, 179 side-lC8n _ _ 75, 119, 18S
rift 81,82,86,89,91, 9S, 109, Sardinia - Corsica 214 Sierra NC\'da 16, 101, 17S, 180
1117, 202, 204,207, 291 Saudi ~ia (_ ttbo Arabian Si. . - "Or- block 152
Abu- Gabra 87, 90, 94 shi.ld) 273, 277 Sklne 215
Adamaoua \l4 S8lI0II Grtnullt,.bir,. 231 Skye 247
Arctic - Atlantic 200 Scotland 248, 291, m, 301 slab bucklilll 119
Baikal 83, 84, 86, ISO, 188 north-west 246, 270, 295, 297 slab dip inclination 37, 104, 116,
continental 181,284,312 northern 244, 151, 253 117, 118
Darfur 94 south-west 254 slab profile 104
 INDEX 335
Sia ve province 291 stress-depth relationship 32, 41, 46, Taconic 229, 266
Sleat Group 245 47,48 Tanzania 88, 277
slickenside striations 95 stress field 83,96, 185 Tarim basin 159
slides 249 stress orientation 32, 33, 34, 35, Tarim block 152, 153
Sol Hamed 276 37,40,41,98 Taurus mountains 139
solid diapirism 310, 311 stress provinces (USA) 34, 36 tectonic age 14
Solway Firth 244, 245, 258 stress relief 29 collage 152, 221
South East Asia 149, 153, 159, stretching factor B 199, 205, 237 subsidence 206
160, 175 strike-slip, displacement 3, 159, tectonics, thin-skinned (thrust) 146,
South East Asia block 152, 153 168, 173, 175,221,244,250, 241
South China 149 255, 256, 259, 288 Telemark 288, 289
South China block 152, 153 model 257 tension fractures 75, 92
South Great Plains (province) regime 259 terrane J53
36 sub-Alpine chains 217 allochthonous 227
.South Harris 296, 297, 298 subcretion 119, 120 Alexander 227
South Harris igneous complex subduction, angle of 95, 116, 118, Avalon 261, 266
297 175, 304, 305 Cache Creek 227
South Tibet block 153 subduction (in Precambrian) 271 displaced 171,173,222,226,255
Southern province (Canadian shield) subduction rate 306 exotic 171,175,221,227
291 Lesser Antilles 125, 126, 127, Grampian (Highlands) 250, 251,
Southern Uplands (Scotland) 244, 130, 259 256
256, 257, 258 Mediterranean 166 Klamath Mountains 227
Spitzbergen 242 -r Makran 140 Midland Valley (Scotland) 255,
spreading fabric 122, 124, 181- Mexican 140 268
staircase trajectory 145 " Oregon 175 Northern Highlands 247,249
Stoer Group 245 q vulcanicity 118 Notre Dame (Newfoundland) 268
Stora Le Marstrand formation, 286, subsidence, rate of 195, 197, Stikine 227
287 205 suspect 172, 175, 221, 222, 226,
strain gauge, use in stress Sudan 276 227, 244
determination 29 Sudetic phase 229, 241 terrane accretion, strike-slip 227
strain hardening 5 I, 53 Sulawesi 159, 160, 161, 162 terrane displacement 178
strain rate 3, 4, 44, 49, 50, 90, 99, Sumatra 159, 175 Tethys (ocean) 61,94,139,162,
147, 150,204 Sunda craton 160 200, 204, 212, 236
strain softening 5 I Superior Province 283, 289, 302, proto- 228
Straits of Gibraltar 210 307, 308, 309 Texas 229
Straits of Hormuz 131 surface unloading 28 Thailand 175
Strathconon 249 surface waves (seismic) 9, 208 thermal
strength dispersion of 7, 74 anomaly 183, 198,204
instantaneous 7 suspect terranes 221 concentration 183
uniaxial compressive 30 Sutherland 249 diffusivity 22
stress 41 suture 140, 142, 154, 159, 221, gradient (see geothermal gradient)
asthenosphere 32 '; 244,261,266, 274, 276, 278, sub-layer 22
bearing 24, 26, 27, 28 279, 300, 312 subsidence 205
compressive 94 Jlrustro - Alpine 220, 221 turbulence 22
critical 46 Banging - Nujang 153, 155 thick-skinned (thrust) model 250,
determination of 29 collisional 241, 272, 275, 277, 251
down-dip 40 281,284 thrust, Alpine sole 221
extensional 85, 92, 96, 97, l'I8 Lapetus 266 thrust
in-situ 29, 30, 33, 93, 94, 96, 97, Indus 151 Austro - Alpine 220, 221
136, 177 Indus - Tsang Po (Zangbo) 150, Arnaboll 246
intraplate 32, 37,41, 85, 119 152, 154, 155 back 236, 238, 239
loading 26 Siuang 153 blind 238
magnitude of 24,29, 30, 31, 32, Solway 244, 250, 256, 259 Dalsland Boundary 285, 286
37 Uralides 241 Ettrick Valley 256
membrane 24, 27, 28 Wetar 163 fleer 146,251
non-renewable 24, 25, 27, 28 Sveconorwegian (province, orogeny) (see fold-thrust belts)
renewable 24, 25, 28 286, 287, 288 Frontal Pennine 220, 221
sources of 24, 25 syneclise 190 Himalayan Boundary 150, 154
in subduction zones 38 Baltic 191, 193 Johnson 238, 239
thermal 24, 27, 28, 29 Dneiper - Donetz 191, 193 Kinlochewe 246, 247
thermoelastic 83 Moscovian (Moscow) 191, 193 Lewis 226
stress amplification 28, 42 Pechura 191, 193 Loch Skerrols 253
stress concentration 147 Pre-Caspian 191, 193 Main Boundary (Himalayas) ISS,
stress-depth discontinuities 46 synorogenic deposits 212 157, 158
336 INDEX

Main Central (Himalayas) 155 Romanche 182 Ultrahelvetic nappes 214

Main Mantle (Himalayas) 154, Vema 182 underplating 119,120,133
156, 157, 158 vulcanicity 181 tectonic (A-subduction) 305
McConnell 226 transform valley 183, 184, 185 underthrust(ing) 120, 125, 129, 139,
Moine 246,247,248,251,252, transport direction 4, 220, 239, 142, 144, 152, 172,227,258,264
253, 265, 266, 267 247,249 uplifts 190, 194, 206, 207, 209, 242
out-of-sequence 239, 247 transpression 70,71,72, 166, 167, Adamaoua 90
Outer Hebrides 246 168, 169, 170, 171,214, 241, Baltic 208
Ritec 238, 239 264,281,291,292,294, 299 domal 85, B7, 90, 94
Roberts Mountain 241 transtension 70, 71, 72, 166, 167, East African 209
roof 146,247,251 168, 169, 170, 171,292,298, epeirogenic 94
sole, Alpine 221 299 Air 94
sole 144, 161, 217, 238, 246, Transverse ranges (USA) 180 HOllar 94
261, 263 trench (oceanic) 3, 56, 57, 58, 59, Tibesti 94
Ultrahelvetic 220 104, 112, 116, 122, 125, 135, FennosCandian 207
thrust belts 144, 220, 247, 263, 258 (st't' also trough) .intraplate 208
284 Andaman 150 isostatic 208
antithetic 144 Aleutian 64, 102 orosenic 212
compressional 106 Chile 166 plateau
foreland 144, 159,221, 222, 223, Eastern Mediterranean 210 post·glacial 207
225,245 Gortys 135 rates of 207, 208
Moine 244, 245 Hellenic 119, 134, 135, 136, 138, Rhenish 209
synthetic 144 144 Ukraine 190
thick-skinned 144, 223, 230, 237 Japan 121 Voronezh - Ukraine 191, 207
thrust complex Java 159 uPiler·plate motion (at convergent
synthetic 119 Kuril 102 boundary) 116
thin-skinned 234 Matapan 135 Uralides, Urals 190
thrust zone 108, 145, 281 (see Peru, Peru - Chile 33, 35, 64,
thrust belt) 113, 117, 119, 122, 124, 133 Valley and Ridge province 230,
thrust, Moine 144, 146, 246, 250, Pliny 135 232, 233
255 Poseidon 135 Variscan front 241
thrust, Sesfontein 280 Puerto- Rico 114 Variscides, Variscan zone 190, 228,
thrust displacement 285 Rocky Mountain 223, 225 241
thrust duplexes 120 Strabo 135 Varmland - Kopparberg 285
thrust-fold belts 230 Tonga 113 vector
thrust front 263 Western American 99 convergence 159
thrust sheet trench lcometry 113 _vement 72, 214, 241
allochthonous 163, 165, 217 trench roll-back 104, U' "Ie·movement (.velocity) 39,
imbricate 292 trencll·llope break 120, 258, 259 64, 67.69, 212
Kalbano 292 trench wall, inner 112 ....live·m.. v....ent (-velocity) 55,
Kalbano 165 trenches 3, 6, 14, 16, 19. 26, 66, 58, 71,10
parantochthonous 163, 165 us, 119, 212 lip (fault) 12, 39, 41, 54, 110,
thrust stacking 145 triple junctioll 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 136, 150
thrU5ling 61, B3, 90, 98, 175, 200 _ triangle 3,54,56,57, 1,35
&ntilhetic 144 Afar B5, 88, 90 .....y
piayback 246 Galapqos 64 P_ve 7, 202, 252
synthetic 144 Mendocino 177 P._ve 7, 20ll
thin·skinned 145, 146,221,261, NilCf B3 lIiIaric:·wavc 5, 7, 8
292 Trondhjeim 255 wiec:iey trianclc 58
Tibesti 87 (JW also trmc:h) V...-n IIaciation 265
Tibet 140, 150, 152, 153, 154 troul" .....-e 217,218, 292
Tibet block 152, 153 Barbados 126, 133 WIeeIit)' 5, 15
Tien Shan range 140, 150, 151, 159 Benue B3, B7, so ...-rent 43
Timanides 242, 243 Bonin 100 effective 15
Timor 140, 159, 160, 161, 163, Grenada 127 1dIIematic 22
164, 165 lau 100 viscous relaxation 28
Timor Sea 159 Marianas 100 volcanic centre 200
Tintagel decoupling zone 239 Nallkai 259 volcanic cIemc 90
Tornquist line, zone 204, 208 Tobago 126, 127, 133 volCAnism, cak:...lkaJioe 98, 99
Tonidon 299 Tunisia 210 VOlcanoes, central 10, 82
Torridon Group 245 turbidite apron 112
transform fault (St't' also under fault) Turkey 110 Wadi Haimur 276
Dead Sea 172 Wales 259, 260
M\lrray 58, 131, 175 Ullapool 247 South 228, 237, 237, 242
 INDEX
Wasatch Front 101 Blue-Ridge 241
Washington 166 Brianconnais 216, 217, 218
waves (see seismic waves) Central Gneiss (Grenville province)
wedge subsidence (theory) 105 282
West European Variscides 231, Central Metasedimentary
236, 241 (Grenville province) 282
West Gondwana continent 273 central Swedish Schistoslty 285
West Sulawesi 162 collage (N. American Cordillera)
Western Alps 141 173, 222, 226
Western Medineranean 210,212,214 collision 19, 144, 147,210
Western sub-province continental rift 7, 9, 10, 39 (see
(Sveconorwegian belt) 285, also continental rift)
288, 289 continental strike-slip 40
Wetar Strait 163 Dauphinois 216,217, 219
Windermere Supergroup 222, 223 en-echelon extension 83
Wrangellia 227 external (of Alps) 216
fault see fault zones
Young's modulus 43 Folded Jura 216
Yugosla via 210 Foreland (of Hercynides) 236
fracture see fracture zone
Zagros (range) 134, 140 Grampian 266
Zagros crush zone 140 "' Helvetic 214,215,216,219
zone imbricate 238, 2'8
(see also fault zones; fracture inner Piedmont 233
zones; shear zones; Internal (Pennine) 216,217
subduction zones) Ivrea 215, 216, 219
Benioff 113,116 low-velocity 9
337
Moldanubian 237
mylonite 249, 285 (see mylonite)
Northern Highlands (Scottish
Caledonides) 248
Northern Phyllite (German
Variscides) 234
Piedmont (Appalachians) 216,
232, 241
Piernont (Alps) 215,217
Protogine 285
Rhenohercynian 236, 237,241
(see Rhenohercynikum)
Saxothuringian 231, 233, 234,
237
seismic 3,113
Sesia-Lanzo 215,216,219
Schistes Lustres 217
Sinang 150, 151
Southern Alpine 216, 219
strike-slip 171
sub-Brianconnais 217
subduction
see subduction zones
transfer 288, 289
transform fracture 40, 185
transtensional 161
Valaise 216,217

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