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Oroclines: Thick and thin

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DOI: 10.1130/B30765.1

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Oroclines: Thick and thin
S.T. Johnston1,†, A.B. Weil2, and G. Gutiérrez-Alonso3
1 Invited Review
School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3065 STN CSC, Victoria,
British Columbia V8P 4B2, Canada
2
Department of Geology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010, USA
3
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de los Caídos s/n, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
ABSTRACT
An orocline is a thrust belt or orogen that
is curved in map-view due to it having been
bent or buckled about a vertical axis of rota-
tion. Two distinct types of oroclines are recog-
nized: progressive and secondary. Progressive
oroclines are restricted to the scale of a thrust
sheet to thrust belt, are thin-skinned, and de-
velop during thrust sheet emplacement. Sec-
ondary oroclines are larger, occurring at the
scale of an orogen, and are plate-scale features
that affect crust and lithospheric mantle. Un-
like progressive oroclines, which develop dur-
ing initial orogenesis and in response to the
same orogen-perpendicular stress responsible
for thrust sheet emplacement, secondary oro-
clines are extra-orogenic, developing after ini-
tial orogenesis and in response to an orogen-
parallel principal compressive stress that is
oriented at a high angle to the stress responsi-
ble for orogen development. We present case
studies of the Wyoming Salient, a progressive
orocline that characterizes the Sevier thrust
belt of the western United States, and the
coupled Cantabrian and Central Iberian oro-
clines, which are linked secondary oroclines
affecting the Variscan orogen of Iberia. The
vertical-axis rotations involved in progressive
and secondary orocline formation are most
readily quantified through paleomagnetic
analysis. Detailed three-dimensional palin-
spastic restoration that incorporates transla-
tion rotation and strain can distinguish the
role, if any, of primary curvature in progres-
sive oroclines. The use of tectonic vectors,
such as paleocurrent directions, provides a
means of recognizing and characterizing the
initial geometry of secondary oroclines. Be-
cause secondary oroclines involve the entire
lithosphere, detailed studies of coeval meta-
morphism and magmatism provide a means
of constraining the fate of the mantle litho-
sphere during oroclinal buckling.
†
E-mail: stj@uvic.ca
GSA Bulletin; May/June 2013; v. 125; no. 5/6; p. 643–663; doi: 10.1130/B30765.1; 14 figures.
OROCLINES: INTRODUCTION
Understanding how map-view curvature of
geologic structures, ranging from individual
thrust sheets all the way to entire mountain belts
(Fig. 1), form and evolve is a first-order Earth
system problem. Historically, studies of defor-
mation at the outcrop to map scale have relied
on profile views for understanding the kine-
matics and dynamics in compressional orogens
(Hobbs, 1914). The geologic map perspective
on the other hand has been chiefly used for
understanding the spatial distribution of geo-
logic structures. Thus, most orogenic systems are
envisioned, and depicted, as longitudinal in na-
ture, and therefore their full four-dimensional
deformation fields are insufficiently character-
ized. This bias stems from the general simpli-
fication of plane strain and the propensity for
the geometric construction of transverse sec-
tions in characterizing and describing orogenic
systems. It was Carey (1955) who first recog-
nized the importance of map-view deformation
of Earth’s crust and coined the term orocline
(Carey, 1955). However, the idea that significant
crustal and even lithospheric buckling and fold-
ing take place about vertical axes of rotation has
yet to be fully appreciated in studies of modern
and ancient mountain systems and in the growth
of continental crust (e.g., Van der Voo, 2004;
Gutiérrez-Alonso et al., 2004).
Map-view bends can be distinguished based
on kinematics and the relative timing of curva-
ture (Weil and Sussman, 2004). Orogens and
thrust belts characterized by primary curves are
those in which the curvature is an inherited fea-
ture, present prior, during, and throughout the
formation of the orogen. Oroclines, as first de-
fined by Carey (1955), are map-view curves that
developed in response to bending or buckling of
an existing orogenic belt about a vertical axis
of rotation. Previous reviews (e.g., Marshak,
1988; Hindle and Burkhard, 1999; Marshak,
2004; Weil and Sussman, 2004) have, through
a focus on curved fold-and-thrust belts, defined
the terminology necessary for describing oro-
For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety.org
© 2013 Geological Society of America
18 8 8 2 013
CELEBRATING ADVANCES IN GEOSCIENCE
genic curvature, and developed the methods
for classifying these systems. Our focus here
is on oroclines, how they might form, and their
implications for plate tectonics and global
geodynamics.
Oroclines are most commonly inferred to
have developed in response to an applied stress
oriented at a high angle to the long axis of an
existing orogen (Ries and Shackelton, 1976).
Stress-perpendicular models include tensile
bending in response to rollback of an adjacent
slab (Russo and Silver, 1996; Linzer, 1996;
Lucente and Speranza, 2001; Johnston, 2004;
Rosenbaum and Lister, 2004; Schellart and
Lister, 2004; Schellart et al., 2007; Stegman
et al., 2006; Cifelli et al., 2007, 2008), and com-
pressive bending in response to wrapping about
a tectonic obstacle or indentor (e.g., Rankin,
1976; Thomas, 1977; Tapponnier et al., 1982;
Eldredge et al., 1985; Cobbold and Davy, 1988;
Davy and Cobbold, 1991; Thomas and Whiting,
1995; Stamatakos and Hirt, 1994; Keep, 2000).
Such models are commonly employed to argue
for a “thin-skinned” interpretation of oroclines,
place significant limits on the character and
tectonic setting of oroclines, and predict that
oroclines form in response to the same tectonic
setting that gave rise to the orogen in the first
place. An alternative explanation is that oro-
clines develop in response to an applied stress
oriented parallel to the long axis of an orogen.
Stress-parallel models require a plate-scale
geodynamic interpretation in which orocline
formation involves the entire lithosphere, with
the additional requirement that the orocline in-
volves two stages of development, because the
stress field responsible for orocline formation is
necessarily oriented at a high angle to the stress
field that gave rise to the initial orogen. Such a
switch in the orientation of the stress field begs
the question: Are there tectonic settings that can
regularly give rise to such a stress-field rotation?
We argue that there are two different types of
oroclines: progressive and secondary (Fig. 2).
Progressive oroclines (also termed progres-
sive arcs by Sussman et al. [2004] and Weil
643
 Johnston et al.

A 111o
Cz Cenozoic basin fill r Pz WX CANADA
Cenozoic intrusion R ive
e Gr
TK Late Cret/Paleogene ak ain Cz
Sn P l os
V
K Cretaceous Up ent
Mz Triassic-Jurassic li re Montana
Pz Paleozoic Pz WX Pz Pz

Helena
Salient
Z Neoproterozoic Cr ld t
aw ra
fo

Zl Neoprot lower fo in Mz Mz
WX Archean/ rd
Paleoproterozoic
Wyoming
K K

hrust Belt
43o
K
Cz

Wyoming
Z

Prospec rby
Pz

Salient
Pocatello M Idaho
ea

Sevier T
Nevada
de TK
Mz

Da
t
Pz

Sali l Utah
Pa

Cz Pz
ri

ent
Utah Colorado
s

Cz

tra
Cen
Z
K Mz
Pz
Mz
Cz K
Mz
Hogsback
Bear
Lake

TK Arizona
Idaho 42o CA New
Utah Mexico
Pz Sevier Thrust Front
Pz N
Absaroka

Cz Laramide Fault/Uplis

Laramide Arch/Uplis
Willard

0 300
Pz Mexico

Pz
ford

Figure 1 (on this and following page).

Z Geological maps of (A) the Wyoming
Craw

Pz Salient progressive orocline (after

Green
River Yonkee and Weil, 2010a), and (B) the
Mz TK
Mz Basin coupled Ibero-Variscan secondary
oroclines (after Shaw et al., 2012).
Great (A) A generalized geologic map is
Salt Pz shown at left and a location map at
Lake Wyoming right. The location map shows the po-
WX
N K sition of the Wyoming Salient within
the Sevier thrust belt. Within the
Wyoming Salient, major thrust faults
K and folds curve from NW trends in
wood arch
Salt Lake Mz Mz Uinta-Coon the north to NE trends in the south.
City Pz
0 Abbreviations on following page.
50 km Zl
Pz

644 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013

 Oroclines: Thick and thin

Figure 1 (continued). Geologi-

cal maps of (A) the Wyoming B MTSZ OUTCROPPING / COVERED
Variscan foreland

N
Salient progressive orocline fold-and-thrust belt

SZ
PT
(after Yonkee and Weil, 2010a), GTMZ Variscan outer hinterland
and (B) the coupled Ibero-Vari- fold-and-thrust belt
scan secondary oroclines (after Variscan hinterland core with
JPS CZ
Shaw et al., 2012). (B) A geologi- Z WALZ Cambro-Ordovician Magmasm
cal map of the Variscan orogen OC
BA OMZ
CIZ DRF Exoc Terranes with
of Iberia showing the major Ophiolites and High-P Rocks
DUF
tectonostratigraphic zones. Two Lower Allochthon-
SPZ JC Parautochthon
coupled oroclines are evident, Iberian

BCSZ
Autochthonous terrane with
including the convex-to-the- Massif strong Cadomian-Pan African

NP
west Cantabrian orocline in the PY imprint

F
north, and the convex-to-the- External thrust belt
east Central Iberian orocline CCR foredeep basin
to the south. BAOC—Beja- Bec deformaon front
Acebuches ophiolite complex; 300 km Variscan Strike-Slip
BCSZ—Badajoz-Cordoba shear Shear Zone
zone; CCR—Catalonian Coast
Ranges; CZ—Cantabrian zone; CIZ—Central Iberian zone; DRF—domain of recumbent folds; DUF—domain of upright folds; GTMZ—
Galician Tras-os-Montes zone; IC—Iberian Cordillera; JPSZ—Juzbado-Penalva shear zone; MTSZ—Malpica-Tui suture zone; NPF—North
Pyrennean Fault; OMZ—Ossa Morena zone; PTSZ—Porto-Tomar shear zone; PY—Pyrenees; SPZ—South Portuguese zone; WALZ—West
Asturian-Leonese zone.

Figure 2. A series of schematic block dia- A B

grams showing (A) the development of an
orogen or fold-and-thrust belt (D1) in re-
sponse to a stress (σ1, indicated with red
arrows) oriented at a high angle to the de-
veloping orogen. Gray indicates crustal
basement and mantle lithosphere; lighter D1σ1 D1 D2
colors and white indicate a supracrustal
stratigraphic package sitting depositionally
above the basement. (B) Progressive oroclines (D2) result from bending C
of thrust sheets and folds in response to the continued application of the
same stress field responsible for primary orogenesis and end down against
the basal décollement of the thrust belt. (C) Secondary oroclines develop in
response to the subsequent application of an orogen-parallel stress (indi-
cated by blue arrows), leading to the buckling of the entire orogen, includ-
ing its basement and mantle lithosphere, about a vertical axis of rotation.
Figure is modified from Weil et al. (2012b). D2σ1 D2

and Sussman [2004]) are: (1) restricted in scale
and setting to thrust sheets, folds, and fold-
and-thrust belts; (2) thin-skinned, with bending
being restricted to the crust lying above a thrust
or basal décollement; (3) progressive, meaning
that bending develops during and in response
to ongoing crustal shortening and thrust sheet
emplacement; and (4) attributable to the same
strike-perpendicular, compressive stress respon-
sible for development of the bent thrusts, folds,
or fold-and-thrust belts. Hence, the stress re-
sponsible for progressive oroclines lies in, and is
parallel to, the axial surface that bisects the arc
of curvature. Secondary oroclines are: (1) ex-
pansive, and occur at the scale of an orogen;
(2) plate-scale structures that involve the crust
and likely the lithospheric mantle; (3) second-
ary, or extra-orogenic, meaning that buckling
postdates and occurs after orogen formation,
albeit commonly shortly after crustal thicken-
ing; and (4) attributable to an orogen-parallel
compressive stress oriented at a high angle to the
compressive stress responsible for the original
orogen. Secondary oroclines therefore require
a dramatic switch of the prevailing stress field,
and develop in response to a compressive stress
field oriented at a high angle to the axial surface
that bisects the orocline’s arc of curvature.
Distinguishing evidence between primary
curvature and oroclines is based on the kine-
matic evolution of, and the structures formed
in response to shortening within, orogens and
the relative timing of curvature acquisition with
respect to their protracted evolution. Thus, in-
trinsic data are required for the analysis and
interpretation of finite rotations (McCaig and
McClelland, 1992). Traditionally, the best
way to quantify vertical-axis rotation has been
through paleomagnetic analysis (e.g., Irving and
Opdyke, 1965; Kotasek and Krs, 1965; Grubbs
and Van der Voo, 1976; Channell et al., 1978;
Van der Voo and Channell, 1980; Schwartz and

Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013 645


Van der Voo, 1984; Kent and Opdyke, 1985;
Eldredge et al., 1985; Lowrie and Hirt, 1986;
Miller and Kent, 1986a, 1986b; Eldredge and
Van der Voo, 1988; Kent, 1988; Muttoni et al.,
1998, 2000; Weil et al., 2000, 2001; Pueyo et al.,
2003, 2004; Weil, 2006; Weil et al., 2010b).
Rotation analysis, if done at the appropriate
scales (Yonkee and Weil, 2010a), can quantify
the magnitudes and distributions of block rota-
tions between individual sites and provide key
data to test kinematic models. Vertical-axis rota-
tion, however, is just one component of deforma-
tion, and thus any viable kinematic model must
also be consistent, and integrated with, other
geologic data (e.g., Gray and Stamatakos, 1997;
Hindle and Burkhard, 1999; Kwon and Mitra,
2004; Pueyo et al., 2004; Weil and Sussman,
2004; Yonkee and Weil, 2010b; Pastor-Galán
et al., 2012a). Few oroclines have been stud-
ied in detail, and we necessarily focus on those
for which there are significant geological and
paleomagnetic data. Two case studies are pre-
sented: (1) The Wyoming Salient of the Sevier
thrust belt, western United States, provides
a type example of a progressive orocline; and
(2) the coupled Cantabrian and Central Iberian
oroclines of the Variscan orogen of Iberia exem-
plify the characteristics of secondary oroclines.
Progressive oroclines are well understood and
studied; secondary oroclines are not. Hence, we
finish by exploring the tectonic implications of
secondary oroclines, discuss the plate-tectonic
setting responsible for their development, and
address the applicability of our model for sec-
ondary orocline formation by assessing the An-
dean oroclines.
PROGRESSIVE OROCLINES:
THE WYOMING SALIENT
Regional Geology
The Sevier fold-and-thrust belt in northern
Utah to western Wyoming (Fig. 1) records a
protracted geologic history, from accumula-
tion of a sedimentary prism, to development
of an orogenic wedge and foreland basin sys-
tem, to final-stage thrusting that overlapped
with development of Laramide foreland uplifts
(e.g., Rubey and Hubbert, 1959; Armstrong,
1968; Burchfiel and Davis, 1972; Jordan, 1981;
Boyer and Elliott, 1982; DeCelles et al., 2009;
Yonkee and Weil, 2010a; Weil et al., 2010b).
Sedimentary prism architecture was influenced
by underlying basement structure, and included
a west-facing passive-margin section that accu-
mulated above rifted basement and a more east-
erly cratonic section that accumulated on old
continental crust. A western thrust system with
extensive, thick thrust sheets developed in the
646 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013
Johnston et al.
passive-margin section, and an eastern thrust
system with closer-spaced thrusts developed
in the cratonic section. Thrust development
and propagation direction were forelandward
(west to east), from Early Cretaceous to Paleo-
gene time, with synorogenic strata deposited in
foreland basins (Armstrong and Oriel, 1965;
Armstrong, 1968; Royse et al., 1975; Royse,
1993; DeCelles, 1994, 2004). Major thrusts
display typical ramp-flat geometries and have
associated large-scale fault-bend and fault-
propagation folds. Structural imbrication was
thin skinned, occurred above a basal décolle-
ment located within Lower Paleozoic strata,
and resulted in translation of imbricated strata
east toward the autochthonous North Ameri-
can craton. Major thrust and fold traces display
systematic map-view curvature (~90°), which
defines the Wyoming Salient. The Gros Ventre
and Uinta basement uplifts bound the salient
to the north and south, respectively. Paleozoic
strata thin across these basement uplifts, indi-
cating that they are long-lived features of the
autochthonous foreland.
The Wyoming Salient
Thrust sheets of the Wyoming Salient are con-
vex toward the foreland, the direction in which
the thrusts verge. The amount of curvature is
~90°; the thrust sheets strike northwest in the
north and become progressively more southwest
striking near their southern termination (Fig. 1).
Total shortening across the Sevier belt is ~150–
300 km (Royse, 1993; Yonkee, 1997; DeCelles
and Coogan, 2006). The early emplaced Willard,
Paris, and Meade thrust sheets within the more
internal, structurally high, hinterland region
are more bent than the younger, more external,
structurally lower, foreland proximal Crawford,
Absaroka, and Hogsback thrusts. In addition, the
hinterland proximal thrust sheets show greater
internal strain (locally >30%), including the de-
velopment of a strike-parallel cleavage and asso-
ciated fractures, vein networks, and minor folds
and faults (e.g., Crosby, 1969; Mitra and Yonkee,
1985; Craddock et al., 1988; Protzman and
Mitra, 1990; Craddock, 1992; Mitra, 1994; Weil
and Yonkee, 2009; Yonkee and Weil, 2010a).
Strain increases toward the salient ends and de-
creases toward the foreland to very low values in
the frontal Hogsback thrust system (Yonkee and
Weil, 2010a). The main strain consists of strike-
normal shortening, and the principal shortening
directions are subperpendicular to structural
trend (Fig. 3) (Yonkee and Weil, 2010a). There
is no indication of bending of the footwall to the
thrust belt. The basal décollement lies within
Cambrian shales, and underlying, structurally
deeper Cambrian and older strata show no evi-
dence of bending. On a larger scale, there is no
indication (for example, magmatism or regional
metamorphism) that bending of the thrust belt
involved any portion of the crust or lithosphere
beneath the basal décollement. The footwall
does, however, appear to have played a role in
the development of the Wyoming Salient. Base-
ment uplifts characterize the north and south
margins of the salient, and the greatest degrees
of curvature are found adjacent to these uplifts
(Grubbs and Van der Voo, 1976; Schwartz and
Van der Voo, 1984; Craddock et al., 1988; Weil
et al., 2010b), and there is a significant transfer
zone in the central portion of the salient related
to the Moxa Arch (Kraig et al., 1987, 1988).
These observations suggest that the basement
uplifts acted as buttresses that served to impede
the eastward advance of Sevier thrust sheets.
Alternatively, thinning of the stratigraphic se-
quence toward the bounding uplifts may have
hindered eastward advance of the adjacent thrust
sheets by limiting the growth of the critical
Coulomb thrust wedge. Regardless, the char-
acter of the footwall to the thrust belt appears
intimately related to the development of the
Wyoming Salient.
Recent paleomagnetic, strain, and large-scale
structural patterns indicate that the Wyoming
Salient began with a component of primary
curvature related to the geometry of the ini-
tial sedimentary prism, and that eastern thrust
sheets experienced 60%–80% progressive rota-
tion (Weil and Yonkee, 2009; Yonkee and Weil,
2010a; Weil et al., 2010b). Progressive rotation
appears related to along-strike changes in thrust
slip directions and fold-thrust shortening, and to
interaction of frontal thrusts with Laramide fore-
land uplifts at the salient ends. Internal defor-
mation in the western thrust system was limited
within upper levels above a strong quartzite
interval, whereas lower levels underwent com-
bined simple shear and vertical thinning that
increased toward the base of the thrust sheet,
likely reflecting a weak basal fault zone. Early
layer-parallel shortening and minor tangential
(strike-parallel) extension were widespread in
the eastern system. Layer-parallel shortening
directions define a radial pattern that reflects
both initial dispersion about a regional E-W di-
rection, and secondary rotation. Thin-skin fold-
thrust shortening in the Sevier belt developed
contemporaneously with, and was balanced
by, lower-crustal shortening in a metamorphic
hinterland to the west. Overall, geologic obser-
vations and paleomagnetic data indicate that
bending in the Wyoming Salient was “progres-
sive”; the bulk (up to 75%) of the observed bend
is the result of rotation of originally more linear
thrust sheets, and bending appears to have been
coeval with thrust sheet emplacement.
 Oroclines: Thick and thin

A Gros
Ventre B C D F
Arch

Darb
Me Prospe
y
ad
e
c t
Pa

Stable
r

Foreland
is

Sites (F)
Strain ellipse
parallel to
Ankareh bedding
Tr Pmag
LPS AMS fabric
med/high

low strain Weak

Lineaon K Pmag
Idaho very low
Moderate
Utah Lineaon
Absaroka

Hogsback
rd
Willa

ord
Crawf

Wyoming

Uinta Arch
0 50 km F

Figure 3. Maps of the Wyoming Salient showing deformation determinations for the Ankareh formation, including: (A) layer-parallel short-
ening (LPS) direction; (B) bedding-parallel strain ellipses estimated from reduction spots; (C) anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS)
Kmax directions; and (D) structurally restored site-mean paleomagnetic declinations for prethrusting Triassic (Tr) component (purple) and
Cretaceous (K) demagnetization component (green) with declinations plotted with respect to appropriate reference direction of 340° for
the Triassic and 350° for the Cretaceous components, respectively. Figure is modified after Yonkee and Weil (2010a) and Weil et al. (2010a).

Progressive Oroclines
These observations suggest that progressive
oroclines: (1) are limited in scale; (2) are a prod-
uct of a strike-perpendicular stress; (3) develop
during and are coeval with thrust fault emplace-
ment; (4) are thin-skinned and end down against
the basal décollement underlying the thrust belt;
and (5) are a response to the same stress respon-
sible for development of the thrust belt (Fig. 2).
Hence, bends of thrust belts are not the result of
buckling of a preexisting structure. Instead the
bends are “progressive” and develop during and
in response to the mechanisms responsible for
thrust sheet emplacement. Therefore, the devel-
opment of curvature is linked to the character of
the crustal package being shortened, the nature
of the décollement, and the tectonic stresses being
applied from the rear of the wedge. In the case
of the Wyoming Salient, bending is linked to the
existence of long-lived basement highs that either
acted as buttresses that impeded eastward trans-
lation of Sevier thrust sheets, or influenced the
character of the sedimentary cover sequence and,
in doing so, impacted the initial (producing a pri-
mary curvature of 25% of the present-day geom-
etry) and subsequent development of the thrust
belt (the additional 75% of observed curvature).
SECONDARY OROCLINES:
THE COUPLED IBERO-VARISCAN
OROCLINES
Regional Geology
The late Paleozoic Variscan orogen of West-
ern Europe is correlative with the Appalachian
orogen of eastern North America, developed in
response to closure of the Rheic Ocean, and re-
cords the resulting collision of Gondwana with
Laurussia, forming the Pangea supercontinent
(e.g., Martínez-Catalán et al., 1997, 2007; van
Staal et al., 1998; Matte, 2001; Hatcher, 1989,
2002; Winchester et al., 2002; Franke et al.,
2005). Laurussia included the previously amal-
gamated continents of Baltica and Laurentia,
and the ribbon continent Avalonia that accreted
to, and formed the southern margin of, the
northern continent (Rast et al., 1976; Trench and
Torsvik, 1992). The timing of orogeny is con-
strained by deformation and metamorphism of
Devonian and Carboniferous strata, and by Car-
boniferous foreland basin development (Paris
and Robardet, 1990; Martínez-Catalán et al.,
2007). Synkinematic remagnetization indicates
that deformation was ongoing into the late Car-
boniferous and was complete prior to 310 Ma
(Parés et al., 1994; Van der Voo et al., 1997; Weil
et al., 2000, 2001, 2010a, 2012a; Weil, 2006).
In Iberia, the Variscan orogen is divisible into
four zones (Fig. 1). These are, from foreland
to hinterland, the Cantabrian, West Asturian-
Leonese, the Central Iberian, and the Galician

Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013 647


Tras-os-Montes zones (Martínez-Catalán et al.,
2007, and references therein). A little- to non-
metamorphosed Lower Paleozoic passive-mar-
gin sequence characterized by shallow-marine
to shoreface facies sedimentary sequences com-
prises the foreland Cantabrian zone (e.g.,
Julivert, 1971; Julivert and Marcos, 1973; Pérez-
Estaún et al., 1988). Foreland strata are imbri-
cated along a thin-skinned, cratonward-verging
foreland fold-and-thrust belt that roots to the
west beneath the West Asturian-Leonese zone
(Pérez-Estaún et al., 1991). The West Asturian-
Leonese and more internal Central Iberian zones
consist of more distal facies sedimentary strata
(Gutiérrez-Marco et al., 2002). Metamorphic
grade and extent of granitoid plutonism increase
from the Cantabrian to the Central Iberian zone,
and the Central Iberian zone is characterized by
ductilely deformed amphibolites- to granulite-
grade metamorphic rocks (Díez Balda et al.,
1990; Rubio et al., 2013). Oceanic terranes of
the Galician Tras-os-Montes zone lie structurally
above and were thrust over the Central Iberian
zone (Martínez-Catalán et al., 1997). Termi-
nation of Variscan orogenesis was followed
by significant strike-slip faulting (Martínez-
Catalán, 1990). Available age constraints limit
Variscan dextral and sinistral strike-slip faults to
an age of 315–305 Ma (Dallmeyer et al., 1997;
Valle Aguado et al., 2005). Dextral and sinistral
strike-slip faults are common in northern Iberia,
whereas sinistral strike-slip faults are predomi-
nant in southern Iberia, including the Badajoz-
Cordoba shear zones (Fig. 1).
Two additional zones, the Ossa Morena and
more southerly South Portuguese zones, are
recognized in the south of Iberia. The Ossa
Morena zone is geologically similar to, and has
been mapped as sharing a transitional contact
with, the adjacent Central Iberian zone (Pereira
and Silva, 2001; Solá et al., 2008), whereas the
South Portuguese zone is interpreted as a por-
tion of Avalonia and is thought to represent part
of the Laurussian continent (Lefort, 1988; Mar-
tínez-Catalán et al., 1997; de la Rosa et al., 2002;
Braid et al., 2012). The Ossa Morena and South
Portuguese zones lie south of the major sinis-
tral Cordoba-Badajoz shear zone; their original
paleogeographic location with respect to the rest
of the Variscan rocks of Iberia is a matter of con-
jecture (e.g., Quesada and Dallmeyer, 1994), and
we exclude them from the subsequent discussion
of the Ibero-Variscan oroclines.
Coupled Ibero-Variscan
Secondary Oroclines
The Variscan orogen of Iberia is buckled
into two, coupled oroclines, the convex-to-the-
west Cantabrian in the north, and the linked,
648 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013
Johnston et al.
convex-to-the-east Central Iberian to the south
(Shaw et al., 2012) (Fig. 1). Both oroclines are
“isoclinal” and exhibit 180° of curvature. The
foreland fold-and-thrust belt occupies the core
of the northern Cantabrian orocline; thrusts
located in the orocline hinge verge toward the
east (in present-day coordinates), parallel to the
orocline’s east-west–striking axial surface. The
metamorphic West Asturian-Leonese and Cen-
tral Iberian hinterland zones form the outer arc
of the buckle. The opposite is true of the south-
erly Central Iberian orocline, where the meta-
morphic Central Iberian zone occupies the core
of the orocline, and structurally overlying
oceanic allochthons of the Galician Tras-os-
Montes zone are preserved along the orocline’s
axial surface. The unmetamorphosed foreland,
though largely buried beneath younger strata, is
distributed around the outer arc of the orocline,
and thrust faults verge away from the orocline’s
axial surface. The amount of penetrative strain
within the buckled orogen is, therefore, indepen-
dent of the oroclines, with cleaved and foliated
rocks of the highly strained orogenic hinter-
land occupying the core of the Central Iberian
orocline and the external arc of the Cantabrian
orocline. Curvature is not readily related to any
specific feature of the orogen being buckled,
and preexisting stratigraphic and structural fea-
tures cannot be readily shown to have controlled
the development or geometry of the oroclines.
Synoroclinal structures are limited. There
is no evidence of significant strike-parallel ex-
tension during orocline formation. Structures,
including individual thrust faults and strati-
graphic sequences have been mapped continu-
ously around the oroclines (Pérez-Estaún et al.,
1991). There is evidence of synoroclinal conical
folding (Pastor-Galán et al., 2012a) and joint
set and cleavage formation (e.g., Pastor-Galán
et al., 2011) in the core of the Cantabrian oro-
cline. Stephanian conglomerates inferred to be
synoroclinal are characterized by joints that
fan about the orocline, whereas postoroclinal,
Early Permian sandstones are characterized by
orthogonal joints sets that strike consistently
north-south and east-west (Fig. 4) (Pastor-Galán
et al., 2011). It is, therefore, likely that the fan-
ning Stephanian joints formed in response to the
stress field responsible for orocline formation. It
is debatable whether the north-south and east-
west orthogonal joint sets that characterize the
Early Permian strata developed in response to
the same stress field.
Paleomagnetic and structural studies show
that bending is secondary (Parés et al., 1994;
Van der Voo et al., 1997; Kollmeier et al., 2000;
Weil et al., 2000, 2001; Aerden, 2004; Weil,
2006; Weil et al., 2010a, 2012a; Pastor-Galán
et al., 2011), meaning that the observed curva-
ture results from buckling of a preexisting oro-
gen that was originally linear or nearly so (Shaw
et al., 2012). Variscan thrust faults are continu-
ous around the coupled oroclines, and vergence
direction is a function of strike (Fig. 1). Simi-
larly, orthogonal joint sets that developed during
thrusting, and that are oriented parallel and per-
pendicular to the thrusts, have been shown to be
continuous around the Cantabrian orocline and
exhibit the full 180° of curvature (Fig. 4). Paleo-
magnetic declination also varies as a function of
strike around the Cantabrian orocline (Fig. 5)
(Weil et al., 2000, 2001). Limited paleomag-
netic data are similarly consistent with declina-
tion varying as a function of strike around the
Central Iberian orocline (Perroud et al., 1985;
Ruffett, 1990; Perroud et al., 1991; Parés and
Van der Voo, 1992). Palinspastic restoration of
the Variscan orogen of Iberia to an originally
linear, north-south–striking geometry, yields a
2300-km-long orogen that features, from east to
west, a west-facing Gondwana passive-margin
sequence that passes from proximal to increas-
ingly more distal facies to the west; an east-
verging foreland fold-and-thrust belt; a more
westerly metamorphic hinterland; and, at the
highest structural levels to the west, obducted
terranes of oceanic affinity (Fig. 6).
Structural, stratigraphic, and paleomagnetic
data constrain orocline formation to a 10–20 m.y.
interval straddling the Carboniferous-Permian
period boundary (Weil et al., 2010a; Pastor-
Galán et al., 2011; Gutiérrez-Alonso et al., 2004,
2011a, 2011b). The oroclines postdate Variscan
deformation and hence developed after 310 Ma.
Early Permian sandstones and conglomerates
unconformably overlie deformed strata, exhibit
no evidence of involvement in the oroclines, and
are characterized by consistent paleomagnetic
declination directions showing that orocline for-
mation preceded deposition (Weil et al., 2010a).
Strata remagnetized during orocline formation
yield an inclination consistent with remagnetiza-
tion, and hence orocline formation, between 310
and 290 Ma (Weil and Van der Voo, 2002). Oro-
cline formation therefore postdates, but occurred
shortly after (within 10–20 m.y.), the cessation
of Variscan orogenesis.
Magmatic, metamorphic, mineral deposit,
and isotopic evidence points to orocline for-
mation having involved the entire lithosphere
(Fernández-Suárez et al., 2000; Gutiérrez-
Alonso et al., 2004, 2011a, 2011b; Ducea, 2011),
consistent with the results of analogue modeling
of the orocline buckling process (Pastor-Galán
et al., 2012b). Significant post-Variscan, syn-
oroclinal (310–285 Ma) magmatism spans the
entire orogen, includes gabbroic and granitic
intrusions, and, in the north, becomes younger
to the east toward the core of the Cantabrian
 Oroclines: Thick and thin

A 80
Permian Joint data Permian Joint data Post-Early Permian joint paern
60 m = –0.03 (α95= ±.08) m = 0.09 (α95= ±.08)
σr = 3.8 σr = 4.4

Joint set Orientaon – Joint ref

40 N = 9 N=9

20

–20

–40 Permian Joint data

m = 0.00 (α95= ±.08)
–60
σr = 4.6
Figure 4. Strike tests utilizing N=9
–80 S 1 (N-S)
Set
representative orientation data –100 –80 –60 –40 –20 0 20 40 60 80 0
100 SSet 2 (E-W)
for different joints sets around Structure Trend – STref
SSet 3 (~130°)
the northern Cantabrian oro-
cline of the coupled Ibero-Vari- B 80
Stephanian Joint data
Stephanian joint paern
scan oroclines: (A) data for 60 m = 0.72 (α95= ±.18)
σr = 12.7
three Permian and younger
Joint set Orientaon – Joint ref

40 N = 9
joints showing no correlation
between structural trend and 20
joint orientation; (B) data for 0
two Stephanian joint sets that
show some correlation between –20
structural trend and joint ori- –40 Stephanian Joint data
entation for these synbuckling m = 0.57 (α95= ±.12)
–60 σr = 7.0
joints; and (C) data for two N=8 P
Perpendicular set
pre-Stephanian joint sets that –80 P
Parallel set
–100 –80 –60 –40 –20 0 20 40 60 80 100
yield a one-to-one correlation Structure Trend – STref
between structural trend and
joint orientation, constraining
these joints to having formed C 100
Pre-Stephanian Joint data Pre-Stephanian joint paern
prior to oroclinal buckling. 80 m = 1.03 (α95= ±.06)
σr = 8.5
Figure is modified after Pastor- 60 N = 43
Joint set Orientaon – Joint ref

Galán et al. (2011) and Weil et al.

40
(2012b).
20

–20

–40
Pre-Stephanian Joint data
P
Perpendicular set
–60 m = 1.16 (α95= ±.10)
Parallel set
P
σr = 13.4
–80 N = 28
–100
–100 –80 –60 –40 –20 0 20 40 60 80 100
Structure Trend – STref

orocline (Fig. 7) (Fernández-Suárez et al., 2000;
Gutiérrez-Alonso et al., 2011a). Isotopic studies
demonstrate that pre-Variscan mantle-derived
magmas were derived from melting of an ancient
(Nd model ages of 1.0 Ga or greater) lithospheric
mantle, whereas post-Variscan melts yield Nd
model ages of 0.3 Ga (Gutiérrez-Alonso et al.,
2011b). Orocline formation was, therefore, co-
eval with removal of the ancient lithospheric
mantle underpinning the Gondwana margin and
its replacement by asthenosphere. The eastward
younging of intrusions can be explained in terms
of asthenospheric upwelling and melting in re-
sponse to lithospheric thinning around the outer
arc of the Cantabrian orocline and thickening
of the mantle and its subsequent delamination
beneath its core. Elevated heat flow consistent
with lithospheric mantle removal is indicated
by widespread metamorphism of syn-Variscan
sedimentary strata and coal-bearing sequences.
Significant epithermal gold mineralization, mas-
sive dolomitization reactions, abnormally high
coal ranks, and widespread remagnetization
point to a crustal-scale hydrothermal event co-
eval with orocline formation, consistent with the
removal of the lithospheric mantle coeval with
orocline formation (Colmenero and Prado, 1993;
Gómez-Fernández et al., 2000; Martín-Izard
et al., 2000; Weil and Van der Voo, 2002; Arenas
and Martínez-Catalán, 2003; Gasparrini et al.,
2003, 2006a, 2006b; Schneider et al., 2008).
Reconciling paleomagnetic and geological
data within orogens characterized by secondary
oroclines has proven difficult. The Gondwanan
stratigraphy involved in the Ibero-Variscan oro-
clines can be correlated along the length of the

Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013 649

 Johnston et al.

A C
100
CAA paleomagnec data
80 m = 0.98 ( α95= ±.06)
σr = 18

Paleomagnec Declinaon – Dec ref

60 N = 116

??? 40

20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

B 0

–20

–40

–60

–80

–100
–100 –80 –60 –40 –20 0 20 40 60 80 100
Structure Trend – STref

Figure 5. (A–B) Schematic geological maps of the Cantabrian portion of the Variscan orogen: (A) palinspastically restored
to its pre-orocline geometry; and (B) in its present-day geometry after oroclinal buckling. Fill patterns represent different
tectonic units and include: (1) West Asturian-Leonese; (2) Pisuerga-Carrión; (3) Narcea antiform; (4) Somiedo-Correcillas/
Valsurbio; (5) Esla-Lois-Cigüera; (6) Sobia-Bodón/Central Coal Basin; (7) Ponga; (8) Picos de Europa; (9) unconform-
able Upper Carboniferous rocks; and (10) Mesozoic and Tertiary cover. Red arrows in A indicate orogen-normal principal
compressive stress responsible for Variscan orogeny, while blue arrows in B indicate orogen-parallel stress responsible for
Cantabrian orocline formation. (C) Paleomagnetic data from around the Cantabrian orocline show a one-to-one correlation
in a strike test, indicating that the remanence was acquired prior to oroclinal buckling of the orogen. Figure is modified after
Weil et al. (2001, 2012b). CAA—Cantabria-Asturias arc.

Variscan orogen of Western Europe, and collec-
tively has been referred to as Armorica. While
faunal and stratigraphic studies appear to pre-
clude separation of Armorica from Gondwana
(Robardet, 2002, 2003), regional paleomagnetic
studies have been used to suggest that Armorica
lay 40° north of Gondwana in the Devonian and
imply the Ordovician to Devonian growth of a
major ocean separating Armorica and Gond-
wana (Van der Voo, 1982; Tait et al., 1997)
(Fig. 8). Resolution of this apparent inclination
anomaly and the return of Armorica to paleo-
latitudes coincident with Gondwana are con-
strained to have occurred coeval with Variscan
orogeny and the subsequent formation of the
Ibero-Armorican oroclines.
Secondary Oroclines
The observations reviewed here suggest that
orogen-scale oroclines: (1) are a product of an
orogen-parallel stress; (2) are extra-orogenic, de-
veloping after and postdating initial orogenesis;
(3) are plate-scale structures, involving the crust
and lithospheric mantle; and (4) are not attrib-
utable to the same stress state responsible for
initial orogenesis. Hence, orogen-scale oroclines
are secondary structures and reflect buckling
of a preexisting orogen about vertical axes of
rotation as originally defined by Carey (1955).
In the case of the Ibero-Variscan oroclines, the
preexisting orogen included a foreland fold-
and-thrust belt, a metamorphic hinterland, and
obducted oceanic terranes, and the pre-oroclinal
orogen was a linear feature >2300 km long and
300 km wide. The coupled Alaskan oroclines
of the Cordilleran orogen of western North
America formed by buckling of a preexisting
orogen that was geometrically similar to the
Ibero-Variscan orogen (Johnston and Gutierrez-
Alonso, 2010), and that was over 3000 km long
and greater than 300 km wide (Johnston, 2001,
2008). The Carpathian–Balkan sector of the Al-
pine orogen included a foreland fold-and-thrust
belt and obducted ophiolite, and it formed a lin-
ear belt 2300 km long and 200 km wide prior
to buckling into the coupled Carpathian–Balkan
oroclines (Shaw and Johnston, 2012).
By definition, secondary oroclines are extra-
orogenic, because they postdate the orogenic
event responsible for the construction of the
orogen that was subsequently buckled. How-
ever, timing constraints suggest that the time
span separating initial orogenesis and orocline
formation is small, and the rate at which oro-
clines form is tectonically rapid. The Ibero-Vari-
scan oroclines formed after 310 Ma, the age of
the youngest Variscan structures, but before
ca. 290 Ma, the age of the youngest postoro-
clinal strata. Orocline formation was, therefore,
completed within 20 m.y. of the termination of
orogenesis. Suprasubduction-zone ophiolites
are similarly emplaced within 20 m.y. of litho-
sphere formation. Is there a link?
Secondary oroclines commonly form shortly
after the completion of initial orogenesis. The
Alaskan oroclines of the North American Cor-
dillera formed between 85 and 55 Ma, shortly
after mid-Cretaceous (125–90 Ma) fold-and-
thrust belt formation (Johnston, 2001, 2008).
The Miocene Carpathian–Balkan coupled oro-
clines formed in the immediate aftermath of

650 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013

 Oroclines: Thick and thin

A 125 B Can
t abr
ian
WEVB N Oro
clin
e
100 paleo-current data
m = 1.20 (α95= ±.06)
75 σr = 25
Paleo-Current Direcon – PCDref

N = 43

nd
r la
50

nte
ges

l hi
sem ous
bla

a
c as on

ern
ani chth
25

Int
oce Allo
0 BC Cen

d
tra

n
SZ

ela
lI ber

For
ian
–25 Oro
clin
N
e

ges
sem ous
bla
c as o n
–50

ani chth
0 150 300 km

oce Allo
–75
Cross bed Variscan strike-slip
16 foresets shear zones

d
d

r l an
–100

rlan
12 Other Alpine deformaon front

d
nte

n
nte

ela
8 unidireconal

l hi
l hi

For
4 data Axial traces of oroclines

a
–125

ern
r na
Data of

Ex t
Inte
–100 –75 –50 –25 0 25 50 75 100 indeterminable Trace of oroclinal beam
unidireconality
Structure Trend – STref
Figure 6. (A) A strike test utilizing paleocurrent vectors for Lower Ordovician passive-margin strata shows a one-to-one correlation
between change in flow direction and structural trend around the coupled Cantabrian and Central Iberian oroclines. WEVB—West
European Variscan Belt. (B) Maps showing the paleocurrent data plotted at left on the coupled Ibero-Variscan oroclines in their current
geometry, and, at right, after palinspastic restoration of the orogen to a linear geometry, yielding a uniform offshore current direction
to the west (current coordinates). Figure is modified after Shaw et al. (2012) and Weil et al. (2012b). PTSZ—Porto-Tomar shear zone;
BCSZ—Badajoz-Cordoba shear zone.

Oligocene to Miocene fold-and-thrust belt for-
mation (Burtman, 1986; Shaw and Johnston,
2012). The Upper Miocene to Holocene
Calabrian orocline began forming immediately
after significant Miocene crustal shortening and
fold-and-thrust belt formation along the Apen-
nine chain (Cifelli et al., 2008; Johnston and
Mazzoli, 2009).
Formation of the Ibero-Armorican oro-
clines within a 20 m.y. window requires tec-
tonically rapid rates of translation. Buckling
of the 2300-km-long segment of the Variscan
orogen that makes up the Ibero-Variscan oro-
clines requires >1100 km of relative translation
of the southwestern end of the southern limb of
the Central Iberian orocline toward the north-
eastern end of the north limb of the Cantabrian
orocline. A 10 m.y. window for orocline for-
mation implies rates of relative translation of
11 cm/yr, near the top end of the plate-tectonic
speed limit. A 20 m.y. window allows for a more
manageable rate of 5.5 cm/yr, but this requires
that orocline formation began immediately upon
the cessation of Variscan orogenesis.
Orogens characterized by secondary oro-
clines are commonly also characterized by incli-
nation anomalies; the Ibero-Variscan oroclines
affect crust characterized by the Armorican in-
clination anomaly (Tait et al., 1997). Additional
examples include the coupled North Alaskan
and Kulukbuk Hills oroclines (Johnston, 2001),
which affect crust characterized by the west-
ern North American Cordilleran inclination
anomaly (Beck and Noson, 1972; Irving et al.,
1996); and the coupled Carpathian and Balkan
oroclines (Burtman, 1986; Shaw and Johnston,
2012), which are spatially and temporally corre-
lated with the Eastern Mediterranean inclination
anomaly. Geologically based interpretations,
including stratigraphic correlations and faunal
provinciality, are commonly used to argue
that crust affected by inclination anomalies is
autochthonous, and that the paleomagnetic in-
clinations do not provide a robust measure of
paleolatitude. However, secondary oroclines re-
quire significant mobility of the buckled orogen,
and if the belt has a long-axis trend that deviates
from east-west in its paleogeographic reference
frame, then significant latitudinal translation
will occur. As shown already, the south end of
the Ibero-Variscan orogen moved >1100 km
relative to the north end during secondary oro-
cline formation. Both ends of the Ibero-Variscan
orogen cannot, therefore, have been fixed and
autochthonous with respect to cratonic Gond-
wana, and the palinspastic restoration of the
Ibero-Variscan oroclines can explain some, but
not all, of the Armorican inclination anomaly.
In the North American Cordillera, palinspastic
restoration of the coupled Alaskan oroclines
restores Cordilleran crust 3000 km to the south
(Johnston, 2001, 2008) and fully explains the
Cordilleran inclination anomaly (Johnston,
2008). Similarly, palinspastic restoration of the
coupled Carpathian-Balkan secondary oroclines
resolves the Eastern Mediterranean inclination
anomaly (Shaw and Johnston, 2012). Conflict-
ing interpretations of paleomagnetic and geo-
logical data may therefore be reconciled by
recognition of the significant translations re-
quired by, and the palinspastic implications of,
secondary oroclines.
The removal of the mantle lithosphere under-
pinning the Variscan orogen in Iberia during
orocline formation implies that the formation of
orogen-scale oroclines is a plate-scale process.
The space problems inherent in buckling a
lithospheric-scale beam about a vertical axis
of rotation are significant (Pastor-Galán et al.,
2012b). Should the lithospheric mantle under-
pinning the Variscan orogen have remained
in place during formation of the two isoclinal
Ibero-Variscan oroclines, an enormous volume
of mantle would have to have been relocated
from the regions underlying the orocline cores.
Removal of the mantle lithosphere underpin-
ning the orogen during orocline formation

Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013 651

 Johnston et al.

A >310 Ma D 300–292 Ma
2007; Lorinczi and Houseman, 2009; Fillerup
et al., 2010). Formation of the Carpathians was
outer arc inner arc
Connental Crust related to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic closure
Lithospheric Mantle
of the Tethys Ocean during collision of the Eur-
asian and African plates (Knapp et al., 2005).
outer arc

inner arc

Here, the active Vrancea seismic zone has been

Asthenospheric
Mantle
B Kasimovian E 292–285 Ma
C 305–300 Ma F the lithosphere can weaken the lithospheric
Gabbroic rocks
Outer Arc (mantle derived)
“Hot” granites
Inner Arc (crust derived)
“Cold” granites
(crust derived)
Volcanic rocks
(mantle derived)
Figure 7. (A–E) Schematic maps (at left) and lithosphere-scale cross sections (right) showing
the sequential development of the Cantabrian orocline, and explaining the character and dis-
tribution of synoroclinal magmatism as the result of involvement of the lithospheric mantle
in oroclinal buckling. (F) Diagram showing how tangential longitudinal strain associated with
oroclinal buckling explains the development of lithospheric mantle thickness variations dur-
ing orocline formation. Figure is modified after Gutiérrez-Alonso et al. (2004, 2011a, 2011b).
negates this space problem, permits orocline de- Earth’s lithosphere (e.g., Bird, 1979; House-
velopment to be balanced at depth by the flow of man et al., 1981; Houseman and Molnar, 1997;
asthenosphere, and is expected to be a common Ducea, 2011). A modern example of mantle de-
consequence of orogen-scale orocline forma- lamination likely related to secondary oroclinal
tion. Besides subduction, mantle delamination processes is found in the Romanian Carpathians
is the most important mechanism for recycling (Knapp et al., 2005; Houseman and Gemmer,
imaged as a steeply dipping volume of inter-
mediate-depth seismicity in the upper mantle
directly beneath the major bend in the Eastern
Carpathians (Fillerup et al., 2010). Today, the
Carpathians are only supported by ~33 km of
crust, whereas the proximal basins have greater
than 40-km-thick crust (Gvirtzman, 2002;
Knapp et al., 2005), indicating that not only was
lithospheric mantle involved with delamination,
but also the lowermost continental crust. If the
removal of the lithospheric mantle underpin-
ning an orogen is a requirement of secondary
orocline formation, then it follows that a cold,
thick, structurally coherent and therefore strong
lithospheric mantle may preclude secondary
orocline formation or at least limit the amount
of oroclinal buckling. Orogenic thickening of
mantle (Pysklywec et al., 2000); through-going
faults provide planes of weakness along which
brittle failure can occur (e.g., Cook et al., 1998),
and thickened mantle can become gravitation-
ally unstable (e.g., Bird, 1979; Houseman et al.,
1981; Houseman and Molnar, 1997). Over time,
tectonized mantle anneals and attains thermal
and gravitational equilibrium. There may, there-
fore, only be a short interval between the end of
orogenesis and the subsequent stabilization of
the lithospheric mantle available for secondary
orocline formation, which would explain oro-
cline development soon after the termination of
orogenesis. Magmatic arcs are underpinned by
a hot and hence weak mantle lithosphere, and
their arcuate geometry may, therefore, be at-
tributable to the same processes responsible for
secondary oroclines.
Secondary oroclines do not develop in re-
sponse to the same stress field responsible for
orogenesis. Instead, buckling is attributable to a
principal compressive stress oriented strike- or
orogen-parallel and positioned at a high angle
to the stress responsible for development of
the orogen. The lack of significant extension
around the outer arcs of either of the coupled
Cantabrian or Central Iberian oroclines im-
plies that buckling is a response to a compres-
sive stress applied parallel to the long axis of
the orogen, and that vertical free surfaces are
available to accommodate large amounts of
orogen-parallel displacement. Furthermore,
a significant component of lithospheric-scale
flexural slip is required in order to balance the
difference in line length measured around the
outer versus inner boundaries of the buckling

652 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013

 Oroclines: Thick and thin

Siberia
A B
LAURUSSIA
Balca
Rheic
Laurena
Arm
Paleo-Tethys
So
uth Africa
Am
eri GONDWANA
ca
Figure 8. Paleogeographic models at 395 Ma based on (A) paleomagnetic data (Van der
Voo, 1982; Tait, 1999) that imply 40 degrees latitude of separation between “Armorican”
components of the Variscan orogen and Gondwana; and (B) stratigraphic correlations and
faunal data (Robardet and Gutiérrez-Marco, 1990; Paris and Robardet, 1990) that preclude
any significant separation of Armorican rocks from Gondwana. Figure is modified after
Martínez Catalán et al. (2007).
orogen. The distribution and timing of strike-
slip faulting in Iberia are consistent with these
faults having developed in response to, and
having accommodated, flexural slip during
orocline formation; sinistral faults characterize
the south limb of the convex-to-the-east Central
Iberian orocline (Quesada, 1991), whereas a
mix of dextral and sinistral faults characterizes
central and northern Iberia (Gutiérrez-Alonso
et al., 2004). Finally, the development of
coupled oroclines requires an orogen-parallel
stress; during formation of the Ibero-Variscan
coupled oroclines, a 2300-km-long orogen was
significantly shortened, with >1100 km of rela-
tive translation of the end points of the buckled
orogen toward one another.
DISCUSSION
Progressive Oroclines
Progressive oroclines are adequately mod-
eled using analogue sandbox experiments (Mar-
shak, 1988; Marshak et al., 1992) in which an
indentor or backstop is pushed or impressed
into a sand-filled box. Similar results have been
obtained from viscous fluid analogue modeling
(Marshak et al., 1992) and computer modeling
(Macedo and Marshak, 1999). These models:
(1) are, by definition, thin skinned, restricting
map-view bending to the sequence above the
basal décollement; (2) yield oroclines that are
limited in scale to the size of a thrust sheet or
thrust belt; (3) generate oroclines in which the
degree of secondary rotation about a vertical
axis is always less than the measured curva-
Siberia
LAURUSSIA
Balca
Rheic
Laurena
Arm
Africa
South America
GONDWANA
ture; and (4) produce “progressive” oroclines
in which map-view curvature develops dur-
ing thrust belt formation and in response to
the strike-perpendicular stress (attributable to
the indenting backstop) responsible for orogen
development.
Two main types of progressive oroclines
are distinguished: critical wedge and obstacle
induced (Marshak, 2004; Weil and Sussman,
2004). Critical wedge progressive oroclines de-
velop curvature in response to the maintenance
of a critical taper within the growing thrust belt.
Factors that affect the geometry of a critical
wedge include the thickness of the sedimentary
succession, depth to the basal décollement, lith-
ology (and hence strength) of the detachment
horizon, slope of the basal décollement; and
lithology of the rocks carried within the thrust
wedge (Davis et al., 1983; Dahlen, 1990). Thick
sedimentary sequences consisting of relatively
weak rock (shale and mudstone) carried along
a low-slope décollement located within a rheo-
logically weak unit (e.g., evaporites) will yield
a low taper critical wedge bound by a leading
thrust that will propagate far into the foreland.
In contrast, a thin sedimentary sequence con-
sisting of strong rock carried on a steeply slop-
ing décollement located within a rheologically
strong unit will yield a high taper critical wedge
with limited foreland propagation of its lead-
ing thrusts. Hence, along-strike changes in the
nature of the pre-orogenic sedimentary basin
affecting the thickness or nature of the sedimen-
tary strata will affect the geometry of the critical
wedge and give rise to curvature of the thrust
belt (Marshak, 2004).
Obstacle-induced progressive oroclines de-
velop in response to interaction between an
advancing thrust or thrust belt and a footwall
“obstacle” such as a basement massif or a pre-
existing structure such as a strike-slip fault (Weil
and Sussman, 2004). These obstacles interfere
with the thrust sheet, restraining its movement
within a geographically limited region, and give
rise to divergent transport around the obstacle.
The Wyoming Salient has been interpreted as
an obstacle-induced progressive orocline pro-
duced by interaction between the leading edge
of the eastward-propagating Sevier thrust belt
and the Gros Ventre uplift and Uinta Arch base-
ment massifs (Paulsen and Marshak, 1997,
1998, 1999). However, these basement mas-
sifs, although faulted and uplifted during Late
Cretaceous and Tertiary Laramide orogenesis,
originated as ancestral basement highs and are
characterized by Paleozoic cover sequences that
thin and change character toward the basement
massifs (Dickinson, 2004). Hence, it is likely
that the Wyoming Salient is a product of a com-
bination of critical wedge and obstacle-induced
curvature. Where “obstacles” consist of base-
ment massifs or preexisting coastline features
(promontories) that exerted a control on the
character of the sedimentary cover sequence, it
is likely that the resulting progressive oroclines
will, like the Wyoming Salient, reflect a com-
bination of critical wedge and obstacle-induced
curvature.
Secondary Oroclines
Any model of secondary orocline formation
must: (1) place orocline formation within a
plate-tectonic framework; (2) show how buck-
ling of a lithospheric beam (including the man-
tle lithosphere) is accommodated in plan and
section view; (3) explain how a buckling orogen
appears to behave as a beam that buckles about
a vertical axis with a vertical axial surface; and
(4) account for the amounts and rapid rates of
translation during buckling. Because secondary
oroclines commonly form soon after the end of
orogenesis, it is also necessary to be able to ex-
plain a rapid switch of the principal compressive
stress from orogen normal to orogen parallel
prior to oroclinal buckling.
The rapid rates at which secondary oroclines
form imply that subduction is the main driving
force responsible for secondary orocline forma-
tion. Formation of the Ibero-Variscan oroclines
involved sustained relative rates of translation of
between 6 and 12 cm/yr over a 10–20 m.y. in-
terval. The coupled Alaskan oroclines involved
relative rates of translation of 10 cm/yr sus-
tained over 20–30 m.y. The average rate of con-
vergence across subduction zones over the past

Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013 653


3 m.y. is ~7 cm/yr (DeMets et al., 1990; Gordon,
1998; Engebretson et al., 1985; Engebretson
and Richards, 1992); maximum convergence
rates of ~11 cm/yr characterize the subduction
zones of the southwest Pacific (Gordon, 1998);
and relative translation rates of 10 cm/yr for sus-
tained periods of time are limited to plates at-
tached to subducting slabs (Gordon, 1998). The
implication is that where secondary orocline
formation involves sustained relative transla-
tion rates of 7 cm/yr or greater, the oroclines are
forming within and are a characteristic of plates
attached to and continuous with a subducting
slab. A marginal location with respect to a sub-
ducting oceanic slab is also a requirement given
the space problems and free surface require-
ments of buckling a lithospheric beam around
a vertical axis.
Escape tectonics may provide an additional
setting amenable to orocline formation. Sus-
tained moderate rates of translation of 2–7 cm/yr
characterize extrusion zones. Examples include
westward extrusion of Anatolia out of the
Arabian–Eurasian collision zone (Tartar et al.,
2012); southeastern Asian extrusion eastward
out of the Himalayan collision zone (Burchfiel,
2004); and east-directed escape out of the Aus-
tralian–Indonesian collision zone (Pubellier and
Ego, 2002). In addition, extruding blocks are
bound by vertical lithospheric strike-slip shear
surfaces that provide a means of accommodat-
ing orocline formation. The coupled Miocene
Carpathian–Balkan oroclines provide an exam-
ple of escape-tectonic–related oroclines. Their
formation: (1) involved moderate relative rates
of translation (4 cm/yr); (2) was kinematically
linked to westward escape of Anatolia out of
the Arabian–Eurasian collision zone (Shaw and
Johnston, 2012); (3) was coeval with abundant
magmatism in and adjacent to the Carpathian–
Balkan belt attesting to synoroclinal subduc-
tion as a means of lithospheric removal during
buckling of the belt (Cavazza et al., 2004);
and (4) saw the delamination of the orogen’s
lithospheric mantle as imaged by ongoing seis-
micity (Fillerup et al., 2010, and references
therein). Slower relative rates of translation dur-
ing orocline formation may point to additional
orocline-forming processes. For example, for-
mation of the Bolivian orocline has involved
relative rates of translation of the Andes south of
the bend relative to the northern Andes of only
1–2 cm/yr (Allmendinger et al., 2005).
It is common for the principal compressive
stress affecting an orogen to change orientation
after collision. Arc-continent collisions are com-
monly followed by a subduction flip, yielding a
change in the polarity, but not necessarily orien-
tation of the principal compressive stress (e.g.,
Clift et al., 2003). Examples include the Ordovi-
654 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013
Johnston et al.
cian Grampian orogeny, in which arc-continent
collision involving the Laurentian margin was
followed by a subduction polarity flip (Dewey,
2005). Where collision zones abut along strike
against an orthogonal subduction zone, the ces-
sation of subduction within the collision zone
can be followed by an orthogonal switch of the
principal compressive stress. A modern example
of a collisional orogen that ends against an or-
thogonal subduction zones is Taiwan (Suppe,
1984). Finally, crustal blocks that extrude lat-
erally out of a collision zone are characterized
by an orthogonal stress switch as the collisional
stress field is replaced during lateral escape by a
stress field related to translation out of the col-
lision zone.
These two assumptions, (1) that secondary
oroclines form associated with a subducting
slab, and (2) that collision is followed by the
linked consumption of oceanic lithosphere in an
orthogonal subduction zone, informed a “self-
subduction” model for the Ibero-Armorican
oroclines by Gutiérrez-Alonso et al. (2008). In
their model, collision of Laurussia with Gond-
wana along a north-south–striking collisional
orogen was followed by subduction of Tethyan
oceanic lithosphere into an east-west–striking
subduction zone lying east of and perpendicu-
lar to the Ibero-Variscan orogen. The Tethyan
oceanic lithosphere subducting north beneath
northeastern Pangea was continuous to the
south with the Ibero-Variscan crust of Pangea,
placing it within the lower subducting plate.
The result was self-subduction, and orocline
formation was explained as a response to the re-
sulting within-plate torque (Fig. 9). While geo-
A Late Carboniferous (~305 Ma)
rasi
a Arc
Lau
TENING
Paleoteth
Paleotethys
Pa
Paleotet
Paaleotethy
lleot
le
eot
eootet
o tet
eth
eth
hyy
SION
G on d Ocea
Oc
O
Oce
Ocean
ccean
ean
eea
aan
n Ocean
wana
p assive
OR
TEN
margin
SH
EX
Figure 9. Schematic maps of Pangea at (A) 305 Ma and (B) 299 Ma showing how self-
subduction of Pangea oceanic lithosphere underlying the Tethys beneath the active margin
bounding the southeast portion of the Laurussian (northern) portion of Pangea leads to
orocline formation within the core of Pangea and coeval extension around its peripheries.
Figure is modified after Gutiérrez-Alonso et al. (2008, 2012).
metrically elegant, the self-subduction model is
dependent upon the unique geometry of Pangea
and its associated plate boundaries; cannot be
readily applied to explain the majority of sec-
ondary oroclines; and does not address the fate
of the lithosphere that formerly lay between the
limbs of the Ibero-Variscan oroclines.
A set of geometric models for the develop-
ment of secondary oroclines is presented in
Figures 10 and 11. Like balanced and palinspas-
tically restorable cross sections (Dahlstrom,
1969), such geometric models provide a test of
the feasibility of an interpretation, and a means
of quantifying its implications for line length
and displacement, but they do not necessarily
imply that such an interpretation is correct. The
first model (Fig. 10) assumes concentric buck-
ling, with the buckle radius and amplitude equal
to the width of the orogen (r = a = w); and a
buckle wavelength equal to twice the width (λ =
2w). The second model (Fig. 11) assumes linear
limbs throughout orocline formation, and that
orocline amplitude and wavelength are three
and four times the width of the buckling orog-
eny, respectively (a = 3w; λ = 4w). Calculations
of line length around secondary oroclines and
relative translations all assume a pre-orocline
orogen width of 300 km (w = 300 km), similar
to the width of the Variscan orogen. The basic
elements of these models are: (1) an elongate,
linear, collisional orogen that is bounded by
continent on one side and oceanic lithosphere
on the other, and that ends along strike against
a subduction zone oriented perpendicular
to the orogen; (2) subduction of the oceanic
lithosphere that lies adjacent to the collisional
B Carboniferous - Permian boundary (~299 Ma)
Peripheral
Per
Seaa
Seas
Oslo-North Sea
Ris
ck-
Ba
l i ata
Me Basi
n
Paleotethys
co
C i mm
erian
R ibb
Ne on
ote
thy
sR
i
Madagascar Ri
Oroclinal
Buckling
 Oroclines: Thick and thin

Figure 10. Geometric tectonic

models of secondary orocline A B C
development. Dark brown—
autochthonous continent; red—
continental orogen (300 km
wide); blue—oceanic litho-
sphere. (A) Subduction of the
oceanic lithosphere, which is
fully coupled to the continental
orogen, into a subduction zone λ
oriented perpendicular to the
orogen drives the unsubduc-
a
table orogen into and pins it
against the subduction zone.
Continued subduction leads to
buckling of the continental oro-
gen, forming (B) a concentric,
convex-oceanward orocline;
a—amplitude = w; λ—wave-
length = 2w; Ls—shortening of
orogen in response to orocline
formation. Continued sub-
duction can lead to multiple
concentric, convex-oceanward
Ls = 1150 km
oroclines of this sort. (C) Alter-
natively, continued trenchward
motion of the initial concentric Ls = 350 km
orocline explains the formation
of coupled oroclines. See text w w = 300 km
for complete explanation.

orogen; and (3) coupling of the collisional oro-
gen with the subducting oceanic lithosphere.
Coupling of the orogen with the subducting
oceanic lithosphere implies that the orogen
moves as part of the oceanic plate, requires the
presence of a strike-slip fault separating the
orogen from the autochthonous continent, and
transports the orogen into the subduction zone.
Complete coupling between plates is required
to explain the observed translation rates. Upon
entry into the subduction zone, the continental
crust of the linear orogen, being unsubductable,
collides with the upper plate, yielding to a
switch of the principal compressive stress, from
orogen normal to orogen parallel. Continued
subduction of the oceanic lithosphere leads to
buckling of the coupled orogen, and formation
of a secondary orocline.
In these models, it is assumed that buck-
ling is accommodated by delamination of the
lithospheric mantle. Hence, the behavior of the
orogen as a beam that buckles about an axis
perpendicular to the plane of the plate is a
product of the high strain rates; the significant
shortening required by the ongoing transla-
tion of the linear orogen toward the subduction
zone (shortening that could only be accommo-
dated by crustal thickening for a short period
of time); and the delamination and subsequent
foundering of the lithospheric mantle, all of
which allow the unsubductable linear crustal
orogen to buckle.
Concentric Models
As depicted in Figure 10, orocline forma-
tion is characterized by the counterclockwise
rotation of the trenchward orocline limb and
clockwise rotation of the trailing limb. In this
case, the oceanward migration of the orocline
hinge is facilitated by overthrusting of the ad-
jacent oceanic lithosphere. The orocline hinge
is required to migrate 300 km over the adjacent
oceanic lithosphere, enough to initiate subduc-
tion of the overthrust oceanic lithosphere, sug-
gesting that oroclinal buckling may provide a
means of initiating localized subduction. The
length of a medial line around a single concen-
tric orocline affecting a 300-km-wide orogen
is 950 km (l = 950 km). Since the straight-line
distance measured from the fore- to backlimb of
the orocline is 600 km (lo = 600 km), a rela-
tive translation, which can also be thought of as
the amount of shortening accommodated during
orocline formation, of 350 km (ls = 350 km) is
implied. In a model of simple concentric buck-
les: (1) complete convex-toward-the-ocean oro-
clines are required in order to maintain contact
between the buckling orogen and the autoch-
thon; and (2) the oroclines are characterized
by axial surfaces that are perpendicular to the
bounding strike-slip faults. The convex-ocean-
ward Zagros oroclines are bounded landward by
major strike-slip faults oriented at a high angle
to the axial surfaces of the oroclines (Hollings-
worth et al., 2010), and may represent an ex-
ample of such concentric secondary oroclines.
Simple concentric buckling cannot, however,
explain coupled oroclines. Coupled oroclines,
such as the Ibero-Variscan oroclines, consist
of two convex-in-opposite-direction oroclines
linked through a common limb, and hence do
not consist of two complete (trough to trough)
buckles (Fig. 1). In addition, the axial sur-
faces of the coupled oroclines are commonly
oriented subparallel with adjacent, bounding
strike-slip faults. A modified concentric buckle
orocline model, based on the assumption that
an initial concentric orocline will continue to
move trenchward with the adjacent oceanic
lithosphere, addresses these problems. Having
an initial concentric orocline move trenchward
with the adjacent oceanic lithosphere requires
that the initial orocline rotates 90° around the
fixed trenchward forelimb of the buckling

Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013 655


w a = 3w
Figure 11. Geometric block diagram showing fixed limb secondary orocline development.
Colors and labels are as in Figure 10. Here, the orocline amplitude (a) is three times the
width (w) of the buckling orogen, and the wavelength (λ) is four times. Linear (fixed) limbs
are employed. See text for discussion.
orogen. Rotation of the original orocline into
a position oceanward of the forelimb is ac-
commodated by overthrusting of the forelimb
onto the autochthon. The result is two coupled
oroclines, including an oceanward orocline
that is convex toward the adjacent trench, and
a landward orocline convex in the opposite di-
rection (Fig. 10). The line length around the
coupled oroclines is >2350 km (l ~2350 km);
the straight-line distance from back to forelimb
is 1200 km (lo = 1250); and the relative transla-
tion of the trailing limb relative to the forelimb
is >1150 km (ls ~1150 km). The axial surfaces
of the coupled oroclines are curviplanar, with
the oceanward orocline axial surface curving
landward from the core of the orocline, and the
landward orocline exhibiting the opposite sense
of curvature. The orocline axial surfaces strike
subparallel to the bounding strike-slip fault. The
modified concentric buckle model yields oro-
clines that: (1) closely resemble, in map pattern,
documented coupled oroclines, including their
curviplanar axial surfaces; (2) are characterized
by line lengths >2000 km and that involve rela-
tive translations of >1000 km; and (3) are bound
by strike-slip faults oriented sub-parallel to their
axial surfaces.
Fixed Limb Models
Geometric models for fixed (linear) limb
oroclines, in which buckle amplitude is greater
than the width of the buckling orogen, provide
a means of accommodating great line lengths
around individual oroclines. Here, a fixed limb
model is presented in which the orocline buckle
656 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013
Johnston et al.
λ = 4w
amplitude is twice the width of the buckling
orogen (a = 3w) (Fig. 11).
As in the concentric orocline models, fixed
limb orocline formation, as depicted in Figure
11, is characterized by the counterclockwise ro-
tation of the subduction-side orocline limb and
clockwise rotation of the trailing limb relative
to the leading, trenchward end of the orogen.
The oceanward migration of the orocline hinge
is facilitated by overthrusting of the adjacent
oceanic lithosphere; with a 300-km-wide orogen,
the orocline hinge migrates 900 km oceanward
and requires substantial subduction beneath the
growing buckle. Unlike the restricted amplitude
(a = w) of the concentric orocline models, fixed
limb orocline growth is facilitated by develop-
ment of an interlimb basin during oceanward mi-
gration of the orocline hinge. The interlimb basin
develops landward of the oceanward migrating
orocline hinge and is initially bound by normal
faults; both orocline limbs move away from the
continent, and the strike-slip fault separating
the translating orogen from the continent con-
verts to a zone of extension. Continued growth
of the orocline expands the interlimb basin and
leads to oceanic lithosphere formation that is
produced along a complicated set of at least two
spreading centers. While the trailing edge of the
leading limb of the orocline remains a passive
margin once the interlimb basin is established,
the leading edge of the trailing limb converts to
a thrust fault, and, as the orocline tightens, the
trailing limb overthrusts the basin (Fig. 11).
Complete closure of the interlimb basin coin-
cides with the orocline attaining an isoclinal
geometry. Any oceanic lithosphere generated
within the interlimb basin likely subducts be-
neath the trailing limb of the orocline, and there
may be little record of the ephemeral interlimb
basin. The Tyrrhenian Sea provides an exam-
ple of a potentially ephemeral basin; the basin
opened in response to buckling of the Apennine
chain of Italy, forming the Calabrian orocline,
and is now beginning to close by subduction be-
neath the north margin of Sicily as the Calabrian
orocline continues to tighten (Fig. 12; Johnston
and Mazzoli, 2009).
These models demonstrate that secondary
oroclines can be placed within a plate-tectonic
framework, and are geometrically viable, and
they show how secondary orocline formation
can be explained as a product of slab pull. In
addition, they account for the fate of lithosphere
that formerly lay adjacent to the buckled orogen,
as well as the basic characteristics of secondary
oroclines, including stress switching and mantle
lithosphere removal. While the models pre-
sented here are driven by subduction, extrusion
or escape tectonics could equally be called upon
to drive orocline formation. However, coupled
oroclines require >1000 km of translation of
the trailing and leading orocline limbs relative
to one another, and in even simple concentric
oroclines, the orocline hinge line has to migrate
>300 km out over adjacent lithosphere. The only
way to accommodate these substantial transla-
tions is by subduction.
Coupled Andean Oroclines
How broadly applicable are our models for
secondary oroclines? To address that question,
we turn to perhaps the best known “buckled”
orogen: the Andes. The Andean orogen is char-
acterized by two coupled oroclines: a northern
convex-oceanward Peruvian orocline and a
more southerly convex-landward Arica orocline,
classically called the “Bolivian orocline” (Fig.
13). The buckles of the Andean orogeny are sec-
ondary oroclines: They buckled a preexisting,
previously linear orogen. Structures and fabrics
attributable to Jurassic and Cretaceous terrane
accretions and the pan-Andean Eocene Incaic
orogeny, which may be related to subduction of
the Nazca plate underneath South America, are
continuous around both oroclines (Isacks, 1988;
Allmendinger et al., 1997) and limit orocline
formation to the late Eocene or later. Paleomag-
netic, geodetic, and geomorphic studies show
that vertical-axis rotations are occurring at pres-
ent (e.g., Norabuena et al., 1998; Lamb, 2000;
Beck, 2004; Allmendinger et al., 2005, 2007;
Maffione et al., 2009), indicating that oroclinal
bending is ongoing. Geodetic studies constrain
the rate of bending around the Arica orocline to

Figure 12. Sequential paleo-
geographic maps showing the
development of the Calabrian
secondary orocline and related
opening and incipient closure of
the ephemeral Tyrrhenian Sea
(TS) at 10 Ma (A), 6 Ma (B),
3 Ma (C), and at present (D).
Green—present-day exposed
continent; brown—full extent
of continental lithosphere;
gray—transitional to oceanic
lithosphere. The secondary oro-
cline is characterized by fixed
linear limbs; orocline amplitude
is twice the width of the buck-
ling Apennine-Sicilian orogen.
The Tyrrhenian Sea reached its
greatest extent between 3 and
1 Ma and has begun to shrink
by clockwise rotation of the
southern (Sicilian) limb of the
orocline over the southern mar-
gin of the Tyrrhenian Sea. LI—
Lagonegro-Imerese-Sicanian
basin; I—Ionian basin. Figure
is modified after Johnston and
Mazzoli (2009).
1.5–2°/m.y. (Allmendinger et al., 2005, 2007),
consistent with the paleomagnetic data from
Miocene and younger rocks. Assuming that
the current rate of buckling is representative
of the rate of buckling through time, construc-
tion of the oroclines could have been accom-
plished in 35–50 m.y., consistent with oroclines
being post-Incaic structures. Paleomagnetic
data showing significant Cretaceous and ear-
lier rotations of Andean rocks predate orocline
Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013
Oroclines: Thick and thin
A tions in observed rotation magnitude away from
LI
200 km
B Oncken et al., 2006; Arriagada et al., 2008).
TS
200 km
C Hérail et al., 1996; Riller et al., 2001; Müller
TS
200 km
D Plateau) to oroclinal buckling (e.g., Garzione
TS
I A key characteristic of secondary oroclines
200 km
formation and require significant mobility of
the Andean orogen relative to the autochthon
(Lamb, 2001; MacFadden et al., 1995; Gilder
et al., 2003; Beck, 2004).
Unlike the models for secondary oroclines
developed here, the formation of the Andean
secondary oroclines has been at least partly
contemporaneous with continuous shortening
perpendicular to the original Andean orogenic
grain. Such a combination of regional tectonic
stress fields is likely responsible for the devia-
the orocline hinges. Reviews of paleomagnetic
data indicate that the observed rotation patterns
are not systematic along orogenic strike (Prezzi
and Alonso, 2002; Beck, 2004; Roperch et al.,
2006; Arriagada et al., 2006; Maffione et al.,
2010), and thus have led to models that rely
on along-strike differential displacements that
incorporate localized modification and progres-
sive rotations produced by distributed shear,
wrenching, and fault-bound block rotations
(e.g., Kley and Monaldi, 1998; Kley, 1999;
Hindle et al., 2000, 2002; McQuarrie, 2002;
A model of secondary orocline formation ac-
companied by orogen-perpendicular differential
shortening requires significant strike-slip defor-
mation (either transport parallel or orogen paral-
lel), as well as orogen-parallel extension (e.g.,
Gephart, 1994; Müller et al., 2002; Arriagada
et al., 2008). Such is the case in the Andean sys-
tem, where the presence of extensive orogen-
parallel and high-angle strike-slip fault systems
are found throughout the Andean oroclines (e.g.,
Allmendinger et al., 1983; Strecker et al., 1989;
et al., 2002; Riller and Oncken, 2003; Maffione
et al., 2009).
As with other secondary oroclines, the
Andean secondary oroclines are plate-scale fea-
tures that involve the lithospheric mantle (e.g.,
Gutiérrez-Alonso et al., 2004, 2011a, 2011b;
Fillerup et al., 2010). Recent work investigating
the rapid uplift of the Altiplano plateau has re-
sulted in models that connect lithospheric thick-
ening and ultimately delamination near the core
of the Bolivian orocline (below the Altiplano
et al., 2006; Ghosh et al., 2006; Molnar and Gar-
zione, 2007). Like the Iberian and Carpathian
oroclines, delamination is likely related to over-
thickening of the crust and mantle lithosphere
within the orocline hinge regions (Pastor-Galán
et al., 2012b).
is their expansive (orogen to continental)
scale; the Andean oroclines are expansive. The
buckles affect a 400-km-wide orogen (w =
400 km) yielding two open oroclines with inter-
limb angles of 125°; a wavelength of ~3500 km
(λ ~3500 km = 9w); and an amplitude of
~400 km (a = 400 km = w). The long wave-
length relative to width relationship (λ ~ 9w)
of the Andean oroclines implies a component
of fixed limb buckling (as opposed to simple
concentric oroclinal buckling). Cenozoic ex-
tension east of the Peruvian orocline within the
Amazonian Basin (Costa et al., 2001) may be
in part a product of the fixed limb buckling. The
657
 Johnston et al.

CaP (Fig. 14). As in our model for secondary orocline

N10 o formation, the source of the orogen-parallel
AP stress in the Andes can be explained as a result
of subduction and collision along a convergent
plate boundary oriented nearly perpendicular
CoP Equa to the buckling orogen—in this case, the east-
tor
Peruvian west–striking South American–southern Carib-
Orocline bean plate margin, where continental South
SAP America is being dragged into a collision with
the Caribbean plate by northward subduction of
NP
the South American plate in the northeast and
S10 o
Arica southward subduction of the Caribbean plate in
ge

(Bolivian) the northwest (Avé Lallemant, 1997; Audemard

Rid

Orocline
a

and Audemard, 2002; Miller et al., 2009) (Fig.

zc
Na

14). The coupled secondary oroclines that char-

acterize the Panamanian isthmus are interpreted
corn
Capri to be forming in response to the same north- to
rop ic of
T northwestward motion of the South American
plate relative to the Caribbean and North Ameri-
e
r Ridg can plates (Silver et al., 1990; Farris et al., 2011;
Easte
S30 o Montes et al., 2012). The state of stress for the
Andes, as indicated by earthquake focal mecha-
nisms, indicates primarily east-west compres-
sion (Assumpcao, 1992), reflecting the ongoing
W70o W50o subduction of oceanic lithosphere of the Nazca
W30o plate beneath western South America. However,
east of the Andes, continental South America
is characterized by north-south compression,
AnP
W90o probably reflecting collision with the Caribbean
plate and consistent with orocline formation in
Figure 13. Satellite image of South America showing the coupled Peruvian and Arica- response to a north-south compressive stress
Bolivian oroclines of the Andean orogen. AnP—Antarctic plate; AP—African plate; CaP— (Assumpcao, 1992).
Caribbean plate; Cop—Cocos plate; NP—Nazca plate; SAP—South American plate. Red The rate of northward migration, and as a
line with teeth (teeth point in to upper plate)—convergent plate boundaries; red line— consequence the rate of buckling, is slow (1–2
divergent plate boundaries. cm/yr compared to 6–10 cm/yr for the Ibero-
Variscan and Alaskan oroclines), probably due
to the entry of continental lithosphere of the
arc length of the buckled portion of the Andes The significant north-south shortening South American plate into the collision zone
is ~3800 km, indicating that orocline formation (~300 km) during orocline formation, the (Miller et al., 2009). An additional factor that
accommodated ~300 km of north-south short- coupled geometry of the two Andean oroclines, may have limited the rate of orocline formation
ening. Given the 35–50 m.y. time span avail- and the synoroclinal thickening and delamina- pertains to the geometry of the Andean oro-
able for orocline development, a relative rate of tion of the mantle lithosphere around the Arica- clines. Unlike our model for coupled oroclines
translation of the ends of the Andes toward one Bolivian orocline point to the Andean oroclines (Fig. 11) in which the trailing orocline relative
another is a modest 6–9 mm/yr. as being the result of an orogen-parallel stress to the subduction zone is convex oceanward, the

Figure 14. Model of the development of

N
the coupled secondary Andean oroclines. CP
(A) Formation of the Eocene Incaic orogeny; NP
red arrows indicate orogen-normal princi- CP
pal compressive stress responsible for oro-
genesis. (B) Secondary orocline formation. NP
Blue arrows indicate orogen-parallel prin- SAP
cipal compressive stress responsible for sec- A
ondary orocline development. Red—orogen;
coral—autochthonous continental crust; B SAP
blue—oceanic crust; gray—lithospheric
mantle; CP—Caribbean plate; NP—Nazca
plate; SAP—South American plate.

658 Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013


“trailing” Arica orocline (relative to the South
American–Caribbean plate boundary) is convex
landward (Figs. 13 and 14). The result is that
the Arica-Bolivian orocline has overthrust con-
tinental autochthonous South America during
buckling, a geometry that has likely contributed
to the slow rate of buckling.
To summarize, interpretation of the buckles
of the Andean orogen as secondary oroclines
is consistent with their geometry and with the
plate-tectonic setting in which they developed.
The oroclines postdate and buckled a preexist-
ing orogen; involve the entire plate, including
the lithospheric mantle underpinning the Andes;
are expansive of scale, affecting a 400-km-
wide orogen, with an amplitude of 400 km
and a wavelength of 3500 km; and developed
in response to an orogen-parallel compressive
stress that has resulted in ~300 km of north-
south shortening of the Andes. Three compli-
cating factors are that (1) the oroclines have
developed contemporaneously with ongoing
orogen-perpendicular compression (attributable
to subduction of the Nazca plate); (2) the rate
of orocline formation is slow relative to other
coupled oroclines; and (3) the geometry of the
trailing orocline is convex landward.
CONCLUSIONS
There are two fundamentally different types
of oroclines: progressive and secondary. Progres-
sive oroclines characterize thrust belts, develop
in response to the same orogen-normal stress
responsible for thrust development, and can be
explained as a result of along-strike changes in
the character of the deforming sequence (criti-
cal taper progressive oroclines) or to interaction
with structural features that characterize the
footwall to the thrust belt (obstacle-induced pro-
gressive oroclines). Because basement structures
and paleogeographic features such as promon-
tories control the character of the sedimentary
cover sequence, it is likely that most progres-
sive oroclines, like the Wyoming Salient, are
products of a combination of critical taper and
obstacle-induced curvature. Secondary oroclines
are extra-orogenic, developing in response to an
orogen-parallel stress applied to a preexisting
orogen; involve relative translations measured
in the hundreds to thousands of kilometers; and
are lithospheric scale, affecting crust and litho-
spheric mantle. The only way to accommodate
the scale of deformation, the involvement of the
lithospheric mantle, and the significant transla-
tions required during secondary orocline forma-
tion is through subduction.
Failure to distinguish between progressive
and secondary oroclines has resulted in much
confusion. Analogue models involving inden-
Geological Society of America Bulletin, May/June 2013
Oroclines: Thick and thin
tation of a rigid backstop into a sedimentary
sequence, while instrumental in understanding
progressive oroclines, can tell us nothing about
secondary oroclines. Similarly, a common and
unjustifiable assumption in paleogeographic
and tectonic modeling is that all oroclines are
progressive. Such models fail to adequately ad-
dress the significance of secondary oroclines.
For example, we have yet to develop a fully bal-
anced palinspastic restoration of the secondary
oroclines of the Variscan orogen, and hence our
understanding of the tectonic and paleogeo-
graphic evolution of Pangea remains incom-
plete. Determinations of how to palinspastically
restore secondary oroclines and evaluations
of their tectonic significance require that we
understand the relationship between such huge
structures and subduction, and this understand-
ing awaits successful analogue and computer
modeling.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper is a contribution to the International
Geoscience Program Project 574: Buckling and Bent
Orogens and Continental Ribbons. Financial support
was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science and
Innovation to Gutiérrez-Alonso for the Research Proj-
ect ODRE II (Oroclines and Delamination: Relations
and Effects) CGL2009–1367; and the National Sci-
ences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
to Johnston through a Discovery Grant. Comments,
corrections, and suggested revisions provided by two
anonymous reviewers and Editor Brendan Murphy
significantly improved the manuscript. We would like
to thank Jess Shaw and Dani Pastor-Galán for sharing
their insights regarding the Ibero-Variscan oroclines;
and Rob Van der Voo for his support, interest, and
many discussions.
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