Search results for "Plate tectonics"

Dilatant plasticity applied to Alpine collision: ductile void growth in the intraplate area beneath the Eifel volcanic field

1998

The Eifel is located in the middle of the European plate far away from any active plate boundary, yet it appears to be a maximum of intraplate tectonic activity. A map of intraplate seismic energy flow shows that the Eifel is linked to the Alpine collisional belt via a narrow seismoactive shear zone. Two parallel Quaternary volcanic zones (the East Eifel Volcanic Zone EEVZ and the West Eifel Volcanic Zone WEVZ) line up with the seismogenic shear zone. Xenoliths ejected from these volcanic lineaments indicate upper mantle shearing by dynamic recrystallization textures and metasomatized chemistry. Important CO2-dominated mantle degassing observed in mineral springs, lakes or dry degassing sug…

Modeling evolution of the San Andreas Fault system in northern and central California

2012

[1] We present a three-dimensional finite element thermomechanical model idealizing the complex deformation processes associated with evolution of the San Andreas Fault system (SAFS) in northern and central California over the past 20 Myr. More specifically, we investigate the mechanisms responsible for the eastward (landward) migrationof the San Andreas plate boundary over time, a process thathas largely determined the evolution and present structure of SAFS. Two possible mechanisms had been previously suggested. One mechanism suggests that the Pacific plate first cools and captures uprising mantle in the slab window, subsequently causing accretion of the continental crustal blocks. An alt…

When did plate tectonics begin? Evidence from the geologic record

2008

Formation of arcuate orogenic belts in the western Mediterranean region

2004

The Alpine orogen in the western Mediterranean region, consisting of the Rif-Betic belt and the Apennine-Calabrian-Maghrebide belt, is a classic example of an arcuate orogen. It contains fragments of Cretaceous to Oligocene high-pressure/low-temperature (HP/LT) rocks, which were exhumed and dispersed during post-Oligocene extensional deformation and are presently exposed in the soles of metamorphic core complexes. In this paper, we illustrate that the arcuate shape of the orogenic belt was attained during extensional destruction of the earlier HP/LT belt, driven by subduction rollback in a direction oblique or orthogonal to the direction of convergence. Since the Oligocene, sub-duction of M…

Tectonic evolution in the Archaean and Proterozoic

1991

Kre high heat flow probably favoured global hotspot activity with crustal growth of Iceland type through vertical magmatic accretion. The tectonic environment for the generation of about 3.9-2.5 Ga granite-gneiss-greenstone terrains with volurnlnous production of tonalite-trondhjemite-granodlorite magmas is still uncertain, and both piate ma@ and intrapiate scenarios arc possible. Deformanon atylea in greenstones and adjacent high-grade orthognersses with intercalated shallow-water supracrustal assemblages suggest extensive horizontal shortening and crustal interstacking. This probably resulted from collisional and/or rotational motion and produced significant intracrustal melting as early …

Precambrian plate tectonics: Criteria and evidence

2006

Tomography Application to Complex Seismic Data of the Tjornes Fracture Zone (Iceland)

2014

The Tjornes Fracture Zone (TFZ) is an active seismic zone in Northeast Iceland. It plays a key role to understand the geodynamic movement and location of tectonic plates. However the seismic experiment can not be performed close to earthquake sources, because sources are mainly located in the Greenland Sea. The unusual geological structure of TFZ and the limited conditions of an experiment lead to significant deviations between real observations and the values that are calculated in accordance with theoretical models. Consequently, there is a loss of adequacy and stability of tomography systems. Outcomes of the method, which takes into account this problem, are analyzed in the present chapt…

Asymmetric continental deformation during South Atlantic rifting along southern Brazil and Namibia

2017

Abstract Plate restoration of South America and Africa to their pre-breakup position faces the problem of gaps and overlaps between the continents, an issue commonly solved with implementing intra-plate deformation zones within South America. One of these zones is often positioned at the latitude of SE/S Brazil. However, geological evidence for the existence of a distinct zone in this region is lacking, which is why it remains controversial and is not included in all modeling studies. In order to solve this problem we present a study of multiple geological aspects of both parts of the margin, SE/S Brazil and its conjugate part NW Namibia at the time of continental breakup. Our study highlig…

Tonalite sill emplacement at an oblique plate boundary: northeastern margin of the Bohemian Massif

1997

Abstract A tonalitic sill has been examined at the Variscan transpressive boundary of the Lugian and Silesian plates at the NE margin of the Bohemian Massif. A structural, petrological and geochronological study reveals that it was emplaced syn-tectonically with major ductile shearing in lower crustal rocks. Magmatic and pre-rheological critical melt percentage (RCMP) fabrics are concordant with the hanging wall structures but discordant with those of the footwall. The AMS study shows the predominance of flattening strain at the margins and plane strain fabrics in the core. Numerical modelling of AMS fabrics is in good agreement with the hypothesis of magma flow and deformation in oblique t…

On thrusting, regional unconformities and exhumation of high-grade greenstones in Neoarchean orogens. The case of the Waroonga Shear Zone, Yilgarn Cr…

2017

Abstract During the Neoarchean, the dominant tectonic style progressively changed from an episodic-overturn/stagnant-lid regime to modern-style plate tectonics. The Neoarchean strengthening of continental lithosphere changed the style of deformation of orogenic belts. The case study presented here provides insights into how such transition in tectonic style occurred, a matter that is generally controversial. We present structural and metamorphic data from the c. 2660 Ma Waroonga Shear Zone (WSZ) in the Neoarchean Yilgarn orogen (Western Australia). The WSZ contains a syntectonic pluton and older, high-grade greenstones. The tectonic fabric in the pluton developed during melt-present thrusti…