Compressional Tectonics
A synthesis of current knowledge on collisional and convergent plate boundaries worldwide
Major mountain belts on Earth, such as the Alps, Himalayas, and Appalachians, have been built by compressional tectonic processes during continent-continent and arc-continent collisions. Understanding their formation and evolution is important because of the hazards associated with convergent and collisional plate boundaries, and because these mountain belts contain resources such as precious metals, rare earth elements, oil, gas, and coal.
Compressional Tectonics: Plate Convergence to Mountain Building reviews our present-day knowledge of the tectonic evolution of the Alpine-Himalayan and Appalachian belts.
Volume highlights include:
- Overview of terminology relating to compressional and contractional tectonics
- Discussion of subduction zone dynamics
- Debates over the timing of the collision and convergence of particular subduction and suture zones
- Examples of the different stages in the development of orogenic belts
This book is one of a set of three in the collection Tectonic Processes: A Global View.
The American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals.
Author(s): Ibrahim Cemen, Elizabeth J. Catlos
Series: Geophysical Monograph Series, 277
Publisher: Wiley-AGU
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 345
City: Washington, D.C.
Cover
Tile Page
Copyright Page
Contents
List of Contributors
Preface
Part I Plate Convergence
Chapter 1 When Plates Collide
1.1. INTRODUCTORY NOTES ABOUT TERMINOLOGY
1.2. SETTING THE STAGE: GEOSYNCLINE THEORY
1.3. PLATE TECTONICS AND COMPRESSIONAL MOTION
1.3.1. What Are Plates?
1.3.2. What Are Plate Boundaries?
1.3.3. Subduction and Suture Zones
1.3.4. Hazards Associated with Compressional Plate Boundaries
1.4. OBJECTIVES AND ORGANIZATIONOF THE BOOK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 2 Subduction and Obduction Processes: The Fate of Oceanic Lithosphere Revealed by Blueschists, Eclogites, and Ophiolites
2.1. INTRODUCTION
2.2. DIVERSITY OF OCEANIC LITHOSPHERES
2.3. BLUESCHISTS AND ECLOGITES: FRAGMENTS THAT HAVE ESCAPED IRREVERSIBLE BURIAL
2.3.1. Siah Kuh (Zagros, Iran): A Seamount Subducted at Shallow Depths and Later Exhumed
2.3.2. The Alpine Regional-Scale Record of Subduction Processes
2.3.3. Lessons Learned from Blueschists and Eclogites
2.4. FRAGMENTS OF OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE SPARED FROM SUBDUCTION: OPHIOLITES
2.4.1. The Semail Ophiolite and Beyond
2.4.2. The Obduction Two-Step Process: Triggering and Ophiolite Emplacement
2.4.3. Obduction Birth: Onset of Intraoceanic Subduction and Slab Dynamics (Slabitization)
2.4.4. Obduction Death: Ophiolites Preserved Through Continental Subduction
2.5 THE FATE OF OCEANIC LITHOSPHERE: TRAGIC YET INSIGHTFUL
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 3 Lateral Heterogeneity in Compressional Mountain Belt Settings
3.1. INTRODUCTION
3.2. APPALACHIANS
3.2.1. Tectonic Setting and Lateral Heterogeneities
3.2.2. Proposed Factors Controlling Lateral Heterogeneities
3.3. CORDILLERA
3.3.1. Tectonic Setting and Lateral Heterogeneities
3.3.2. Proposed Factors Controlling Lateral Heterogeneities
3.4. ALPS
3.4.1. Tectonic Setting and Lateral Heterogeneities
3.4.2. Proposed Factors Controlling Lateral Heterogeneities
3.5. HIMALAYA
3.5.1. Tectonic Setting and Lateral Heterogeneities
3.5.2. Proposed Factors Controlling Lateral Heterogeneities
3.6. ZAGROS
3.6.1. Tectonic Setting and Lateral Heterogeneities
3.6.2. Proposed Factors Controlling Lateral Heterogeneities
3.7. ANDES
3.7.1. Tectonic Setting and Lateral Heterogeneities
3.7.2. Proposed Factors Controlling Lateral Heterogeneities
3.8 OTHER OROGENS
3.9. DISCUSSION
3.9.1. Irregular Continental Margins
3.9.2. Inherited Basement Structures
3.9.3. Rheology of the Crust
3.9.4. Plate Dynamics and Physiography of the Lower Plate
3.9.5. Obliquity of Plate Convergence
3.9.6. Further Implications of Cross Structures
3.10. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 4 A Review of the Dynamics of Subduction Zone Initiation in the Aegean Region
4.1. INTRODUCTION
4.2. GEOMETRY OF THE HELLENIC ARC (GREECE TO WESTERN TURKEY)
4.2.1. Definitions
4.2.2. Geometry of the Hellenic Arc Subduction Zone
4.3. GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF AEGEAN-ANATOLIAN SUTURE ZONES
4.3.1. Intra-Pontide Suture Zone
4.3.2. Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture Zone (IAESZ)
4.4. AGE CONSTRAINTS ON THE INITIATION OF SUBDUCTION
4.4.1. Cenozoic Estimates
4.4.2. Mesozoic Estimates
4.5. DISCUSSION
4.6. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Part II Alpine-Himalayan Collision
Chapter 5 Genesis of Himalayan Stratigraphy and the Tectonic Development of the Thrust Belt
5.1. INTRODUCTION
5.2. GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF THE HIMALAYA
5.3. PALEOPROTEROZOIC TIME (2.5–1.6 Ga)
5.4. MESOPROTEROZOIC TIME (1.6–1.0 Ga)
5.5. NEOPROTEROZOIC TO EARLY ORDOVICIAN TIME (1.0–0.46 Ga)
5.6. MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN TO CRETACEOUS TIME (470–66 Ma)
5.7. PALEOCENE TO EARLY OLIGOCENE TIME (66–30 Ma)
5.7.1. Sedimentary Record
5.8. EARLY OLIGOCENE TO MIDDLE MIOCENE TIME (30–15 Ma)
5.8.1. Sedimentary Record
5.9. MIDDLE MIOCENE TO PRESENT TIME (15–0 Ma)
5.9.1. Sedimentary Record
5.10. DISCUSSION
5.10.1. Naming Confusion
5.10.2. Development of the Himalayan Thrust Belt
5.10.3. Integration of New Techniques
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 6 Records of Himalayan Metamorphism and Contractional Tectonics in the Central Himalayas (Darondi Khola, Nepal)
6.1. INTRODUCTION
6.2 GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
6.2.1. Geological Framework Before the Collision
6.2.2. Timing of Major Metamorphic Events and Fault Systems
6.3. MODELS FOR THE EXTRUSION OF THE HIMALAYAN CORE
6.4. HIMALAYAN METAMORPHISM AND CONTRACTIONAL TECTONICS (DARONDI KHOLA, CENTRAL NEPAL)
6.4.1. Methods, Samples, and Assumptions
6.5. DISCUSSION
6.6. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 7 Tectonics of the Southeast Anatolian Orogenic Belt
7.1. INTRODUCTION
7.2. GEOLOGICAL OUTLINES OF THE SOUTHEAST ANATOLIAN OROGENIC BELT
7.2.1. The Arabian Platform
7.2.2. The Zone of Imbrication
7.2.3. The Nappes
7.3. TIME CONSTRAINTS ON THE AMALGAMATION OF THE NAPPES
7.4. DISCUSSION ON THE MAJOR TECTONIC EVENT LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAOB
7.5. CONCLUDING SUMMARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 8 Tectonics of Eastern Anatolian Plateau: Final Stages of Collisional Orogeny in Anatolia
8.1. INTRODUCTION
8.2. GEOLOGIC OVERVIEW
8.2.1. Stratigraphy
8.2.2. Structural Geology
8.2.3. Thickness of Crust and Lithosphere
8.3. DISCUSSION
8.3.1. Geological Data
8.3.2. Geophysical Data
8.3.3. Geochemical Data From the Neogene Volcanic Rocks
8.4. CONCLUDING SUMMARY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 9 When and Why the NeoTethyan Subduction Initiated Along the Eurasian Margin: A Case Study From a Jurassic Eclogite in Southern Iran
9.1. INTRODUCTION
9.2. GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
9.3. SAMPLE, ANALYTICAL METHODS, AND RESULTS
9.4. DISCUSSION
9.4.1. NeoTethyan Subduction Initiation Time
9.4.2. Mechanism of NeoTethyan Subduction Initiation From the Eurasian Margin
9.5. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTs
REFERENCES
Part III North America Mountain Building
Chapter 10 Stratigraphic and Thermal Maturity Evidence for a Break-Back Thrust Sequence in the Southern Appalachian Thrust Belt, Alabama, USA
10.1. INTRODUCTION
10.1.1. Geologic Setting
10.1.2. Stratigraphic Framework
10.2. METHODS
10.3. RESULTS
10.3.1. Wiley Dome
10.4. DISCUSSION
10.5. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 11 Strain Partitioning in Foreland Basins: An Example From the Ouachita Fold-Thrust Belt Arkoma Basin Transition Zone in Southeastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas
11.1. INTRODUCTION
11.2. TECTONIC OVERVIEW
11.3. PALEOZOIC STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY
11.3.1. Preorogenic Stratigraphy
11.3.2. Synorogenic Stratigraphy
11.3.3. Structural Geology of the Ouachitas-Arkoma Basin Transition Zone
11.4. DISCUSSION
11.4.1. Comparison of the Wilburton and Waldron Triangle Zones
11.4.2. Worldwide Structural Analogues
11.5. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Chapter 12 Extensional Collapse of Orogens: A Review and Example From the Southern Appalachian Orogen
12.1. INTRODUCTION
12.2. EXTENSIONAL COLLAPSE OF OROGENS
12.2.1. Modes of Extensional Collapse
12.2.2. Crustal Strength, Partial Melting, and Orogenic Collapse
12.3. ALLEGHANIAN COLLAPSE OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN OROGEN
12.3.1. Appalachian Orogen
12.3.2. Synorogenic to Postorogenic Collapse
12.3.3. Evidence for Tectonic Exhumation
12.3.4. Postorogenic Extension
12.3.5. Other Parts of the Alleghanian-Variscan Orogen
12.3.6. Relationship to Triassic Rifts
12.4. CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
Index
EULA
