Compressional Tectonics: Plate Convergence to Mountain Building

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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 tectonicsDiscussion of subduction zone dynamicsDebates over the timing of the collision and convergence of particular subduction and suture zonesExamples 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. 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