scholarly journals The role of surface processes in basin inversion and breakup unconformity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Mondy ◽  
Patrice Rey ◽  
Guillaume Duclaux
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Surface Processes ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Gravitational Potential Energy ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Basin Inversion ◽  
Compressive Stresses ◽  
Tectonic Forces ◽  
Breakup Unconformity

At divergent plate boundaries, extensional tectonics lead to subsidence, continental rifting and the formation of continental margins. Yet, within this extensional context, transient compressional structures (stress inversion) and phases of uplift (depth inversion) are frequently recorded with no corresponding change in plate motion. Changes in gravitational potential energy during the rifting process have been invoked as a possible source of compressional stresses, but their magnitude, timing and relationship with depth inversions remain unclear. Using high-resolution 2D numerical experiments of the full rifting process, we track the dynamic interplay between the far-field tectonic forces, loading and unloading of the surface via surface processes, and gravitational body forces. Our results show that rift basins tend to localize compressive stresses, they record transient phases of compressional stresses up to 30 MPa and experience a profound depth inversion, 2 km in magnitude, when sediment supply ceases, providing a novel explanation for the breakup unconformity, a well-documented phase of regional uplift typically associated to continental breakup.

Synconvergent and coherent (ultra)high-pressure crustal rock exhumation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo G. Candioti ◽  
Joshua D. Vaughan-Hammon ◽  
Thibault Duretz ◽  
Stefan M. Schmalholz
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Models ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Ultrahigh Pressure ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Crustal Rock ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Crustal Rocks ◽  
Natural Data ◽  
The Alps

<p>Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) continental crustal rocks were first discovered in the Western Alps in 1984 and have since then been observed at many convergent plate boundaries worldwide. Unveiling the processes leading to the formation and exhumation of (U)HP metamorphic crustal rocks is key to understand the geodynamic evolution of orogens such as the Alps.</p><p> </p><p>Previous numerical studies investigating (U)HP rock exhumation in the Alps predicted deep (>80 km) subduction of crustal rocks and rapid buoyancy-driven exhumation of mainly incoherent (U)HP units, involving significant tectonic mixing forming so-called mélanges. Furthermore, these predictions often rely on excessive erosion or periods of divergent plate motion as important exhumation mechanism. Inconsistent with field observations and natural data, application of these models to the Western Alps was recently criticised.</p><p> </p><p>Here, we present models with continuous plate convergence, which exhibit local tectonic-driven upper plate extension enabling compressive- and buoyancy-driven exhumation of coherent (U)HP units along the subduction interface, involving feasible erosion.</p><p> </p><p>The two-dimensional petrological-thermo-mechanical numerical models presented here predict both subduction initiation and serpentinite channel formation without any a priori prescription of these two features. The (U)HP units are exhumed coherently, without significant internal deformation. Modelled pressure and temperature trajectories and exhumation velocities of selected crustal units agree with estimates for the Western Alps. The presented models support previous hypotheses of synconvergent exhumation, but do not rely on excessive erosion or divergent plate motion. Thus, our predictions provide new insights into processes leading to the exhumation of coherent (U)HP crustal units consistent with observations and natural data from the Western Alps.</p>

How submarine channels (re)shape continental margins

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (11) ◽  
pp. 1581-1600
Author(s):  
Luke A. Pettinga ◽  
Zane R. Jobe
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Evolution Model ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Sedimentary Processes ◽  
Submarine Channels ◽  
Active Tectonic ◽  
Tectonic Settings ◽  
Longitudinal Profiles

ABSTRACT Submarine landscapes, like their terrestrial counterparts, are sculpted by autogenic sedimentary processes toward morphologies at equilibrium with their allogenic controls. While submarine channels and nearby, inter-channel continental-margin areas share boundary conditions (e.g., terrestrial sediment supply, tectonic deformation), there are significant differences between the style, recurrence, and magnitude of their respective autogenic sedimentary processes. We predict that these process-based differences affect the rates of geomorphic change and equilibrium (i.e., graded) morphologies of submarine-channel and continental-margin longitudinal profiles. To gain insight into this proposed relationship, we document, classify (using machine learning), and analyze longitudinal profiles from 50 siliciclastic continental margins and associated submarine channels which represent a range of sediment-supply regimes and tectonic settings. These profiles tend to evolve toward smooth, lower-gradient longitudinal profiles, and we created a “smoothness” metric as a proxy for the relative maturity of these profiles toward the idealized equilibrium profile. Generally, higher smoothness values occur in systems with larger sediment supply, and the smoothness of channels typically exceeds that of the associated continental margin. We propose that the high rates of erosion, bypass, and deposition via sediment gravity flows act to smooth and mature channel profiles more rapidly than the surrounding continental margin, which is dominated by less-energetic diffusive sedimentary processes. Additionally, tectonic deformation will act to reduce the smoothness of these longitudinal profiles. Importantly, the relationship between total sediment supply and the difference between smoothness values of associated continental margins and submarine channels (the “smoothness Δ”) follows separate trends in passive and active tectonic settings, which we attribute to the variability in relative rates of smoothness development between channelized and inter-channel environments in the presence or absence of tectonic deformation. We propose two endmember pathways by which continental margins and submarine channels coevolve towards their respective equilibrium profiles with increased sediment supply: 1) Coupled Evolution Model (common in passive tectonic settings), in which the smoothness Δ increases only slightly before remaining static, and 2) Decoupled Evolution Model (common in active tectonic settings), in which the smoothness Δ increases more rapidly and to a greater final value. Our analysis indicates that the interaction of the allogenic factors of sediment supply and tectonic deformation with the autogenic sedimentary processes characteristic of channelized and inter-channel areas of the continental margin may account for much of the variability between coevolution pathways and depositional architectures.

scholarly journals Current Plate Motions

1988 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 351-352
Author(s):  
Richard Gordon ◽  
Charles Demets ◽  
Seth Stein ◽  
Don Argus ◽  
Dale Woods
Keyword(s):  
Subduction Zones ◽  
Continental Drift ◽  
Geophysical Data ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Transform Faults ◽  
Plate Motions ◽  
Motion Data ◽  
Motion Models ◽  
Self Consistent

The standard against which VLBI measurements of continental drift and plate motions are compared are self-consistent global models of “present-day” plate motions determined from geophysical data: marine magnetic anomalies at oceanic spreading centers, azimuths of transform faults, and orientations of earthquake slip vectors on transform faults and at subduction zones. Past global plate motion models have defined regions where the assumption that plates behave rigidly has apparently lead to systematic misfits, sometimes exceeding 10 mm/yr, of plate motion data. Here, we present some of the results from NUVEL-1, a new, self-consistent global model of present-day relative plate motions determined from a compilation and analysis of existing and new geophysical data. These data and new techniques have allowed us to eliminate nearly all statistically significant systematic misfits identified by earlier models, suggesting that the rigid-plate assumption is an excellent approximation when plate motions are averaged over several million years. Beside improving estimates of the motion on previously identified plate boundaries, we have also identified and determined motions on other boundaries whose subtle morphologies, lack of seismicity, and very slow (< 10 mm/yr) relative motions have made them difficult to detect. Here we focus on the application of VLBI measurements to help resolve plate tectonic problems and then briefly outline our results for Pacific-North America motion and plate motions in the Indian Ocean.

High-resolution constraints on LAB structure at the Blanco transform

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Hawley ◽  
James Gaherty
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Azimuthal Anisotropy ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Pacific Basin ◽  
Mantle Flow ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Seismic Structure ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Juan De Fuca

&lt;p&gt;Detailed knowledge of the seismic structure, fabric, and dynamics that surround the oceanic LAB continue to be refined through offshore seismic studies. Previous high-resolution studies in the Pacific basin far from plate boundaries show asthenospheric fabric that aligns neither with the lithospheric fabric (the paleo-spreading direction) nor with absolute plate motion, but rather in between. Here we present preliminary results from the Blanco Transform and Cascadia Initiative experiments, investigating the structure of the Juan de Fuca and Pacific plates on either side of the Blanco Transform. We measure ambient-noise and teleseismic Rayleigh-wave phase velocities, and solve for the period-dependent azimuthal anisotropy on either side of the transform. We will contextualize and interpret the fabrics based on mantle flow inferred from these previous Pacific basin studies.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

How syn-rift sedimentation promotes the formation of hyper-extended margins

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Buiter
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Surface Processes ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Rifted Margins ◽  
Continental Rifts ◽  
Break Up ◽  
Mountain Belts ◽  
Sediment Layers

&lt;p&gt;Seismic observations show that some rifted continental margins may have substantial amounts of offshore sediments. For example, sediment layers of several kilometres thick are found on the margins of Mid Norway, Namibia and Angola. Intriguingly, these margins are wide, being characterised by distances of several hundreds of kilometres from typical continental crustal thicknesses of 30-40 km to clearly identifiable oceanic crust. On the other hand, some margins that are sediment-starved, such as Goban Spur, Flemish Cap and Northern Norway, have short onshore-to-offshore transitions. Variations in the amount of sediments not only impact the development of offshore sedimentary basins, but the changes in mass balance by erosion and sedimentation can also interact with extensional tectonic processes. In convergent settings, such feedback relationships between erosion and tectonic deformation have long been highlighted: Erosion reduces the elevation and width of mountain belts and in turn tectonic activity and exhumation are focused at regions of enhanced erosion. But what is the role played by surface processes during formation of rifted continental margins?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I use geodynamic finite-element experiments to explore the response of continental rifts to erosion and sedimentation from initial rifting to continental break-up. The experiments predict that rifted margins with thick syn-rift sedimentary packages are more likely to form hyper-extended crust and require more stretching to achieve continental break-up than sediment-starved margins. These findings imply that surface processes can control the style of continental break-up and that the role of sedimentation in rifted margin evolution goes far beyond the simple exertion of a passive weight.&lt;/p&gt;

Neotectonics and large-scale geomorphology of Canada

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Adams ◽  
John J. Clague
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
The West ◽  
Late Mesozoic ◽  
Tectonic Events ◽  
Mountain Systems

Canada includes active convergent and strike-slip plate boundaries, several major mountain systems, two passive continental margins, and a stable craton. Neotectonic activity, as indicated by earthquake occurrence, is highest along the west coast and lowest in the interior of the country. Correlations between tectonics and physiography are strongest in the west. Here, the landscape bears a strong imprint of convergent and strike-slip plate regimes. Late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic tectonic events established the setting in which the present physiography of western Canada developed, but the landscape acquired its present form much more recently, in Pliocene and Quaternary time. In contrast, the neotectonic imprint in eastern and northern Canada is enigmatic, and although major concentrations of earthquakes in many areas are associated with reactivated, early Phanerozoic structures, there has been only limited late Quaternary faulting. The vast Canadian craton, despite its very low seismicity, is deforming isostatically at a moderate rate due to melting of the Laurentide Ice Sheet thousands of years ago.

Continuous Deformation Versus Faulting Through the Continental Lithosphere of New Zealand

Science ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 286 (5439) ◽  
pp. 516-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Molnar ◽  
Helen J. Anderson ◽  
Etienne Audoine ◽  
Donna Eberhart-Phillips ◽  
Ken R. Gledhill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Seismic Anisotropy ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Mantle Lithosphere ◽  
Continental Lithosphere ◽  
Continuous Deformation ◽  
Alpine Fault ◽  
Wave Splitting ◽  
Rule Out

Seismic anisotropy and P-wave delays in New Zealand imply widespread deformation in the underlying mantle, not slip on a narrow fault zone, which is characteristic of plate boundaries in oceanic regions. Large magnitudes of shear-wave splitting and orientations of fast polarization parallel to the Alpine fault show that pervasive simple shear of the mantle lithosphere has accommodated the cumulative strike-slip plate motion. Variations inP-wave residuals across the Southern Alps rule out underthrusting of one slab of mantle lithosphere beneath another but permit continuous deformation of lithosphere shortened by about 100 kilometers since 6 to 7 million years ago.

scholarly journals Continental-scale geographic change across Zealandia during Paleogene subduction initiation

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 419-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Sutherland ◽  
G.R. Dickens ◽  
P. Blum ◽  
C. Agnini ◽  
L. Alegret ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Caledonia ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Mantle Flow ◽  
Vertical Movements ◽  
Subduction Initiation ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
The North ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
International Ocean Discovery Program ◽  
Tectonic Forces

Abstract Data from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 371 reveal vertical movements of 1–3 km in northern Zealandia during early Cenozoic subduction initiation in the western Pacific Ocean. Lord Howe Rise rose from deep (∼1 km) water to sea level and subsided back, with peak uplift at 50 Ma in the north and between 41 and 32 Ma in the south. The New Caledonia Trough subsided 2–3 km between 55 and 45 Ma. We suggest these elevation changes resulted from crust delamination and mantle flow that led to slab formation. We propose a “subduction resurrection” model in which (1) a subduction rupture event activated lithospheric-scale faults across a broad region during less than ∼5 m.y., and (2) tectonic forces evolved over a further 4–8 m.y. as subducted slabs grew in size and drove plate-motion change. Such a subduction rupture event may have involved nucleation and lateral propagation of slip-weakening rupture along an interconnected set of preexisting weaknesses adjacent to density anomalies.

Recurrence of turbidity currents on glaciated continental margins: A conceptual model from eastern Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (10) ◽  
pp. 1305-1321
Author(s):  
Alexandre Normandeau ◽  
D. Calvin Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Turbidity Current ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Submarine Canyons ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Current Activity

ABSTRACT Turbidity currents in submarine canyons transport large volumes of sediment and carbon to the deep sea and are known to present a major risk to submarine infrastructure. Understanding the origin, the triggers, the recurrence, and the timing of these events is important for predicting future events and mitigating their impact. Depending on the morphological and latitudinal setting of submarine canyons, different external controls will govern the recurrence of turbidity currents. Here, we assess the recurrence of turbidity currents in shelf-incising submarine canyons off eastern Canada in order to examine the effects of external forcings such as glacier retreat and sea level on the deep-water sedimentary record. We used multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiles, and the analysis of turbidites in sediment cores to infer the triggers of turbidity currents over time and propose a conceptual model for the activity of turbidity currents during glacial retreat. The chronostratigraphy of turbidites shows that turbidity current activity in the glaciated The Gully submarine canyon (eastern Canada) was highest between 24 ka cal BP (LGM) and 17 ka cal BP, with &gt; 100 turbidites per 1,000 yr, when the ice sheet was directly delivering sediment to submarine canyons. As the ice margin retreated, the dominant sediment supply switched to glaciofluvial and then to longshore drift, while RSL remained low. The recurrence of turbidity currents nonetheless decreased drastically to &lt; 10 per 1000 yr during that time, pre-dating the rise in RSL. This timing suggests that the reduction of turbidity-current activity is closely linked to retreating glaciers rather than to sea-level rise, which occurred later. Following the retreat of the ice sheet, sea level rose progressively to drown the shallow banks on the continental shelf, and turbidity currents ceased being active after 13 ka cal BP. In the late Holocene, landslide and concomitant turbidity-current recurrence increased to 1 per 1,000 yrs, with at least four new events recorded in deep water. This study shows that glacial sediment supply and sea level controlled the type of sediment supply to the continental slope, which in turn controlled the triggers of turbidity currents over time and the flushing of sediment to the deep water. By comparing with other glaciated margins, we propose a conceptual model explaining the recurrence of turbidity currents, taking into account RSL change and the position of the ice margin relative to the shelf edge. This conceptual model can help predict turbidity-current activity and offshore geohazards on other ancient and modern glaciated continental margins.

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