PLATE-TECTONICS AND NORTHERN CORDILLERAN GEOLOGY - AN UNFINISHED REVOLUTION

Authors
Citation
Jwh. Monger, PLATE-TECTONICS AND NORTHERN CORDILLERAN GEOLOGY - AN UNFINISHED REVOLUTION, Geoscience Canada, 24(4), 1997, pp. 189-198
Citations number
63
Journal title
ISSN journal
03150941
Volume
24
Issue
4
Year of publication
1997
Pages
189 - 198
Database
ISI
SICI code
0315-0941(1997)24:4<189:PANCG->2.0.ZU;2-7
Abstract
The northern Cordillera, located on a continent-ocean interface in exi stence for 750 million years, is an orogenic collage mostly made up of Paleozoic through early Mesozoic intraoceanic are and subduction comp lex terranes accreted to the craton margin, and mid-Mesozoic to Holoce ne arcs emplaced mainly in and on the accreted terranes. Mountain buil ding results from crustal thickening most likely caused by persistent movement of the North American plate towards, and over, various Pacifi c oceanic plates since Early Jurassic time. Location of collage compon ents in time and space is needed to show the succession of plate confi gurations that led to the collage, but current conflict between estima tes of amounts of lateral displacements means that pre-Tertiary paleog eographies remain in doubt.