GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-14DOI: 10.1130/b36481.1
T. Sherpa, P. DeCelles, B. Carrapa, L. Schoenbohm, Joshua A. Wolpert
{"title":"Bhumichula plateau: A remnant high-elevation low-relief surface in the Himalayan thrust belt of western Nepal","authors":"T. Sherpa, P. DeCelles, B. Carrapa, L. Schoenbohm, Joshua A. Wolpert","doi":"10.1130/b36481.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36481.1","url":null,"abstract":"The Himalaya is known for dramatically rugged landscapes including the highest mountains in the world. However, there is a limited understanding of the timing of attainment of high elevation and relief formation, especially in the Nepalese Himalaya. Anomalous high-elevation low-relief (HELR) surfaces, which exhibit geomorphic antiquity and are possibly remnants of formerly widespread high-elevation paleosurfaces, provide a unique opportunity to assess the attainment of regional high elevation in the Himalaya. The Bhumichula plateau is one such HELR surface (4300−4800 m) in the western Nepalese Himalayan fold-thrust belt. The Bhumichula plateau is situated in the Dadeldhura klippe (also called the Karnali klippe), an outlier of Greater Himalayan Sequence high-grade metasedimentary/igneous rocks surrounded by structurally underlying Lesser Himalayan Sequence low-grade metasedimentary rocks. We assess the origin of the Bhumichula plateau by combining regional geological relationships and zircon and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He and apatite fission track thermochronologic ages. The HELR surface truncates pervasive west-southwestward dipping foliations, indicating that it post-dates tilting of rocks in the hanging wall of the Main Central thrust above the Lesser Himalayan duplex. This suggests that the surface originated at high elevation by erosional beveling of thickened, uplifted crust. Exhumation through the ∼180−60 °C thermal window occurred during middle Miocene for samples on the plateau and between middle and late Miocene for rocks along the Tila River, which bounds the north flank of the Bhumichula plateau. Cooling ages along the Tila River are consistent with erosional exhumation generated by early Miocene emplacement of the Main Central (Dadeldhura) thrust sheet, middle Miocene Ramgarh thrust emplacement, and late Miocene growth of the Lesser Himalayan duplex. The most recent middle-late Miocene exhumation took place as the Tila River and its northward flowing tributaries incised upstream, such that the Bhumichula plateau is a remnant of a more extensive HELR paleolandscape. Alpine glaciation lowered relief on the Bhumichula surface, and surface preservation may owe to its relatively durable lithology, gentle structural relief, and elevation range that is above the rainier Lesser Himalaya.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126328025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-14DOI: 10.1130/b36501.1
Haonan Zhao, Yuanyuan Zhang, W. Du, Yang Zhang, R. Zhou, Zhaojie Guo
{"title":"The Late Triassic Longmenshan lateral foreland thrusting: New insights from geological evidence and 3-D particle discrete-element simulation","authors":"Haonan Zhao, Yuanyuan Zhang, W. Du, Yang Zhang, R. Zhou, Zhaojie Guo","doi":"10.1130/b36501.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36501.1","url":null,"abstract":"This work proposes a new lateral foreland thrusting model based on geological evidence and 3-D particle discrete-element simulation to explain the Longmenshan southeastward thrusting during the closure of the Songpan-Ganze basin. The Late Triassic NE−SW compression caused by the northward movement of the Qiangtang Block and the resulting differential shortening within the wedge-shaped Songpan-Ganze terrane produced southeastward topographic gradient. The thick sedimentary pile, driven by the horizontal tectonic force and the deviatoric stress generated from gravitational effect, and decoupled from the subducting basement by the low-strength décollement, was laterally extruded and resulted in the southeastward Longmenshan thrusting. Therefore, the Longmenshan thrust belt is a lateral foreland thrust belt of the Songpan-Ganze terrane. For the first time, 3-D particle discrete-element simulation was used for the geological study of the Longmenshan area, and it clearly reproduces the dynamical process of the Longmenshan southeastward thrusting and well predicts the Xiaojin Arcuate Zone. The particle discrete-element simulation results verify the new model and reveal that two key factors facilitate the lateral foreland thrusting: the wedge-shaped geometry that produces differential shortening and lateral topographic gradient, and the low-strength décollement that decouples the extruded sedimentary pile from the basement. The lateral foreland thrust belt, which is unique in its tectonic location and dynamic behavior, is a new kind of foreland thrust belt that is different from the pro-foreland and retro-foreland thrust belts, and it provides new insight into the tectonic evolution of collisional orogens.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130385488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-14DOI: 10.1130/b36316.1
Wenchao Shu, J. Tong, Jianxin Yu, J. Hilton, M. Benton, Xiao Shi, J. Díez, P. Wignall, Daoliang Chu, L. Tian, Zhixing Yi, Yong-Qin Mao
{"title":"Permian−Middle Triassic floral succession in North China and implications for the great transition of continental ecosystems","authors":"Wenchao Shu, J. Tong, Jianxin Yu, J. Hilton, M. Benton, Xiao Shi, J. Díez, P. Wignall, Daoliang Chu, L. Tian, Zhixing Yi, Yong-Qin Mao","doi":"10.1130/b36316.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36316.1","url":null,"abstract":"The global pattern of plant evolution through the Permian−Triassic mass extinction is uncertain, and the extent to which land plants were affected is debated. Detailed studies undertaken at a regional scale can help evaluate this floral transition, and thus we provide a detailed account of floral evolution from the Permian to Middle Triassic of North China based on new paleobotanical data and a refined biostratigraphy. Five floral transition events are identified from before, during, and after the Permian−Triassic crisis, including the disappearance of the gigantopterid flora (associated with loss of coal deposits), the end-Permian mass extinction of Paleophytic taxa, and gradual recovery in the Triassic with the stepwise appearance of the Mesophytic vegetation. The record begins with a Cisuralian gigantopterid-dominated rainforest community, and then a Lopingian walchian Voltziales conifer-ginkgophyte community that evolved into a voltzialean conifer-pteridosperm forest community. The last is associated with a change amongst terrestrial vertebrates from the Jiyuan fauna to a pareiasaur-dominated fauna, found in red beds that lack coal deposits due to arid conditions. The disappearance of the voltzialean conifer forest community may represents the end-Permian mass extinction of plants although it could also be a consequence of the non-preservation of plants in sedimentary red-beds. The first post-crisis plants are an Induan herbaceous lycopsid community, succeeded by the Pleuromeia-Neocalamites shrub marsh community. A pteridosperm shrub woodland community dominated for a short time in the late Early Triassic along with the reappearance of insect herbivory. Finally, in the Middle Triassic, gymnosperm forest communities gradually rose to dominance in both uplands and lowlands along with other diverse plant communities, indicating the establishment of the Mesophytic Flora.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"200 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114195179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-14DOI: 10.1130/b36463.1
Christopher T. Halsted, P. Bierman, J. Shakun, P. Davis, L. Corbett, M. Caffee, Taylor S. Hodgdon, J. Licciardi
{"title":"Rapid southeastern Laurentide Ice Sheet thinning during the last deglaciation revealed by elevation profiles of in situ cosmogenic 10Be","authors":"Christopher T. Halsted, P. Bierman, J. Shakun, P. Davis, L. Corbett, M. Caffee, Taylor S. Hodgdon, J. Licciardi","doi":"10.1130/b36463.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36463.1","url":null,"abstract":"Accurate reconstruction of Laurentide Ice Sheet volume changes following the Last Glacial Maximum is critical for understanding ice sheet contribution to sea-level rise, the resulting influence of meltwater on oceanic circulation, and the spatial and temporal patterns of deglaciation. Here, we provide empirical constraints on Laurentide Ice Sheet thinning during the last deglaciation by measuring in situ cosmogenic 10Be in 81 samples collected along vertical transects of nine mountains in the northeastern United States. In conjunction with 107 exposure age samples over five vertical transects from previous studies, we reconstruct ice sheet thinning history.\u0000 At peripheral sites (within 200 km of the terminal moraine), we find evidence for ∼600 m of thinning between 19.5 ka and 17.5 ka, which is coincident with the slow initial margin retreat indicated by varve records. At locations >400 km north of the terminal moraine, exposure ages above and below 1200 m a.s.l. exhibit different patterns. Ages above this elevation are variable and older, while lower elevation ages are indistinguishable over 800−1000 m elevation ranges, a pattern that suggests a subglacial thermal boundary at ∼1200 m a.s.l. separating erosive, warm-based ice below and polythermal, minimally erosive ice above. Low-elevation ages from up-ice mountains are between 15 ka and 13 ka, which suggests rapid thinning of ∼1000 m coincident with Bølling-Allerød warming. These rates of rapid paleo-ice thinning are comparable to those of other vertical exposure age transects around the world and may have been faster than modern basin-wide thinning rates in Antarctica and Greenland, which suggests that the southeastern Laurentide Ice Sheet was highly sensitive to a warming climate.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114756247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-12DOI: 10.1130/b36532.1
Hao Yin, Guang Zhu, Xiaodong Wu, Nan Su, Yuanchao Lu, Shuai Zhang
{"title":"Buoyancy-driven exhumation deformation: Evidence from the Sulu orogen, eastern China","authors":"Hao Yin, Guang Zhu, Xiaodong Wu, Nan Su, Yuanchao Lu, Shuai Zhang","doi":"10.1130/b36532.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36532.1","url":null,"abstract":"Whether deformation of exhumed crust in a collisional orogen is driven by buoyancy or tectonic stress remains uncertain. The Sulu orogen in eastern China contains slowly subducted and exhumed high-pressure (HP)−ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terranes, which provide a good opportunity to understand whether the exhumation deformation was driven by buoyancy. We used field and microscopic observations as well as quartz c-axis fabrics to determine the deformation kinematics, temperatures, and evolution of the exhumed crustal slices. Deformed and undeformed dikes were dated by using the zircon U-Pb laser ablation−inductively coupled plasma−mass spectrometry method to constrain the timing of deformation. Our data demonstrate that each crustal slice was involved in pervasive top-to-the-NW (hinterland) or top-to-the-SE (foreland) ductile deformation during Late Triassic exhumation, and that the base of each slice records deformation that was superimposed during the subsequent exhumation of the underlying slice. The crustal exhumation of the southern Sulu orogen is consistent with the multistage ductile extrusion model. The kinematics of exhumation deformation within each crustal slice conform to an upward asymmetric flow. The flow velocity and corresponding shear sense were affected by temperature variations in each HP slice, whereas they were sensitive to migmatization within the UHP slices. The southern Sulu orogen examples show that crustal flow deformation during exhumation was driven by buoyancy and controlled by viscosity. Unlike the consistent kinematics of tectonics-driven deformation, the kinematics of buoyancy-driven deformation are characterized by variations in the senses of shear within a single crustal slice, and this can therefore be used to distinguish the two types of deformation.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125023409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-08DOI: 10.1130/b36496.1
Zhimin Li, Runchao Liu, John He, Wenjun Zhu, Wanhe Wang, Yueren Xu, Wenqiao Li, L. Ding
{"title":"From ka to Ma: A multi-timescale record of accelerating Cenozoic tectonic uplift between the Qilian Shan and Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau","authors":"Zhimin Li, Runchao Liu, John He, Wenjun Zhu, Wanhe Wang, Yueren Xu, Wenqiao Li, L. Ding","doi":"10.1130/b36496.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36496.1","url":null,"abstract":"Constraining tectonic uplift history within the Tibetan Plateau is critical to understanding its deformational response to continental collision. However, it is difficult to extrapolate orogen-scale uplift history from any single method alone. Here, we combined high-resolution deep and shallow seismic imaging (on the order of 103 to 102 meters in depth, respectively) with geologic paleoseismic trenching (on the order of several meters in depth) in the Qilian Shan−Qaidam Basin (QSQB) transition zone within the northern Tibetan Plateau, which provide a fault-to-basin, ka-to-Ma-scale record of mountain building. Tectonic uplift began in the early Cenozoic (>40 Ma), with slow uplift rates persisting until ca. 15.3 Ma. Tectonic tilting with limited thrust faulting along the QSQB transition zone was the predominant form of deformation during this period. Accelerated uplift since the middle Miocene is attributed to the activation of more thrust faults, and an increase in fault vertical slip rates by an order of magnitude, reaching ∼0.2−0.25 mm/a.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116075629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-07DOI: 10.1130/b36412.1
Abdullah M. Wahbi, M. Blum, Caroline Nazworth Doerger
{"title":"Early Cretaceous continental-scale sediment routing, the McMurray Formation, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Alberta, Canada","authors":"Abdullah M. Wahbi, M. Blum, Caroline Nazworth Doerger","doi":"10.1130/b36412.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36412.1","url":null,"abstract":"Alternative depositional models for the Early Cretaceous McMurray Formation between a dominantly continental and marginal marine settings remain a controversial topic. The source-to-sink model can be inverted to reconstruct ancient sediment-routing systems by utilizing methods to estimate ancient drainage basins, which can contribute to understanding of sediment routing and testing of alternative depositional models.\u0000 New detrital zircon U-Pb ages from 31 samples were analyzed to identify source terranes of the McMurray Formation and the overlying Wabiskaw Member of the Clearwater Formation to test first-generation alternative sediment-routing models and estimate maximum depositional ages. In total, 9729 new concordant U-Pb ages identified multiple source terranes for the McMurray Formation within an interpreted continental-scale paleodrainage basin that extended from the SW to SE United States and eastern Canada. The paleodrainage basin then expanded to include the Western Cordillera arc system within the overlying Upper Mannville Group. Multidimensional scaling and mixing models independently support a paleo-upstream mixing of primary and recycled sources in the McMurray Formation axial system in the United States and a paleo-downstream confluence between this axial system and east-derived sediment-routing systems in Canada, which display an evolution from bedrock-confined to alluvial morphology from the lower to middle-upper McMurray Formation.\u0000 The current dataset constrains the maximum depositional age of the McMurray Formation to the latest Barremian to Aptian, with an age range from ca. 122 to 115 Ma, which is significantly younger than previously reported. Age estimates in the overlying Upper Mannville units from ca. 115 to 110 Ma statistically overlap with the McMurray Formation age, suggesting continuous Mannville deposition that lasted 10−12 m.y. or less.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130276839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-06DOI: 10.1130/b36415.1
Jean-Marie Prival, A. Harris, E. Zanella, Claudio Robustelli Test, L. Gurioli, O. Chevrel, Jonas Biren
{"title":"Emplacement dynamics of a crystal-rich, highly viscous trachytic flow of the Sancy stratovolcano, France","authors":"Jean-Marie Prival, A. Harris, E. Zanella, Claudio Robustelli Test, L. Gurioli, O. Chevrel, Jonas Biren","doi":"10.1130/b36415.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36415.1","url":null,"abstract":"Emplacement dynamics of highly viscous, silicic lava flows remain poorly constrained due to a lack of consideration of crystal-rich cases. Emplacement models mostly apply to glassy or microlitic, vesiculated rhyolitic flows. However, crystalline, vesicle-free silicic lava can flow differently. We studied the Grande Cascade unit, which is a vesicle-free, phenocryst-rich, trachytic flow in the Monts Dore massif, France. Field work was carried out to define internal structures, and oriented samples were collected for chemical, petrological, and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility analyses, allowing us to estimate emplacement temperature and viscosity.\u0000 These data allow us to define a new silicic lava flow subtype that is low in temperature (800−900 °C), high in silica content (up to 66.8 wt%), high in viscosity (109−1011 Pa s), rich in phenocrysts (∼35%), and lacks vesicles. Brittle deformation of the lava occurs upon extrusion, generating a cataclasite basal layer and thin (3-m-thick) shear zone that accommodates all of the stress, allowing most of the flow’s volume to slide over its base as a 40-m-thick plug in which there is no deformation. Blocks are rare, of a single size (10 ± 1 cm), and result from localized break-up of the basal shear zone.\u0000 Emplacement dynamics are different from those of glassy, pumiceous lava flows. They are closer to glacier dynamics, where most of the volume slides over a thin basal shear zone and till is generated there by abrasion and milling of the underlying layer. For the Grande Cascade lava flow, abrasion means that the flow lacks its classical blocky crust and instead the flow base is marked by a layer rich in fine-grained material. The structures and emplacement dynamics of this crystal-rich flow are consistent with ideal, gravity-driven shear flow. We thus argue for a global reassessment of silicic-rich lava emplacement based on crystal content and using a multidisciplinary approach focused on well-exposed examples in the rock record.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134318224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-05DOI: 10.1130/b36405.1
Ralf J. Weger, G. Eberli, Leticia Rodriguez Blanco, Max Tenaglia, P. Swart
{"title":"Finding a VOICE in the Southern Hemisphere: A new record of global organic carbon?","authors":"Ralf J. Weger, G. Eberli, Leticia Rodriguez Blanco, Max Tenaglia, P. Swart","doi":"10.1130/b36405.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36405.1","url":null,"abstract":"Variations in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonate and organic carbon (δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg) are generally used to record perturbations in the global carbon cycle, which are in turn closely linked to changes in climate. However, because of climate gradients on Earth, assignment of the “global” signal in ancient records is not straightforward. Here, we report the δ13C values of organic material in the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous sedimentary record of the Vaca Muerta Formation, situated in the Neuquén Basin, Argentina, which show similar patterns to those observed in several northern latitude basins. This record of δ13C values in the organic material differs from those measured in the early Atlantic Ocean, a record previously considered to be representative of the global values of organic carbon. As a result of the global synchronicity observed in the δ13C values of organic material from both northern and southern latitudes, we suggest that these patterns may represent the global record of δ13C values in organic material rather than those measured in the proto−Atlantic Ocean. The δ13C values of the organic components show a slight initial decrease of ∼2‰ in the early Tithonian (149−145 Ma) and then another decrease of ∼2‰ before reaching a minimum of −30.29‰ in the late Tithonian (145−143 Ma), followed by a gradual increasing trend throughout the Berriasian (143.1−137.7 Ma). The early Valanginian (137.7−135.5 Ma) was marked by a more substantial increase in δ13C values up to −23.46‰. These changes mirror those seen in Northern Hemisphere locations during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, where this perturbation has been termed the Volgian isotopic carbon excursion (VOICE). This difference in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous δ13C values between the early Atlantic Ocean and the Neuquén Basin is interpreted to be the result of the climate gradient at the time, which was characterized by more humid conditions in high latitudes compared to dry conditions in the Atlantic Ocean basin.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133770167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GSA BulletinPub Date : 2022-12-05DOI: 10.1130/b36229.1
S. Sui, W. Shen, K. Mahan, V. Schulte‐Pelkum
{"title":"Constraining the crustal composition of the continental U.S. using seismic observables","authors":"S. Sui, W. Shen, K. Mahan, V. Schulte‐Pelkum","doi":"10.1130/b36229.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1130/b36229.1","url":null,"abstract":"The composition of the crust is one of the most uncertain and controversial components of continental estimates due to (1) limited direct access and (2) inconsistent indirect assessments. Here we show that by combining high-resolution shear velocity (Vs) models with newly measured with newly measured ratio of compressional wave velocity (Vp) and Vs, or Vp/Vs ratio, for the crystalline crust, a 3-D composition (SiO2 wt%) model of the continental crust can be derived with uncertainty estimates. Comparing the model with local xenolith data shows consistency at mid and lower crustal depths. The spatial patterns in bulk SiO2 content correlate with major geological provinces, including the footprints of Cenozoic and Mesozoic mafic volcanism in the western U.S., and offer new insight into the composition and evolution of the continental U.S.","PeriodicalId":242264,"journal":{"name":"GSA Bulletin","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134253838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}