Splash-form tektites are glassy rocks ranging in size from roughly 1 to 100 mm that are believed to have formed from the splash of silicate liquid after a large terrestrial impact from which they are strewn over thousands of kilometres. They are found in an array of shapes including spheres, oblate ellipsoids, dumbbells, rods and possibly fragments of tori. It has recently become appreciated that surface tension and centrifugal forces associated with the rotation of fluid droplets are the main factors determining the shapes of these tektites. In this contribution, we compare the shape distribution of 1163 measured splash-form tektites with the results of the time evolution of a 3D numerical model of a rotating fluid drop with surface tension. We demonstrate that many aspects of the measured shape distribution can be explained by the results of the dynamical model.

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Within the Flin Flon Basin, Precambrian meta-sandstones and conglomerates belonging to the Missi Group have been complexly deformed as a result of three periods of deformation. The first two periods (P1 and P2) involved folding but no apparent faulting, the last (P3) involved both folding and faulting. Progressive metamorphism (M2), within the greenschist facies, occurred during the second phase (P2) and aided in the formation of a pronounced axial-plane foliation (S2). Small-scale folding and retrograde metamorphism (M3) occurred along faults formed during the last phase (P3).The faults in this area all appear to be high angle, oblique-slip reverse faults and can be interpreted as having formed during a single orogenic event (P3) although there is sequence in their initiation. The net-slip directions of different faults are approximately the same, and plunge moderately to the southeast, with either the east or south side upthrown, depending on the attitude of the fault.

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A three-dimensional model of the regional crustal architecture of the western Trans-Hudson Orogen, based on the interpretation of 590 km of deep-sounding seismic reflection data and a comparable length of existing seismic reflection information, is presented. The seismic images identify the regional geometry of the basal detachment zone (Pelican thrust) that separates juvenile allochthonous terranes from the underlying Archean microcontinent (Sask craton). The Sask Craton is inferred to have a minimum spatial extent of over 100 000 km2 with an associated crustal root that extends for 200 km along strike. During terminal collision, complete convergence of the Rae–Hearne and Superior continental blocks was precluded by the presence of the Sask Craton, resulting in the preservation of anomalous amounts of oceanic and associated sedimentary juvenile material. Along regional tectonic strike, consistency of crustal structure across the Rae–Hearne margin – Reindeer zone boundary is established. Several phases of tectonic development, including multistage subduction and continent–continent collision, are inferred for the western margin of the orogen. A bright, shallow (2–3.5 s two-way traveltime) band of reflectivity (Wollaston Lake reflector) imaged over ~150 000 km2 area is inferred to be a large post-orogenic mafic intrusion. A highly reflective, well-defined and structurally disturbed Moho discontinuity is mapped throughout the western Trans-Hudson Orogen. The present-day crustal architecture of the western Trans-Hudson Orogen is described in terms of the tectonic evolution within the region.

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Postcollisional (1.8–1.7 Ga) intracontinental deformation in the Trans‐Hudson Orogen (Canada) produced a series of orogen‐parallel high‐angle faults and folds. In seismic reflection profiles, the faults are imaged by subvertical zones of diffractions and truncated reflections that extend to 4–8 s (12–24 km). The folded and faulted upper part of the crust is underlain by laterally coherent shallow‐dipping reflections that are locally bounded by discrete, highly reflective zones. These zones are interpreted as detachments (shear zones) and can be traced from the upper to lower crust, where some of them appear to pass into laterally continuous reflections that define the Moho. Two distinct regimes of postcollisional crustal deformation are inferred from the seismic images: high‐angle faulting and lateral block extrusion in the upper crust and low‐angle ductile shearing in the mid/lower crust. The surface geology indicates that the faults resulted in southwest (orogen‐parallel) extrusion of the orogen's internal zone relative to the bounding Archean Hearne and Superior cratons. Faulting was concurrent with the development of upright folds with trends that are subparallel to the extrusion direction. The seismic images suggest that the high‐angle fold/fault structures are kinematically linked to low‐angle detachments represented by laterally coherent, highly reflective zones. The detachment shear zones are inferred to have a top‐to‐the‐southwest sense of shear associated with a subhorizontal, northeast‐southwest extension direction, parallel to those observed for 1.83–1.80 Ga collisional shear zones exposed in major postcollisional fold culminations. Long‐lived orogen‐parallel extension is interpreted as a consequence of the boundary conditions imposed by the northeast trend of both the Superior and Hearne margins.

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