A Review of Tectonic Events on the Passive Margin of Eastern North America

Withjack, Martha Oliver; Schlische, Roy W.

doi:10.5724/gcs.05.25.0203

Cited by 35 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…The fragment on the North American margin, called the Eastern North American rift system, extends from northern Florida to the eastern Grand Banks of Canada (e.g. Manspeizer and Cousminer 1988;Olsen et al 1989;Schlische 1993Schlische , 2003Withjack et al 1998;Withjack and Schlische 2005) (Figure 1). It is one of the world's largest rift systems and occupies one of the world's oldest intact passive margins.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extensional development of the Fundy rift basin, southeastern Canada

Withjack¹,

Schlische²,

Baum³

2009

Geological Journal

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The Fundy rift basin of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, is part of the Eastern North American rift system that formed during the breakup of Pangaea. Integrated seismic-reflection, field, digital-elevation and aeromagnetic data indicate that the Fundy rift basin underwent two phases of deformation: syn-rift extension followed by post-rift basin inversion. Inversion significantly modified the geometries of the basin and its rift-related structures. In this paper, we remove the effects of inversion to examine the basin's extensional development. The basin consists of three structural subbasins: the Fundy and Chignecto subbasins are bounded by low-angle, NE-striking faults; the Minas subbasin is bounded by E-to ENE-striking faults that are steeply dipping at the surface and gently dipping at depth. Together, these linked faults form the border-fault system of the Fundy rift basin. Most major faults within the border-fault system originated as Palaeozoic contractional structures. All syn-rift units imaged on seismic profiles thicken towards the border-fault system, reflecting extensional movement from Middle Triassic (and possibly Permian) through Early Jurassic time. Intra-rift unconformities, observed on seismic profiles and in the field, indicate that uplift and erosion occurred, at least locally, during rifting. Based on seismic data alone, the displacement direction of the hanging wall of the border-fault system of the Fundy rift basin ranged from SW to SE during rifting. Field data (i.e. NEstriking igneous dykes, sediment-filled fissures and normal faults) indicate NW-SE extension during Early Jurassic time, supporting a SE-displacement direction. With a SE-displacement direction, the NE-striking border-fault zones of the Fundy and Chignecto subbasins had predominantly normal dip slip during rifting, whereas the E-striking border-fault zone of the Minas subbasin had oblique slip with left-lateral and normal components. Sequential restorations of seismic-reflection profiles (coupled with projections from onshore geology) show that the Fundy rift basin underwent 10-20 km of extension, most of which was accommodated by the border-fault system, and was considerably wider and deeper prior to basin inversion. Post-rift deformation tilted the eastern side of the basin to the northwest/north, producing significant uplift and erosion.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on the age range of preserved syn-rift strata, Withjack and Schlische (2005) divided the Eastern North American rift system into three geographic segments (Figure 1). Rifting was underway throughout the entire rift system (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensional development of the Fundy rift basin, southeastern Canada

Withjack¹,

Schlische²,

Baum³

2009

Geological Journal

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“…Rifting near the end of the Triassic (ca. 200 Ma) was associated with fragmentation of Pangaea and opening of the Atlantic Ocean (Withjack and Schlische 2005). During the Cretaceous (145 to 66 Ma) a proto-ocean started to form in the Newark Rift Valley system, which extended northeast through the Fundy Rift system of mainland Nova Scotia into the Orpheus Graben adjacent to the southern coast of Cape Breton Island (Fig.…”

Section: (3)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Geology and Hydrogeology of Faults on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada: an overview

Baechler¹

2015

atgeol

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Cape Breton Island provides a hydrogeological view into the roots of an ancient mountain range, now exhumed, glaciated, and tectonically inactive. It exhibits deep crustal faults and magma chambers associated with formation of the Appalachian mountain belt and the Maritimes Basin during the Paleozoic, as well as Mesozoic rifting relating to the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. Cenozoic exhumation brought these features near surface and into the active groundwater flow field where they were impacted by glaciation and fluctuating sea level. The faults have been important from a societal viewpoint in development of municipal groundwater supplies, controlling inflows to excavations, hydrocarbon exploration, quarry development, and geotechnical investigations. Conceptual models presented here outline fault control on groundwater flow based on seven case studies. Future research should focus on basin-bounding faults in support of managing their role in aquifer development and protection, mountain-front recharge, controlling large-magnitude springs, groundwater-stream interaction, and channel morphology. The hydrogeological importance of these faults has historically been underappreciated. rÉSUMÉ L'île du Cap Breton procure un aperçu hydrogéologique des racines d'une ancienne chaîne de montagnes, maintenant exhumée, érodée par la glaciation et tectoniquement inactive. Elle présente des chambres magmatiques et des failles crustales profondes associées à la formation de la ceinture montagneuse des Appalaches et du bassin des Maritimes au cours du Paléozoïque, ainsi qu'au rifting du Mésozoïque lié à l' ouverture de l' océan Atlantique. L' exhumation survenue durant le Cénozoïque a rapproché ces particularités de la surface à l'intérieur du champ d' écoulement des eaux souterraines actif, où elles ont été touchées par la glaciation et les fluctuations du niveau de la mer. Les failles se sont avérées importantes sur le plan sociétal pour l' établissement de réserves municipales d'approvisionnement en eau souterraine, le contrôle des infiltrations d' eau dans les excavations, la prospection des gisements d'hydrocarbures, l'aménagement des carrières et les études géotechniques. Les modèles conceptuels présentés illustrent le contrôle par les failles de l' écoulement des eaux souterraines d'après sept études de cas. Les recherches futures devraient porter sur les failles délimitant des bassins aux fins de la gestion de leur rôle dans le développement et la protection des aquifères, l'alimentation du front des secteurs montagneux, le contrôle des sources de forte magnitude, l'interaction entre les eaux souterraines et les cours d' eau et la morphologie des canaux. L'importance hydrogéologique de ces failles a été sousestimée par le passé. [Traduit par la redaction]

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“…The evolution of the U.S. Atlantic margin has been described in numerous articles (Poag, 1978(Poag, , 1984(Poag, , 1985Schlee et al, 1979;Williams and Hatcher, 1982;Manspeizer, 1985;Dillon and Popenoe, 1988;Klitgord et al, 1988Klitgord et al, , 1994Poag and Sevon, 1989;Holbrook et al, 1992;Hutchinson et al, 1996;Olsen, 1997;Withjack and Schlische, 2005;Wyer and Watts, 2006). The major structural boundaries of the margin formed during late Triassic/early Jurassic continental rifting (~230-185 Ma) Olsen, 1997).…”

Section: Continental Shelf Slope and Rise Of The Us Atlantic Marginmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic characterization of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin

2013

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The increasing volume of multibeam bathymetry data collected along continental margins is providing new opportunities to study the feedbacks between sedimentary and oceanographic processes and seafloor morphology. Attempts to develop simple guidelines that describe the relationships between form and process often overlook the importance of inherited physiography in slope depositional systems. Here, we use multibeam bathymetry data and seismic reflection profiles spanning the U.S. Atlantic outer continental shelf, slope and rise from Cape Hatteras to New England to quantify the broad-scale, across-margin morphological variation. Morphometric analyses suggest the margin can be divided into four basic categories that roughly align with Quaternary sedimentary provinces. Within each category, Quaternary sedimentary processes exerted heavy modification of submarine canyons, landslide complexes and the broad-scale morphology of the continental rise, but they appear to have preserved much of the pre-Quaternary, across-margin shape of the continental slope. Without detailed constraints on the substrate structure, first-order morphological categorization the U.S. Atlantic margin does not provide a reliable framework for predicting relationships between form and process.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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A Review of Tectonic Events on the Passive Margin of Eastern North America

Abstract: Field, seismic, and drill-hole data provide a wealth of information about the tectonic processes associated with rifting, breakup, and the early stages of seafloor spreading for

Cited by 35 publications

References 70 publications

Extensional development of the Fundy rift basin, southeastern Canada

Extensional development of the Fundy rift basin, southeastern Canada

Geology and Hydrogeology of Faults on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada: an overview

Geomorphic characterization of the U.S. Atlantic continental margin

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