Broken foreland basins and the influence of subduction dynamics, tectonic inheritance, and mechanical triggers

Horton, Brian K.; Capaldi, Tomas N.; Mackaman‐Lofland, Chelsea; Perez, Nicholas D.; Bush, Meredith A.; Fuentes, Facundo; Constenius, Kurt N.

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104193

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 290 publications

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“…Shortening of the upper plate during convergence, which includes reactivation of older faults (e.g., pre‐existing weaknesses in the crust), may have resulted in basement‐cored uplifts and partitioning of the foreland basin (Allmendinger et al., 1983; Horton et al., 2022). In this case, thick‐skinned deformation is driven simply by shortening; basement‐cored uplifts may not require a component of shallow‐angle subduction, rather they are expected features of mountain belts and commonly occur in regions where pre‐orogenic sedimentary cover is thin and/or where potential décollement horizons are limited (e.g., Marshak et al., 2000; McClelland & Oldow, 2004; McGroder et al., 2015; Parker & Pearson, 2021; Pearson et al., 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thin‐skinned deformation results in broad, flexural foreland basin depositional systems that develop at continental scales (e.g., DeCelles, 2004). In contrast, thick‐skinned deformation results in broken foreland basin systems where basement‐involved deformation propagates into the foreland basin and disrupts depositional systems (e.g., Horton et al., 2022; Strecker et al., 2012). The development of broken foreland basin systems by basement‐involved thrusting has been linked to several causal mechanisms, including plate‐scale drivers such as flat‐slab subduction induced by bathymetric anomalies on the subducting slab or changes in relative plate motions, as well as upper plate triggers including stratigraphic, structural, and crustal rheological heterogeneities (Allmendinger et al., 1983; Dickinson & Snyder, 1978; Horton et al., 2022; Jordan & Allmendinger, 1986; Jordan et al., 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Timing of the Transition From Sevier‐ to Laramide‐Style Tectonism in Southwestern Montana Based on the Provenance of the Frontier Formation, North American Cordillera

et al. 2023

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The Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation in southwestern Montana is coeval with the transition from Sevier‐ to Laramide‐style tectonism in the Idaho‐Montana sector of the North American Cordillera. To better constrain the timing of initial exhumation above the Laramide‐style Blacktail‐Snowcrest arch, we use biostratigraphic data, sandstone petrography, and detrital zircon (DZ) geochronology to determine the provenance and depositional age of the Frontier Formation. Near Lima Peaks, erosion of Lower Cretaceous strata from the frontal Sevier‐style Tendoy thrust sheet provided sediment to the foreland basin. In the Western Centennial Mountains, sediment sources included those same sources as well as Neoproterozoic and Cambrian strata and Mesoproterozoic plutons in the Belt basin. In contrast, near the Gravelly Range, sediment eroded from Pennsylvanian‐Upper Cretaceous strata atop the Blacktail‐Snowcrest basement‐cored uplift, documenting unroofing to Pennsylvanian‐Permian stratigraphic levels by 87–85 Ma. Palynology corroborates recycling into the Frontier Formation, including from the underlying Blackleaf Formation. The ubiquitous presence of 100–85 Ma DZ ages coupled with different interpreted source regions suggests that an ash‐fall source contributed young zircon grains to the Frontier Formation. The timing of exhumation above the Blacktail‐Snowcrest arch provided by these new data presented herein suggest that Laramide‐style tectonism in Idaho‐Montana may be unrelated to shallow‐angle subduction within a narrow corridor as envisioned by current models. Instead, upper plate controls, such as the locations of inherited faults and basement highs, the distribution and thickness of pre‐orogenic sedimentary cover, and the availability of detachment surfaces, may be responsible for Laramide‐style tectonism during early Late Cretaceous time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing of the Transition From Sevier‐ to Laramide‐Style Tectonism in Southwestern Montana Based on the Provenance of the Frontier Formation, North American Cordillera

et al. 2023

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“…1b) are characterized by basement uplifts, forming arches in a possibly erratic sequence of basement fault reactivation. These uplifts segment the former basin (Jordan & Allmendinger, 1986;Horton et al 2022). Examples of broken forelands are the Laramide province in the western USA and the Sierras Pampeanas in Argentina.…”

Section: A Development Of Fault Zones and Fracture Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the geochemistry of syn-kinematic calcite cement depicts past fluid flow and assists structural interpretations: a review of concepts and applications in orogenic forelands

Beaudoin

Lacombe²,

Hoareau³

et al. 2022

Geol. Mag.

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Orogenic forelands host interactions between deformation and static or migrating fluids. Given their accessibility and dimensions, these areas are not only historic landmarks for structural geology, but they are also areas of prime interest for georesource exploration and geological storage, and loci of potential geohazards. Geochemical techniques applied on cements filling tectonic structures and associated trapped fluids can constrain the temperature, pressure, origin and pathways of fluids during deformation and allow the characterization of the past fluid system. In this review focused on calcite cements, we first present and critically discuss the most used geochemical techniques to appraise specific parameters of the fluid system. Second, we summarize the outcomes of selected case studies where the past fluid system was reconstructed with consideration of tectonics, either at the scale of the individual fold/thrust or at the scale of the fold-and-thrust belt. At first order, the past fluid system evolves in a similar way with respect to the considered stage of deformation, being rather closed to external fluids when deformation is bounded to mesoscale structure development, and opening to vertical flow when thrust and folds develop. In a more detailed view, it seems that the past fluid system evolves and distributes under the influence of the structural style, of the geometry of the major faults and of the lithology of the sedimentary succession. Through this review, we illustrate the concept of geochemistry-assisted structural geology through case studies where the geochemistry of calcite veins constrained subsurface geometries and structural developments in orogenic forelands.

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“…The northwestern Hexi Corridor can be considered a broken foreland basin (Horton et al., 2022) with basement‐cored uplifts like the Heishan and Kuantanshan and Cretaceous rift basins such as the Yumen, Jiuxi and Jiudong Basins that are overlapped and largely concealed by widespread Tertiary‐Quaternary alluvial deposits (Figure 1, Vincent & Allen, 1999; C. Zhang et al., 2018). In addition, the western Hexi Corridor includes important crustal boundaries separating the Qilian Shan Precambrian‐Paleozoic terrane amalgam (Xiao et al., 2009) from the easternmost Tarim‐Dunhuang Archean block, the westernmost Archean North China Craton (NCC) and the Precambrian‐Paleozoic terrane collage of the Beishan to the north (Figure S1 in Supporting Information ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Magnetotelluric Data Reveal Deep Fault Boundaries and Contrasting Late Cenozoic Fault Kinematics Between the Qilian Shan Thrust Wedge and Beishan‐Alxa Block, Western China

Yang,

Sun,

Zhan

et al. 2024

Geophysical Research Letters

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The structural connectivity and kinematic relationship between the Altyn Tagh sinistral strike‐slip fault (ATF) and Qilian Shan fold‐and‐thrust belt along the north Tibetan margin east of 96°E is an important question for tectonicists interested in the evolving active deformation field of Central Asia and associated earthquake hazards of China's Hexi Corridor region. New results from a detailed 130‐km‐long N‐S magnetotelluric (MT) survey from the Qilian Shan to Beishan elucidates the locations and down‐dip orientations of major faults. Importantly, the results indicate that the Heishan‐Jinta’Nanshan fault system roots steeply into the lower crust, is unconnected to the Qilian Shan thrust wedge, and has reactivated the margin of the North China Craton and an older, regional ductile shear belt. The structurally linked ATF‐Heishan‐Jinta’Nanshan system defines a fundamental kinematic boundary in central Asia between the NE directed Qilian Shan thrust belt to the south and the eastwardly extruding Beishan‐Alxa Block to the north.

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Broken foreland basins and the influence of subduction dynamics, tectonic inheritance, and mechanical triggers

Cited by 17 publications

References 290 publications

Timing of the Transition From Sevier‐ to Laramide‐Style Tectonism in Southwestern Montana Based on the Provenance of the Frontier Formation, North American Cordillera

Timing of the Transition From Sevier‐ to Laramide‐Style Tectonism in Southwestern Montana Based on the Provenance of the Frontier Formation, North American Cordillera

How the geochemistry of syn-kinematic calcite cement depicts past fluid flow and assists structural interpretations: a review of concepts and applications in orogenic forelands

New Magnetotelluric Data Reveal Deep Fault Boundaries and Contrasting Late Cenozoic Fault Kinematics Between the Qilian Shan Thrust Wedge and Beishan‐Alxa Block, Western China

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