Formation of sequences in the cratonic interior of North America by interaction between mantle, eustatic, and stratigraphic processes

Burgess, Peter M.; Gurnis, Michael; Moresi, Louis

doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1997)109<1515:fositc>2.3.co;2

Cited by 148 publications

(99 citation statements)

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“…Consequently, the best proxies for continental vertical motion come from relative sea-level (RSL) change, often observed as anomalous marine inundation of one continent with respect to the mean inundation of all continents [Hallam, 1992]. One of the best examples of such motion is the anomalous subsidence of the western United States during the Cretaceous [Bond, 1976;Cross and Pilger, 1978;Mitrovica et al, 1989] which has been quantitatively linked first to a shallowing dip angle of the Farallon plate subducting beneath North America and the subsequent uplift associated with the demise of subduction [Mitrovica et al, 1989;Burgess et al , 1997; LithgowBertelloni and .…”

Section: Australian Vertical Motionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Models of mantle convection incorporating plate tectonics: The Australian region since the Cretaceous

Gurnis

Moresi

Müller

2000

Geophysical Monograph Series

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We propose that the anomalous Cretaceous vertical motion of Australia and distinctive geochemistry and geophysics of the Australian-Antarctic Discordance (AAD) were caused by a subducted slab which migrated beneath the continent during the Cretaceous, stalled within the mantle transition zone, and is presently being drawn up by the Southeast Indian Ridge. During the Early Cretaceous the eastern interior of the Australian continent rapidly subsided, but must have later uplifted on a regional scale. Beneath the AAD the mantle is cooler than normal, as indicated by a variety of observations. Seismic tomography shows an oblong, slab-like structure orientated N-S in the transition zone and lower mantle, consistent with an old subducted slab. Using a three-dimensional model of mantle convection with imposed plate tectonics, we show that both of t hese well documented features are related. The models start with slabs dipping toward the restored eastern Australian margin. As Australia moves east in a hot spot reference frame from 130-90 Ma, a broad dynamic topography depression of decreasing amplitude migrates west across the continent causing the continent to subside and then uplift. Most of the slab descends into the deeper mantle, but the models show part of the cooler mantle becomes trapped within the transition zone. From 40 Ma to the present, wisps of this cool mantle are drawn up by the northwardly migrating ridge between Australia and Antarctica. This causes a circular dynamic topography depression and thinner crust to develop at the present position of the AAD. The AAD is unique within the ocean basins because it is the only place where a modern ridge has migrated over the position of long term Mesozoic subduction. Our study demonstrates the predictive power of mantle convection models when they incorporate plate tectonics.

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Section: Australian Vertical Motionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Models of mantle convection incorporating plate tectonics: The Australian region since the Cretaceous

Gurnis

Moresi

Müller

2000

Geophysical Monograph Series

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“…While these rates are unremarkable, the results suggest that this part of North America experienced long-lived continued subsidence from Cretaceous through Miocene time. Various workers have proposed that this subcontinental-scale subsidence was due to dynamic effects associated with longterm underthrusting of western North America by Pacific basin plates (Mitrovica et al, 1989;Burgess et al, 1997;Heller et al, 2003;Liu and Nummedal, 2004).…”

Section: Post-laramide Basin Fillingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proposed mechanisms that potentially could drive surface uplift of the Rocky Mountain orogenic plateau include isostatic and dynamic processes related to mantle How, mid-crustal flow, anomalous compositional or thermal changes in the crust and mantle, or rebound related to the fate of the Farallon slab (Dickinson and Snyder, 1979;Morgan and Swanberg, 1985;Severinghaus and Atwater, 1990;Humphreys and Dueker, 1994;Humphreys, 1995;Spencer, 1996;Burgess et al, 1997;McQuarrie and Chase, 2000;Heller et al, 2003). Regardless of the process of origin, if the pattern and timing of incision described here are related to the formation of the velocity anomaly at depth, then our results may constrain when that anomaly began to develop.…”

Section: Role Ofepeirogenymentioning

confidence: 99%

History and causes of post-Laramide relief in the Rocky Mountain orogenic plateau

McMillan

Heller

Wing

2006

Geological Society of America Bulletin

153

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The Rocky Mountain orogenic plateau has the highest mean elevation and topographic relief in the contiguous United States. The mean altitude exceeds 2 km above sea level and relief increases from 30 m in the river valleys of the Great Plains to more than 1.6 km deep in the canyons and basins of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau. Despite over a century of study, the timing and causes of elevation gain and incision in the region are unclear. Post-Laramide development of relief is thought to either result from tectonic activity or climatic change. Interpretation of which of these causes dominated is based upon reconstruction of datums developed from, and supported by, paleoelevation proxies and interpretations of landscape incision. Here we reconstruct a datum surface against which regional incision can be measured in order to evaluate late Cenozoic tectonic and climatic influences. The distribution, magnitude, and timing of post-Laramide basin filling and subsequent erosion are constrained by depositional remnants, topographic markers, and other indicators across the region. We suggest that post-Laramide basin filling resulted from slow subsidence during Oligocene to Miocene time. Incision into this basin fill surface began in late Miocene time and continues today. The pattern of incision is consistent with control by localized extensional tectonism superimposed upon regional domal surface uplift. Localized extension r E-mail: memcmillan@ualr.edu. 'E-mail: heller@uwyo.edu. ^E-mail: wing.scott@nmnh.si.edu.is associated with the projection of the Rio Grande Rift into the central Rockies, and the domal uplift generally coincides with the position of buoyant mantle anomalies interpreted at depth. If the magnitudes of incision directly reflect magnitudes of surface elevation gain, they are less than can be resolved by existing paleoelevation proxy methods. In addition, the combination of post-Laramide subsidence followed by regional surface uplift reduces the net magnitude of surface elevation change since Laramide time.

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“…Any sedimentary rocks deposited in the DTL will tend to be eroded, generating an unconformity, the extent of which is similar to the original DTL (e.g. Gurnis et al 1996;Burgess et al 1997). Uplift is further accentuated by denudation and the resultant isostatic rebound, with a damped positive feedback driving further uplift.…”

Section: Expected Styles Of Uplift: Collisionalv Mantle-drivenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subsidence and uplift by slab-related mantle dynamics: a driving mechanism for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic evolution of continental SE Asia?

Clements

Burgess

Hall

et al. 2011

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Continental SE Asia is the site of an extensive Cretaceous-Paleocene regional unconformity that extends from Indochina to Java, covering an area of c. 5 600 000 km 2 . The unconformity has previously been related to microcontinental collision at the Java margin that halted subduction of Tethyan oceanic lithosphere in the Late Cretaceous. However, given the disparity in size between the accreted continental fragments and area of the unconformity, together with lack of evidence for requisite crustal shortening and thickening, the unconformity is unlikely to have resulted from collisional tectonics alone. Instead, mapping of the spatial extent of the mid-Late Cretaceous subduction zone and the Cretaceous-Paleocene unconformity suggests that the unconformity could be a consequence of subduction-driven mantle processes. Cessation of subduction, descent of a northward dipping slab into the mantle, and consequent uplift and denudation of a sediment-filled Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous dynamic topographic low help explain the extent and timing of the unconformity. Sediments started to accumulate above the unconformity from the Middle Eocene when subduction recommenced beneath Sundaland.

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Formation of sequences in the cratonic interior of North America by interaction between mantle, eustatic, and stratigraphic processes

Cited by 148 publications

References 0 publications

Models of mantle convection incorporating plate tectonics: The Australian region since the Cretaceous

Models of mantle convection incorporating plate tectonics: The Australian region since the Cretaceous

History and causes of post-Laramide relief in the Rocky Mountain orogenic plateau

Subsidence and uplift by slab-related mantle dynamics: a driving mechanism for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic evolution of continental SE Asia?

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