Terminal suturing of Gondwana and the onset of the Ross–Delamerian Orogeny: the cause and effect of an Early Cambrian reconfiguration of plate motions

Boger, Steven D.; Miller, John M.

doi:10.1016/s0012-821x(03)00692-7

Cited by 262 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Vaughan (1995;see also Vaughan & Livermore 2005) proposed that panPacific margin tectonic and metamorphic effects were a response to major plate reorganization associated with an increased spreading rate in the Pacific during the mid-Cretaceous (Sutherland & Hollis 2001). Cawood & Buchan (2007) highlighted evidence for deformation, mountain building and resultant crustal growth in accretionary orogens during phases of supercontinent assembly (Boger & Miller 2004;Foden et al 2006). They undertook a detailed analysis of the timing of collisional orogenesis associated with supercontinent assembly compared with that for accretionary orogenesis along the margins of a supercontinent.…”

Section: Plate Reorganizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

et al. 2009

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Accretionary orogens form at intraoceanic and continental margin convergent plate boundaries. They include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and back-arc components. Accretionary orogens can be grouped into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character. Retreating orogens (e.g. modern western Pacific) are undergoing long-term extension in response to the site of subduction of the lower plate retreating with respect to the overriding plate and are characterized by back-arc basins. Advancing orogens (e.g. Andes) develop in an environment in which the overriding plate is advancing towards the downgoing plate, resulting in the development of foreland fold and thrust belts and crustal thickening. Cratonization of accretionary orogens occurs during continuing plate convergence and requires transient coupling across the plate boundary with strain concentrated in zones of mechanical and thermal weakening such as the magmatic arc and back-arc region. Potential driving mechanisms for coupling include accretion of buoyant lithosphere (terrane accretion), flat-slab subduction, and rapid absolute upper plate motion overriding the downgoing plate. Accretionary orogens have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and potentially earlier, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. They have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere through the addition of juvenile magmatic products but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time, through sediment subduction and subduction erosion. It is probable that the rates of crustal growth and destruction are roughly equal, implying that net growth since the Archaean is effectively zero.Classic models of orogens involve a Wilson cycle of ocean opening and closing with orogenesis related to continent-continent collision. These imply that mountain building occurs at the end of a cycle of ocean opening and closing, and marks the termination of subduction, and that the mountain belt should occupy an internal location within an assembled continent (supercontinent). The modern Alpine -Himalayan chain exemplifies the features of this model, lying between the Eurasian and colliding African and Indian plates (Fig.

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Section: Plate Reorganizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

et al. 2009

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“…However, such models require extrapolation of the Pan-African orogens under the Antarctic ice sheet to define the size and shape of inferred Australo-Antarctic, Indo-Antarctic and AfricanAntarctic blocks that assembled at c. 0.5 Ga to form East Gondwana. Boger et al (2001), Fitzsimons (2003), Boger & Miller (2004) and Boger (2011) have used the geological evidence available from the sparse Antarctic outcrop to speculate on potential pathways for these orogens under the ice (Fig. 6b).…”

Section: Joining the Dotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two possible paths have been proposed for a Pan-African orogen linking the Prydz-Denman region to the Shackleton Range. Boger et al (2001), Boger & Miller (2004) and Boger (2011) suggested it might pass through the inferred suture between the Ruker and Lambert complexes in the southern Prince Charles Mountains (path PD1 in Fig. 6b), although others have argued that this suture formed at c. 1.0 rather than 0.5 Ga Mikhalsky et al 2010).…”

Section: Joining the Dotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antarctica and supercontinent evolution: historical perspectives, recent advances and unresolved issues

Harley

Fitzsimons

Zhao

2013

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The Antarctic rock record spans some 3.5 billion years of history, and has made important contributions to our understanding of how Earth's continents assemble and disperse through time. Correlations between Antarctica and other southern continents were critical to the concept of Gondwana, the Palaeozoic supercontinent used to support early arguments for continental drift, while evidence for Proterozoic connections between Antarctica and North America led to the 'SWEAT' configuration (linking SW USA to East Antarctica) for an early Neoproterozoic supercontinent known as Rodinia. Antarctica also contains relicts of an older Palaeo-to Mesoproterozoic supercontinent known as Nuna, along with several Archaean fragments that belonged to one or more 'supercratons' in Neoarchaean times. It thus seems likely that Antarctica contains remnants of most, if not all, of Earth's supercontinents, and Antarctic research continues to provide insights into their palaeogeography and geological evolution. One area of research is the latest Neoproterozoic-Mesozoic active margin of Gondwana, preserved in Antarctica as the Ross Orogen and a number of outboard terranes that now form West Antarctica. Major episodes of magmatism, deformation and metamorphism along this palaeo-Pacific margin at 590 -500 and 300-230 Ma can be linked to reduced convergence along the internal collisional orogens that formed Gondwana and Pangaea, respectively; indicating that accretionary systems are sensitive to changes in the global plate tectonic budget. Other research has focused on Grenville-age (c. 1.0 Ga) and PanAfrican (c. 0.5 Ga) metamorphism in the East Antarctic Craton. These global-scale events record the amalgamation of Rodinia and Gondwana, respectively. Three coastal segments of Grenville-age metamorphism in the Indian Ocean sector of Antarctica are each linked to the c. 1.0 Ga collision between older cratons but are separated by two regions of pervasive Pan-African metamorphism ascribed to Neoproterozoic ocean closure. The tectonic setting of these events is poorly constrained given the sparse exposure, deep erosion level and likelihood that younger metamorphic events have reactivated older structures. The projection of these orogens under the ice is also controversial, but it is likely that at least one of the Pan-African orogens links up with the Shackleton Range on the palaeo-Pacific margin of the craton. Sedimentary detritus and glacial erratics at the edge of the ice sheet provide evidence for the c.

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“…Key elements of this extensive continental shield, formed during Paleoproterozoic (∼1.7-1.6 Ga), Mesoproterozoic (∼1.2-0.9 Ga), and Pan-African (∼0.6-0.5 Ga) crustal assembly, reflect East Antarctica's role in orogenic development of past supercontinents [Fitzsimons, 2000b;Boger et al, 2001;Boger and Miller, 2004;Cawood, 2005;Betts et al, 2008;Goodge et al, 2008]. Despite recent advances in our understanding of the ages, kinematics and continuity of various orogenic belts within and adjacent to East Antarctica, extensive ice cover and remote access make it difficult to extrapolate isolated outcrop data from coastal areas and mountain ranges very far across the continent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glimpses of East Antarctica: Aeromagnetic and satellite magnetic view from the central Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica

Goodge

Finn

2010

J. Geophys. Res.

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[1] Aeromagnetic and satellite magnetic data provide glimpses of the crustal architecture within the Ross Sea sector of the enigmatic, ice-covered East Antarctic shield critical for understanding both global tectonic and climate history. In the central Transantarctic Mountains (CTAM), exposures of Precambrian basement, coupled with new high-resolution magnetic data, other recent aeromagnetic transects, and satellite magnetic and seismic tomography data, show that the shield in this region comprises an Archean craton modified both by Proterozoic magmatism and early Paleozoic orogenic basement reactivation. CTAM basement structures linked to the Ross Orogeny are imaged 50-100 km farther west than previously mapped, bounded by inboard upper crustal Proterozoic granites of the Nimrod igneous province. Magnetic contrasts between craton and rift margin sediments define the Neoproterozoic rift margin, likely reactivated during Ross orogenesis and Jurassic extension. Interpretation of satellite magnetic and aeromagnetic patterns suggests that the Neoproterozoic rift margin of East Antarctica is offset by transfer zones to form a stepwise series of salients tracing from the CTAM northward through the western margin of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin to the coast at Terre Adélie. Thinned Precambrian crust inferred to lie east of the rift margin cannot be imaged magnetically because of modification by Neoproterozoic and younger tectonic events.

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Terminal suturing of Gondwana and the onset of the Ross–Delamerian Orogeny: the cause and effect of an Early Cambrian reconfiguration of plate motions

Cited by 262 publications

References 73 publications

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

Accretionary orogens through Earth history

Antarctica and supercontinent evolution: historical perspectives, recent advances and unresolved issues

Glimpses of East Antarctica: Aeromagnetic and satellite magnetic view from the central Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica

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