Geology Of A Transpressional Orogen Developed During Ridge Trench Interaction Along The North Pacific Margin

Accompanying CD-ROM contains maps using the comercial drawing program Adobe Illustrator 9.0 for Wintel systems.

"The convergent margin of southern Alaska is considered one of the type areas for understanding the growth of continental margins through collisional tectonic processes. Collisional processes that formed this margin were responsible for multiple episodes of sedimentary basin development, subduction complex growth, magmatism, and deformation. Two main collisional episodes shaped this Mesozoic-Cenozoic continental margin. The first event was the Mesozoic collision of the allochthonous Wrangellia composite terrane. This event represents the largest addition of juvenile crust to western North America in the past 100 m.y. The second event is the ongoing collision of the Yakutat terrane along the southeastern margin of Alaska. This Cenozoic event has produced the highest coast mountain range on Earth (Saint Elias Mountains), the Wrangell continental arc, and sedimentary basins throughout southern Alaska. Active collisional processes continue to shape the southern margin of Alaska, mainly through crustal shortening and strike-slip deformation, large-magnitude earthquakes, and rapid uplift and exhumation of mountain belts and high sedimentation rates in adjacent sedimentary basins. This volume contains 24 articles that integrate new geophysical and geologic data, including many field-based studies, to better link the sedimentary, structural, geochemical, and magmatic processes that are important for understanding the development of collisional continental margins."--Publisher's website.

Subduction is a major process that plays a first-order role in the dynamics of the Earth. The sinking of cold lithosphere into the mantle is thought by many authors to be the most important source of energy for plates driving forces. It also deeply modifies the thermal and chemical structure of the mantle, producing arc volcanism and is responsible for the release of most of the seismic energy on Earth. There has been considerable achievements done during the past decades regarding the complex interactions between the various processes acting in subduction zones. This volume contains a collection of contributions that were presented in June 2007 in Montpellier (France) during a conference that gave a state of the art panorama and discussed the perspectives about "Subduction Zone Geodynamics". The papers included in this special volume offer a unique multidisciplinary picture of the recent research on subduction zones geodynamics. They are organized into five main topics: Subduction zone geodynamics, Seismic tomography and anisotropy, Great subduction zone earthquakes, Seismogenic zone characterization, Continental and ridge subduction processes. Each of the 13 papers collected in the present volume is primarily concerned with one of these topics. However, it is important to highlight that papers always treat more than one topic so that all are related lighting on different aspects of the complex and fascinating subduction zones geodynamics.

Provides a comprehensive reference for Earth and space sciences, including entries on climate change, stellar evolution, tsunamis, renewable energy options, and mass wasting.

Accretionary orogens form at convergent plate boundaries and include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and backarc components. They can be broken into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character.Accretionary systems have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. Accretionary orogens 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.The aim of this volume is to provide a better understanding of accretionary processes and their role in the formation and evolution of the continental crust. Fourteen papers deal with general aspects of accretion and metamorphism and discuss examples of accretionary orogens and crustal growth through Earth history, from the Archaean to the Cenozoic.

Presents an illustrated A to Z reference with approximately 700 entries on topics in the earth sciences including hydrology, geology, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, and more.

Investigating the complex interplay between tectonics and sedimentation is a key endeavor in modern earth science. Many of the world's leading researchers in this field have been brought together in this volume to provide concise overviews of the current state of the subject. The plate tectonic revolution of the 1960's provided the framework for detailed models on the structure of orogens and basins, summarized in a 1995 textbook edited by Busby and Ingersoll. Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins: Recent Advances focuses on key topics or areas where the greatest strides forward have been made, while also providing on-line access to the comprehensive 1995 book. Breakthroughs in new techniques are described in Section 1, including detrital zircon geochronology, cosmogenic nuclide dating, magnetostratigraphy, 3-D seismic, and basin modelling. Section 2 presents the new models for rift, post-rift, transtensional and strike slip basin settings. Section 3 addresses the latest ideas in convergent margin tectonics, including the sedimentary record of subduction intiation and subduction, flat-slab subduction, and arc-continent collision; it then moves inboard to forearc basins and intra-arc basins, and ends with a series of papers formed under compessional strain regimes, as well as post-orogenic intramontane basins. Section 4 examines the origin of plate interior basins, and the sedimentary record of supercontinent formation. This book is required reading for any advanced student or professional interested in sedimentology, plate tectonics, or petroleum geoscience. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/busby/sedimentarybasins.

Recent developments have shown that many full and partial ophiolites are preserved in Precambrian cratons. This book provides a comprehensive description and discussion of the field aspects, geochemistry, geochronology and structure of the best of these ophiolites. It also presents syntheses of the characteristics of ophiolites of different ages, and an analysis of what the characteristics of these ophiolites mean for the thermal and chemical evolution of the earth. This title emphasizes new studies of Precambrian Geology that have documented ophiolites, ophiolitic fragments, and ophiolitic melanges in many Precambrian terranes. Each chapter focuses on individual Precambrian ophiolites or regions with numerous Precambrian ophiolites, and covers field aspects, petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, and other descriptive aspects of these ophiolites, it also delves into more theoretical and speculative aspects about the interpretation of the significance of these ancient ophiolites.