GSA Today: v. 16, no. 2, doi: 10.1130/1052-5173(2006)016<4:TIAACM>2.0.CO;2 INTRODUCTION Forty years ago, the eastern margin of North America inspired Tuzo Wilson (1966) to ask, “Did the Atlantic close and then re-open?” The Wilson cycle of closing and opening of ocean basins incorporates the cyclic assembly and breakup of supercontinents. Alternate processes of extension and compression of cont...

[1] The decision boundaries of most tectonic discrimination diagrams are drawn by eye. Discriminant analysis is a statistically more rigorous way to determine the tectonic affinity of oceanic basalts based on their bulk-rock chemistry. This method was applied to a database of 756 oceanic basalts of known tectonic affinity (ocean island, mid-ocean ridge, or island arc). For each of these trainin...

Detailed geologic mapping of approximately 30% of the surface of Venus has revealed a stratigraphic sequence that appears to be repeated in widely separated areas on the planet. This sequence shows a transition from oldest highly deformed terrain units, the tessera, to a series of widespread volcanic plains units, each with recognizable morphologic characteristics and interpreted eruption style...

Apatite helium thermochronometry provides new constraints on the tectonic history of a recently uplifted crystalline mass adjacent to the San Andreas fault. By documenting aspects of the low-temperature (40°1 00°C) thermal history of the tectonic blocks of the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California, we have placed new constraints on the magnitude and timing of uplift. Old helium ages (...

The. ce.c.c•ncl largest volcanic province on Mar• lies in the E!?ium region I•ike the larger Tharsis province, Elysium is marked by a topographic rise and a broad free air gravity anomaly and also exhibits a complex assortment of tectonic and volcanic features. We test the hypothesis that the tectonic features in the Elysium region are the product of stresses produced by loading of the Martian ...

The complex deformation styles of large intraplate strike-slip fault systems in the multi-stage superimposed basin are hot topics worldwide. This article proposes structural models and evolution processes for such Tarim Basin based on high-resolution 3D seismic data deep wells. Our analyses reveal that formed with different five tectonic layers from Sinian to Permian accompanies rift uplift, Lo...

9 10 This paper makes a review of the interpretations of the tectonic evolution of SW Japan 11 during the last three decades. In the late 1970s, the dominant model was the so-called 12 ―Pacific-type orogeny‖, emphasizing the purported absence of nappes and the contrast with 13 the alpine chains, and interpreting the evolution as due to a steady oceanic subduction since 14 the Paleozoic time. In...

Van der Plmjm, B.A., 1987. Timing and spatial distribution of deformation in the Newfoundland Appalachians: a “multi-stage collision” history. In: H.J. Zwart, M. Martens, I. van der Molen, C.W. Passchier, C. Spiers and R.L.M. Vissers (Editors), Tectonic and Structural Processes on a Macro-, Mesoand Micro-Scale. Tectonophysics, 135: 15-24. The Newfoundland Appalachians have been interpreted as a...

Arculus, R.J., 1987. The significance of source versus process in the tectonic controls of magma genesis. In: S.D. Weaver and R.W. Johnson (Editors), Tectonic Controls on Magma Chemistry. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 32: 1-12. Despite the association of certain characteristic trace-element signatures with particular tectonic environments of eruption, there are accumulating data which would resu...

This paper provides a brief review of airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data for characterizing linear and planar geomorphic markers in tectonic geomorphology, including traces of active faults and surface deformation caused by earthquakes. Challenges and opportunities of LiDAR for the study of tectonic geomorphology and coseismic deformation are also discussed.