This paper presents a mechanism for the large-scale tectonic change that accompanied Noah’s Flood. It assumes that the onset of the Flood only a few thousand years ago correlates with the notable stratigraphical and paleontological discontinuity of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. This implies that the geological history recorded in the rocks usually classified as Paleozoic and Mesozoic unfol...

A finite element method with constrained elements and Lagrange multipliers is used to study tectonic faults in a viscous medium. A fault, representing the interface between overriding and subducting plates, has been incorporated into a viscous flow model of a subduction zone in which both thermal buoyancy and the buoyancy associated with the phase change from olivine to spinel are included. The...

S U M M A R Y In this study, based on a 2-D thermomechanical finite element model, the uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) is discussed in relation to the flexural uplift of a rheologically layered lithosphere, which is described by Vening-Meinesz’s cantilever kinematics. The general model behaviour shows that the thickness of the crust and the geothermal gradient in the lithosphere ar...

[1] The trace of the Snake River–Yellowstone hot spot is the world’s best example of a mantle plume that has been overridden by continental lithosphere. The ‘‘standard model’’ calls for the plume head to rise under northern Nevada and be forced northward to form basalts of the Columbia Plateau; subsequent movement of North America to the southwest over the plume tail created a hot spot trace on...

T33A-1150. Saleeby, J., and Z. Foster (2004), Topographic response to mantle lithosphere removal in the southern Sierra Nevada region, California,Geology,

[1] We investigate the lithospheric and upper mantle shear wave velocity structure and the depth-dependence of anisotropy along the Red Sea and beneath the Arabian Peninsula using receiver function constraints and phase velocities of surface waves traversing two transects of stations from the Saudi Arabian National Digital Seismic Network. Frequency-dependent phase delays of fundamental-mode Lo...

The internal structure of the continental lithosphere holds the key to its creation and development, and this internal structure can be determined using appropriate seismic and electromagnetic methods. These two are complementary in that the seismic parameters usually represent bulk properties of the rock, whereas electrical conductivity is primarily a function of the connectivity of a minor co...

[1] Arc volcanism is intimately linked to mineral dehydration reactions in the subducting oceanic mantle, crust, and sediments. The location of slab dehydration reactions depends strongly on the temperature and pressure conditions at the top of the subducting plate and hence on the detailed thermal structure of subduction zones. A particularly important physical property of subduction zone ther...

[1] Comparison of analogue experiments at crustal and lithospheric scale provides essential information concerning the mode of deformation during lithospheric extension. This study shows that during extension, lithospheric deformation is controlled by the development of shear zones in the ductile parts. At lithospheric scale, the global deformation is initiated by the rupture of the brittle man...

Croon et al. challenge our conclusion that sea-floor depth variations are driven by the underlying mantle convection. We point out that, contrary to their claim, our data analysis is pertinent and that the sea-floor linear trend as the square root of the distance from the ridge is a robust observation. The mechanism responsible for this trend is an asthenospheric flow, faster than the overlying...