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Cao Z, Liu L. Western US intraplate deformation controlled by the complex lithospheric structure. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3917. [PMID: 38724497 PMCID: PMC11082152 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48223-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The western United States is one of Earth's most tectonically active regions, characterized by extensive crustal deformation through intraplate earthquakes and geodetic motion. Such intracontinental deformation is usually ascribed to plate boundary forces, lithospheric body forces, and/or viscous drag from mantle flow. However, their relative importance in driving crustal deformation remains controversial due to inconsistent assumptions on crustal and mantle structures in prior estimations. Here, we utilize a fully dynamic three-dimensional modeling framework with data assimilation to simultaneously compute lithospheric and convective mantle dynamics within the western United States. This approach allows for quantitative estimations of crustal deformation while accounting for the realistic three-dimensional lithospheric structure. Our results show the critical role of the complex lithospheric structure in governing intraplate deformation. Particularly, the interaction between the asthenospheric flow and lithospheric thickness step along the eastern boundary of the Basin and Range represents a key driving mechanism for localized crustal deformation and seismicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zebin Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Earth Science & Environmental Change, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Lijun Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- Department of Earth Science & Environmental Change, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
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Liu L, Hasterok D. High-resolution lithosphere viscosity and dynamics revealed by magnetotelluric imaging. Science 2016; 353:1515-1519. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf6542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lijun Liu
- Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
| | - Derrick Hasterok
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
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Van Kranendonk MJ, Smithies RH, Griffin WL, Huston DL, Hickman AH, Champion DC, Anhaeusser CR, Pirajno F. Making it thick: a volcanic plateau origin of Palaeoarchean continental lithosphere of the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1144/sp389.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractHow and when continents grew and plate tectonics started on Earth remain poorly constrained. Most researchers apply the modern plate tectonic paradigm to problems of ancient crustal formation, but these are unsatisfactory because diagnostic criteria and actualistic plate configurations are lacking. Here, we show that 3.5–3.2 Ga continental nuclei in the Pilbara Craton, Australia, and the eastern Kaapvaal Craton, southern Africa, formed as thick volcanic plateaux built on a substrate of older continental lithosphere and did not accrete through horizontal tectonic processes. These nuclei survived because of the contemporaneous development of buoyant, non-subductable mantle roots. This plateau-type of Archean continental crust is distinct from, but complementary to, Archean gneiss terranes formed over shallowly dipping zones of intraoceanic underplating (proto-subduction) on a vigorously convecting early Earth with smaller plates and primitive plate tectonics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin J. Van Kranendonk
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - R. Hugh Smithies
- Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St, East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
| | - William L. Griffin
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - David L. Huston
- Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Arthur H. Hickman
- Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St, East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
| | | | - Carl R. Anhaeusser
- Economic Geology Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa
| | - Franco Pirajno
- Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain St, East Perth, Western Australia 6004, Australia
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Cryptic genetic diversity and complex phylogeography of the boreal North American scorpion, Paruroctonus boreus (Vaejovidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2013; 71:298-307. [PMID: 24269314 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2013] [Revised: 10/25/2013] [Accepted: 11/10/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Diverse studies in western North America have revealed the role of topography for dynamically shaping genetic diversity within species though vicariance, dispersal and range expansion. We examined patterns of phylogeographical diversity in the widespread but poorly studied North American vaejovid scorpion, Paruroctonus boreus Girard 1854. We used mitochondrial sequence data and parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian inference to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships across the distributional range of P. boreus, focusing on intermontane western North America. Additionally, we developed a species distribution model to predict its present and historical distributions during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Last Interglacial Maximum. Our results documented complex phylogeographic relationships within P. boreus, with multiple, well-supported crown clades that are either geographically-circumscribed or widespread and separated by short, poorly supported internodes. We also observed subtle variation in predicted habitat suitability, especially at the northern, eastern and southern edges of the predicted distributional range under past climatic conditions. The complex phylogenetic relationships of P. boreus suggests that historical isolation and expansion of populations may have occurred. Variation in the predicted distributional range over time may implicate past climatic fluctuations in generating the patterns of genetic diversity observed in P. boreus. These findings highlight both the potential for cryptic biodiversity in widespread North American scorpion species and the importance of phylogeographical studies for understanding the factors responsible for generating the biodiversity of western North America.
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Levander A, Schmandt B, Miller MS, Liu K, Karlstrom KE, Crow RS, Lee CTA, Humphreys ED. Continuing Colorado plateau uplift by delamination-style convective lithospheric downwelling. Nature 2011; 472:461-5. [DOI: 10.1038/nature10001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 223] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2010] [Accepted: 03/11/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Lowry AR, Pérez-Gussinyé M. The role of crustal quartz in controlling Cordilleran deformation. Nature 2011; 471:353-7. [PMID: 21412337 DOI: 10.1038/nature09912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2010] [Accepted: 02/10/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Large-scale deformation of continents remains poorly understood more than 40 years after the plate tectonic revolution. Rock flow strength and mass density variations both contribute to stress, so both are certain to be important, but these depend (somewhat nebulously) on rock type, temperature and whether or not unbound water is present. Hence, it is unclear precisely how Earth material properties translate to continental deformation zones ranging from tens to thousands of kilometres in width, why deforming zones are sometimes interspersed with non-deforming blocks and why large earthquakes occasionally rupture in otherwise stable continental interiors. An important clue comes from observations that mountain belts and rift zones cyclically form at the same locations despite separation across vast gulfs of time (dubbed the Wilson tectonic cycle), accompanied by inversion of extensional basins and reactivation of faults and other structures formed in previous deformation events. Here we show that the abundance of crustal quartz, the weakest mineral in continental rocks, may strongly condition continental temperature and deformation. We use EarthScope seismic receiver functions, gravity and surface heat flow measurements to estimate thickness and seismic velocity ratio, v(P)/v(S), of continental crust in the western United States. The ratio v(P)/v(S) is relatively insensitive to temperature but very sensitive to quartz abundance. Our results demonstrate a surprising correlation of low crustal v(P)/v(S) with both higher lithospheric temperature and deformation of the Cordillera, the mountainous region of the western United States. The most plausible explanation for the relationship to temperature is a robust dynamical feedback, in which ductile strain first localizes in relatively weak, quartz-rich crust, and then initiates processes that promote advective warming, hydration and further weakening. The feedback mechanism proposed here would not only explain stationarity and spatial distributions of deformation, but also lend insight into the timing and distribution of thermal uplift and observations of deep-derived fluids in springs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony R Lowry
- Department of Geology, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-4505, USA.
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