Southwest U. S. -East Antarctic (SWEAT) connection: A hypothesis

Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Geology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<0425:SUSEAS>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:5598500

Moores, E M ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Davis (USA)

A hypothesis for a late Precambrian fit of western North America with the Australia-Antarctic shield region permits the extension of many features through Antarctica and into other parts of Gondwana. Specifically, the Grenville orogen may extend around the coast of East Antarctica into India and Australia. The Wopmay orogen of northwest Canada may extend through eastern Australia into Antarctica and thence beneath the ice to connect with the Yavapai-Mazatzal orogens of the southwestern US. The ophiolitic belt of the latter may extend into East Antarctica. Counterparts of the Precambrian-Paleozoic sedimentary rocks along the US Cordilleran miogeocline may be present in the Transantarctic Mountains. Orogenic belt boundaries provide useful piercing points for Precambrian continental reconstructions. The model implies that Gondwana and Laurentia rifted away from each other on one margin and collided some 300 m.y. later on their opposite margins to from the Appalachians.

• OSTI ID: 5598500
• Journal Information: Geology; (USA), Vol. 19:5; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
GONDWANA
GEOLOGIC MODELS
PLATE TECTONICS
ANTARCTICA
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS
AUSTRALIA
CANADA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CORRELATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
INDIA
MOUNTAINS
NORTH AMERICA
ORIGIN
OROGENESIS
PALEOZOIC ERA
PRECAMBRIAN ERA
RIFT ZONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
USA
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
POLAR REGIONS
ROCKS
TECTONICS
580000* - Geosciences