Evidence for formation of a flexural backarc basin by compression and crustal thickening in the central Alaska peninsula

Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Geology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1988)016<1147:EFFOAF>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:7000792

Bond, G C; Lewis, S D; Taber, J; Steckler, M S; Kominz, M A ^[1]

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1. Geological Observatory of Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (USA)

The North Aleutian Basin is a large, Cenozoic sedimentary basin in the northern part of the central Alaska Peninsula and the southern Bering shelf. The gravity anomaly pattern, the geometry, and the structure of the basin suggest that if formed by downward flexure of the backarc lithosphere. Basin modeling suggests that the flexure was driven by the emplacement of surface and subsurface loads having densities comparable to those of oceanic crust and mantle rocks, at approximately the position of the present-day volcanic arc and forearc. The authors suggest that the inferred loads consist of tectonically thickened mafic crustal materials lying beneath the arc and forearc of the central Alaska Peninsula. The crustal thickening may have occurred within a dominantly transpressional regime resulting from oblique convergence between the North American and Pacific plates during the Cenozoic.

• OSTI ID: 7000792
• Journal Information: Geology; (USA), Vol. 16:12; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
ALASKA
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TECTONICS
BERING SEA
CENOZOIC ERA
COMPRESSION
CONTINENTAL CRUST
CONTINENTAL SHELF
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOMETRY
GRAVITY SURVEYS
THICKNESS
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
DIMENSIONS
EARTH CRUST
FEDERAL REGION X
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MATHEMATICS
NORTH AMERICA
PACIFIC OCEAN
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
SURVEYS
USA
580000* - Geosciences