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The metamorphic and magmatic record of collisional orogens

Weller, Owen M. ; Mottram, Catherine M. ; St-Onge, Marc R. ; Möller, Charlotte LU ; Strachan, Rob ; Rivers, Toby and Copley, Alex (2021) In Nature Reviews Earth and Environment 2(11). p.781-799
Abstract

The Cenozoic Himalaya-Tibet orogen is generally regarded as the archetypal continental collision zone and is often used as an analogue for interpreting ancient orogenic events. However, given the wide diversity observed in present-day collisional mountain belts, the extent to which such inferences can be made remains debated. In this Review, we compare the metamorphic and magmatic record of the Himalaya-Tibet orogen to four ancient orogens — the Palaeozoic Caledonian orogen, the Meso-Neoproterozoic Grenville and Sveconorwegian orogens, and the Palaeoproterozoic Trans-Hudson orogen — to establish the controls on the underlying dynamics and the nature of the resulting rock record. The similarities in rock records, and, thus, thermal... (More)

The Cenozoic Himalaya-Tibet orogen is generally regarded as the archetypal continental collision zone and is often used as an analogue for interpreting ancient orogenic events. However, given the wide diversity observed in present-day collisional mountain belts, the extent to which such inferences can be made remains debated. In this Review, we compare the metamorphic and magmatic record of the Himalaya-Tibet orogen to four ancient orogens — the Palaeozoic Caledonian orogen, the Meso-Neoproterozoic Grenville and Sveconorwegian orogens, and the Palaeoproterozoic Trans-Hudson orogen — to establish the controls on the underlying dynamics and the nature of the resulting rock record. The similarities in rock records, and, thus, thermal conditions, are interpreted to result from comparable foreland strengths, resulting in similar maximum crustal thicknesses. Apparent differences in the records are mainly attributed to variation in exposed structural level rather than fundamentally different tectonic processes. We, therefore, suggest that foreland rheology is a critical factor in determining the effectiveness of orogen comparisons. Future research is required to investigate the causes and consequences of lateral variability in mountain belts, in particular, focussing on the record of orogens smaller than those considered here, and to understand if and why mountain building processes have varied through Earth history.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
geodynamics, petrology, structural geology, tectonics
in
Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
volume
2
issue
11
pages
19 pages
publisher
Springer Nature
external identifiers
  • scopus:85117288544
DOI
10.1038/s43017-021-00218-z
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Springer Nature Limited.
id
00eb41e1-6e7c-43a1-9f54-d4a406771feb
date added to LUP
2022-02-17 17:19:22
date last changed
2022-04-27 21:12:56
@article{00eb41e1-6e7c-43a1-9f54-d4a406771feb,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Cenozoic Himalaya-Tibet orogen is generally regarded as the archetypal continental collision zone and is often used as an analogue for interpreting ancient orogenic events. However, given the wide diversity observed in present-day collisional mountain belts, the extent to which such inferences can be made remains debated. In this Review, we compare the metamorphic and magmatic record of the Himalaya-Tibet orogen to four ancient orogens — the Palaeozoic Caledonian orogen, the Meso-Neoproterozoic Grenville and Sveconorwegian orogens, and the Palaeoproterozoic Trans-Hudson orogen — to establish the controls on the underlying dynamics and the nature of the resulting rock record. The similarities in rock records, and, thus, thermal conditions, are interpreted to result from comparable foreland strengths, resulting in similar maximum crustal thicknesses. Apparent differences in the records are mainly attributed to variation in exposed structural level rather than fundamentally different tectonic processes. We, therefore, suggest that foreland rheology is a critical factor in determining the effectiveness of orogen comparisons. Future research is required to investigate the causes and consequences of lateral variability in mountain belts, in particular, focussing on the record of orogens smaller than those considered here, and to understand if and why mountain building processes have varied through Earth history.</p>}},
  author       = {{Weller, Owen M. and Mottram, Catherine M. and St-Onge, Marc R. and Möller, Charlotte and Strachan, Rob and Rivers, Toby and Copley, Alex}},
  keywords     = {{geodynamics; petrology; structural geology; tectonics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{781--799}},
  publisher    = {{Springer Nature}},
  series       = {{Nature Reviews Earth and Environment}},
  title        = {{The metamorphic and magmatic record of collisional orogens}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00218-z}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s43017-021-00218-z}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}