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Ridge-trench collision in Archean and Post-Archean crustal growth: Evidence from southern ChileThe growth of continental crust at convergent plate margins involves both continuous and episodic processes. Ridge-trench collision is one episodic process that can cause significant magmatic and tectonic effects on convergent plate margins. Because the sites of ridge collision (ridge-trench triple junctions) generally migrate along convergent plate boundaries, the effects of ridge collision will be highly diachronous in Andean-type orogenic belts and may not be adequately recognized in the geologic record. The Chile margin triple junction (CMTJ, 46 deg S), where the actively spreading Chile rise is colliding with the sediment-filled Peru-Chile trench, is geometrically and kinematically the simplest modern example of ridge collision. The south Chile margin illustrates the importance of the ridge-collision tectonic setting in crustal evolution at convergent margins. Similarities between ridge-collision features in southern Chile and features of Archean greenstone belts raise the question of the importance of ridge collision in Archean crustal growth. Archean plate tectonic processes were probably different than today; these differences may have affected the nature and importance of ridge collision during Archean crustal growth. In conclusion, it is suggested that smaller plates, greater ridge length, and/or faster spreading all point to the likelihood that ridge collision played a greater role in crustal growth and development of the greenstone-granite terranes during the Archean. However, the effects of modern ridge collision, and the processes involved, are not well enough known to develop specific models for the Archean ridge collison.
Document ID
19880020849
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Nelson, E. P.
(Colorado School of Mines Golden., United States)
Forsythe, R. D.
(Rutgers - The State Univ. New Brunswick, N. J., United States)
Date Acquired
September 5, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Workshop on the Growth of Continental Crust
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
88N30233
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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