CONTINENTAL EVOLUTION (Chapter 10) - Lecture Outline

Last updated: 03/06/07

Basic considerations

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66% of surface (oceans) is <200 MY old

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continents are much older with long history preserved

1. Tectonics of North America

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Stable interior

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Appalachian fold belt

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North American cordillera

2. World-wide tectonic provinces

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Types of provinces

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Ages of provinces

3. How continents grow

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Modes of growth

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Magmatic accretion

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Continental accretion

4. How continents are modified

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Modification by plate collision
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Alpine-Himalayan orogeny

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Assembly of Pangea

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The Wilson cycle
 

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Modification by epeirogeny
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Glacial rebound

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Heating of lithosphere

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Cooling of lithosphere

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Cooling of lithosphere on continental margin

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Heating of deep mantle

5. Formation of cratons

6. Deep structure