Dr. Clément Estève - Evolution and dynamics of the lithosphere in northwestern Canada

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Dr. Clément Estève, Wares Postdoctoral Research Fellow, McGill U.

Vendredi 8 janvier 2021 à 11h00 - Friday, January 8, 2021 at 11am
Lien Zoom / Zoom link: https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/88198680207
Résumé / abstract:

The lithosphere of northwestern Canada recorded more than 2.5 Gy of complex tectonic evolution, from the formation of the ancient cores of the continental lithosphere such as the Slave craton to the Phanerozoic Cordilleran orogeny with substantial variations in crust and upper mantle. Present-day northwestern Canada juxtaposes a thin and hot Cordilleran lithosphere to the thick and cold cratonic lithosphere, which has important implications for regional geodynamics. Recently, seismic station coverage has drastically increased across northwestern Canada, allowing the development of seismic tomography models and other passive-source seismic methods at high resolution in order to investigate the tectonic evolution and dynamics of the lithosphere in this region. The upper mantle seismic velocity structure of northwestern Canada reveals two high-velocity seismic anomalies straddling the arcuate Cordillera Deformation Front that have controlled its regional deformation, including a newly identified Mackenzie craton characterized by high seismic velocities extending from the lower crust to the upper mantle to the north of the Mackenzie Mountains. Furthermore, our teleseismic P-wave tomography model shows sharp velocity contrasts beneath the surface trace of the Tintina Fault. Estimates of seismic anisotropy show a progressive rotation of fast-axis directions when approaching the fault zone. Together, they provide seismic evidence for the trans-lithospheric nature of the Tintina Fault. We further propose that the Tintina Fault has chiseled off small pieces of the Laurentian craton between the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene, which would imply that large lithospheric-scale shear zones are able to cut through small pieces of refractory cratonic mantle and transport them over several hundred kilometers.

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Evolution and dynamics of the lithosphere in northwestern Canada

Ajouter au calendrier 2021-01-08 11:00:00 2024-03-29 07:23:59 Dr. Clément Estève - Evolution and dynamics of the lithosphere in northwestern Canada The lithosphere of northwestern Canada recorded more than 2.5 Gy of complex tectonic evolution, from the formation of the ancient cores of the continental lithosphere such as the Slave craton to the Phanerozoic Cordilleran orogeny with substantial variations in crust and upper mantle. Present-day northwestern Canada juxtaposes a thin and hot Cordilleran lithosphere to the thick and cold cratonic lithosphere, which has important implications for regional geodynamics. Recently, seismic station coverage has drastically increased across northwestern Canada, allowing the development of seismic tomography models and other passive-source seismic methods at high resolution in order to investigate the tectonic evolution and dynamics of the lithosphere in this region. The upper mantle seismic velocity structure of northwestern Canada reveals two high-velocity seismic anomalies straddling the arcuate Cordillera Deformation Front that have controlled its regional deformation, including a newly identified Mackenzie craton characterized by high seismic velocities extending from the lower crust to the upper mantle to the north of the Mackenzie Mountains. Furthermore, our teleseismic P-wave tomography model shows sharp velocity contrasts beneath the surface trace of the Tintina Fault. Estimates of seismic anisotropy show a progressive rotation of fast-axis directions when approaching the fault zone. Together, they provide seismic evidence for the trans-lithospheric nature of the Tintina Fault. We further propose that the Tintina Fault has chiseled off small pieces of the Laurentian craton between the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene, which would imply that large lithospheric-scale shear zones are able to cut through small pieces of refractory cratonic mantle and transport them over several hundred kilometers. Geotop admin@example.com America/New_York public