Comparative orotomy of the Archean Superior and Phanerozoic Altaid orogenic systems

作者：Timothy Kusky, A. M. Celâl Şengör · 发表于：National Science Review · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1093/nsr/nwac235 · 被引用次数：29 · 研究领域：Geological and Geochemical Analysis、Geochemistry and Geologic Mapping、High-pressure geophysics and materials

We compare and contrast the materials and mechanisms of continental crustal growth in the largest preserved regions of Phanerozoic and Archean juvenile additions to the crust, to test for similarities or differences in the formation of continents through time. We accomplish this through a comparison of map patterns, lithological contents, and structural and metamorphic evolution of the Phanerozoic Altaid orogenic system of Asia, with the Archean Superior Province of the North American Craton, using a method termed comparative orotomy. Both orogenic systems consist of collages of curvilinear belts of eroded arcs, some older continental slivers, and vast tracts of former subduction/accretionary complexes. These contain numerous shreds of portions of the ophiolite suite, slivers of island and continental arcs, and accreted oceanic plateau, all intruded by multiple magmatic suites during or between multiple deformation events, then sliced by large transcurrent fault systems and bent into large oroclinal structures. We make this comparison because the Superior Province is a typical Archean craton that was later, in the Paleoproterozoic, incorporated into the larger North American Craton, and has occupied a central position in several supercontinents (e.g. Kenorland and Nuna, which then formed the core of Columbia, Rodinia, Laurentia and Pangea) during its longevity. Since it is the largest single fragment of Archean continental cratonic lithosphere preserved on Earth, the Superior...