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- Title
An early Cambrian rift to post-rift transition in the Cordillera of western North America.
- Authors
Bond, Gerard C.; Christie-Blick, Nicholas; Kominz, Michelle A.; Devlin, William J.
- Abstract
The upper Proterozoic and lower Palaeozoic wedge of miogeoclinal strata in the North American Cordillera is widely regarded as evidence for a proto-Pacific passive margin1-3. The rifting history of this margin appears to have been protracted, possibly spanning >200 Myr in a tectonic setting that is not well understood3. Quantitative subsidence analyses of lower Palaeozoic strata between British Columbia and Utah, however, provide indirect evidence that the transition from rifting to post-rift cooling occurred within a relatively short interval of time, although probably not synchronously, between 600 and 555 Myr (refs 4-6). This age is significantly younger than that implied in previous studies1,2. We describe here new field data, which, together with published geological data, provide direct evidence of a latest Proterozoic or early Cambrian age for the rift to post-rift transition. The data support recent arguments for widespread initiation of passive margins around the edge of the North American craton close to the Cambrian-Precambrian boundary7.
- Publication
Nature, 1985, Vol 315, Issue 6022, p742
- ISSN
0028-0836
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/315742a0