Journal ArticleDOI
Thrust Loads and Foreland Basin Evolution, Cretaceous, Western United States
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In this article, the flexural rigidity of the Cretaceous lithosphere is estimated to have been approximately 1023 Nm (1030 dyne cm) on the basis of a comparison of predicted downwarping, due to the thrust plate loads, to the shape of the sedimentary wedge on the west side of the Western Interior seaway, and the resulting mountainous terrain, gentle alluvial plain, and flat sea floor correspond well with the topography of the modern foreland thrust belt and basin system in the Andes of South America and to paleoAbstract:
Two-dimensional modeling of loading during the formation of the Idaho-Wyoming thrust belt shows that regional isostatic compensation by flexure of an elastic lithosphere is sufficient to control the formation of a foreland basin. The flexural rigidity of the lithosphere is inferred to have been approximately 1023 Nm (1030 dyne cm), on the basis of palinspastic comparison of predicted downwarping, due to the thrust plate loads, to the shape of the sedimentary wedge on the west side of the Cretaceous Western Interior seaway. Erosion of part of the uplifted thrust plates redistributed the load, depositing it farther to the east, thereby causing subsidence over a much wider area than could have been accomplished only by the loading by thrust plates. Paleotopography after major Cretaceous thrust events was calculated. The resulting mountainous terrain, gentle alluvial plain, and flat sea floor correspond well with the topography of the modern foreland thrust belt and basin system in the Andes of South America and to paleogeographic reconstructions in the western United States thrust belt. Topography is controlled by the subsurface geometry of the thrust faults, particularly the positions of ramp zones, and by isostatic subsidence.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Foreland basin systems
TL;DR: A foreland basin is defined as an elongate region of potential sediment accommodation that forms on continental crust between a contractional orogenic belt and the adjacent craton, mainly in response to geodynamic processes related to subduction and the resulting peripheral or retroarc fold-thrust belt as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Late Jurassic to Eocene evolution of the Cordilleran thrust belt and foreland basin system, western U.S.A.
TL;DR: Geochronological, structural, and sedimentological data provide the basis for a regional synthesis of the evolution of the Cordilleran retroarc thrust belt and foreland basin system in the western USA.
Journal ArticleDOI
Gravity anomalies and flexure of the lithosphere at mountain ranges
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the Bouguer gravity anomaly over the Himalayan, Alpine, and Appalachian mountains is characterized by a generally asymmetric gravity low, which spans the mountains and associated foreland basins.
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Heterogeneity in Sedimentary Deposits: A Review of Structure‐Imitating, Process‐Imitating, and Descriptive Approaches
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Quantitative models of sedimentary basin filling
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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Subsidence of the Atlantic-type continental margin off New York
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used biostratigraphic data from the COST B-2 well to examine the origin of the subsidence of the continental margin off New York.
Journal ArticleDOI
Relationship between eustacy and stratigraphic sequences of passive margins
TL;DR: In this article, it is shown that seafloor changes in the rates of sea-level rise or fall may be caused by changes in sedimentation rate, and that the position of the shoreline and the thickness of the sediments deposited during discrete time intervals may be computed as a function of the rate of sea level change and the sedimentation rates.
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Flexural rigidity, thickness, and viscosity of the lithosphere
TL;DR: In this article, the flexural rigidity of the earth's lithosphere is deduced from observations of the wavelength and amplitude of bending in the vicinity of supercrustal loads.
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An analysis of isostasy in the world's oceans 1. Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount Chain
TL;DR: In this paper, cross-spectral techniques have been used to analyze the relationship between gravity and bathymetry on 14 profiles of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, and the resulting filter or transfer function was used to evaluate the state of isostasy along the chain, which is best explained by a simple model in which the oceanic lithosphere is treated as a thin elastic plate overlying a weak fluid.
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