Arc-continent collision" of the Aleutian-Komandorsky arc into Kamchatka: insight into Quaternary tectonic segmentation through Pleistocene marine terraces and morphometric analysis of fluvial drainage

• Published in: Tectonics
• Main Authors: Pedoja, Kevin, Authemayou, Christine, Pinegina, T. K., Bourgeois, J., Nexer, M., Delcaillau, Bernard, Regard, Vincent
• Other Authors: Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière (M2C), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Domaines Océaniques (LDO), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers-Institut d'écologie et environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the RAS, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FEB RAS), Department of Earth and Space Sciences Seattle, University of Washington Seattle, Laboratoire des Mécanismes et Transfert en Géologie (LMTG), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), EAR-0125787
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: collision; marine terrace sequence; drainage; active tectonics; geomorphometry; morphotectonics; Kamchatsky peninsula; Kamchatka; geo; anthro-bio; Pacific
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/tect.20051; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00852284/file/tect.20051.pdf; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00852284

International audience At the NW corner of the Pacific region, just south of the Kamchatsky Peninsula, the northern tip of Pacific plate subduction and associated volcanic arc interacts with the western end of the Aleutian-Komandorsky dextral transform plate boundary and associated arc. Study of both Holocene and Pleistocene sequences of uplifted marine terraces and also of fluvial drainage patterns on the Kamchatsky Peninsula allows us to highlight active tectonics produced by complex plate interaction. Our results show that the central - eastern coast of the peninsula is currently divided into four different zones consisting in uplifted blocks associated with various uplift rates in front of a fold and thrust zone to the west. Our main tectonic benchmark--the altitude of the shoreline correlated to last interglacial maximum (MIS 5e)--yields Late Pleistocene uplift rates ranging from 0.2 to 2.74 mm/yr. One of the main active faults bounding the coastal blocks is dextral and is interpreted as a prolongation of an offshore fault of the Aleutian-Komandorsky dextral transform plate boundary. We suggest that structures on the Kamchatsky Peninsula accommodate a part of the transform motion, but that mainly the arc-continent collision of the Aleutian arc against Kamchatka produces a "bulldozer" effect on the Kamchatsky Peninsula.