Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology
Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242, doi:10.1002/2017JB014770. The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Isla...
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Language: | English |
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John Wiley & Sons
2018
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10462 |
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/10462 2023-05-15T14:18:06+02:00 Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology ten Brink, Uri S. Miller, Nathaniel C. Andrews, Brian D. Brothers, Daniel S. Haeussler, Peter J. 2018-03-30 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10462 en_US eng John Wiley & Sons https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014770 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10462 doi:10.1002/2017JB014770 CC0 1.0 Universal http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ CC0 PDM Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242 doi:10.1002/2017JB014770 Ocean‐continent boundary Strike‐slip fault Subduction initiation Bimaterial interface Yakutat terrane Haida Gwaii Article 2018 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014770 2022-05-28T23:00:25Z Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242, doi:10.1002/2017JB014770. The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Island and Alaska is similar to the PA/NA boundary in California in its kinematic history and the rate and azimuth of current relative motion, yet their deformation styles are distinct. The California plate boundary shows a broad zone of parallel strike slip and thrust faults and folds, whereas the 49‐mm/yr PA/NA relative plate motion in Canada and Alaska is centered on a single, narrow, continuous ~900‐km‐long fault, the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF). Using gravity analysis, we propose that this plate boundary is centered on the continent/ocean boundary (COB), an unusual location for continental transform faults because plate boundaries typically localize within the continental lithosphere, which is weaker. Because the COB is a boundary between materials of contrasting elastic properties, once a fault is established there, it will probably remain stable. We propose that deformation progressively shifted to the COB in the wake of Yakutat terrane's northward motion along the margin. Minor convergence across the plate boundary is probably accommodated by fault reactivation on Pacific crust and by an eastward dipping QCF. Underthrusting of Pacific slab under Haida Gwaii occurs at convergence angles >14°–15° and may have been responsible for the emergence of the archipelago. The calculated slab entry dip (5°–8°) suggests that the slab probably does not extend into the asthenosphere. The PA/NA plate boundary at the QCF can serve as a structurally simple site to investigate the impact of rheology and composition on crustal deformation and the initiation of slab underthrusting. Article in Journal/Newspaper Archipelago Yakutat Alaska Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Canada Pacific Queen Charlotte ENVELOPE(-132.088,-132.088,53.255,53.255) Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 5 4223 4242 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Ocean‐continent boundary Strike‐slip fault Subduction initiation Bimaterial interface Yakutat terrane Haida Gwaii |
spellingShingle |
Ocean‐continent boundary Strike‐slip fault Subduction initiation Bimaterial interface Yakutat terrane Haida Gwaii ten Brink, Uri S. Miller, Nathaniel C. Andrews, Brian D. Brothers, Daniel S. Haeussler, Peter J. Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology |
topic_facet |
Ocean‐continent boundary Strike‐slip fault Subduction initiation Bimaterial interface Yakutat terrane Haida Gwaii |
description |
Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242, doi:10.1002/2017JB014770. The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Island and Alaska is similar to the PA/NA boundary in California in its kinematic history and the rate and azimuth of current relative motion, yet their deformation styles are distinct. The California plate boundary shows a broad zone of parallel strike slip and thrust faults and folds, whereas the 49‐mm/yr PA/NA relative plate motion in Canada and Alaska is centered on a single, narrow, continuous ~900‐km‐long fault, the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF). Using gravity analysis, we propose that this plate boundary is centered on the continent/ocean boundary (COB), an unusual location for continental transform faults because plate boundaries typically localize within the continental lithosphere, which is weaker. Because the COB is a boundary between materials of contrasting elastic properties, once a fault is established there, it will probably remain stable. We propose that deformation progressively shifted to the COB in the wake of Yakutat terrane's northward motion along the margin. Minor convergence across the plate boundary is probably accommodated by fault reactivation on Pacific crust and by an eastward dipping QCF. Underthrusting of Pacific slab under Haida Gwaii occurs at convergence angles >14°–15° and may have been responsible for the emergence of the archipelago. The calculated slab entry dip (5°–8°) suggests that the slab probably does not extend into the asthenosphere. The PA/NA plate boundary at the QCF can serve as a structurally simple site to investigate the impact of rheology and composition on crustal deformation and the initiation of slab underthrusting. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
ten Brink, Uri S. Miller, Nathaniel C. Andrews, Brian D. Brothers, Daniel S. Haeussler, Peter J. |
author_facet |
ten Brink, Uri S. Miller, Nathaniel C. Andrews, Brian D. Brothers, Daniel S. Haeussler, Peter J. |
author_sort |
ten Brink, Uri S. |
title |
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology |
title_short |
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology |
title_full |
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology |
title_fullStr |
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology |
title_sort |
deformation of the pacific/north america plate boundary at queen charlotte fault : the possible role of rheology |
publisher |
John Wiley & Sons |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10462 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-132.088,-132.088,53.255,53.255) |
geographic |
Canada Pacific Queen Charlotte |
geographic_facet |
Canada Pacific Queen Charlotte |
genre |
Archipelago Yakutat Alaska |
genre_facet |
Archipelago Yakutat Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242 doi:10.1002/2017JB014770 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014770 Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/10462 doi:10.1002/2017JB014770 |
op_rights |
CC0 1.0 Universal http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC0 PDM |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014770 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |
container_volume |
123 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
4223 |
op_container_end_page |
4242 |
_version_ |
1766289820081979392 |