The Continental Arc, Sevier Orogeny, Western Interior Seaway and Flat-Slab Subduction: Cretaceous Period: Ca. 145–65 Ma

Abstract

The long-lived subduction zone on the Cordillera’s western margin that began in the Late Triassic was well underway at the dawn of the Cretaceous. In fact, the rate of plate motions across there globe was accelerated and faster plate motions heightened the rate of terrane accretion and accretionary prism formation along the continent’s western edge. This increase in plate velocity initiated an orogenic event that had huge results on the landscape development of the Cordillera, the long-lived and widespread Sevier orogen (Table 8.1).