Synonyms
Allochthonous terrane; Exotic terrane; Suspect terrane; Tectonostratigraphic terrane
Definition
Rock assemblages of regional extent within an orogenic belt that show internal geological consistency and that differ significantly from rock assemblages in adjacent terranes (Nelson et al., 2013).
Introduction
The terrane concept was first applied to the tectonic analysis of the North American Cordillera, one of the world's classic accretionary orogens (Figure 1; Coney et al., 1980; Jones et al., 1983). Terranes were introduced as a means to describe the collage of disparate elements that makes up the Cordilleran orogen (e.g., Helwig, 1974). In the original definition, terranes were considered “suspect” because little was known about their paleogeographic affinities and because most terranes were bounded by faults, thus raising questions about relationships between adjacent terranes. The terrane concept continues to guide tectonic analysis of the North American Cordillera,...
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Colpron, M., Nelson, J. (2016). Terranes. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6238-1_214
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