Abstract
Horizontal gravity gradient trends are used to create a pseudo-structural image of the North American continent. The structural significance of the trends is demonstrated by the close correspondence between gravity domains defined on the basis of trend patterns, and structural domains based primarily on geological criteria. This relationship provides a powerful tool for investigating Precambrian basement geology in platform-covered regions of the continental interior. It has been used to extend the Superior and Grenville provinces and the Trans-Hudson orogen southward from the Canadian Shield. Gravity trend patterns also reveal prominent lineaments that likely signify major faults in the craton and/or Phanerozoic rocks.
The characteristics of gravity trend patterns at gravity domain boundaries indicate that the North American continent has grown outward from the Archean Superior and Wyoming provinces by accretionary plate tectonic processes involving, in many cases, continental collision; the Slave Province is another growth nucleus that is not manifested as a gravity domain. Boundaries of buried Proterozoic age provinces in the southern part of the continent have no strong gravity expression. This and isotopic evidence suggest that collision tectonics involving continental material was not a major factor in their development.
A correlation between Phanerozoic intra-cratonic sedimentary basins and discrete gravity domains points to a strong influence of crustal processes in their development. In contrast, a continent-wide system of arches exhibits little correlation with linear gravity trends.
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Thomas, M.D., Grieve, R.A.F., Sharpton, V.L. (1992). Structural Fabric of the North American Continent, as Defined by Gravity Trends. In: Mason, R. (eds) Basement Tectonics 7. Proceedings of the International Conferences on Basement Tectonics, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0833-3_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-0833-3_18
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