Title: The maturity of an orogenic belt will vary
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The maturity of an orogenic belt will vary along
strike. This is well illustrated by the
collision of Gondwana terrains with Eurasia. (1)
Makran - Andean margin (2) Himalaya - mature
continental collision (3) N-Australian margin -
transition from intra oseanic to arc-continent
collision Where the arcs contain elements of
Eurasian continetal crust rifted away from their
original position by back-arc extension (arrows)
2
2INCIPIENT CONTINENTAL COLLISION (example from the
Australian plate- Banda Arc)
3SUNDA - BANDA ARC TOPOGRAPHY OUTER NON-VOLCANIC
ARC-ISLANDS ARE BIGGER IN THE WEST
NIAS
4SUNDA - BANDA ARC TOPOGRAPHY OUTER NON-VOLCANIC
ARC-ISLANDS ARE BIGGER IN THE WEST- BEFORE THEY
ABRUBTLY INCREASE IN SIZE NEAR SUMBA. WHAT ABOUT
TIMOR? ITS RISING VERY FAST! LETS SEE WHAT MAY
BE THE REASON
EXTINCT VOLC
SUMBA
5SUNDA - BANDA ARC TOPOGRAPHY OUTER NON-VOLCANIC
ARC-ISLANDS ARE BIGGER IN THE WEST- BEFORE THEY
ABRUBTLY INCREASE IN SIZE NEAR SUMBA. WHAT ABOUT
TIMOR? ITS RISING VERY FAST! LETS SEE WHAT MAY
BE THE REASON
EXTINCT VOLC
PLATE BOUNDARY
A NEW PLATE BOUNDARY?
SUMBA
6INCIPIENT CONTINENTAL COLLISION (example from the
Australian plate- Banda Arc)
7INCIPIENT CONTINENTAL COLLISION (example from the
Australian plate- Banda Arc)
- NOTICE
- THE WADATI-BENIOFF ZONE EARTHQUAKE ZONATION
- THE HIGHLY IRREGULAR SHAPE OF THE AUSTRALIAN
- MARGIN (AUSTRALIAN PLATE DOTTED RED)
- BANDA BACK-ARC SEA IAND THE ISLAND ARC ISLANDS
- SEPARATE SERAM AUSTRALIA ROM THE MAIN MARGIN
8Late Miocene RAPID SUBDUCTION OF OCEANIC PART OF
THE AUSTRALIAN LITHOSPHERE
9PRESENT
Notice that in this model, the Timor Trough is
not the plate boundary, But a fordeep on the
Australian margin. The polarity of subduction has
flipped and the next scenario is an Andean margin
along northern Australia!
10SCHEMATIC EVOLUTION TO ANDEAN MARGIN
AN ANDEAN MARGIN IS COMMONLY FLOORED BY AN
OPHIOLITE COMPLEX
11- --some ANDEAN MARGIN CHARACTERISTICS
- Low-angle subduction zones, great distance from
trench to active arc. - Magmatic events produce large composite
batholiths, with superunits - and units which individually show mafic to
acid (primitive to mature) - compositional trends.
- Very large volumes of magma are emplaced into
the crust, and can in - some cases (like the type area) produce
crustal thicknesses comparable - to continental collision zones.
- The plutonics are dominated by tonalitic to
granodioritic bodies, which - commonly are emplaced as permitted
intrusions, i.e. by stoping to - cauldron subsidence mechanisms.
- The volcanoes are dominated by build-up of large
strato-volcanoes with - andesitic to rhyolitic compositions.
- Andean margins may be long-lived depending on
the width of the ocean - which is subducting.