| 1. |
- Simancas, J.F., et al.
(author)
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The seismic crustal structure of the Ossa-Morena Zone and its geological interpretation
- 2004
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In: Journal of Iberian Geology. - 1698-6180 .- 1886-7995. ; 30, s. 133-142
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The IBERSEIS deep reflection seismic experiment has provided a crustal image of the Variscan orogen of southwest Iberia. A brief presentation of the entire seismic profile is given, and then the Ossa-Morena Zone (OMZ) and its boundaries are considered. The crust of the OMZ is shown to be divided into an upper crust, characterized by dominantly NE-dipping reflectivity, and a poorly reflective lower crust. The reflectivity of the upper crust has good correlation with the geological cross-section constructed from surface mapping. In the seismic image, the upper crustal geological structures are seen to merge in the middle crust. Nevertheless, the OMZ middle crust is not a mere detachment level, as it shows very unusual features: it appears as a band of strong reflectivity and irregular thickness (the Iberian Reflective Body, IRB) that we interpret as a great sill-like intrusion of basic rocks. The boundaries of the OMZ are considered sutures of the orogen, and their geometrical features, as deduced from geological mapping and the seismic image, are in accordance with the transpressional character of the Variscan collision recorded in SW Iberia. The present Moho is flat, obliterating the root of the orogen.
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| 2. |
- Ayarza, P., et al.
(author)
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Geophysical constraints on the structure of a limited ocean-continent subduction zone at the north Iberian margin
- 2004
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In: Tectonics. ; 23, s. 1010-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic convergence between Iberia and Europe led to the partial closure of the Bay of Biscay with limited southward subduction of oceanic crust below the North Iberian Margin. Inclined sub-Moho reflections and diffractions observed in deep seismic reflection profiles shot across the margin are especially well represented in two reflection profiles: ESCIN-3.2 and ESCIN-3.3. These two profiles have been chosen to test if the sub-Moho reflections correspond to true primary deep events and, provided that they are reflecting off the subduction zone, to investigate its deep structure. Spectral analysis together with travel time estimation and migration allow us to characterize a number of these sub-Moho events as deep-source, low-frequency (∼19 Hz), reflections and diffractions. Synthetic seismograms were generated by three-dimensional seismic modeling of a sub-Moho southward dipping surface, interpreted to correspond to the top of subducted oceanic crust. Comparison between the real and synthetic data show that inclined, low-frequency sub-Moho reflections in both, ESCIN-3.2 and ESCIN-3.3 profiles may correspond to reflections from southward subducted Bay of Biscay oceanic crust. Geoid, free-air gravity, and absolute topography modeling provides additional constraints on the lithospheric-scale structure of this limited ocean-continent subduction zone beneath the North Iberian Margin.
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| 3. |
- Ayarza, P, et al.
(author)
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Contrasting tectonic history of the are-continent suture in the Southern and Middle Urals: implications for the evolution of the orogen
- 2000
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In: Journal of the Geological Society. - : Geological Society of London. - 0016-7649 .- 2041-479X. ; 157, s. 1065-1076
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Main Uralian Fault has been considered the original arc–continent suture for 2000 km along the Uralide orogen. The symmetry of the tectonic units across it suggested a consistent east-dipping polarity for the palaeosubduction zone, which, together with its topographic and aeromagnetic signature, supported the idea of a single suture. However, several characteristics vary at different latitudes. In the Middle Urals, it is a strike-slip fault zone with moderately deformed and metamorphosed volcanic arc fragments in its hanging wall, and low-grade metamorphic rocks of the East European Craton in its footwall. Here, it has a prominent NNW-trending magnetic signature which cross-cuts north-trending anomalies in its hanging wall, and a pronounced reflection seismic signature that can be traced to the top of the middle crust at c. 5 s. TWT. In the Southern Urals, it is a serpentinite mélange zone of ambiguous kinematics, with a weakly deformed and metamorphosed volcanic arc in its hanging wall, and moderately metamorphosed to high pressure rocks of the East European Craton in its footwall. In this part of the orogen, it has a weak reflection seismic character, and a magnetic signature that parallels that of its hanging wall. On the basis of an integrated analysis of these different data sets, we suggest that the Main Uralian Fault, as it is currently defined, is not a single entity, but rather the original arc–continent suture in the south, and the western strand of a strike-slip fault system that reworked the original suture in the Middle Urals.
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| 4. |
- Brown, D., et al.
(author)
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Arc-continent collision in the Southern Urals
- 2006
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In: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 79:3-4, s. 261-287
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Southern Urals of Russia contain what is arguably one of the best-preserved examples of an arc–continent collision in anyPaleozoic orogen. The arc–continent collision history recorded in the rocks of the Southern Urals began in the Early Devonian withthe onset of intra-oceanic subduction and the formation of the Magnitogorsk Arc and ended with its collision with the margin ofBaltica during the Late Devonian. The Baltica margin consisted of a basement that was composed predominantly of rocks ofArchean and Proterozoic age that, by the time of arc–continent collision, was overlain by Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, andDevonian sediments interpreted to have been deposited in rift-related grabens on the continental slope and rise, and on the shallowmarine platform. The Magnitogorsk Arc consists of Early to Late Devonian island arc volcanic rocks and overlying volcaniclasticsediments. Arc–continent collision led to the development of an accretionary complex that includes shallowly and deeplysubducted continental margin rocks, ophiolite fragments, and sediments that were deposited in a foreland-basin setting. Thegeochemistry of the Magnitogorsk Arc volcanic rocks, the structure of the arc–continent collision accretionary complex and theforearc, the high-pressure rocks beneath and along the suture zone, the mafic and ultramafic ophiolitic material, and the syn-tectonic sediments show that the Paleozoic tectonic processes recorded in the Southern Urals can be favorably compared with thosein currently active settings such as the west Pacific.© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Brown, D, et al.
(author)
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Crustal-scale structure and evolution of an arc-continent collision zone in the southern Urals, Russia
- 1998
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In: Tectonics. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0278-7407 .- 1944-9194. ; 17:2, s. 158-171
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The outcropping geology of the southern Urals contains a well-preserved accretionary complex related to the Paleozoic collision that took place between the Magnitogorsk arc and the former East European Craton. The crustal-scale structure of the accretionary complex has been determined from outcropping field geology that is integrated with three reflection seismic profiles. The reflection profiles show the accretionary complex to be highly reflective, allowing direct comparison of many reflections with surface geological features. We interpret the accretionary complex to be a thrust stack that is composed of shallowly subducted continental shelf and rise material, syncollisional sediments derived from the arc, deeply subducted high-pressure gneisses that are intercalated with eclogites and blueschist, and, at the highest structural level, ophiolite complexes. It is bound at the base by a thrust and at the rear by a highly deformed zone (the Main Uralian fault) adjacent to the backstop (the Magnitogorsk arc). Deposition of the Late Devonian volcaniclastic sediments of the Zilair Formation appears to be related to collision, uplift, and erosion of the arc, possibly following the arrival of the full thickness of the East European Craton continental crust at the subduction zone. With the arrival of the continental crust at the subduction zone, offscraping and underplating of Paleozoic slope and platform material took place at the base of the accretionary complex. Uplift of the arc was followed by its collapse and the unconformable deposition of Lower Carboniferous shallow water carbonates on top of it. A time lag of 10 - 15 Myr occurred between the high-pressure metamorphism and the subsequent arrival of the East European Craton at the subduction zone.
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| 6. |
- Brown, D., et al.
(author)
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Mountain building processes during continent-continent collision in the Uralides
- 2008
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In: Earth-Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-8252 .- 1872-6828. ; 89:3-4, s. 177-195
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Since the early 1990's the Paleozoic Uralide Orogen of Russia has been the target of a significant research initiative as part of EUROPROBE and GEODE, both European Science Foundation programmes. One of the main objectives of these research programmes was the determination of the tectonic processes that went into the formation of the orogen. In this review paper we focus on the Late Paleozoic continent-continent collision that took place between Laurussia and Kazakhstania. Research in the Uralides was concentrated around two deep seismic profiles crossing the orogen. These were accompanied by geological, geophysical, geochronological, geochemical, and low-temperature thermochronological studies. The seismic profiles demonstrate that the Uralides has an overall bivergent structural architecture, but with significantly different reflectivity characteristics from one tectonic zone to another. The integration of other types of data sets with the seismic data allows us to interpret what tectonic processes where responsible for the formation of the structural architecture, and when they were active. On the basis of these data, we suggest that the changes in the crustal-scale structural architecture indicate that there was significant partitioning of tectonothermal conditions and deformation from zone to zone across major fault systems, and between the lower and upper crust. Also, a number of the structural features revealed in the bivergent architecture of the orogen formed either in the Neoproterozoic or in the Paleozoic, prior to continent-continent collision. From the end of continent-continent collision to the present, low-temperature thermochronology suggests that the evolution of the Uralides has been dominated by erosion and slow exhumation. Despite some evidence for more recent topographic uplift, it has so far proven difficult to quantify it.
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