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Topography of the Netherlands and surroundings in a colour-coded relief map (data from GTOPO30). Red lines are reactivated Base Tertiary faults in the subsurface, based on data from NITG-TNO (Geluk et al. 1995; De Mulder et al. 2003). Also shown is the total seismicity (tectonic and man-induced) (data from ORFEUS data centre; see also Dirkzwager et al. 2000).
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The lithosphere of the Northern Alpine foreland has undergone a polyphase evolution with an intense interplay between upper mantle thermal perturbations and stress-induced intraplate deformation that points to the importance of lithospheric folding of the thermally weakened lithosphere. In this paper we address relationships between deeper lithosph...
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... recently also been documented for Brittany (Bonnet et al. 2000). Both Iberia and Central Asia are characterized by separate dominant wavelengths for crust and mantle folds, reflecting decoupled modes of lithosphere folding. Research on the role played by inherited crustal weakness zones in the distribution of seismic activity in the Netherlands (Fig. 8) involved quantification of (1) the role of lithospheric rheology on basin reactivation and (2) the geomechanical control of border faults on basin reactivation, contributing to neotectonic deformation of the Roer Valley Graben (Dirkzwager et al. ...
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Citations
... In addition, processes internal to the continent can further complicate the lithospheric response to this stress field. These include mechanical and thermal differences in the strength of the lithosphere (Ziegler et al., 1995;Cloetingh and Burov, 1996;Ranalli, 1997;Tommasi and Vauchez, 1997;Sandiford and Hand, 1998;Ziegler et al., 1998;Ranalli, 2000;Sandiford and McLaren, 2002;Cloetingh et al., 2006;Neves et al., 2008), and additional stress fields induced by, for Fig. 1. Global image of strain-rate and recent seismicity. ...
For several decades geoscientists have recognised intraplate tectonic activity far from plate margins, both from modern and ancient examples. This apparent disconnect with the drivers of plate tectonics does not necessarily imply unconnected processes, but rather an uncertainty in understanding exactly how these systems operate. Are the driving forces derived locally or do they propagate from plate-margins? How do these forces interact with a complex tectonic inheritance to generate the observed tectonism? Furthermore, what novel approaches have been applied to understand these processes? Here we review the general literature and the contents of this special issue to develop some partial answers to these questions. Key observations include the critical importance of local lithospheric heterogeneities as a control on the mode of orogenesis, and also the role of locally derived forces from mantle upwelling or from depositing thick piles of magmatic or sedimentary rocks. These processes happen within the overarching tectonic setting provided by far-field plate margins, which show intimate links in both time and observed processes with many intraplate regions. These insights would not be possible without a growing arsenal of geological, geophysical and numerical methods that can be applied to intraplate regions, and this is reflected in the varied approaches within the issue. We envisage that this special issue will provide a stimulus for further progress in understanding intraplate tectonics.
... Anderson, 2001; Burov, 2011; Cloetingh and Burov, 2011; Cloetingh et al., 1999 Cloetingh et al., , 2005). Temperature and composition affect the mechanical response as they impact lithospheric strength variations, which are found to be particularly sensitive to large-scale temperature anomalies (Cloetingh and Burov, 1996; Cloetingh et al., 2006a Cloetingh et al., , 2006b). Especially a hot mantle lithosphere has a significant effect on the regional strength (Burov and Diament, 1995; Cloetingh et al., 2006b; Ranalli, 1995). ...
... A similar method was previously used for constructing European strength maps to highlight the direct links between strength distribution, regional stress field and neotectonic deformation patterns (e.g. Cloetingh et al., 2005 Cloetingh et al., , 2006a Cloetingh et al., , 2006b Tesauro et al., 2007 Tesauro et al., , 2009 In this study, we have updated this method to include a fully 3-D heat diffusion model as input for the strength calculations, which required the implementation of numerical inversion and cubic spline algorithms. The model is used to examine rheological heterogeneity between the SE Canadian Cordillera and North American craton to the east (Fig. 1 ). ...
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This study aims at quantifying the 3-D variability in lithosphere
strength of the south-eastern Canadian Cordillera and adjacent craton to
the east. Strength is calculated in a forward manner, starting from
rheological laws of brittle and ductile deformation. The work flow
calculates a temperature model based on a multi-layer compositional
model and subsequently estimates the strength distribution from both the
compositional and temperature models. The temperature modeling involves
numerical inversion and cubic spline algorithms which enable to impose
boundary conditions that account better for strong lateral variations in
lithosphere thickness and lateral heat flow. This addresses the
lithosphere structure between the Canadian Cordillera and craton. The
Canadian Cordillera is marked by a hot and thin lithosphere of ~ 60 km
thickness that stands in contrast to a cold and thick craton of ~ 170 km
thickness to the east, which consequently results in pronounced changes
in bulk lithosphere strength. The high surface heat flow of the
Cordillera interior and its contrast with the Foreland Basin can be
reproduced by temperature models that combine elevated mantle heat flow
due to the thin lithosphere and higher crustal heat production from
magmatic intrusions. A series of rheological models, which examines the
role of different temperature input models, composition and strain rate,
shows that the first-order strength pattern is persistent. For the hot
Canadian Cordillera, strength resides for > 80% in the upper crust
and with integrated lithosphere strength of
2.0-3.5ṡ106 MPaṡm. For the cold craton, the
upper mantle provides > 75% of the integrated strength with values of
4.0-8.0ṡ106 MPaṡm for the crust and
20-65ṡ106 MPaṡm for the lithosphere.
Effective elastic thickness is estimated between 5 and 15 km for the
Cordillera and 40-80 km for the craton. This illustrates the
Cordillera to craton transition as a prominent rheological feature for
upper mantle flow dynamics and spatial seismicity trends.
... High continental areas with crustal roots are probably related with thickening under a convergence regime, whereas elevated areas related to crustal thinning can be linked to extensional processes (mainly rifting). Intermediate models can be associated with lithospheric folding (Cloetingh et al., 2006). ...
The present-day topography of the Iberian peninsula can be considered as the result of the MesozoicCenozo–ic tectonic evolution of the Iberian plate (including rifting and basin formation during the Mesozoic and compression and mountain building processes at the borders and inner part of the plate, during the Tertiary, followed by Neogene rifting on the Mediterranean side) and surface processes acting during the Quaternary. The northern-central part of Iberia (corresponding to the geological units of the Duero Basin, the Iberian Chain, and the Central System) shows a mean elevation close to one thousand meters above sea level in average, some hundreds of meters higher than the southern half of the Iberian plate. This elevated area corresponds to (i) the top of sedimentation in Tertiary terrestrial endorheic sedimentary basins (Paleogene and Neogene) and (ii) planation surfaces developed on Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks of the mountain chains surrounding the Tertiary sedimentary basins. Both types of surfaces can be found in continuity along the margins of some of the Tertiary basins. The Bouguer anomaly map of the Iberian peninsula indicates negative anomalies related to thickening of the continental crust. Correlations of elevation to crustal thickness and elevation to Bouguer anomalies indicate that the dierent landscape units within the Iberian plate can be ascribed to dierent patterns: (1) The negative Bouguer anomaly in the Iberian plate shows a rough correlation with elevation, the most important gravity anomalies being linked to the Iberian Chain. (2) Most part of the so-called Iberian Meseta is linked to intermediate-elevation areas with crustal thickening; this pattern can be applied to the two main intraplate mountain chains (Iberian Chain and Central System) (3) The main mountain chains (Pyrenees and Betics) show a direct correlation between crustal thickness and elevation, with higher elevation/crustal thickness ratio for the Central Systemvs. the Betics and the Pyrenees. Other features of the Iberian topography, namely the longitudinal pro le of the main rivers in the Iberian peninsula and the distribution of present-day endorheic areas, are consistent with the Tertiary tectonic evolution and the change from an endorheic to an exorheic regime during the Late Neogene and the Quaternary. Some of the problems involving the timing and development of the Iberian Meseta can be analysed considering the youngest reference level, constituted by the shallow marine Upper Cretaceous limestones, that indicates strong dierences induced by (i) the overall Tertiary and recent compression in the Iberian plate, responsible for dierences in elevation of the reference level of more than 6 km between the mountain chains and the endorheic basins and (ii) the eect of Neogene extension in the Mediterranean margin, responsible for lowering several thousands of meters toward the East and uplift of rift shoulders. A part of the recent uplift within the Iberian plate can be attributed o sostatic uplift in zones of crustal thickening.
We present a novel numerical approach to construct quantitative tectonic models from crustal velocity distributions derived from local earthquake tomography. Independent constraints on the location and orientation of structures are obtained from earthquake hypocenters and seismic reflection profiles. An application of this method is given for the southern end of the Upper Rhine Graben (northwestern Europe). Kinematic boundary conditions are imposed on the structural model to investigate the large scale intraplate deformation in the region. A 3-D finite element code is used to calculate the displacements, the distribution of stresses, and the potential for brittle failure in the Graben. The modeling takes into account the intersection and curvature of crustal faults. The results demonstrate the dependence of fault interaction in the system on kinematic conditions, as well as the influence of minor faults on the kinematics of major basin bounding master faults. We show that although most of the deformation in the region is taken up by the eastern boundary faults of the Rhine Graben, all faults in the system have the potential to be (re)activated. In particular, a fault system underlying the front of the Jura fold and thrust belt appears to accommodate a large part of the intraplate deformation.
