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1. Modeling the Inception of Supercontinent Breakup: Stress State and the Importance of Orogens

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GC008538  

   Huang, Chuan; Zhang, Nan; Li, Zheng‐Xiang; Ding, Min; Dang, Zhuo; Pourteau, Amaury; Zhong, Shijie (November 2019, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)

   Abstract The relative significance of various geodynamic mechanisms that drive supercontinent breakup is unclear. A previous analysis of extensional stress during supercontinent breakup demonstrated the importance of the plume‐push force relative to the dragging force of subduction retreat. Here, we extend the analysis to basal traction (shear stress) and cross‐lithosphere integrations of both extensional and shear stresses, aiming to understand more clearly the relevant importance of these mechanisms in supercontinent breakup. More importantly, we evaluate the effect of preexisting orogens (mobile belts) in the lithosphere on supercontinent breakup process. Our analysis suggests that a homogeneous supercontinent has extensional stress of 20–50 MPa in its interior (<40° from the central point). When orogens are introduced, the extensional stress in the continents focuses on the top 80‐km of the lithosphere with an average magnitude of ~160 MPa, whereas at the margin of the supercontinent the extensional stress is 5–50 MPa. In both homogeneous and orogeny‐embedded cases, the subsupercontinent mantle upwellings act as the controlling factor on the normal stress field in the supercontinent interior. Compared with the extensional stress, shear stress at the bottom of the supercontinent is 1–2 order of magnitude smaller (0–5 MPa). In our two end‐member models, the breakup of a supercontinent with orogens can be achieved after the first extensional stress surge, whereas for a hypothetical supercontinent without orogens it starts with more diffused local thinning of the continental lithospheric before the breakup, suggesting that weak orogens play a critical role in the dispersal of supercontinents. 

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2. Paleoproterozoic Plate Tectonics Recorded in the Northern Margin Orogen, North China Craton

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010662  

   Wu, Chen; Wang, Guosheng; Zhou, Zhiguang; Haproff, Peter J.; Zuza, Andrew V.; Liu, Wenyou (November 2022, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems)

   Abstract The occurrence of plate tectonic processes on Earth during the Paleoproterozoic is supported by ca. 2.2–1.8 Ga subduction‐collision orogens associated with the assembly of the Columbia‐Nuna supercontinent. Subsequent supercontinent breakup is evidence by global ca. 1.8–1.6 Ga large igneous provinces. The North China craton is notable for containing Paleoproterozoic orogens along its margins, herein named the Northern Margin orogen, yet the nature and timing of orogenic and extensional processes of these orogens and their role in the supercontinent cycle remain unclear. In this contribution, we present new field observations, U‐Pb zircon and baddeleyite geochronology dates, and major/trace‐element and isotope geochemical analyses from the northern margin of the North China craton that detail its Paleoproterozoic tectonic and magmatic history. Specifically, we record the occurrence of ca. 2.2–2.0 Ga magmatic arc rocks, ca. 1.9–1.88 Ga tectonic mélange and mylonitic shear zones, and folded lower Paleoproterozoic strata. These rocks were affected by ca. 1.9–1.8 Ga granulite‐facies metamorphism and ca. 1.87–1.78 Ga post‐collisional, extension‐related magmatism along the cratonal northern margin. We interpret that the generation and emplacement of these rocks, and the coupled metamorphic and magmatic processes, were related to oceanic subduction and subsequent continent‐continent collision during the Paleoproterozoic. The occurrence of ca. 1.77–1.73 Ga mafic dykes and ca. 1.75 Ga mylonitic shear zones along the northern margin of the North China craton may have been related to a regional mantle plume event. Our results are consistent with modern style plate tectonics, including oceanic subduction‐related plate convergence and continent‐continent collision, operating in the Paleoproterozoic. 

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3. Estimation of Absolute Stress in the Hypocentral Region of the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquakes

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB022000  

   Fialko, Y. (July 2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth)

   Abstract Strength of the upper brittle part of the Earth's lithosphere controls deformation styles in tectonically active regions, surface topography, seismicity, and the occurrence of plate tectonics, yet it remains one of the most debated quantities in geophysics. Direct measurements of stresses acting at seismogenic depths are largely lacking. Seismic data (in particular, earthquake focal mechanisms) have been used to infer orientation of the principal stress axes. I show that the focal mechanism data can be combined with information from precise earthquake locations to place constraints not only on the orientation, but also on the magnitude of absolute stress at depth. The proposed method uses relative attitudes of conjugate faults to evaluate the amplitude and spatial heterogeneity of the deviatoric stress and frictional strength in the seismogenic zone. Relative fault orientations (dihedral angles) and sense of slip are determined using quasi‐planar clusters of seismicity and their composite focal mechanisms. The observed distribution of dihedral angles between active conjugate faults in the area of Ridgecrest (California, USA) that hosted a recent sequence of strong earthquakes suggests in situ coefficient of friction of 0.4–0.6, and depth‐averaged shear stress on the order of 25–40 MPa, intermediate between predictions of the “strong” and “weak” fault theories. 

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4. Sublithospheric diamond ages and the supercontinent cycle

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06662-9  

   Timmerman, Suzette; Stachel, Thomas; Koornneef, Janne M; Smit, Karen V; Harlou, Rikke; Nowell, Geoff M; Thomson, Andrew R; Kohn, Simon C; Davies, Joshua_H_F L; Davies, Gareth R; et al (November 2023, Nature)

   Abstract Subduction related to the ancient supercontinent cycle is poorly constrained by mantle samples. Sublithospheric diamond crystallization records the release of melts from subducting oceanic lithosphere at 300–700 km depths^1,2and is especially suited to tracking the timing and effects of deep mantle processes on supercontinents. Here we show that four isotope systems (Rb–Sr, Sm–Nd, U–Pb and Re–Os) applied to Fe-sulfide and CaSiO₃inclusions within 13 sublithospheric diamonds from Juína (Brazil) and Kankan (Guinea) give broadly overlapping crystallization ages from around 450 to 650 million years ago. The intracratonic location of the diamond deposits on Gondwana and the ages, initial isotopic ratios, and trace element content of the inclusions indicate formation from a peri-Gondwanan subduction system. Preservation of these Neoproterozoic–Palaeozoic sublithospheric diamonds beneath Gondwana until its Cretaceous breakup, coupled with majorite geobarometry^3,4, suggests that they accreted to and were retained in the lithospheric keel for more than 300 Myr during supercontinent migration. We propose that this process of lithosphere growth—with diamonds attached to the supercontinent keel by the diapiric uprise of depleted buoyant material and pieces of slab crust—could have enhanced supercontinent stability. 

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5. Probing the Structure of the Crust and Mantle Lithosphere beneath the Southern New England Appalachians via the SEISConn Deployment

   https://doi.org/10.1785/0220200163  

   Long, Maureen D.; Aragon, John C. (July 2020, Seismological Research Letters)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The eastern margin of North America has been affected by a range of fundamental tectonic processes in the geologic past. Major events include the Paleozoic Appalachian orogeny, which culminated in the formation of the supercontinent Pangea, and the breakup of Pangea during the Mesozoic. The southern New England Appalachians exhibit a particularly rich set of geologic and tectonic structures that reflect multiple episodes of subduction and terrane accretion, as well as subsequent continental breakup. It remains poorly known, however, to what extent structures at depth in the crust and lithospheric mantle reflect these processes, and how they relate to the geological architecture at the surface. The Seismic Experiment for Imaging Structure beneath Connecticut (SEISConn) was a deployment of 15 broadband seismometers in a dense linear array across northern Connecticut. The array traversed a number of major tectonic boundaries, sampling across the Laurentian margin in its western portion to the Avalonian terrane at its eastern end. It also crossed the Hartford rift basin in the central portion of the state. The SEISConn stations operated between 2015 and 2019; data from the experiment are archived at the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Data Management Center and will be publicly available beginning in 2021. A suite of imaging techniques is being applied to SEISConn data, with the goal of providing a detailed view of the crust and mantle lithosphere (including discontinuities, seismic velocities, and seismic anisotropy) beneath the southern New England Appalachians. Results from these analyses will inform a host of fundamental scientific questions about the structural evolution of orogens, the processes involved in continental rifting, and the nature of crustal and mantle lithospheric deformation during subduction, terrane accretion, and continental breakup. 

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