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Abstract Major influences on the architecture of orogens include the overall thermal conditions of orogeny (hot vs. cold) and the angle of collision (orthogonal vs. oblique). In the French Massif Central of the Variscan orogen, a cold‐orogen style crustal nappe architecture was interpreted in the Haut‐Allier, located in the core of the orogen. Based on this model, the Variscan orogenic crust is described as the superposition of three main allochthonous tectonic units juxtaposed along major thrust faults. However, based on a detailed structural analysis, we have found instead that the region is dominated by a network of anastomosing conjugate and coeval dextral and sinistral shear zones striking WNW‐ESE and ENE‐WSW, respectively. The dextral WNW‐trending shear zones are predominant, whereas the sinistral NE shear zones are mainly located in the eastern part of the massif. Between these sub‐vertical shear zones, a sub‐horizontal foliation is observed. Our results indicate that all planar fabrics were partially synchronous during suprasolidus low‐pressure‐high‐temperature conditions. Strain partitioning occurred from high‐temperature suprasolidus conditions to subsolidus retrogression and may represent orogen‐parallel flow, suggesting hot‐orogen style. These results call into question the validity of the crustal nappe model in the Haut‐Allier. Based on new structural data and related observations, we propose a new model in which metamorphic gaps between tectonic units are explained by the juxtaposition of different structural domains by displacement along strike‐slip shear zones. 

The Cenozoic tectonic history of Marie Byrd Land (MBL), West Antarctica, is dominated by uplift of the MBL dome, a ~800 by ~300 km topographic swell thought to be supported by a hot mantle anomaly, and normal faulting accompanying extension of the West Antarctic rift system (WARS). Additionally, glaciation beginning at 34 – 20 Ma resulted in deeply incised glacial troughs with up to 5km of relief. This study investigates the timing, magnitude, and spatial relationships of these tectonic and erosional events by determining a regional exhumation history of western MBL through thermo-kinematic modeling of low-temperature thermochronologic data. New apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) analyses include ages between 46 – 63 Ma, significantly younger than previously determined ages between 80 – 100 Ma. 3D thermo-kinematic modeling reveals focused glacial incision alone is incapable of producing this young population of AHe ages, indicating additional exhumation processes have been at work since ~80 Ma. Differential exhumation across western MBL is required to produce the range of observed AHe ages, with laterally variable exhumation ranging from little to none on the Edward VII Peninsula to ~0.04 km/myr in the eastern Ford Ranges. This spatial pattern is consistent with enhanced exhumation related to uplift of the MBL dome in the eastern Ford Ranges, with this effect diminishing westward to the Edward VII Peninsula. A sharp change in exhumation rate in the western Ford Ranges suggests recent motion on inferred normal faults consistent with WARS extension and down-dropping of the Edward VII Peninsula. Models based on available bedrock data provide little insight into the timing and magnitude of glacial incision due to the present inability to directly sample bedrock in deep glacial troughs. However, model predictions of bedrock low-temperature age distributions within glacial troughs are useful as a point of comparison for detrital age distributions. New detrital AHe ages from Sulzberger Bay, offshore western MBL, range from 49 – >100 Ma and are consistent with model age distributions. These model results support a complex, spatially heterogeneous exhumation history for western MBL tied to its position between the MBL dome and the WARS and provide insight into the impact of glacial incision across the regional landscape. 

Marie Byrd Land (MBL), West Antarctica, is poorly studied geologically due to its ice cover and remoteness. As a result, the timing and magnitude of tectonic and erosional events, such as the tectonic uplift of the Marie Byrd Land dome and the incision of the DeVicq Glacial Trough, are debated. When faced with problems difficult to study and solve through in-person field work, it becomes necessary to turn to modeling. Pecube is a thermo-kinematic modeling program that uses topographic and crustal thermal data to calculate thermochronologic ages across a landscape. Thermochronology uses radiometric dating of mineral systems that are sensitive to specific temperatures and can be used to track cooling related to the tectonic and exhumation history of a region. Model predictions can be compared to observed ages to test the viability of tectonic or geomorphic scenarios. Observed ages used here include dates derived from apatite fission track analysis (AFT; closure temperature ~ 110 °C) and apatite (U-Th)/He dating (AHe; closure temperature ~ 60 °C) of detrital material recovered from offshore MBL that presumably originated from the DeVicq Trough region of MBL. Ongoing modeling efforts will determine how closely calculated bedrock ages compare to new detrital AHe ages, ranging from 23.5-82.8 Ma, and AFT ages, ranging from 49.7-83.6 Ma. These ages broadly correspond to late breakup of Gondwana (~100-85Ma), erosion during and after the uplift of the Marie Byrd Land dome (~30Ma), and glacial incision (beginning at 34 or 20Ma). In light of these new data, alterations were made to existing Pecube models for the DeVicq Trough region to rule out and narrow down the timings and rates possible for both glacial incision at the DeVicq Glacial Trough and exhumation of the Marie Byrd Land dome. Preliminary results suggest that varying glacial incision start time between 34 and 20 Ma, dates proposed for the initiation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, does not change resulting bedrock ages significantly. However, varying background exhumation rates results in ages that are broadly consistent with observed ages. Ongoing modeling efforts seek to refine this range further to give insight on the exhumation history and tectonic processes of this region. 

Abstract Mafic rocks are volumetrically and rheologically significant components of the mid‐to lower continental crust, yet tools to study their fabrics have not been well developed. We examine amphibolites exhumed from mid‐to lower crustal levels in a gneiss dome (Entia dome, central Australia) that display various strengths of mineral lineation and foliation associated with different deformation geometries. Combining petrofabric analysis (electron backscatter diffraction, EBSD) with magnetic fabric analysis (Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), we quantify relationships between AMS‐derived fabrics and crystallographic‐preferred alignment of fabric‐defining amphiboles. We combine single‐crystal AMS data with EBSD data to model amphibole textures and their expected magnetic anisotropy. We formulate a new EBSD‐derived petrofabric index,CA_index, and correlate it with the calculated AMS shape parameterU.CA_indexvalues can then be estimated for natural samples using measuredUvalues, leveraging both rapid but texturally low‐resolution AMS and texturally‐resolved but time‐ and analytically‐onerous petrofabric analyses to interpret petrofabrics from magnetic fabric data. In the Entia dome, we identify amphibole c‐fibers (L‐tectonite) in the high‐strain core of the dome, which reflect constrictional strains. In contrast, a‐fibers (S‐tectonites) are dominant near the dome margins and indicate flattening strains. Fabrics measured in different structural subdomains agree well with 2D and 3D numerical models of finite strain distribution in domal structures. Combining textural modeling, AMS measurements, and EBSD analyses allows investigation of previously unexploited records of ductile deformation and flow in amphibole‐bearing rocks. These results can be applied to a wide range of field‐based studies of tectonic and magnetic processes. 

Continents are constantly moving, and sometimes they collide. When continents collide, they crumple, and thicken. Mountain ranges form in this “crash zone.” Deep rocks at the bottom of a crash zone are hot because they are so deep. Hot materials—even rocks—become weak. Hot rocks deep underground can move by flowing, even though they are mostly solid. First, they flow sideways and then upwards in large blobs. When upward-moving blobs are only a few kilometers below the surface of the Earth, they cool and harden into bell shapes (domes). Flowing rocks cause the crash zone to collapse and spread out. Continents go back to their pre-collision thickness. They are not exactly the same as before collision, though: some rocks that used to be at the bottom of the continents are now at the top! We can see these formerly deep parts of continents in rock domes all over the world. 

Bedrock topography is a key boundary condition for ice sheet modeling, and determining changes in subglacial topography through time can provide insight into the timing of ice sheet development, the magnitude of glacial erosion, and the co-development of glaciers and glacial topography. West Antarctica hosts an unusually high geothermal gradient supported by hot, low-viscosity mantle which likely enhanced the lithospheric response to West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) cycles of growth and increased the sensitivity of thermochronometers to landscape evolution on million-year timescales. Thus, a valuable record of glacial landscape change might be recovered from apatite fission track [AFT 80-130°C range] and (U-Th)/He [AHe; 50-90°C] dating, provided that landscape evolution can be distinguished from tectonic signals, including the effects of faults. This study utilizes AFT-AHe thermochronology and thermo-kinematic Pecube modeling to investigate interactions between the hot geotherm, glacial erosion, and inferred crustal structures in the Ford Ranges and the DeVicq Glacier trough in western and central Marie Byrd Land (MBL), respectively. The Ford Ranges host glacial troughs (up to 3km relief) dissecting a low-relief erosional surface. Previous work suggests a majority of bedrock exhumation and cooling occurred at/by 80 Ma. However, new data hint at renewed exhumation linked to glacial incision since WAIS formation at 34 or 20 Ma. Prior (U-Th)/He zircon dates from exposures of crystalline bedrock span 90 – 67 Ma. New AHe bedrock dates are 41 to 26 Ma, while two glacial erratics (presumed to be eroded from walls or floor of glacial troughs) yielded AHe dates of 37 Ma and 16 Ma. Initial modeling results suggest a tectonic boundary between the Ford Ranges and Edward VII Peninsula separating regions with distinct exhumation histories. The boundary may cause differential WAIS incision at 34 or 20 Ma, a possibility being investigated with new models. The DeVicq Glacier trough (>3.5km relief) coincides with a prominent crustal lineament but lacks temperature-time information compared to other regions. The crustal structure may have accommodated motion between elevated central MBL and the subdued crust of the Ford Ranges. Here, owing to the lack of onshore non-volcanic bedrock exposure, we have employed AHe and AFT dating of glacial sediment marine core samples offshore of the DeVicq Glacier to investigate the timing and rates of exhumation of the bedrock carved by the DeVicq trough, with initial results revealing detrital AHe ages as young as 24 Ma. Our new Pecube models test a series of thermal, tectonic, and landscape evolution scenarios against a suite of thermochronologic data, allowing us to assess the timing of glacial incision and WAIS initiation in the Ford Ranges, and to seek evidence of an inferred tectonic boundary at DeVicq Trough. Modeling efforts will be aided by new AHe and AFT analyses from ongoing work. These models combine topographic, tectonic, thermal, and key thermochronologic datasets to produce new insight into the unique cryosphere-lithosphere interactions affecting landscape change in West Antarctica. 

Abstract Lateral movement of lithospheric fragments along strike-slip faults in response to collision (escape tectonics) has characterized convergent settings since the onset of plate tectonics and is a mechanism for the formation of new plates. The Anatolian plate was created by the sequential connection of strike-slip faults following ≥10 m.y. of distributed deformation that ultimately localized into plate-bounding faults. Thermochronology data and seismic images of lithosphere structure near the East Anatolian fault zone (EAFZ) provide insights into the development of the new plate and escape system. Low-temperature thermochronology ages of rocks in and near the EAFZ are significantly younger than in other fault zones in the region, e.g., apatite (U-Th)/He: 11–1 Ma versus 27–13 Ma. Young apatite (U-Th)/He ages and thermal history modeling record thermal resetting along the EAFZ over the past ~5 m.y. and are interpreted to indicate thermal activity triggered by strike-slip faulting in the EAFZ as it formed as a through-going, lithosphere-scale structure. The mechanism for EAFZ formation may be discerned from S-wave velocity images from the Continental Dynamics–Central Anatolian Tectonics (CD-CAT) seismic experiment. These images indicate that thin but strong Arabian lithospheric mantle extends ~50–150 km north beneath Anatolian crust and would have been located near the present surficial location of the Bitlis-Zagros suture zone (co-located with the EAFZ in our study area) at ca. 5 Ma. Underthrusting of strong Arabian lithosphere facilitated localization of the EAFZ and thus was a fundamental control on the formation of the Anatolian plate and escape system. 

West Antarctica hosts an unusually high geothermal gradient supported by hot, low-viscosity mantle which likely enhanced the lithospheric response to West Antarctic Ice Sheet [WAIS] cycles of growth and increased the sensitivity of thermochronometers to landscape evolution. Thus a valuable record of glacial landscape change might be recovered from apatite fission track [AFT 80-130°C range] and (U-Th)/He [AHe; 50-90°C]dating, provided that landscape evolution can be distinguished from tectonic signals, including the effects of faults. This study utilizes AFT-AHe thermochronology and thermo-kinematic Pecube modeling to investigate interactions between the hot geotherm, glacial erosion, and inferred crustal structures in the Ford Ranges and the DeVicq Glacier trough in Marie Byrd Land (MBL). The Ford Ranges host glacial troughs (up to 3km relief) dissecting a low-relief erosional surface. Previous work suggests a majority of bedrock exhumation and cooling occurred at/by 80 Ma. However, new data hint at renewed exhumation linked to glacial incision since WAIS formation at 34 or 20 Ma. Prior (U-Th)/He zircon dates from exposures of crystalline bedrock span 90 – 67 Ma. New AHe bedrock dates are 41 to 26 Ma, while two glacial erratics (presumed to be eroded from walls or floor of glacial troughs) yielded AHe dates of 37 Ma and 16 Ma. The DeVicq Glacier trough (>3.5km relief) likely coincides with a regional fault but lacks temperature-time information compared to other regions. The structure may have accommodated motion between elevated central MBL and the subdued crust of the Ford Ranges. We are acquiring AHe and AFT for onshore and offshore samples to compare uplift and exhumation rates for bedrock flanking DeVicq trough. Our new Pecube models test a series of thermal, tectonic, and landscape evolution scenarios against a suite of thermochronologic data, allowing us to assess the timing of glacial incision and WAIS initiation in the FordRanges, and to seek evidence of an inferred tectonic boundary at DeVicq Trough. Modeling efforts will be aided by new AHe analyses from ongoing work. These models combine topographic, tectonic, thermal, and key thermochronologic datasets to produce new insight into the unique cryosphere-lithosphere interactions affecting landscape change in West Antarctica.