Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ring, U. Articles by Brandon, M. T. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Kinematic data for the Coast Range fault and implications for exhumation of the Franciscan subduction complex

¹ Kline Geology Laboratory, Yale University, P.O. Box 208109, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

Kinematic data from two segments of the Coast Range fault are used to test the hypothesis that the Franciscan subduction complex was exhumed by extensional faulting. The data reveal a consistent geometry for the principal directions of brittle strain. The maximum extension direction has an east-west orientation and lies subperpendicular to the present attitude of the Coast Range fault, which dips steeply to the east. The maximum shortening direction is subvertical and lies at a low angle to the present down-dip direction of the fault. Given that the Coast Range fault probably formed with a gentle dip, our results indicate subhorizontal crustal shortening in a northeast direction, which is at variance with interpretations that invoke regional-scale extension between the Franciscan subduction complex and the overlying Coast Range ophiolite and Great Valley Group. We favor a model involving out-of-sequence thrust faults. Such a model is consistent with fault-parallel contraction and the pronounced discontinuity in metamorphic grade across the Coast Range fault, as well as substantial thinning of the Coast Range ophiolite. This interpretation implies that erosion, not extensional faulting, was the major process that exhumed the Franciscan subduction wedge during the Late Cretaceous.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W.G. Ernst and J.G. Liou High- and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism: Past results and future prospects American Mineralogist, November 1, 2008; 93(11-12): 1771 - 1786. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Schemmann, J. R. Unruh, and E. M. Moores Kinematics of Franciscan Complex exhumation: New insights from the geology of Mount Diablo, California Geological Society of America Bulletin, May 1, 2008; 120(5-6): 543 - 555. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Unruh, T. A. Dumitru, and T. L. Sawyer Coupling of early Tertiary extension in the Great Valley forearc basin with blueschist exhumation in the underlying Franciscan accretionary wedge at Mount Diablo, California Geological Society of America Bulletin, November 1, 2007; 119(11-12): 1347 - 1367. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W.G. Ernst Petrotectonics, climate, crustal thickness, and evolution of geologically young orogenic belts Geological Society of America Memoirs, January 1, 2007; 200(0): 159 - 179. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W.G. Ernst, B.R. Hacker, and J.G. Liou Petrotectonics of ultrahigh-pressure crustal and upper-mantle rocks--Implications for Phanerozoic collisional orogens Geological Society of America Special Papers, January 1, 2007; 433(0): 27 - 49. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. P. Richter, U. Ring, A. P. Willner, and B. Leiss Structural contacts in subduction complexes and their tectonic significance: the Late Palaeozoic coastal accretionary wedge of central Chile Journal of the Geological Society, January 1, 2007; 164(1): 203 - 214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. W. Shervais, B. L. Murchey, D. L. Kimbrough, P. R. Renne, and B. Hanan Radioisotopic and biostratigraphic age relations in the Coast Range Ophiolite, northern California: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Western Cordillera Geological Society of America Bulletin, May 1, 2005; 117(5-6): 633 - 653. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Jolivet, C. Faccenna, B. Goffe, E. Burov, and P. Agard Subduction tectonics and exhumation of high-pressure metamorphic rocks in the Mediterranean orogens Am J Sci, May 1, 2003; 303(5): 353 - 409. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Wakabayashi and Y. Dilek What constitutes 'emplacement' of an ophiolite?: Mechanisms and relationship to subduction initiation and formation of metamorphic soles Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2003; 218(1): 427 - 447. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Bolhar and U. Ring Deformation history of the Yolla Bolly terrane at Leech Lake Mountain, Eastern belt, Franciscan subduction complex, California Coast Ranges Geological Society of America Bulletin, February 1, 2001; 113(2): 181 - 195. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. N. Constenius, R. A. Johnson, W. R. Dickinson, and T. A. Williams Tectonic evolution of the Jurassic-Cretaceous Great Valley forearc, California: Implications for the Franciscan thrust-wedge hypothesis Geological Society of America Bulletin, November 1, 2000; 112(11): 1703 - 1723. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				U. Ring, M. T. Brandon, S. D. Willett, and G. S. Lister Exhumation processes Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 1999; 154(1): 1 - 27. [Abstract] [PDF]

				U. Ring and M. T. Brandon Ductile deformation and mass loss in the Franciscan Subduction Complex: implications for exhumation processes in accretionary wedges Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 1999; 154(1): 55 - 86. [Abstract] [PDF]