Tectonic underplating of trench sediments beneath magmatic arcs; the Laramide example in the Western U.S.A

Abstract

We summarize the post Late Cretaceous regional tectonic evolution of the central California Coast Ranges, west of the San Andreas Fault system. The Monterey Terrane is an assembly of three tectonic units, Salinia, Nacimiento and Sierra de Salinas Blocks, two of which have been previously identified as separate terranes. These blocks are separated by two regionally important thrust faults: the Sur Fault as well as the Salinas shear zone. Based on thermobarometric and thermochronologic constraints and the existence of a common younger cover sequence these blocks were juxtaposed together after the latest Cretaceous. The Salinian assemblage represents a crustal section through the continental interior side of the Mesozoic California Arc and formed during the Late Cretaceous, primarily during a regionally significant magmatic flare-up between 95 and 80 Ma. The Nacimiento and Sierra de Salinas Assemblages comprise basement rocks representing Late Cretaceous variants of the Franciscan Complex. They represent the lower plate of a regionally important thrust system; the upper plate is the Salinian Assemblage, whereas the Sur and Salinas Faults are local exposures of the structure. We concur with previous estimates of 150 to 180 km of shortening during a brief time span, at a rate of >3 cm/yr. This fault system corresponds to the megathrust of the Farallon subduction beneath North America during the early stages of regionally extensive episode of shallow subduction. As a result, trench sediment thrust under North America and tectonically underplated to the lower crust of North America. This regional example illustrates the significance of tectonic underplating in shallow subduction systems. Accretion-related trench sediment was shuffled from the trench to the sub-arc region of the upper plate, but not recycled into the mantle. This process requires that the subduction megathrust be located solely within the North American crust.

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