ABSTRACT Published version © The Geological Society of America. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Natural Resources, 2022. The Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rifting history of Laurentia resulted in hyperextension along large segments of its Paleozoic margins, which created a complex paleogeography that included isolated continental fragments and exhumed continental lithospheric mantle. This peri-Laurentian paleogeography had a profound effect on the duration and nature of the Paleozoic collisional history and associated magmatism of Laurentia. During the initial collisions, peri-Laurentia was situated in a lower-plate setting, and there was commonly a significant time lag between the entrance of the leading edge of peri-Laurentia crust in the trench and the arrival of the trailing, coherent Laurentian landmass. The final Cambrian assembly of Gondwana was followed by a global plate reorganization that resulted in Cambrian (515–505 Ma) subduction initiation outboard of Laurentia, West Gondwana, and Baltica. Accretion of infant and mature intraoceanic arc terranes along the Appalachian-Caledonian margin of the Iapetus Ocean started at the end of the Cambrian during the Taconic-Grampian orogenic cycle and continued until the ca. 430–426 Ma onset of the Scandian-Salinic collision between Laurentia and Baltica, Ganderia, and East Avalonia, which created the Laurussian continent and closed nearly all vestiges of the Iapetus Ocean. Closure of the Iapetus Ocean in the Appalachians was followed by the Devonian Acadian and Neoacadian orogenic cycles, which were due to dextral oblique accretion of West Avalonia, Meguma, and the Suwannee terranes following the Pridolian to Lochkovian closure of the Acadian seaway and subsequent outboard subduction of the Rheic Ocean beneath Laurentia. Continued underthrusting of Baltica and Avalonia beneath Laurentia during the Devonian indicates that convergence continued between Laurentia and Baltica and Avalonia, which, at least in part, may have been related to the motions of Laurentia relative to its converging elements. Cambrian to Ordovician subduction zones formed earlier in the oceanic realm between Laurentia and Baltica and started to enter the Arctic realm of Laurentia by the Late Ordovician, which resulted in sinistral oblique interaction of the Franklinian margin with encroaching terranes of peri-Laurentian, intra-oceanic, and Baltican provenance. Any intervening seaways were closed during the Middle to Late Devonian Ellesmerian orogeny. Exotic terranes such as Pearya and Arctic Alaska became stranded in the Arctic realm of Laurentia, while other terranes such as Alexander and Eastern Klamath were translated further into the Panthalassa Ocean. The Middle/ Late Devonian to Mississippian Antler orogeny along the Cordilleran margin of Laurentia records the first interaction with an outboard arc terrane built upon a composite block preserved in the Northern Sierra and Eastern Klamath terranes. The Carboniferous–Permian Alleghanian-Ouachita orogenic cycle was due to closure of the vestiges of the Rheic Ocean and assembly of Pangea. The narrow, continental transform margin of the Ouachita embayment of southern Laurentia had escaped accretion by outboard terranes until the Mississippian, when it collided with an outboard arc terrane.

ABSTRACT Geophysical images and structural cross sections of accretionary wedges are usually aligned orthogonal to the subduction trench axis. These sections often reveal underplated duplexes of subducted oceanic sediment and igneous crust that record trench-normal shortening and wedge thickening facilitated by down-stepping of the décollement. However, this approach may underrecognize trench-parallel strain and the effects of faulting associated with flexure of the downgoing plate. New mapping of a recently exposed transect across a portion of the Marin Headlands terrane, California, United States, documents evidence for structural complexity over short spatio-temporal scales within an underplated system. We documented the geometry, kinematics, vergence, and internal architecture of faults and folds along ~2.5 km of section, and we identified six previously unmapped intraformational imbricate thrusts and 13 high-angle faults that accommodate shortening and flattening of the underthrust section. Thrust faults occur within nearly every lithology without clear preference for any stratigraphic horizon, and fold vergence varies between imbricate sheets by ~10°–40°. In our map area, imbricate bounding thrusts have relatively narrow damage zones (≤5–10 m) and sharp, discrete fault cores and lack veining, in contrast to the wide, highly veined fault zones previously documented in the Marin Headlands terrane. The spacing of imbricate thrusts, combined with paleoconvergence rates, indicates relatively rapid generation of new fault surfaces on ~10–100 k.y. time scales, a process that may contribute to strain hardening and locking within the seismogenic zone. The structural and kinematic complexity documented in the Marin Headlands is an example of the short spatial and temporal scales of heterogeneity that may characterize regions of active underplating. Such features are smaller than the typical spatial resolution of geophysical data from active subduction thrusts and may not be readily resolved, thus highlighting the need for cross-comparison of geophysical data with field analogues when evaluating the kinematic and mechanical processes of underplating.

Abstract Ponding conditions of basalts erupted from fissure zones at São Miguel Island (Azores) were investigated through microthermometry of fluid inclusions, hosted in olivines and clinopyroxenes, and whole-rock and mineral chemistry. The Região dos Picos and Achada das Furnas fissure zones formed between central volcanoes and erupted geochemically similar magmas for the last 30 kyr. Hydrocarbonic fluid inclusions that survived to diffusion and re-equilibration recorded a maximum density value of 1000 kg m −3 (29.3 km) at both fissure zones, at the intersection with the feeding systems of older central volcanoes. The maximum density decreases to 875 kg m −3 (23.5 km) towards the central segment of Região dos Picos. Further trapping of low-density fluids is occasional and limited to a few samples. While the deepest event is interpreted to mark the vertical variation of the Moho at each location, all other events are only representative of short-time ponding with fluid re-equilibration. The deepening of the Moho towards the central volcanoes might be the effect of long-lasting underplating. However, the periodic stretching of the lithosphere, in response to the differential stress field acting at central volcanoes, would have been responsible for the thinning of the crust at the central segment of the fissure zone. Supplementary material: Whole-rock geochemistry with international standard used, and representative analyses of selected mineral phases from the two segments of the Região dos Picos fissure zone is available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18818

Abstract We investigate the evolution of the Iberia–Newfoundland margin from Permian post-orogenic extension to Early Cretaceous break-up. We used a Quantitative Basin Analysis approach to integrate seismic stratigraphic interpretations and drill-hole data of two representative sections across the Iberia–Newfoundland margin with kinematic models for lithospheric thinning and subsequent flexural readjustment. We model the distribution of extension and thinning, palaeobathymetry, crustal structure, and subsidence and uplift history as functions of space and time. We start our modelling following post-orogenic extension, magmatic underplating and thermal re-equilibration of the Permian lithosphere. During the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, broadly distributed, depth-independent lithospheric extension evolved into Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous depth-dependent thinning as crustal extension progressed from distributed to focused deformation. During this time, palaeobathymetries rapidly deepened across the margin. Modelling of the southern and northern profiles highlighted the rapid development of crustal deformation from south to north over a 5–10 myr period, which accounts for the rapid change in Tithonian–Valanginian, deep- to shallow-water sedimentary facies between the Abyssal Plain and the adjacent Galicia Bank, respectively. Late-stage deformation of both margins was characterized by brittle deformation of the remaining continental crust, which led to exhumation of subcontinental mantle and, eventually, continental break-up and seafloor spreading.