Phanerozoic Evolution of North American Continent-Ocean Transitions

This volume presents syntheses in twelve chapters of the tectonic evolution of continent-ocean transitions of North America (Canada-Mexico-U.S.A.) since the Precambrian. The syntheses are interpretations based on the 19 continent-ocean transects across North American margins published by GSA as part of its Decade of North American Geology (DNAG) series. The transitional region is the part of North America between the craton, little deformed in Phanerozoic time, and the modern ocean basins. The region developed heterogeneously within plate boundary zones that led to sequences of passive, collisional, and active margins that differ place to place. Nine chapters address individual segments of the transitional region, two consider active and passive margin tectonics topically, and one treats the evolution of Phanerozoic transitions of North America as a whole.