A metamorphic perspective on foreland flexure during intraplate orogeny: evidence for the involvement of weak lithosphere |
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| Authors: | Alec K Walsh Martin Hand David E Kelsey |
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| Institution: | Department of Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Constraining depth–temperature conditions of syn‐orogenic burial metamorphism of syn‐orogenic sediments in a foreland basin provides an innovative way to investigate the thermomechanical state of the lithosphere. In central Australia, major intraplate deformation resulted in 10 km of syn‐orogenic sedimentation in a basin approximately 70 km wide. The deep level of burial in the foreland of the intraplate orogen requires the involvement of weak lithosphere with an elastic thickness of ≤20 km. The profound flexural response of the foreland region indicates that major intraplate deformation in central Australia was localised into a region of dramatically weakened lithosphere. |
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