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Crustal Structure Across The Central Alaska Range: Anatomy Of A Mesozoic Collisional Zone, P.R.K. Brennan, H. Gilbert, K. D. Ridgway

Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Faculty Publications

A first-order process in the growth of continents is the collision and accretion of terranes against continental margins. Collision leads to the formation of a suture zone between the accreted terrane and the former continental margin. New insights on the suturing process are observed from two receiver function transects across the Mesozoic Alaska Range suture zone. Three distinct crustal sections are identified from observations of crustal thickness, intracrustal discontinuities, and Vp/Vs: a northern section with ∼27 km thick crust of felsic to intermediate composition, a central section that is ∼37 km thick that exhibits intracrustal discontinuities and has felsic to …