Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Bridging The Gap Between The Foreland And Hinterland I: Geochronology And Plate Tectonic Geometry Of Ordovician Magmatism And Terrane Accretion On The Laurentian Margin Of New England, Paul M. Karabinos, Francis A. Macdonald, James L. Crowley

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

U-Pb dates on magmatic and detrital zircon from samples in the hinterland of the Taconic orogen place new constraints on the timing and plate tectonic geometry of terrane accretion and magmatic arc activity. The Moretown terrane, a Gondwanan-derived exotic block, extends from the Rowe Schist-Moretown Formation contact in the west to the Bronson Hill arc in the east. Arc-related plutonic and volcanic rocks formed above an east-dipping subduction zone under the western leading edge of the Moretown terrane from approximately 500 to 475 Ma, until collision with hyperextended distal fragments of Laurentia, represented by the Rowe Schist, at 475 Ma. …