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Satellite image of the Tibetan Plateau between the Himalayan mountains to the south and the Taklamakan Desert to the north. In geology and physical geography, a plateau (/ p l ə ˈ t oʊ, p l æ ˈ t oʊ, ˈ p l æ t oʊ /; French:; pl.: plateaus or plateaux), [1] [2] also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the ...
The Aegean Sea Plate is a section of continental crust which has been thinned, and is considered a high plateau between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The northern part of the plate underwent the Aegean orogeny (c. 70 - 14 Ma), followed by crustal extension and thinning due to slab rollback of the African Plate. [11]
Delamination is seen in convergence zones, especially where continental-continental collisions occur. For example, delamination is seen in the Tibetan Plateau, which has formed from the collision of India with Asia. Observations which support delamination include sudden mafic volcanism and acceleration of uplift, occurring 14 to 11 Ma.
The ridges are continental rock, but are lower in elevation than normal continents because their crust is thinner than usual, approximately 20 km (12 mi) thick, and consequently, they do not float so high above Earth's mantle as that of most landmasses. [citation needed]
Now, scientists have discovered that resulting “deep mantle waves” from these tectonic separations likely caused the interiors of continents to rise, forming plateaus.
Laurentia basement rocks. Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America.Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, although originally it also included the cratonic areas of Greenland and the Hebridean terrane in northwest Scotland.
Continental fragments have an average crustal density of 2.81 g/cm 3 (0.102 lb/cu in) which is very similar to that of typical continental crust. Strike-slip fault zones cause the fragmentation of microcontinents. The zones link the extensional zones where continental pieces are already isolated through the remaining continental bridges.
Indenter tectonics, also known as escape tectonics, is a branch of strike-slip tectonics that involves the collision and deformation of two continental plates. It can be observed in many situations around the world, and is associated with high-grade metamorphism and extensive lateral displacement of strata along oblique strike-slip faults [1]