Author: Marshall Kay
That some areas of North America have thicker sedimentary sections than others was recognized nearly a century ago. Dana introduced the term geosyncline in 1873, and it came to have varying applications in ensuing years. Geosyncline is to be restricted to what seems the original concept, a surface of regional extent subsiding deeply beneath accumulating surficial rocks. Stratigraphic evidence permits separation of several classes of geosynclines that developed in different tectonic environments. The greatest of American geosynclines, occupying belts along the present continental margins and having phases comparable to modern volcanic island arcs, will be emphasized because they have been virtually disregarded by American stratigraphers. In the past decade, their nature has been consistently interpreted from data of stratigraphy, volcanology, tectonics, and geophysics, and integrated into a theory of the development of the continental margins…
Published: 11/08/1951
Pages: 143
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