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ortb American
Co~1ne~-Ocean Transects
Program
S.GEODYNA~ICSCO~ITTEE
Bo~donE~rthSclences~dResources
Comm~slononP~c~Sclences,~athem~lcs,andResources
Natlon~Hese=~ CouDcll
NATIONALACADE~YPRESS
~=b~on,D.C.lg8g
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the
National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy
of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of
the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard
for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures
approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of dis-
tinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of
science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter
granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the
federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of the National
Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National
Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its
administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences
the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also
sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research,
and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the
National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to
secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy
matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given
to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal
government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education.
Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to
associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering
knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies
determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the
government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered
jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White
are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Support for this project was provided by the Department of Energy, the National Science
Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 89-63608
International Standard Book Number 0-309-04177-5
Copies of this report are available from:
U.S. Geodynamics Committee
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418
Additional copies are for sale from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20418
SO63
Printed in the United States of America
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IN MEMORIAM
Edward A. Flinn
(1931-1989)
From 1980 to 1986, Edward A. Flinn served with dedication and effectiveness as the
first secretary-general of the Inter-Union Commission on the Lithosphere which was
established to develop and oversee the International Lithosphere Program (ALP).
During this period, he was an en officio member of the U.S. Geodynamics Committee.
Thereafter, as Vice-Chairman of Working Group 1 and Past Secretary-General, he
served as one of the USGC-~LP reporters.
·.—
111
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U.S. GEODYNAMICS COMMITTEE
Frank M. Richter, University of Chicago, Chairman
Donald J. DePaolo, University of California, Berkeley
Bradford H. Hager, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
William J. Hinze, Purdue University
David L. Jones, University of California, Berkeley
Robert A. Phinney, Princeton University
Leigh H. Royden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sigmund Snelson, Shell Oil Company
Peter R. Vail, Rice University
Rob Van der Voo, University of Michigan
E-an Zen, U.S. Geological Survey
En officio:
Albert W. B ally (Bureau Member, Inter-Union Commission on the Lithosphere)
Staff
Pembroke J. Hart
The following were members of the U.S. Geodynamics Committee during the period
of the North American Continent-Ocean Transects Program:
John C. Maxwell (Chairman, 1978-1983)
Jack E. Oliver (Chairman, 1984-1987)
Don L. Anderson
Albert W. Bally
Hubert L. Barnes
Mark D. Barton
Arthur L. Boettcher
Bruce A. Bolt
Francis R. Boyd
Robin Brett
B. Clark Burchfie}
Adam M. Dziewonski (ex officio)
Edward A. Flinn (ex officio)
Arthur R. Green
v
William C. Kelly
Car! KissTinger
David L. MacKenzie
Marcia K. McNutt
J. Casey Moore
William R. Muehiberger
Neil D. Op~yke
I. Selwyn Sacks
David W. Scholl
Hartmut A. Spetzler
George A. Thompson
Roland van Huene
Mary Lou Zoback
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BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
William L. Fisher, University of Texas, Austin, Co- Chairman
Brian J. Skinner, Yale University, Co-Chairman
Samuel S. Adams, Colorado School of Mines
Keiiti Aki, University of Southern California
Albert W. Bally, Rice University
James R. Baroffio, Chevron USA, Inc.
Sandra L. Blackstone, University of Denver
Donald J. DePaolo, University of California, Berkeley
Gordon P. Eaton, Iowa State University
W. Gary Ernst, Stanford University
Robert N. Ginsburg, University of Miami
Alexander F.H. Goetz, University of Colorado
Priscilla C.P. Grew, Minnesota Geological Survey
Perry R. Hagenstein, Resource Issues, Inc.
Harrison C. Jarnison, Atiantic Richfield Exploration Company (retired)
Thomas H. Jordan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles J. Mankin, University of Oklahoma
Care! Otte, Jr., Unocal Corporation (retired)
Frank M. Richter, University of Chicago
J.~. Simmons ITI, Interstate Commerce Commission
Steven M. Stanley, Johns Hopkins University
Irvin L. White, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Robert S. Long, Staff Director
Betty C. Guyot, Staff Associate
V1
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COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND RESOURCES
Norman Hackerman, Robert A. Welch Foundation, Chairman
Robert C. Beardsley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
B. Clark Burchfiel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
George F. Carrier, Harvard University
Ralph J. Cicerone, University of California, Irvine
Herbert D. Doan, The Dow Chemical Company (retired)
Peter S. Eagleson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dean E. Eastman, IBM, T.J. Watson Research Center
Marye Anne Fox, University of Texas
Gerhart Friediander, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Lawrence W. Funkhouser, Chevron Corporation (retired)
Phillip A. Griffiths, Duke University
Neal F. Lane, Rice University
Christopher F. McKee, University of California, Berkeley
Richard S. Nicholson, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Jack E. Oliver, Cornell University
Jeremiah P. Ostriker, Princeton University Observatory
Philip A. Palmer, E.~. du Pant de Nemours & Company
Frank L. Parker, Vanderbilt University
Denis J. Prager, MacArthur Foundation
David M. Raup, University of Chicago
Roy F. Schwitters, Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory
Larry L. Smarr, National Center for Supercomputing Applications
Karl K. Turekian, Yale University
Myron F. Uman, Acting Executive Director
Robert M. Simon, Acting Associate Executive Director
·—
V11
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Pre :ace
The Continent-Ocean Transects Program was initiated by the U.S. Geodynamics
Committee (USGC) early in 1979, as a study of the structure and Phanerozoic evolution
of the transitional region between the craton and oceanic lithosphere.
The USGC appointed Robert C. Speed as reporter of the USGC to coordinate the
Transects Program. On behalf of the USGC, he provided leadership in developing and
carrying out the program. Transect groups were organized for a series of corridors on
the margins of the United States. Specific plans were developed for the conduct of the
program and for presentation and publication of the results. Within two years after
its initiation, the program expanded to include Canadian and Mexican corridors; thus
it became a North American Continent-Ocean Transects Program. It is regarded as a
contribution to the International Lithosphere Program.
The resulting maps, sections, and text of the North American Continent-Ocean
Transects Program are being published by the Geological Society of America as part
of its program on the Decade of North American Geology.
Comparison of the transition zone around the continental margins, and devel-
opment of plans for future research were basic objectives of the transects program.
Accordingly, initial planning for the Transects Program called for a report by the
USGC giving an overview of the results of the program and guidance for the future—
the present report.
This report on the North American Continent-Ocean Transects Program consists
of two parts: Part I Overview and Recommendations; Part lI North American
Continent-Ocean Transitions (general and detailed discussion of the transects).
Part ~ is the responsibility of the USGC, which acknowledges the substantial
contribution of Robert Speed to its preparation.
Part IT is the responsibility of the indicated authors: Robert Speed, coordinator
of the North American Continent-Ocean Transects Program, and 23 leaders of the
individual transect teams. The USGC notes that Part IT is based on both published
and unpublished material associated with the transects. The USGC decided that this
consolidated discussion of the transects should be made available as part of its report
on the North American Continent-Ocean Transects Program.
L'C
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The U.S. Geodynamics Committee is pleased to acknowledge the continuing sup-
port of the the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey for the various
activities of the cornrnittee, and the specific support of the National Science Founds
tion and U.S. Geological Survey for the North American Continent-Ocean Transects
Program.
Expansion of the original Transects Program to become a North American
Continent-Ocean Transects Program was welcome. A broader, unforeseen result was
the launching in 1985 of the Global Geoscience- Transects Project (under the Interns
tional Lithosphere Program), modeled in large part on the successful North American
Continent-Ocean Transects Program.
x
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Contents
Part I. Overview and Recommendations
1. Overview..
Introduction, 3
Program Objectives, 4
Program Achievements, 5
North American Continent, 5
Present and Past Continent-Ocean Transition, 6
2
2. Major Scientific Problems e ~ ~ ~ e e ~ ~ e e ~ e ~ e ~ ~ e ~ ~ ~ 10
3. Needed Investigationseeeeeeeee ee.ee.e.e eeee.eeee.eeee.eee e eee 11
Ae Syntheses, 11
B. Topical Investigations, 12
C. Processes of Continent-Ocean Transitions, 13
D. Techniques, 13
4. New Developments eee~eee~e~ en 15
Global Geoscience Transects Project, 15
Digital Data, 16
Part Il. North American Continent-Ocean Transitions
Major Topical Problems .
General Problems, 22
Specific (Priority) Problems, 31
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21
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6. The 23 Transects: Synopses, Findings, and Problems..
Transect A2: Kodiak to Kuskokwun, Alaska, 34
Transect A3: Gulf of Alaska to the Arctic Ocean, 36
Transect B1: Intermontane Belt (Skeena Mountains) to Insular Belt (Queen
Charlotte Islands), 38
Transect B2: Juan de Fuca Plate to Alberta Plains, 40
Transect B3: Juan de Fuca Spreading Ridge to Montana Thrust Belt, 43
Transect C1: Mendocino Triple Junction to the North American Craton, 45
Transect C2: Central California Offshore to Colorado Plateau, 48
Transect C3: Pacific abyssal plain to Rio Grande rift, 49
Transects D1 to D4: Eastern Canada and North Atlantic Ocean, 51
Transect D1: Northern Appalachians (West sheet) Grenville Province, Que-
bec, to Newfoundland; (East sheet) Rifted margin offshore
northeast Newfoundland, 51
Transect D2: Transform margin south of Grand Banks: Offshore eastern
Canada, 55
Transect D3: Rifted continental margin off Nova Scotia: Onshore eastern
Canada, 57
Transect D4: Rifted continental margin oh Labrador, 58
Transect E1: Adirondacks to Georges Bank, 60
Transect E2: New York Appalachian Basin to Baltimore Canyon Trough, 62
Transect E3: Pittsburgh to Baltimore Canyon Trough, 64
Transect E4: Central Kentucky to the Carolina Rough, 66
Transect E5: Cumberiand Plateau to Blake Plateau, 68
Transects F1 and F2: Gulf of Mexico Basin, 69
Transect F1: Ouachita Orogen to Yucatan, 69
Transect F2: Mississippi to Cuba, 71
Transect G: Somerset Island to Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean Region), 73
Transects H1 to H3: Pacific Basin Lithospheres to or across Mainland Mexico, 76
Transect H1: I`a Paz to Saltillo, Northwestern Mexico, 76
Transect H2: Acapulco to Tuxpan across the Central Mexican Plateau, 76
Transect H3: Acapulco Trench to Gulf of Mexico across Southern Mexico, 76
Appendix A: 23 North American Continent-Ocean Transects: Titles, Authors
and Publication Plan . eve eves en else 81
Appendix B: U.S. Geodynamics Committee: Reportorial Topics and Reporters.... 85
· —
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Figures
1 Map of North American continent and plate showing positions of 23 corridors
of the Transects Program 4
2 Diagrammatic layout of common format items 9
3 Global Geoscience Transects Project (world map) 17
4 Map of Alaska showing positions of corridors A2 and A3. 3.5
5 Map of western Canada and northwestern United States showing positions
~ _
of corridors B1, B2, and B3 39
6 Map of western United States showing positions of corridors C1, C2, and C3 .46
7 Map of eastern Canada showing positions of corridors D1 to D4 52
8 Map of eastern United States showing positions of corridors E1 to E5 61
9 Map of southeastern United States, northeastern Mexico, and Gulf of
Mexico, showing positions of corridors F 1 and F2~
10 Map of arctic Canada showing position of corridor G............................
11 Map of tectonostratigraphic terranes of Mexico showing positions of corridors
H 1~ H 2~ and H 3~ em 77
'70
75
· ~ —
X111
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