ISSN:
1365-3121
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Geosciences
Notes:
During the Cambrian, two types of continental margins occurred around Gondwana. The eastern margin (Antarctica, Australia and southern South America) was characterized by a narrow continental shelf with a steep slope separating the shallow water environment from a deep-oceanic one accompanied by mafidultramafic volcanics. The western margin was characterized by a wider continental shelf, probably passing gradually to an unknown outer basin. This comprised three main domains: the Asiatic shelf, composed of distinct cratonic blocks, presumably separated from each other by deeper-water/ volcanic intracontinental basins; the European shelf, characterized by the development of shallow intracontinental siliciclastic basins; and the Americanc-African shelf, morphologically and depositionally uniform. The distinction of these two Gondwana continental margins expresses their different geodynamic behaviour during Cambrian extensional tectonics. In fact, the sedimentary/palaeogeographic evolution, suggests the establishment of an active Pacific-like margin in the eastern domain, and the tentative establishment of a divergent Atlantic-like margin, in the westem one.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.1992.tb00615.x
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