Description / Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION "The geological history, as expressed by the stratigraphic column, is basically composed of cycles of sedimentation, stratification and magmatism which correlate with relative changes in sea level determined in turn by different types of crustal movements. The classical sequence of stages "transgression - inundation - differentiation - regression - emergence" is believed to reflect the deformation phases of a geotectonic cycle" (Wezel,1988: p.37). The concept of geotectonic cycle is fundamental in geology because it links tectonics with sedimentary processes. According to Wezel (1988) the geotectonic cycle is an expression of cyclic variations in the behavior of the crust; more precisely,it is a geodynamic response to the Earth's variations in the rate of rotation (Mörner,19869 Whyte,1977~ Carey,1976).Based on a global analysis of geotectonic data, synchronous episodes of intense global swelling, governed by cyclically ordered diastrophic processes, were identified (Wezel,1985;1988). The process leading to these swells was termed krikogenesis (Wezel, 1988).It basically consists of not steady, localized, migratory vertical movements linked to mantle diapirism and concentrated in single zones.The overlying crust adjusts itself to mantle motions induced by krikogenesis, with the formation of transient troughs and swells ('touche-de-piano' tectonics).This mechanism was individuated in several areas (Wezel,1988). The history of the Earth is described by six episodes that repeat in the same way in the course of geological time.Their duration progressively decreases:the first cycle has a duration of about 200 million years, the following,younger cycles lasted 150, 115, 65, A5 and 20 m.y. ...
Pages:
Online-Ressource (325 Seiten)
ISBN:
9783540562313
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0011060
Language:
English
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