Coevolution of craton margins and interiors during continental break-up.

ABSTRACT: Many cratonic continental fragments dispersed during the rifting and break-up of Gondwana are bound by steep topographic landforms known as 'great escarpments'^1-4, which rim elevated plateaus in the craton interior^5,6. In terms of formation, escarpments and plateaus are traditionally considered distinct owing to their spatial separation, occasionally spanning more than a thousand kilometres. Here we integrate geological observations, statistical analysis, geodynamic simulations and landscape-evolution models to develop a physical model that mechanistically links both phenomena to continental rifting. Escarpments primarily initiate at rift-border faults and slowly retreat at about 1 km Myr^-1 through headward erosion. Simultaneously, rifting generates convect

SUBMITTER: Gernon TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11306106 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature