Chemical Mohometry: Assessing Crustal Thickness of Ancient Orogens Using Geochemical and Isotopic Data.

ABSTRACT: Convergent plate boundaries are key sites for continental crustal formation and recycling. Quantifying the evolution of crustal thickness and paleoelevation along ancient convergent margins represents a major goal in orogenic system analyses. Chemical and in some cases isotopic compositions of igneous rocks formed in modern supra-subduction arcs and collisional belts are sensitive to Moho depths at the location of magmatism, implying that igneous suites from fossil orogens carry information about crustal thickness from the time they formed. Several whole-rock chemical parameters correlate with crustal thickness, some of which were calibrated to serve as "mohometers," that is, quantitative proxies of paleo-Moho depths. Based on mineral-melt partition coefficients, this concept has been exte

SUBMITTER: Luffi P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9788079 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature