| Relative timing of eastern North America magmatism, rifting, drifting, and inversion |
In the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, rifting continued
during and after the ENA magmatism. In fact, normal faulting and basin
subsidence accelerated shortly before, during, and after the ENA magmatic
activity. ENA magmatism lead to the emplacement of diabase sills
and NE-striking dikes, and the eruption of synrift basalt flows.
Rifting ceased in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada
by the early Middle Jurassic, long after ENA magmatic activity. A
volcanic/volcaniclastic wedge formed near the continent-ocean boundary
of the northeastern United States during the rift-drift transition.
Inversion occurred in southeastern Canada before or during the Early Cretaceous
during the rift-drift transition and/or during the early stages of seafloor
spreading.
The inversion and widespread magmatism are related to active
asthenospheric upwelling that culminated during the rift-drift transition.
We propose that inversion may be a common feature along many volcanic passive
margins and is associated with change in strain state from margin-perpendicular
extension to margin-perpendicular shortneing. The presence of dikes
oriented at a high angle to the trend of the margin (e.g., the dike swarms
in the southeastern United States, southeastern U.S., southeastern Greenland,
offshore northwest Europe, and South America) reflects inversion.
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