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The St Lawrence Platform and Appalachian deformation front in the St Lawrence Estuary and adjacent areas (Quebec, Canada): structural complexity revealed by magnetic and seismic imaging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2014

NICOLAS PINET ,
DENIS LAVOIE ,
PIERRE KEATING  and
MATHIEU DUCHESNE
NICOLAS PINET*
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 490 rue de la Couronne, Quebec, Quebec, G1K 9A9
DENIS LAVOIE
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 490 rue de la Couronne, Quebec, Quebec, G1K 9A9
PIERRE KEATING
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 615 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0E9
MATHIEU DUCHESNE
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, 490 rue de la Couronne, Quebec, Quebec, G1K 9A9
*
†Author for correspondence: npinet@nrcan.gc.ca
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Abstract

New magnetic and seismic datasets offer a unique opportunity to document the geometry of the Appalachian front in a poorly studied segment of the orogen. Interpretation of high-resolution magnetic data allows, for the first time, the documentation of the contact between the autochthonous St Lawrence Platform and the Appalachians and highlights the regional significance of previously poorly documented ENE faults that experienced post-Ordovician strike-slip motion. Seismic data reveal tectonic slices in the foreland domain underlying the Appalachians and show that the depth of the décollement at the base of the Appalachian tectonic wedge varies significantly. Taken together, geological, magnetic and seismic data suggest that the geometry of the Appalachian front exhibits significant variations in map and cross-section views and recorded a polyphased structural history.

Keywords

AppalachiansSt Lawrence Platformhigh-resolution magnetic dataseismic reflection
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 151 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 996 - 1012
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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