Nature 307, 616 - 618 (16 February 1984); doi:10.1038/307616a0

A possible mechanism for epeirogenic uplift

Dan McKenzie

Bullard Laboratories, Madingley Rise, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EZ, UK

Continental geology is dominated by vertical movements, some of these are the result of crustal shortening and extension associated with large horizontal displacements, involving processes which are now understood, at least in outline. However, both uplift and subsidence can occur without associated shortening or extension of the continental crust. Most investigations of such epeirogenic movements have been concerned with subsidence, partly because of the economic importance of the resulting sedimentary basins, and partly because of the existence of a simple model for the process¹ which can account for the development of several basins in some detail²⁻⁴. However, uplift has been relatively neglected and cannot be produced by the same mechanism. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether epeirogenic uplift can result from the intrusion of large thicknesses of basic magma into the lower part of continental crust. This suggestion was considered as a possible mechanism for the regional uplift of the Colorado Plateau by Gilbert⁵ more than 100 years ago, and also by Holmes⁶ (though both rejected the idea). However, a recent discussion of no less than 14 different mechanisms for generating uplift⁷ did not include this process, even though it seems able to produce the observed vertical motions and also to account for some of the features of the evolution of sedimentary basins that cannot be explained by the uniform stretching model^3,8,9. Although the suggestion is not new, the argument used here to support it is, and depends on an understanding of the relationship between ocean island volcanoes and mantle circulation.

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