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Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92037
Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92037
Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92037
(1966), Morgan (1968a), and McKenzie and If we use the plate model for sea-floor
Morgan (1969), their geologic implications spreading and continental drift developed by
have not been stressed. Morgan (1968a) and McKenzie and Parker
(1967), and assume that the central Pacific
IMPLICATIONS DRAWN FROM Ocean floor acted as a rigid plate during the
THE MAGNETIC ANOMALIES IN Cenozoic, then the locations of the anomalies
THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC OCEAN and the fracture zones indicate the configura-
Figure 1 shows the pattern of magnetic tions through time of the ancient spreading
anomalies in the northeast Pacific. The ridge and its transform faults. For example,
numbering of the anomalies follows the time Figure 2 shows the configuration of the spread-
scale set up by Heirtzler and others (1968, ing system at the time when anomaly 21 was
Fig. 3). Although most of the ages in this time being created, the early Eocene.
scale were highly speculative when they were
proposed, dates from the Deep Sea Drilling A Mid-Cenozoic Trench off Western North
Project and from an abyssal hill dredge haul America
indicate that they are approximately correct A striking feature of Figure 1 is that the
(Maxwell and others, 1970; McManus and anomalies present represent only the western
Burns, 1969; Luyendyk and Fisher, 1969). All half of the symmetrical pattern expected. All
anomaly ages used in this paper were taken presently known ridges spread approximately
from the Heirtzler time scale, and the cor- symmetrically, and so we might expect to find
relation of ages to geologic epochs follows the other halves of these anomalies somewhere.
Berggren (1969). In fact, the eastern halves and the ridge itself
Figure 1. Magnetic anomalies in the northeast Pacific from Atwater and Menard (1970). Numbering of
anomalies and their ages shown in the scale follow Heirtzler and others (1968); ages of geologic epochs follow
Berggren (1969).
IMPLICATIONS FROM MAGNETIC ANOMALIES 3515
(MOTION
UNKNOWN)
(FIXED)
AMERICAN PLATE
A. PRESENT
COCOS
PLATE
(FIXED)
B. Ill HI
600 KH
Figure 4. Present configuration of plate boundaries
in the northeast Pacific and western North America,
after Morgan (1968a). The map is a Mercator pro-
jection about the pole of relative motion between the
Pacific and American plates, 53° N., 53° W., Morgan
(1968a). Transform faults between the two plates lie on C. 20 N.r
1200 Id
small circles about the pole of relative motion; thus, in
this projection they form horizontal lines. Gray line
marks the location of anomaly 21, used in Figure 2.
Boundary symbols and arrows are as described in
Figure 2.
of southern Baja California (Chase and others,
1970).
All of these ages supply only upper limits for
the time when the trench ceased activity, for it
is possible that younger anomalies once existed FARALLON PLATE
offshore and subsequently were overridden by
the continent. It should also be emphasized that
these anomalies lie within the Pacific plate and
move with it. The geometrical relationship Figure 5. Schematic model of plate interactions
between the events they date and events on the assuming that the North American and Pacific plates
continent cannot be deciphered until the rela- moved with a constant relative motion of 6 cm/yr
parallel to the San Andreas fault. The coast is ap-
tive motion of the North American plate is proximated as parallel to the San Andreas. Farallon-
determined. Nevertheless, the anomalies do Pacific plate motions are approximated from anomalies
indicate that a trench existed along the western in Figure 1. Initials represent cities listed in Figure 6
United States and Mexico in middle Tertiary and Vancouver Island. Boundaries and arrows are as in
times. Figure 2, the Pacific plate being held fixed. Captions
The character of the trench that consumed show the time represented by each sketch in millions
the Farallon plate may be guessed from the rate of years before present and the distance that the North
at which it consumed crust. This rate was, on American plate must subsequently be displaced to reach
the average, greater than 5 cm/yr, since the its present position with respect to the Pacific plate.
trench was able to overtake the ridge; the most motion (Morgan, 1968a; McKenzie and
likely models, discussed below, suggest con- Parker, 1967). In these terms, the San Andreas
sumption rates of 7 to 10 cm/yr. Thus, the can exist only where the 2 plates are in direct
trench may have been approximately equi- contact. As long as the Farallon plate lay be-
valent to the more active trenches known tween the American and Pacific plates, the
today (Kurile, Japan, Tonga; see Le Pichon, San Andreas system could not function as a
1968), having a well-developed Benioff zone, strike-slip boundary. Thus, no part of the San
calc-alkaline volcanism, and associated vertical Andreas system began movement in the present
tectonics. sense and rate before 30 m.y. ago, and the ages
of the offshore anomalies discussed above give
Limits on the Age of the San Andreas Fault age limits not only for the ceasing of trench
Some conclusions can also be drawn con- activity but also for the beginning of the
cerning the history of the San Andreas fault various segments of the San Andreas system.
system. According to the plate tectonics model This young age for the San Andreas system
(Fig. 4), this fault system is simply part of the contradicts data which suggest a considerable
present boundary between the North American amount of early and middle Tertiary slip: the
and Pacific plates and expresses their relative post-Oligocene offset is about 350 km (Huff-
CONCERNING THE MOTION OF NORTH AMERICA 3517
QUEEN
man, 1970), while the post-Cretaceous offset of CHARLOTTE SAN LOS
the basement is about 500 km (Hill and ISLANDS SEATTLE FRANCISCO ANGELES GLJAYMAS MAZATLAN
MEXICO
20°N
-
!5°N -
Rivera fracture zone may indicate that the fornia spreading system) and shares boundaries
ocean floor east of the ridge acts as an in- with 3 large plates (North American, Pacific,
dependent plate (the Rivera plate, Fig. 9B).and Cocos). Unfortunately, most of the mag-
This plate was once part of the Cocos plate netic anomalies known in the Gulf were created
(McKenzie and Morgan, 1969, p. 131), and at the boundary between the Pacific plate and
although it now appears to be moving with the this small wayward one, so that their relation-
American plate, it may not be entirely ship to the American plate is uncertain. On the
coupled to it yet. A complicated motion for other hand, 2 magnetic profiles northeast of the
this small plate would not be surprising, since Tamayo fracture zone show rates of 2.9 cm/yr
it is caught in a triple junction (East Pacific (5.8 cm/yr full rate) for the last 2 m.y. (Larson
Rise, Mid-America Trench, and Gulf of Cali- and others, 1968; R. L. Larson, 1969, personal
50°N
45°N
40°N -
commun.). These anomalies are not involved this rate and direction. (Activity on the
with the Rivera plate and appear to be truly a southern part of the Gorda Ridge and on the
part of the Gulf spreading system. The simil- Mendocino fault may be disregarded for our
arity of rates across the Tamayo fracture zone purposes, since distorted anomalies and scat-
suggests that the Rivera plate is nearly coupled tered earthquakes indicate that the sea floor is
to the American one. The spreading rate north- not acting as a rigid plate in this region.) The
east of the Tamayo fracture zone is probably Juan de Fuca Ridge and Blanco fracture zone
the strongest evidence we have concerning the have been considered to be a continuation of
Pacific-North American rate of relative mo- the San Andreas system by Vine and Wilson
tion. It is the principal source for the 6 cm/yr (1965), Bolt and others (1968), and others. As
rate used in the models described above. such, it would be an indicator of the relative
The onset of spreading of the Gulf 4 or per- rate of motion between the American and
haps 6 m.y. ago (Larson and others, 1968; Pacific plates. However, Figure 4 emphasizes
Larson, 1970) may be interpreted as the onset a serious problem in this interpretation. Figure
of Pacific-North America motion in the model 4 is a Mercator projection which uses the North
of changing motions, or it can be attributed to American-Pacific pole of relative motion as its
the southward migration of a triple junction in north pole (similar to that of McKenzie and
the model of constant motions. This second Parker, 1967, Fig. 1). In this projection, any
possibility will be discussed below. fault which is acting as a transform fault be-
tween the Pacific and American plates will
Spreading at the Juan de Fuca Ridge appear as a horizontal line. The strike of the
The magnetic anomalies at the Juan de Fuca Blanco fracture zone differs from this trend by
Ridge (Fig. 10A) show that spreading is about 25°. Either the Blanco is absorbing a
occurring there at a half-rate of about 2.9 large amount of compression, or else the ocean
cm/yr (5.8 cm/yr total), presumably in the floor between the ridge and the continent is
direction parallel to the Blanco fracture zone. acting as a separate plate (the Juan de Fuca
The northern Gorda Ridge is also spreading at plate, Fig. 10B).
If the Juan de Fuca plate is a separate plate
and is moving parallel to the Blanco fracture
zone at 5.8 cm/yr while the American plate is
moving parallel to the San Andreas fault at
at 5.8 cm/yr, Figure 11A shows that the re-
sulting motion between these 2 plates is a
north-northeastward compression of about 2.5
cm/yr. If Oregon and Washington are moving
at a rate less than 5.8 cm/yr (as in Fig. 16),
then the compression is faster and is in a more
easterly direction (Figure 11B). There is a
considerable amount of evidence that the
margin of North America is being underthrust
by the ocean floor in this region (Silver, 1969a,
1969b; Byrne and others, 1966), and the
andesitic volcanism of the Cascade mountains
independently suggests the existence of a
down-welling oceanic plate. The lack of a clear
Benioff zone of earthquakes may be considered
as evidence against down welling; however, a
few earthquakes of intermediate depth do occur
(Tobin and Sykes, 1968), and boundaries where
slow compression is predicted are noted for
their low seismicity (southern Chile and the
Figure 10B. Present plate configuration and Macquarie ridge are examples; see Le Pichon,
motions near the Juan de Fuca ridge. The probability
that the Juan de Fuca plate is underthrusting the North 1968). Furthermore, the Juan de Fuca plate
American plate makes spreading at the Juan de Fuca is young and thus not very thick and cool,
ridge unreliable as an indicator of North American- and so it may reheat very quickly, producing
Pacific motion. few deep earthquakes. The possibility of de-
3522 T. ATWATER—IMPLICATIONS OF PLATE TECTONICS, N. AMERICA
Figure 12. Magnetic anomalies and sedimentation off central California. Positive magnetic anomalies are shown
in black (after Mason and Raff, 1961; Bassinger and others, 1969). Distribution of fan deposits (gray) and top-
ographic features are from Menard (1964, physiographic diagram). White stars show locations of Deep Sea Drilling
holes 32 (southern star), 33 and 34 which bottomed in late Miocene fan deposits. Magnetic anomaly profiles show
the basis for identification of certain anomalies. Profile A, for comparison, is from north of the Mendocino fracture
zone. Profile C-C'-C" shows slowing of spreading about 32.5 m.y. ago, presumably associated with disruption of
the Farallon plate.
,130°W 125°W ,120°W
H 40°N
H 35°N
ANOM.
NO.
6c C"
3524 T. ATWATER—IMPLICATIONS OF PLATE TECTONICS, N. AMERICA
be found within the continental geology of spans, offsets of the San Andreas can be
North America. Two active boundary regimes measured by correlating and dating distinctive
were predicted above for the edge of the North units which bridged the fault and since have
American plate: a trench and a strike-slip been offset by it. Such studies have been sum-
dominated regime. marized by Dickinson and Grantz (1968). They
tend to favor a rate of offset of about 1.3 cm/yr
Igneous Activity Related to an Offshore in central California; however, the scatter in
Trench the points is great, and few of the correlations
Probably the most easily detected con- are sufficiently unique and well studied to
tinental indication of the existence of a pres- stand alone. Three intensively studied ties
ently active trench and associated Benioft suggest that while an offset of 350 km has
zone is the eruption and intrusion of calc-alkaline occurred since the Oligocene (post-23.5 m.y.),
magmas of predominantly intermediate and much of it (about 275 km) is post-Miocene
silicic compositions. Such activity should have (Huffman, 1970; Turner and others, 1970).
existed above formerly active Benioff zones These ties may be compatible with a model
and should have ceased when subdue tion of changing motions like the one discussed
ceased. Thus, once the Pacific-North American above in which the San Andreas fault broke
motion is known, a figure similar to Figures 6 relatively recently and moved quickly, taking
and 8 can be constructed and used to predict up all of the Pacific-North American motion
the type of igneous activity expected. Con- (300 km in 5 m.y.), no offset occurring earlier.
versely, the distribution of igneous rocks may If the San Andreas fault took up all the Amer-
help to determine what the motions were. ican-Pacific motion, the constant motion model
Lipman and others (1970) and Christiansen and predicts that it would show 1400 km of offset
Lipman (1970) report that intermediate vol- since 23 m.y. ago. This obviously does not fit
canism was prevalent throughout the western any of the measurements of offset. However,
United States in middle Cenozoic times and the constant model may fit reasonably well
appears to have ceased in the southwest be- into a picture of broader deformation.
tween 20 and 10 m.y. ago. This pattern is
similar to that predicted by the models. Estab- Western United States as a Broad Transform
lishment of these relationships in time and space Fault Zone
may provide the detail needed to choose the The idea that the San Andreas fault con-
correct model of relative motion from among stitutes a simple boundary between 2 large,
the possible ones described above. perfectly rigid plates is almost certainly too
simplistic a view. Other active and inactive
The San Andreas System as a Transform Fault faults in California lie parallel to the San
The present boundary between the North Andreas and probably have taken up some
American and Pacific plates is usually drawn as motion, and the folding of the California Coast
a single break following the San Andreas fault Ranges may be drag folding that has taken up
and Gulf of California rift system (Vine and some of it. We might take a still broader view
Wilson, 1965; Morgan, 1968a; McKenzie and and include the late Tertiary deformation of
Parker, 1967). If this is a realistic description, a Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and the Basin and
study of the history of offsets across it will yield Range province, since this deformation has
a history of the Pacific-North American been described as a megashear in the San
motions. Andreas direction and sense. In other words,
Geodetic measurements across the fault zone we might consider western North America to
indicate average slips of 5 or 6 cm/yr in the be a very wide, soft boundary between 2 rigid,
San Francisco area (Meade and Small, 1966) moving plates. These unifying ideas for western
and about 8 cm/yr in the Imperial Valley U.S.A. tectonics have been suggested by Carey
region (Whitten, 1955), and an estimate of the (1958), Wise (1963), and Hamilton and Myers
seismic •moment for the San Andreas system (1966). It is especially enticing to include them
since 1800 indicates an average slip rate of 6.6 here because it allows most of the late Tertiary
cm/yr (Brune, 1968). These measurements tectonic activity of western North America
may indicate that the San Andreas system is to derive its driving energy from the interac-
taking up all the motion, but any long-range tions of moving plates. The concept of a wide,
conclusion is highly uncertain because of the soft boundary is also suggested by the broad,
short time span measured. For geologic time diffuse seismicity pattern of the western United
3526 T. ATWATER—IMPLICATIONS OF PLATE TECTONICS, N. AMERICA
States (Barazangi and Dorman, 1968). This a piece of the continent has become attached
pattern of earthquakes is entirely different to the Pacific plate and motion is taken up in-
from the narrow, linear belt of activity asso- land. This can occur only after the lithosphere
ciated with oceanic transform faults. at the juncture in Figure 15C has cooled and
Figure 14 contains some of the more prom- thickened. Thus, a cooling time must be in-
inent tectonic features from King (1969), troduced between the time that the triple
plotted on the Mercator projection of Figure 4. junction passes a given point and the time when
The relationship of the Pacific-North American deformation related to the new boundary
motion to features within the boundary can be regime might be expected to be felt within the
visualized by moving the top of the map continent. For much of southern Baja Califor-
horizontally to the right. Faults running nia, there appears to have been a cooling time
horizontally across the figure (San Andreas) of 5 to 7 m.y., since the last anomaly offshore is
show pure strike slip. Faults at other angles 11 m.y. old, while spreading began inside the
show opening (Basin and Range) and closing mouth of the Gulf 6 to 4 m.y. ago (Chase and
(Transverse Ranges). Rotations of small blocks others, 1970; Larson, 1970). During the cooling
will complicate the picture somewhat. time, all American-Pacific motion was ap-
parently taken up along the continental margin.
Relations of the Onset of Continental If the margin is parallel to the motion, deforma-
Deformation to Ridge-Trench Collisions tion will be pure strike slip, difficult to detect
Before we can discuss the age of onset and at a later time. If the margin lies at an angle to
the total amount of deformation expected the motion, oblique spreading or compression
within the continent, we must consider what will result. Much of the borderland rifting off
occurs at a migrating ridge-trench-transform southern California and Baja California may
triple j unction. Figure 15 is a sketch of plates inhave occurred during these times before
cross section as the ridge and trench approach. deformation jumped inland, and may be simply
Figure 15A was constructed from McKenzie's related to the slight nonalignment of the coast
(1967, 1969) models of ridges and trenches. The with the San Andreas trend. This possibility
rigid plate has zero thickness at the ridge center will be used in the reconstruction below (Fig.
and thickens as it moves away from the ridge 16).
and cools. At the trench, the down-going slab The fact that motion is presently taken up by
thins again as it is warmed by the surrounding deformation within the continent indicates that
mantle. In Figure 15B, the ridge is so near the the continental lithosphere is very weak,
trench that the plate is still very thin when it weaker even than the continent-ocean inter-
begins to descend into the mantle and to be face, even after that interface was continually
thinned by heating. By the time the trench sheared and rifted during the cooling time.
overruns the ridge, Figure 15C, the Farallon
plate has practically ceased to exist. A Reconstruction of Middle and Late
In plate models, a spreading ridge is con- Cenozoic Interactions
sidered to be just the weakest place between 2
diverging plates; it is not especially related to Using the concepts just discussed, a slightly
a convective up-welling zone in the mantle. more realistic version of Figure 5 can be con-
Thus, when the Farallon plate ceases to exist, structed. In Figure 16, the North American
the ridge also ceases. This idea is incompatible plate is arbitrarily held fixed and, going back-
with hypotheses which relate continued activity ward in time, the Pacific plate is progressively
of the overrun East Pacific Rise to rifting in the moved horizontally to the right by the amount
Gulf of California and the Basin and Range specified. The map projection is such that
province. Those features are here regarded as pieces may be moved horizontally across the
weak places in the continental crust which page without changing size or shape. The off-
broke and thereby became parts of the bound- shore anomalies are used to delineate the Faral-
ary between the obliquely diverging North lon plate. From zero to 20 m.y. ago, 2 con-
American and Pacific plates. tinental boundaries are used. The wide, gray,
Figure 15C is a sketch of the situation when inland zone schematically represents deforma-
the trench meets the ridge and the Pacific and tion in the Basin and Range province, while
North American plates first come into contact. the coastal boundary represents offset on the
The Pacific plate was still thin and hot at the San Andreas and other nearshore faults.
juncture. In Figure 15D, the present situation, Deformation is divided arbitrarily: one-third
Figure 14. Some major tectonic features of western North America (afterKing, 1969). Quaternary volcanic rocks are black; granitic plutonic rocks are gray; most thrust
faults have been omitted. Map projection is that used in Figure 4, so that deformation related to the motion between the American and Pacific plates can be imagined by
keeping the ocean floor rigid and moving the rigid part of North America horizontally to the right. Horizontal faults experience pure strike slip while oblique faults have
components of rifting or compression. A large-scale version of this projection is available from the author.
3528 T. ATWATER—IMPLICATIONS OF PLATE TECTONICS, N. AMERICA
on the inland boundary, two-thirds on the motion before 4 m.y. ago was not constant but
coastal one. changed and was more nearly parallel to the
The black regions in Figures 16D, 16E, and coastline. Minor, rather sudden changes in
16F are overlaps of continental and oceanic direction and rate of motion have been noted
crust which arise in the construction because between other plates (Menard and Atwater,
the coast is not perfectly parallel to the direc- 1968; Heirtzler and others, 1968, Fig. 3) so that
tion of motion. These overlaps indicate some a small change would not be surprising. A
basic error in the assumptions, either the sea change in direction 10 m.y. ago of about 20°
floor has been grossly misdated, or Mexico would be adequate to avoid the overlap, for
deformed much more than the amount ac- instance. Evidence cited above for the prox-
counted for by the rifting of the Gulf and imity of the coast to near-coast anomalies dur-
borderland, or else the American-Pacific ing their formation suggests that the change in
direction was small. Assuming that the direction
A.
SPREADING
(5 C M / Y R )
changed enough to resolve this conflict while
^ACIRC PLATE the rate was about constant, a time-distance
plot, Figure 17, can be constructed and the
following history might be described.
About 32 m.y. ago, the Farallon plate broke
up off Baja California between the Pioneer and
OBLIQUE \\ Murray fracture zones, and thereafter, pieces
B. SPREADING. SUBDUCTION rVOLCANISM
of the ridge began colliding with the trench.
PACIFIC_PLATE \ N^AMERICAM
By 24 m.y. ago, the Farallon plate between the
Mendocino and Murray fracture zones had
disappeared, and American-Pacific motion was
being taken up at the young, hot, continent-
ocean boundary. By 20 m.y. ago, this section
lay off southern California and northern Baja
California. Apparently the margin had cooled
and strengthened sufficiently that American-
Pacific motion began to be felt inland, on the
San Andreas (Crowell, 1968), and perhaps in
the Basin and Range province. Between 20 and
PACIFIC PLATE (FIXED)
10 m.y. ago, more southerly sections of the
ridge collided with the trench while the Men-
docino continued to move northward so that
200
the Pacific-American boundary was greatly
KILOMETERS lengthened. By 10 m.y. ago (Fig. 16C), the
Figure 15. Sketch of plate cross sections during the Farallon plate had disappeared along the full
collision of a ridge and trench. The Pacific plate is held length of the present San Andreas-Gulf of
fixed. The spreading center spreads at 5 cm/yr half- California system. Opening of the lower Gulf
rate, accreting material onto both plates so that it moves of California does not appear to have begun
to the right at 5 cm/yr and the Farallon plate moves to until 4 or 5 m.y. ago. Apparently between 11
the right at 10 cm/yr. The American plate moves out and 5 m.y. ago, the continent-ocean juncture
of the page at 6 cm/yr. Consumption at the trench is
oblique. As the Farallon plate moves away from the off Baja California was still hot and weak so
ridge, it thickens by cooling; as it moves down the that motion was being taken up in the margin
Benioff zone, it is thinned by being heated. Plate and borderland, perhaps causing the buried
thickness in A is sketched following the 0.9 isotherm deformation of the margin noted by Normark
of McKenzie (1967, 1969) (where 1.0 is the normalized and others (1969). In California, the ocean-
potential temperature of material in the mantle beneath continent coupling appears to have grown
the plates and intruding at the ridge-crest). A represents stronger so that more motion moved inland,
the plates in early Tertiary, C represents the situation accelerating the slip rate of the San Andreas
when the ridge and trench collided, and D represents (Huffman, 1970). Between 20 and 5 m.y. ago,
the plate configuration in central California at the
present time. The time which elapses during the evolu- the San Andreas and Basin-Range systems are
tion of the situation in C to that in D must be con- assumed to have extended coastward to con-
sidered when origin times for the San Andreas fault are nect into the Baja margin system. The San
predicted. Andreas apparently passed through the trans-
CONTINENTAL PHENOMENA RELATED TO PLATE BOUNDARIES 3529
verse Ranges while the Basin-Range deforma- obliquely. In Figure 16C, this is schematically
tion extended across southern California. Both drawn as a rift-transform fault system, but a
systems pass into the borderland and southeast- more realistic description would be a zone of
ward along the coast. The trends of these northwest-southeast stretching of the crust,
extensions are such that movement in the San manifested by the formation of numerous
Andreas direction will cause them to open basins and rifts. The timing of subsidence of the
20M.Y 1200 KM
Cfl(2) P,(6)
Figure 16. Reconstruction of plate evolution and deformation related to late Cenozoic interaction of the North
American and Pacific plates. Initials are cities listed in Figure 17 and symbols and arrows follow Figure 2 except
that North America is now arbitrarily held fixed and large arrows show motion relative to it. Diagrams in G show
the derivation of various vectors. Captions give time in millions of years before present and amount of offset which
must subsequently occur to bring the Pacific and inner North American plates back to their present relative posi-
tions. Pacific-North America motion (PA) is assumed constant at 6 cm/yr in a horizontal direction (map projection
as in Figures 14 and 4). For the last 20 m.y., 4 cm/yr is assumed to be taken up on near-coast faults, while 2 cm/yr
is accommodated by inland faults (gray region). Thus, California was moving northwest at 2 cm/yr (CA). City
locations and coordinate lines are deformed accordingly. Prior to 20 m.y. ago, all motion is presumed to be taken
up at the coast. Black regions are unacceptable overlaps of oceanic and continental crust, showing that the direction
of Pacific-North American motion probably suffered at least a minor change sometime between 20 and 4 m.y. ago.
3530 T. ATWATER—IMPLICATIONS OF PLATE TECTONICS, N. AMERICA
AND BORDERLANDS
INTERACTION
RAPID SUBDUCTION WITH FARALLON
[OFFSHORE TRENCH, PLATE:
1' STRIKE SLIP
ANDESITE VOLCANISM, RAPID SUBDUCTIQN
AND RIFTING
COMPRESSIONAL OF MARGIN
TECTONICS) AND
INTERACTION BORDER-
WITH KULA
PLATE:
COMPRESSIONAL
STRIKE SLIP?
35 35
B SF SL CC LV D LA PH EP Cl GS CH
Figure 17. Location of plate boundary regimes with respect to points in western North America, assuming
motions and deformations described for Figure 16. Inland cities are raised above the line. They have been projected
to the coast vertically in the projection of Figure 16, roughly parallel to the direction of Farallon-North American
underthrusting. Fine lines trace the shifting locations of the cities as the continent deforms. Gray areas show
times and places where tectonic and igneous activity related to subduction are predicted. White areas show times
and places where North America was in contact with the Pacific plate (or with the Kula plate, to be discussed
below). The probable near-coast manifestations of these interactions are stated. The dotted line encloses the time
and space included in the inland deformation zone of Figure 16. Although it is part of the North American-Pacific
interaction, this zone overlaps the Farallon-Pacific field, so that effects of the 2 regimes may be superimposed. For
example, around Carson City, andesite volcanism is predicted through the middle Tertiary until 11 m.y. ago, while
strike-slip and basin-range rifting is predicted to have started 20 m.y. ago, lasting to the present day.
Los Angeles basin (Yerkes and others, 1965) by Suppe (1970b), although the suggested
fits this model well. timing is different.
The configuration shown in 16C lasted until
about 5 m.y. ago, when the margin apparently AN EXTRAPOLATION INTO THE
became stronger than an inland zone which EARLY CENOZOIC
broke to take up the motion (16B), opening When the model of constant motions is
the Gulf of California. In southern California, extended into the early Cenozoic, yet another
the San Andreas had to break its way inland to triple junction is seen to have migrated along
connect into the new Baja California boundary. the coast of North America. This is the junc-
The bend was in such a direction that oblique tion between the Farallon, North American,
compression began in the Transverse Ranges and Kula plates (Fig. 18).
(Crowell, 1968). The two-stage development The late Mesozoic existence of the Kula
of the San Andreas system with motion first plate (Grow and Atwater, 1970) has been
taken up outboard and then inboard of the postulated to account for the formation of the
Baja peninsula has been suggested by Crowell east-west-trending magnetic anomalies which
(Dec. 1969, personal commun.) and developed lie south of the Aleutian trench (Pitman and
AN EXTRAPOLATION INTO THE EARLY CENOZOIC 3531
intersected North America, and this triple ridge-ridge triple junction represented by the
junction moved up the coast, the Farallon- magnetic bight intersected the Surveyor and
North American trench developing south of it. Mendocino fracture zones about 100 and 115
This geometry suggests possible relationships m.y. ago (about 1300 and 1950 km southwest
to some geologic problems. Although the Kula- of anomaly 31). Consideration of ridge-ridge-
North American vector is poorly known, it ridge triple junctions shows that the offsets on
appears to have had a significant component fracture zones must come into existence at or
of right lateral strike slip. A late Mesozoic- after this intersection time (Atwater and Men-
early Cenozoic era of Kula-North American ard, 1970). Thus, the huge offset of the Men-
interaction is indicated off the western United docino fracture zone indicates some major
States. This suggests a possible early episode of change between 115 and 77 m.y. ago. The var-
slip on the San Andreas which could account for iable spacing and trend of anomalies 32 to 31
the pre-late-Oligocene offset of Mesozoic south of the Aleutian trench (Hayes and
terrains discussed above. A late Mesozoic Heirtzler, 1968; Grim and Erickson, 1969)
episode of San Andreas slip is also suggested by may be an indication that until about 72 m.y.
Wentworth (1968) to explain contrasting source ago, the Kula-Pacific ridge was still getting
areas and troughlike depositional characteristics adjusted to a large change or to its original
for the Gualala basin. The geometry also shows formation.
that the mid-Tertiary trench discussed near Probably the most important contribution
the beginning of this paper can begin only after of Figure 18 is that it emphasizes the inconstant
the passage northward of the third ridge triple nature of plate tectonic boundary effects. The
junction. Dating of igneous rocks suggests figure was constructed assuming constant
the existence of a short-lived mid-Tertiary relative motions of the plates, and yet, 3 dif-
trench off California (McKee and others, ferent successive boundary regimes are pre-
1970); however, it appears to have started dicted at many points along the coast.
in middle or late Eocene, somewhat later
than predicted. Another implication of Figure DISCUSSION
18 (and Fig. 17) is that the Farallon plate The conclusions in the 3 main sections of this
never extended farther north than Van- paper represent 3 different levels of uncertainty.
couver Island. Central British Columbia and All assume that the basic principles of sea-floor
southeast Alaska are presently interacting with spreading and plate tectonics are approximately
the Pacific plate. The Kula and other unknown correct. Given this assumption, the conclusions
plates lay offshore in earlier times. No definite in the first section—that a mid-Tertiary trench
predictions can be made concerning plate lay off western North America and that the
interactions in this region. San Andreas fault began activity in its present
A Mesozoic trench is often associated with role not earlier than 30 m.y. ago—are nearly
Franciscan rocks (Dietz, 1963; Ernst, 1965, inescapable. The conclusions in the second sec-
1970; Hamilton, 1969a; and others) and with tion depend upon which model is assumed for
the emplacement of the Sierra Nevada bath- the history of motions of the North American
olith (Gilluly, 1969; Hamilton, 1969b). It plate with respect to the oceanic plates. Most
appears to have been active until about 80 m.y. of the discussions and reconstructions (Figs. 5,
ago (Evernden and Kistler, 1970; Suppe, 6, 16, and 17) in this section assume that the
1970a). According to Figure 18, the Kula or motions were approximately constant during
some other northern plate lay off western North the late Tertiary. Although this model appears
America during the Mesozoic. The trench had to be the most probable one, it cannot be
nothing to do with the Darwin rise nor with definitely established. The third section deals
the Pacific or Farallon plate. If the Tertiary with an outrageous extrapolation of the con-
motion of the Kula plate was approximately stant motion model. Its value lies mainly in
as shown, its relative motion must have changed that it presents the most straightforward model
about 80 m.y. ago from a more compressional for early Tertiary plate motions, and thus may
motion to the nearly strike-slip one shown. serve as a starting point for discussions of plate
Alternatively, another unknown plate may reconstructions of that era.
have lain between the Kula and American
plates. A major change in motion seems likely ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
since extrapolation of Farallon-Kula-Pacific I am particularly indebted to H. W. Menard
motions backward in time shows that the ridge- under whose guidance and enthusiasm this
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