Deep seismic reflection

profiling of Archean cratons

Arie J. van der Velden
Frederick A. Cook

Outline:
- Locations of available profiles
- Causes of reflectivity: rules of thumb
- “Shingle” reflections: indicators of horizontal tectonics
- Mantle reflections: Archean subduction?
- Vertical tectonics: an example
- Conclusion
 Causes of reflectivity:
rules of thumb

Generally reflective Generally poorly reflective

• gneiss • metavolcanic rocks

• fault zones • metasedimentary rocks
• sills • granite
• Moho • mantle
• Seismic reflection data sees mainly
structure

• Profiles from the Superior, Yilgarn and

Slave provide a snapshot of the nature of
tectonic activity at ~2.75-2.6 Ga
 “shingle” reflections

• characterized by dipping, listric reflections in the

middle and lower crust
• resemble imbricate slices within antiformal
stacks, as seen in brittle-deformed foreland belts
• however, shingle reflections occur within the
ductile lower crust, and strain distribution within
them is not well known
 “shingle” reflections - Wabigoon

S N

30 km
 “shingle” reflections - Wabigoon

S N

30 km
 “shingle” reflections - Abitibi

S N

30 km
 “shingle” reflections - Abitibi

S N

30 km
 “shingle” reflections – eastern Yilgarn
W E

10 km
 “shingle” reflections – eastern Yilgarn
W E

10 km
 Analogy – thrust-and-fold structures
E W

~3 m
 Analogy – thrust-and-fold structures
E W

~3 m
 “shingle” reflections

• generally considered to be indicators of

horizontal foreshortening
• often occur beneath greenstone belts
• likely responsible for thickening crust beneath
greenstone belts to present proportions
• Hard to tell from reflection data whether the
“imbricates” are parautochthonous slices, or if
they are allochthonous rocks emplaced by
subcretion.
 Mantle reflections

• gently to moderately dipping reflections

extending from the Moho into the mantle
• typically occur beneath greenstone belt to
plutonic-gneiss domain transitions
• typically dip beneath the protocraton (gneiss
domain)
 mantle reflections – Superior, Red Lake
S N

30 km
 mantle reflections – Superior, Red Lake
S N
 mantle reflections – Slave, Yellowknife
W E

30 km
 mantle reflections – Slave, Yellowknife
W E
 Mantle reflections

• Mantle reflections likely accommodate

compressional deformation
• Difficult to tell from reflection data whether
mantle reflections accommodate 10s of km,
100s km, or 1000s of km of displacement
• Appear to be significant structures associated
with accretion of “terranes”
• By analogy with modern examples, mantle
reflections are often interpreted as indicators of
subduction
 A Paleozoic example: Newfoundland
Appalachians
E W

E W
North Caribou: an example of
“vertical tectonics”
North Caribou: an example of
“vertical tectonics”
 Concluding thoughts

• Seismic reflection data image structures within

the crust associated with horizontal
compression
• Dome-and-keel structures are in some cases
underlain by younger low-angle structures,
while in other cases they may project to the
base of the crust
• Reflection patterns beneath Neoarchean
cratons are remarkably similar to profiles
across the hinterlands of younger orogens
• There is no systematic change in reflection
patterns with age
 Acknowledgements
• We would like to thank Tim Barton, Bruce
Goleby, Barry Drummond and the ANSIR
staff at Geoscience Australia for making
available the Yilgarn data set
• NSERC
• GSA
• GSA – graduate students association, U of C