A Kinematic Model for the Collision and Complete Suturing between Gondwanaland and Laurussia in the Carboniferous

Abstract

Maps of Middle to Late Carboniferous strike-slip faults in western Europe, northern Africa, and eastern North America have been compiled from geological, gravity, and magnetic onshore and offshore data. A large majority of these faults can be interpreted in terms of a logical syn- to post-collisional pattern superimposed on the initial suture between the African (i.e., Gondwana) and North American/European (Laurussian) continental margins. The pre-collision positions of the major continents are derived from paleomagnetic data, and, when combined with the general distribution of the strike-slip faults, lead to a kinematic model of the complex Middle/Late Carboniferous collision. In this model, the West African Precambrian craton acted as a rigid promontory or "die" with respect to the partially rigid/plastic zones between it and the large North American craton. These partially rigid/plastic zones comprise the external Appalachian and Canadian Maritime margins, the Mauritanide and Hercynian margins of northwest Africa, and Hercynian Europe. In essence, the continuous Carboniferous approach between the African and North American cratons forced part of the intervening zones as well as Hercynian Europe sideways (northeastward), as indicated by predominantly east-west dextral faults north of the African craton and predominantly southwest-northeast sinistral movements east of the North American craton.