Flat-plate subduction and the Cape Fold Belt of South Africa

Research Article| January 01, 1980 Flat-plate subduction and the Cape Fold Belt of South Africa Brian E. Lock Brian E. Lock 1Department of Geology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana 70504 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Brian E. Lock 1Department of Geology, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana 70504 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1980) 8 (1): 35–39. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1980)8<35:FSATCF>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Brian E. Lock; Flat-plate subduction and the Cape Fold Belt of South Africa. Geology 1980;; 8 (1): 35–39. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1980)8<35:FSATCF>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract A flat-plate subduction model is proposed for southwestern Gondwanaland for late Paleozoic and Triassic time, in an attempt to explain some of the anomalous features of the Cape Fold Belt of South Africa and its continuations in South America and Antarctica. This fold belt is located at distances of as much as 1,000 km from the continental margin of the time, and it is suggested that the descending slab of oceanic lithosphere being subducted along the Andean margin of the continent became coupled with part of the overriding continental crust of Gondwanaland. Thus, some of the plate convergence at the boundary may have been taken up by deformational shortening within the Gondwana plate rather than by normal subduction at its edge. The deformation was partly concentrated along the intraplate Cape Fold Belt, which may have been situated over the zone where the subducted oceanic plate finally separated from the base of the continental lithosphere. Geological and geophysical data support the hypothesis, which should be tested further. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.