Convex-Arc Drawings of Pseudolines

A weak pseudoline arrangement is a topological generalization of a line arrangement, consisting of curves topologically equivalent to lines that cross each other at most once. We consider arrangements that are outerplanar---each crossing is incident to an unbounded face---and simple---each crossing point is the crossing of only two curves. We show that these arrangements can be represented by chords of a circle, by convex polygonal chains with only two bends, or by hyperbolic lines. Simple but non-outerplanar arrangements (non-weak) can be represented by convex polygonal chains or convex smooth curves of linear complexity.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. A preliminary announcement of these results was made as a poster at the 21st International Symposium on Graph Drawing, Bordeaux, France, September 2013, and published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science 8242, Springer, 2013, pp. 522--52

Influence of pre-Andean history over Andean foreland deformation: structural styles in the Malargüe fold-and-thrust belt at 35ºS, Andes of Argentina

We present the first complete balanced cross-section of the Argentinean Andes at 35ºS. Based on an extensive field survey and limited sub-surface information, we constructed a structural model in which both the tectonic inversion of Mesozoic normal faults and the formation of Cenozoic Andean thrusts play a role in the deformation. We obtained a shortening of 26.2 km, equivalent to 22% of the initial length. This value is lower than previous estimates obtained from partial cross-sections using non-inversion structural models. Comparison of our results with a geophysical model of the crust indicates that: (i) crustal thickness was not constant across the orogen before Andean shortening, but a thick (~45 km) crustal block was interpreted? in the west as a remnant of a Late Paleozoic orogeny, and a thinner sector (~32 km) was located in the east as a result of Mesozoic stretching; and (ii) the structural model presented in this work is more consistent with the regional shortening and crustal thickness trends than models which do not take into account tectonic inversion.Fil: Mescua, Jose Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Giambiagi, Laura Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Tassara Oddo, Andres Humberto. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Gimenez, Mario Ernesto. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Geofísico Sismológico Volponi; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ramos, Victor Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; Argentin

Late Archean greenstone tectonics: Evidence for thermal and thrust-loading lithospheric subsidence from stratigraphic sections in the Slave Province, Canada

How late Archean tectonics could be seen to have operated in the Slave Province is illustrated. Lithospheric thinning and stretching, with the formation of rifted margins (to continental or island arc fragments), and lithospheric flexural loading of the kind familiar in arcs and mountain belts could be discerned

Workshop on the Tectonic Evolution of Greenstone Belts (supplement containing abstracts of invited talks and late abstracts)

Topics addressed include: greenstone belt tectonics, thermal constaints, geological structure, rock components, crustal accretion model, geological evolution, synsedimentary deformation, Archean structures and geological faults

Archean foreland basin tectonics in the Witwatersrand, South Africa

The Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa is the best-known of Archean sedimentary basins and contains some of the largest gold reserves in the world. Sediments in the basin include a lower flysch-type sequence and an upper molassic facies, both of which contain abundant silicic volcanic detritus. The strata are thicker and more proximal on the northwestern side of the basin which is, at least locally, bound by thrust faults. These features indicate that the Witwatersrand strata may have been deposited in a foreland basin and a regional geologic synthesis suggests that this basin developed initially on the cratonward side of an Andean-type arc. Remarkably similar Phanerozoic basins may be found in the southern Andes above zones of shallow subduction. It is suggested that the continental collision between the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe Cratons at about 2.7 Ga caused further subsidence and deposition in the Witwatersrand Basin. Regional uplift during this later phase of development placed the basin on the cratonward edge of a collision-related plateau, now represented by the Limpopo Province. Similarities are seen between this phase of Witwatersrand Basin evolution and that of active basins north of the Tibetan Plateau. The geologic evidence does not agree with earlier suggestions that the Witwatersrand strata were deposited in a rift or half-graben

Barycentric systems and stretchability

AbstractUsing a general resolution of barycentric systems we give a generalization of Tutte's theorem on convex drawing of planar graphs. We deduce a characterization of the edge coverings into pairwise non-crossing paths which are stretchable: such a system is stretchable if and only if each subsystem of at least two paths has at least three free vertices (vertices of the outer face of the induced subgraph which are internal to none of the paths of the subsystem). We also deduce that a contact system of pseudo-segments is stretchable if and only if it is extendible

Mississippian lamprophyre dikes in western Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina: Evidence of transtensional tectonics along the SW margin of Gondwana

In the Famatina range, Sierras Pampeanas of Argentina (SW Gondwana), subvertical calc-alkaline lamprophyric dike swarms crop out through >300 km. The dikes cut Ordovician units with a prominent NW-SE trending and are covered by continental sedimentary successions of Pennsylvanian to Permian age. The dikes show a strong structural control associated with Riedel fault systems. Detailed field analysis suggested a ∼N-S opening direction oblique to the attitude of dike walls and a left-lateral transtensional tectonics during the emplacement. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of a lamprophyric sample defined a crystallization age (plateau; whole rock) of 357.1 ± 7.1 Ma (MSWD = 2.3). Coetaneous ductile zones with dominant strike-slip motion, documented along western Argentina for >600 km, suggest a regional event in SW Gondwana during the Mississippian. We propose that this deformation was the result of the counterclockwise fast rotation of Gondwana between 365 and 345 Ma, when the Famatina range and western Argentina occupied a sub-polar position. A transform margin along SW Gondwana better explains our (and others) data rather than a subduction margin. This scenario is also consistent with the occurrence of A-type granites and normal-fault basins within the foreland as well as bimodal volcanics.Fil: Martina, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Canelo, Horacio Nicolas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: Davila, Federico Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; ArgentinaFil: de Hollanda, María Helena M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Teixeira, Wilson. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasi

Lithosphere, asthenosphere, and perisphere

“Lithosphere” is a mechanical concept implying strength and relative permanence. Unfortunately, the term has also been applied to the surface thermal boundary layer (TBL) and a shallow enriched geochemical reservoir, features having nothing to do with strength. The “strong” lithosphere is about one half the thickness of the TBL. The bottom of the elastic plate, the maximum depths of midplate and fracture zone earthquakes, and the top of the low-velocity zone all occur at depths corresponding to the 550°–750°C temperature range. This may also correspond to the base of the coherent plate. Earthquakes in subducted slabs are bounded by isotherms in this temperature interval. Mantle hotter than ∼650°C cannot support long-term stresses and does not qualify as lithosphere. There is very little ancient lithosphere (mantle colder than 650 ± 100°C for long periods of time), and this is not a suitable reservoir for continental flood basalts (CFB). A chemical characteristic, that is, “enriched,” has been attributed to old lithosphere to distinguish it from the “depleted” upper mantle. The continental lithosphere (CL) is often treated as a viable reservoir for CFB or, when delaminated, for ocean island basalts and enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB). The CFB reservoir is more likely to be a hot, weak sublithospheric layer which may include the lower part of the TBL. The term “perisphere” has been introduced to accommodate the need for a term for a global, shallow, enriched reservoir or boundary layer. It is physically isolated from the depleted mantle (usually called the “convecting mantle,” “asthenosphere” or “upper mantle”) not by its strength but by its weakness and buoyancy; it is chemically isolated by its location relative to subduction recycling. It has the chemical characteristics often attributed to continental lithosphere (or plume heads), but it is a permanent part of the sublithospheric shallow mantle and is constantly refreshed by recycling. It is an open system and can also be called the “active layer” or “mixing zone.” It is proposed that the depleted reservoir (MORB source or depleted mantle) is below and protected from contamination (chemical isolation) by the filtering action of this boundary layer. Depleted MORB is most prominent at fast spreading ridges, which induce or localize deep, broad upwellings. Melts from enriched mantle (EM) are most evident at new or slowly rifting regions, infant subduction zones, new backarc basins, slab windows, and mid-plate environments away from spreading induced upwelling. EM is therefore probably shallow. It is not known if volatiles and large-ion lithophiles can recycle much deeper than ∼200 km, or into the lower mantle, as is implied by some plume theories. The base of the (strong) lithosphere and plate may correspond to a phase change. If so, the correspondence among the brittle-ductile boundary (the maximum depth of earthquakes), the top of the low-velocity zone, and the elastic plate thickness can be understood. Candidate phase changes include dehydration and clinoenstatite to orthoenstatite since these occur near 600°C. Another rheological boundary may set in near the solidus, but silicates lose most of their strength at absolute temperatures about one half the dry solidus temperature. The region of the subcontinental mantle between ∼600°C and the solidus may provide some of the material in continental magmas, but this cannot be considered part of the continental plate. The “continental lithosphere” reservoir of petrologists is actually a weak enriched layer that may spread across the top of the convecting mantle. This is the perisphere. Its existence makes it possible to understand CFB and ocean island chemistry and kinematics without postulating plumes from the lower mantle, plume heads, fossil plume heads, or delaminated CL. The upper mantle is inhomogeneous in chemistry