Posted on 02/01/2016 2:13:19 PM PST by JimSEA
University of Wyoming scientists have found evidence of continental collisions in Wyoming's Teton Range, similar to those in the Himalayas, dating to as early as 2.68 billion years ago.
The research, published Jan. 22 in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, shows that plate tectonics were operating in what is now western Wyoming long before the collisions that created the Himalayas starting 40 million years ago.
In fact, the remnants of tectonic activity in old rocks exposed in the Tetons point to the world's earliest known continent-continent collision, says Professor Carol Frost of UW's Department of Geology and Geophysics, lead author of the paper.
"While the Himalayas are the prime example of continent-continent collisions that take place due to plate tectonic motion today, our work suggests plate tectonics operated far, far back into the geologic past," Frost says.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
There is a lot of tectonic activity within a plate based on much the same forces that exit between plates.
I once had a continental collision. It destroyed my Honda.
Why is Mount Logan its own region?
Nonsense!! It happened 6000 years ago at the earliest.
At one very early point in the evolution of earths crust, there were many granite “islands” which converged and collided with each other to form today’s plates which are, in turn, colliding with each other and rifting apart.
Interesting
I once had a cadillac collision, only I was driving a rented cadillac. I don’t remember what the other guy was driving only that when he got out of the car he was a mountain, possibly a range.
The North American plate is an agglomeration of earlier plates that have “stuck” together. The earlier collisions have formed mountain ranges. It’s not a static thing, it just seem so because these events occur in geologic time.
Is it OK to post pictures of Tetons?
As long as they are attractive ones. ;-)
Are they grand?
I once was laying back looking at the stars on the Riviera when the cop showed up and helped me off it and into the Amber-lamps. My motorcycle had to be pried from underneath
Thanks JimSEA.
Bodacious Tetons.
I thought the Himalayas were the result of a subduction between the Indian subcontinent and the Asian mainland. Are the Tetons a similar subduction range?
Generally similar but older from what I read. The difference would be that the Indian plate was a long ways off and unrelated to the Eurasian plate. However mountain building is similar.
Sounds like long before this particular range formed, once upon a time a different range formed from continental collisions that created those old rocks. The current orogeny exposed those older rocks.
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