geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

, a terrane (; in full, a

tectonostratigraphic In geology, tectonostratigraphy is stratigraphy that refers either to rock sequences in which large-scale layering is caused by the stacking of thrust sheets, or nappes, in areas of thrust tectonics or to the effects of tectonics on lithostratigraph ...

terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

(or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own distinctive geologic history, which is different from that of the surrounding areas—hence the term "exotic" terrane. The

suture zone In structural geology, a suture is a joining together along a major fault zone, of separate terranes, tectonic units that have different plate tectonic, metamorphic and paleogeographic histories. The suture is often represented on the surface by ...

between a terrane and the crust it attaches to is usually identifiable as a fault. A sedimentary deposit that buries the contact of the terrane with adjacent rock is called an overlap formation. An igneous intrusion that has intruded and obscured the contact of a terrane with adjacent rock is called a

stitching pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

. Older usage of ''terrane'' simply described a series of related rock formations or an area having a preponderance of a particular rock or rock groups.

Overview

A tectonostratigraphic terrane is not necessarily an independent

microplate A microplate, also known as a microtiter plate (''Microtiter'' is a registered trademark in the United States, therefore it should not be used generically without attribution), microwell plate or multiwell, is a flat plate with multiple "wells" ...

in origin, since it may not contain the full thickness of the

lithosphere A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust (geology), crust and the portion of the upper mantle (geology), mantle that behaves elastically on time sca ...

. It is a piece of crust which has been transported laterally, usually as part of a larger plate, and is relatively buoyant due to thickness or low density. When the plate of which it was a part

subduct Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

ed under another plate, the terrane failed to subduct, detached from its transporting plate, and accreted onto the overriding plate. Therefore, the terrane transferred from one plate to the other. Typically, accreting terranes are portions of

continental crust Continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks that forms the geological continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called ''sial'' be ...

which have rifted off another continental mass and been transported surrounded by oceanic crust, or they are old

island arc Island arcs are long chains of active volcanoes with intense seismic activity found along convergent tectonic plate boundaries. Most island arcs originate on oceanic crust and have resulted from the descent of the lithosphere into the mantle alon ...

s formed at some distant

subduction zone Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

. A tectonostratigraphic terrane is a fault-bounded package of rocks of at least regional extent characterized by a geologic history which differs from that of neighboring terranes. The basic characteristics of these terranes is that the present spatial relations are not compatible with the inferred geologic histories. Where terranes which lie next to each other possess strata of the same age, it must be demonstrable that the geologic evolutions are different and incompatible, and there must be an absence of intermediate

lithofacies Lithofacies may refer to: * A mappable subdivision of a designated stratigraphic unit, distinguished from adjacent subdivisions on the basis of lithology; a facies characterized by particular lithologic features * The rock record of any particular ...

which could link the strata. The concept of ''tectonostratigraphic terrane '' developed from studies in the 1970s of the complicated

Pacific Cordillera The North American Cordillera, sometimes also called the Western Cordillera of North America, the Western Cordillera or the Pacific Cordillera, is the North American portion of the American Cordillera, the mountain chain system (cordillera) alon ...

orogenic Orogeny is a mountain building process. An orogeny is an event that takes place at a convergent boundary, convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An ''orogenic belt'' or ''orogen'' develops as the compressed plate crumpl ...

margin of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, a complex and diverse geological potpourri that was difficult to explain until the new science of plate tectonics illuminated the ability of crustal fragments to "drift" thousands of miles from their origin and fetch up, crumpled, against an exotic shore. Such terranes were dubbed " accreted terranes" by

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

s. When terranes are composed of repeated accretionary events, and hence are composed of subunits with distinct history and structure, they may be called superterranes.

Tectonostratigraphic terranes

Africa * Birminian Terrane * Kahiltna Terrane *

Likasi Terrane Likasi (formerly official names: Jadotville (French language, French) and Jadotstad (Dutch language, Dutch)) is a city in Haut-Katanga Province, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Demographics Likasi has a population of around ...

Mozambique Belt The Mozambique Belt is a band in the earth's crust that extends from East Antarctica through East Africa up to the Arabian-Nubian Shield. It formed as a suture between plates during the Pan-African orogeny, when Gondwana was formed. The Mozambi ...

Asia * Aldan Terrane *

Birekte Terrane The Birekte (russian: Биректе; sah, Билэктэ) is a river in Yakutia (Sakha Republic), Russia. It is a tributary of the Olenyok with a length of . Its drainage basin area is . The river flows north of the Arctic Circle, across a lo ...

* Bargusin Terrane * Daldyn Terrane * Magan Terrane * Markha Terrane * Midyan Terrane *

Shan–Thai Terrane The Shan–Thai or Sibumasu Terrane is a mass of continental crust extending from Tibet into Southeast Asia sharing a similar geological history. The Shan–Thai Terrane rifted from Australia in the Permian and collided with the Indochina terran ...

Tungus Terrane Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages (or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are Indigenous peoples of Siberia, native to Siberia and Northeast Asia. The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main ...

Tynda Terrane Tynda (russian: Ты́нда) is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Blagoveshchensk. It is an important railway junction, informally referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Its population has declined sharply in r ...

* Uchur Terrane Taiwan * Coastal Range Terrane * Longitudinal Valley Terrane * Eastern Central Range Terrane * Western Central Range Terrane * Hsuehshan Range Terrane *

Western Foothills Terrane Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Coastal Plain Terrane The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

Tibet * Lhasa TerraneAitchison, J. C., Ali, J. R., and Davis, A. M. (2007) "When and where did India and Asia collide?" ''

Journal of Geophysical Research The ''Journal of Geophysical Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It is the flagship journal of the American Geophysical Union. It contains original research on the physical, chemical, and biological processes that contribute to the un ...

'', v.112, pp.1–19 * Qiangtang Terrane * Xigaze Terrane *

Bainang Terrane Bainang County (; ) is a county of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of Chin ...

* Zedong Terrane * Dazhuqu Terrane Australasia *

Brook Street Terrane A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...

Buller Terrane Buller is an English surname. It may refer to: People * Anthony Buller (1613–1679), English soldier and Member of Parliament * Sir Anthony Buller (1780–1866), English lawyer and Member of Parliament * Arthur Henry Reginald Buller (1874–1944 ...

Caples Terrane Caples may refer to: People * Garrett Caples (b. 1972), American poet * Harry Caples (1896 - 1933), Australian representative rugby league footballer * Yvonne Caples (b. 1972), women's boxing champion Place name * Caples, Washington, United States ...

* East Tasmanian Terrane *

Glenburgh Terrane The Gascoyne Complex is a terrane of Proterozoic granite and metamorphic rock in the central-western part of Western Australia. The complex outcrops at the exposed western end of the Capricorn Orogen, a 1,000 km-long arcuate belt of folded ...

Dun Mountain-Maitai Terrane The Dun Mountain-Maitai Terrane comprises the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt (also called the Mineral Belt), Maitai Group and Patuki Mélange. The Dun Mountain Ophiolite is an ophiolite of Permian age located in New Zealand's South Island The So ...

* Molong—Monaro Terrane *

Murihiku Terrane The Southland Syncline is a major geological structure located in the Southland Region of New Zealand's South Island. The syncline folds the Mesozoic greywackes of the Murihiku Terrane. The northern limb of the fold is steep to overturned, while ...

Narryer Gneiss Terrane The Narryer Gneiss Terrane is a geological complex in Western Australia that is composed of a tectonically interleaved and polydeformed mixture of granite, mafic intrusions and metasedimentary rocks in excess of 3.3 billion years old, with the m ...

Takaka Terrane The Takaka Terrane is a Paleozoic terrane that outcrops in the South Island of New Zealand. It is most extensively exposed within the Kahurangi National Park in the Tasman District. The terrane is mostly made up of marble and volcanic rocks but i ...

Torlesse Composite Terrane The Torlesse Composite Terrane is a plate tectonic terrane forming part of the South Island of New Zealand. It contains the Rakaia, Aspiring and Pahau Terranes and the Esk Head Belt. Greywacke (or Torlesse Greywacke) is the dominant rock type of ...

Waipapa Composite Terrane Waipapa is a small town in the Bay of Islands, Northland, New Zealand. It is around 10 minutes drive from Kerikeri, the nearest urban centre to Waipapa, located on State Highway 10. Waipapa itself has no school and most people travel into Ke ...

* West Tasmanian Terrane Europe *

Armorican terrane The Armorican terrane, Armorican terrane assemblage, or simply Armorica, was a microcontinent or group of continental fragments that rifted away from Gondwana towards the end of the Silurian and collided with Laurussia towards the end of the Carb ...

Avalonia Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, southern Ireland, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Wester ...

* Avalon Composite Terrane *

Balearic Terrane Balearic may refer to: *Of the Balearic Islands *The Balearic dialect of Catalan *Balearic horse, a term sometimes used to describe either or both of these horse breeds in the region: **Mallorquín **Menorquín horse The Menorquín or ca, ...

* Briançonnais Terrane * Central Highlands Terrane * Central Southern Uplands Terrane * Charnwood Terrane *

Hebridean Terrane The Hebridean Terrane is one of the terranes that form part of the Caledonian orogenic belt in northwest Scotland. Its boundary with the neighbouring Northern Highland Terrane is formed by the Moine Thrust Belt. The basement is formed by Archa ...

* Leinster—Lakesman Terrane *

Midland Valley Terrane Midland may refer to: Places Australia * Midland, Western Australia Canada * Midland, Albert County, New Brunswick * Midland, Kings County, New Brunswick * Midland, Newfoundland and Labrador * Midland, Ontario India * Midland Ward, Kohima, Naga ...

* North Armorican Composite Terrane * Northern Highlands Terrane * Rosslare—Monian Terranes * Southern North Sea Terrane * Tregor—La Hague Terrane *

Wrekin Terrane The Wrekin Terrane is one of five inferred fault bounded terranes that make up the basement rocks of the southern United Kingdom. The other notable geological terranes in the region are the Charnwood Terrane, Fenland Terrane, Cymru Terrane and ...

Fennoscandia * Bamble Terrane * Idefjorden Terrane * Kongsberg Terrane * Telemarkia Terrane *

Western Gneiss Region The Western Gneiss Region ( no, Gneisregionen) is a large geological unit in Norway chiefly made of gneiss rock that formed through metamorphism during the Caledonian orogeny. It makes up a tectono-stratigraphic terrane of the Scandinavian Caledon ...

North America * Avalonia Terrane * Bancroft Terrane *

Buffalo Head Terrane The Buffalo Head Terrane (BHT) is a terrane in the western Canadian Shield in northern Alberta. It is covered by of Devonian and Cretaceous sediments and its centre is intruded by the 88–86 Ma kimberlites of the diamondiferous Buffalo Head ...

Cache Creek Terrane The Cache Creek Terrane (alternately known as Cache Creek Melange ) is a geologic terrane in British Columbia and southern Yukon, Canada. The Cache Creek Terrane consists of Carboniferous to Lower Jurassic volcanic rocks, carbonate rocks, coarse c ...

Carolina Terrane Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in ...

Cassiar Terrane The Cassiar Terrane is a long Cretaceous terrane located in the British Columbia Interior, Northern Interior of British Columbia and southern Yukon. It consists of Miogeocline, miogeoclinal stratum, strata and contains the Cassiar Batholith, a 100 ...

* Crescent Terrane * Elzevir Terrane *

Frontenac Terrane Frontenac may refer to: People *Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France Places Canada Quebec *Château Frontenac, hotel in Quebec City *Frontenac, Quebec *Frontenac County, Quebec *Frontenac (Montreal Metro), Montreal Metro station *F ...

Franciscan Complex The Franciscan Complex or Franciscan Assemblage is a geologic term for a late Mesozoic terrane of heterogeneous rocks found throughout the California Coast Ranges, and particularly on the San Francisco Peninsula. It was named by geologist Andrew ...

* Ganderia Terrane * Hottah Terrane * Insular Superterrane *

Intermontane Plate The Intermontane Plate was an ancient oceanic tectonic plate that lay on the west coast of North America about 195 million years ago. The Intermontane Plate was surrounded by a chain of volcanic islands called the Intermontane Islands, which had b ...

and

Intermontane Belt The Intermontane Belt is a physiogeological region in the Pacific Northwest of North America, stretching from northern Washington into British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. It comprises rolling hills, high plateaus and deeply cut valleys. The roc ...

Meguma Terrane The Meguma terrane, also known as Megumia, is a terrane exposed in southern Nova Scotia, that became joined to the present North American landmass as part of the Appalachian orogeny. The exposed part of the Meguma terrane, the Meguma Group, is l ...

Occidentalia Terrane ''Occidentalia'' is a monotypic moth genus of the family Crambidae described by Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. and Carl Heinrich in 1927. It contains only one species, ''Occidentalia comptulatalis'', described by George Duryea Hulst in 1886. It is found ...

* Pacific Rim Terrane * Pearya Terrane *

Quesnellia Quesnellia, or the Quesnel terrane, is a terrane in British Columbia, Canada; constituent of the Canadian Cordillera. It formed volcanic arc during the Mesozoic era, in the Triassic and Jurassic periods. The Quesnel terrane forms part of the In ...

Salinian Block The Salinian Block or Salinian terrane is a geologic terrane which lies west of the main trace of the San Andreas Fault system in California. It is bounded on the south by the Big Pine Fault in Ventura County and on the west by the Nacimiento Fau ...

Slide Mountain Terrane The Slide Mountain Terrane is a late Paleozoic terrane made of a complex of oceanic rocks in northern and southern British Columbia, Canada. The rocks of the terrane include Carboniferous limestones, fine grained quartz rich clastics, conglomera ...

Smartville Block The Smartville Block, also called the Smartville Ophiolite, Smartville Complex, or Smartville Intrusive Complex, is a geologic terrane formed in the ocean from a volcanic island arc that was accreted onto the North American Plate during the late J ...

Sonomia Terrane The Sonomia Terrane is a geologic crustal block known as a "terrane" whose remnants today lie in northwest Nevada. The terrane acquired its name from the Sonoma Range in that region. The Sonomia Terrane is associated with the Golconda Thrust, a s ...

* Steel Mountain Terrane *

Stikinia Stikinia, or the Stikine terrane, is a terrane in British Columbia, Canada; the largest of the Canadian Cordillera. It formed as an independent, intraoceanic volcanic arc during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. Stikinia forms the bedrock of numerous v ...

Wrangellia Terrane The Wrangellia Terrane (named for the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska) is a crustal fragment (terrane) extending from the south-central part of Alaska and along the Coast of British Columbia in Canada. Some geologists contend that Wrangellia extends ...

Yakutat Block The Yakutat Block is a terrane in the process of accreting to the North American continent along the south central coast of Alaska. It has been displaced about northward since the Cenozoic along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system. Th ...

* Yukon—Tanana Terrane South America *

Arequipa-Antofalla Arequipa-Antofalla is a basement unit underlying the central Andes in northwestern Argentina, western Bolivia, northern Chile and southern Peru. Geologically, it corresponds to a craton, terrane or block of continental crust. Arequipa-Antofalla ...

Chaitenia Chaitenia is a distinct fragment of Earth's crust in southern Chile. Rocks of Chaitenia represents an ancient island arc that existed next to Patagonia which became eventually accreted to it. The accretion of Chaitenia to Patagonia occurred in t ...

Chilenia Chilenia was an ancient microcontinent or terrane whose history affected many of the older rocks of central Chile and western Argentina. It was once separated by oceanic crust from the Cuyania terrane to which it accreted at ~420-390 Ma when Cuyan ...

* Chiloé Block *Cuchilla Dionisio Terrane *

Cuyania The Precordillera Terrane or Cuyania was an ancient microcontinent or terrane whose history affected many of the older rocks of Cuyo in Argentina. It was separated by oceanic crust from the Chilenia terrane which accreted into it at ~420-390 Ma w ...

* Fitz Roy Terrane *

Madre de Dios Terrane Madre de Dios Terrane is a distinct fragment of Earth's crust in southwestern Patagonia. Subduction made the Madre de Dios Terrane collide and accrete to Patagonia (then part of Gondwana) in the Mesozoic. This accretion is thought to have happe ...

* Mejillonía * Nico Pérez Terrane *

Pampia Pampia was an ancient microcontinent or terrane that collided with Río de la Plata Craton and Río Apas Craton during the Pampean orogeny of late Proterozoic and early Cambrian. It was one of the first terranes to be amalgamated to the old ...

Paranapanema block The Paranapanema block is a coherent block of lithosphere located in southeastern South America spanning roughly the same area as the Paraná Basin. The existence of a tectonically stable zone beneath the Paraná Basin was first suggested in 1975. ...

* Piedra Alta Terrane * Tandilia Terrane

References

Citations

General bibliography

* McPhee, John (1981). ''Basin and Range''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. * McPhee, John (1983). ''In Suspect Terrain''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. * McPhee, John (1993). ''Assembling California''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

External links

West Antarctica terrane analysis

{{Structural geology