Premium
Dynamic Features of Angular Unconformity Formation—Extensional and Compressional Angular Unconformities
Author(s) -
Zhongquan LI,
Shihai XU,
Danlin YING,
Jianhui Han
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2004.tb00703.x
Subject(s) - unconformity , geology , extensional definition , dialectic , tectonics , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology
Angular unconformity is one of the most direct and strongest evidences for approving the tectonic movements of the earth's crust. Its dynamic genesis process has been understood to be mainly related to the compressional setting for a long time. Especially, in a detailed structural analysis for a specific region, when an angular unconformity is discovered people would regard it as the result of orogenic movements of a certain period or a certain episode and neglect the extensional facts. Based on a dialectical point of view of extension‐compression, this paper has proved that angular unconformities can be formed not only in compressional settings, but also in extensional ones. Further more, their geological features are compared and he possible genetic mechanisms for angular unconformity under different dynamic settings are studied.