Paleomagnetism and the orocline hypothesis

Abstract

Oroclines were originally defined by Carey as curved mountain belts which initially were straight, or at least straighter than they are today. In the last few years, the definition has been broadened to include any curved mountain belt, regardless of its original shape.Since the occurrence of oroclinal bending is best recorded in the change of declination as a function of tectonic setting, paleomagnetic and structural data from six potential oroclines have been compiled and analyzed to determine the amount of rotation displayed by the change of paleomagnetic declination relative to the change in strike of the fold belt.The arcuate belts investigated are: the Sicilian-Calabrian Arc and the Umbrian Arc of Italy, the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, the central portion of the Appalachian Mountains (from Pennsylvania to Virginia, U.S.A.), the Wyoming-Idaho overthrust belt of western North America and the Hercynides of Western and Central Europe.The Jura Mountains and the Pennsylvania-Virginia portion of the Appalachians fail to show significant oroclinal bending. The Wyoming-Idaho belt shows a combination of rotated (possibly oroclinal) and unrotated thrust sheets.In the Sicilian-Calabrian Arc significant oroclinal bending caused by the impingement of the Calabria-Peloritani nappes in the Late Tertiary can be demonstrated, while the Umbrian Arc of similar age, in the Northern Apennines, also shows oroclinal bending on a smaller scale.Hercynian Europe (the only belt included in which deformation of basement rocks can be demonstrated) shows oroclinal bending (at least 80[deg]) as well as a marked original curvature (70[deg]) in its western part.Common to all the oroclines studied in this paper is the probable impingement of a rigid block or continental margin during the orogeny, causing subsequent deformation and bending of the fold belt.