Geological Sciences 100

EARTH SYSTEM I:
GEOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT

Lecture XXXIV. North American Geology

A) Birthing a Continent	B) Fragmentation of Continents
C) Precambrian Shields of the World	D) Precambrian Provinces of North America
E) Geologic and Geographic Provinces of North America	F) Structural Elements of Phanerozoic North America

A) Birthing a Continent
B) Fragmentation of Continents
- Rifting and Suturing
  
  Figure 34.1 Continents evolve by accretion (from Earth's Dynamic System (6th ed.), by Hamblin, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992).
  
  Figure 34.2 Continental fragmentation and dynamics (from Earth's Dynamic System (6th ed.), by Hamblin, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992).
C) Precambrian Shields of the World

Figure 34.3 Precambrian shield areas of the world. Dark areas have generally exposed Precambrian rocks. In the stippled areas, shields are generally covered by uncontorted and nearly flat-lying younger strata (from The Changing Earth - Introduction to Geology (2nd ed.), by Mears, Jr., D. Van Nostrand Co., 1977).
D) Precambrian Provinces of North America

Figure 34.4 Generalized scheme of Precambrian provinces of North America (from The Changing Earth - Introduction to Geology (2nd ed.), by Mears, Jr., D. Van Nostrand Co., 1977).

Figure 34.5 Hypothesis of continental accretion during Precambrian time (from The Changing Earth - Introduction to Geology (2nd ed.), by Mears, Jr., D. Van Nostrand Co., 1977).
E) Geologic and Geographic Provinces of North America

Figure 34.6 Principal geologic and geographic provinces of North America (from Geology - An Introduction (2nd ed.), by Bates, Sweet, & Utgard, D. C. Heath and Co., 1973).
F) Structural Elements of Phanerozoic North America

Figure 34.7 Principal structural elements of North America in Cambrian and later time (from Geology - An Introduction (2nd ed.), by Bates, Sweet, & Utgard, D. C. Heath and Co., 1973).