Tectonics of the Acadian Orogeny in New England and adjacent Canada ( USA).

Abstract

Paleogeographic analysis of post-Taconian rocks in New England and adjacent parts of Canada has revealed the existence of two volcanic arcs which shut off at the time of the Acadian Orogeny. The intervening Merrimack-Fredericton Trough, is interpreted as the site of an ocean which closed in Siluro-Devonian by simultaneous subduction beneath both continental margins. In the Molucca Sea in Indonesia, a comparable arc-arc collision is in an early stage of development. An identical geometry, with an Avalonian accretionary prism overriding the convergent N American margin, is proposed for the Acadian Orogeny in New England. -from Author