Rift basins of Triassic-Jurassic age that are associated with the breakup of the Pangean supercontinent contain an extraordinary record of the physical and biological conditions during this important period of Earth history. Rather than studying the rift basins as local features, ongoing work reveals that the Triassic-Jurassic rifts should be considered in a broader context that spans the entire proto-Atlantic realm. The rift province, collectively called the central Atlantic margin system, spans more than 45 degrees of paleolatitude and records over 35 million years of Earth history. The central Atlantic margin basins are of broad appeal to researchers interested in topics as diverse as extensional tectonics, the global magnetostratigraphic timescale, the evolution of early mammals, the appearance and diversification of dinosaurs, rift to drift crustal dynamics, astronomical forcing of climate, and models for the formation and occurrence of economic minerals and fossil fuel deposits. This extensive two-volume work offers in-depth coverage of the North American components of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province rifts by experts in the field.
In volume 1, leading researchers give thoroughly reviews and highlight recent advances in our understanding of the structural geology, tectonics, and volcanism of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province.
The companion volume, The Great Rift Valleys of Pangea in Eastern North America: Volume 2, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Paleontology, 0-231-12676-X, covers such topics as sedimentary rocks, stratigraphic architecture, early dinosaur and reptile footprints, and vertebrate fossils of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. It is edited by Peter M. LeTourneau and Paul E. Olsen and is also available from Columbia University Press.
1. Introduction to Vol 1, by Paul E. Olsen and Peter M. LeTourneau
Part I: Tectonics and Structure of Supercontintent Breakup
2. Introduction, by Martha O. Withjack and Roy W. Schlische
3. Mobility of Pangea: Implications for Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic Paleoclimate, by Dennis V. Kent and Giovanni Muttoni
4. Progress in Understanding the Structural Geology, Basin Evolution, and Tectonic History of the Eastern North American Rift System, by Roy W. Schlische
5. Tectonics of the Lantern Hill Fault, Southeastern Connecticut: Evidence for the Embryonic Opening of the Atlantic Ocean, by Robert J. Altamura
6. Estimates of Eroded Strata Using Borehole Vitrinite Reflectance Data, Triassic Taylorsville Rift Basin, Virginia: Implications for Duration of Syn-Rift Sedimentation and Evidence of Structural Inversion, by MaryAnn Love Malinconico
7. Stress Regimes in the Newark Basin Rift: Evidence from Core and Downhole Data, by Dave Goldberg, Tony Lupo, Michael Caputi, Colleen Barton, and Leonardo Seeber
8. A Lagerstätte of Rift-Related Tectonic Structures from the Solite Quarry, Dan River/Danville Rift Basin, by Rolf V. Ackermann, Roy W. Schlische, Lina C. Pati and Lois A. Johnson
Part II: The Camp Large Igneous Province
9. Introduction, by J. Gregory McHone
10. Flood Basalt Provinces of the Pangaean Atlantic Rift: Regional Extent and Environmental Significance, by J. Gregory McHone and John H. Puffer
11. Geochemistry and Origin of Pangean and Rodinian Continental Flood Basalts, by John H. Puffer
12. A Geographic Trend for Mgo-Standardized Major Oxides in Lower Mesozoic Olivine Tholeiites of the Southeastern U.S., by Paul C. Ragland, Vincent J. M. Salters, and William C. Parker
13. Evidence for Predominant Lateral Magma Flow Along Major Feeder Dike Segments of the Eastern North American Swarm Based on Magnetic Fabric, by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer, Richard E. Ernst, and Andrew G. Lindsey