Tectonic delamination and subcrustal imbrication of the Precambrian lithosphere in northwestern Canada mapped by LITHOPROBE
Seismic reflection profiling of the Precambrian lithosphere in northwestern Canada has produced images of delamination structures (tectonic wedges) at crustal scale (to about 30 km depth) and, for the first time, at lithospheric scale (to about 100 km depth), and has further delineated subcrustal structures that were likely caused by imbrication of subducted lithosphere. Coupled with observations of similar structures in thrust and fold belts, delamination and lower plate imbrication are persistent features at many scales.