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Suture

In structural geology, a suture is a major fault zone joining separate tectonic plates or terranes that have different geological histories. Sutures are often represented by mountain ranges on the surface. Sutures form at the location of ancient subduction zones and join fragments of old continents or tectonic plates. Sutures vary in width and composition but usually involve zones of faulting and intrusions of igneous rock. The Iapetus Suture under the UK joins the ancient continents of Laurentia and Avalonia. In paleontology, suture can also refer to divisions in fossil exoskeletons like trilobites that allowed for molting.

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140 views2 pages

Suture

In structural geology, a suture is a major fault zone joining separate tectonic plates or terranes that have different geological histories. Sutures are often represented by mountain ranges on the surface. Sutures form at the location of ancient subduction zones and join fragments of old continents or tectonic plates. Sutures vary in width and composition but usually involve zones of faulting and intrusions of igneous rock. The Iapetus Suture under the UK joins the ancient continents of Laurentia and Avalonia. In paleontology, suture can also refer to divisions in fossil exoskeletons like trilobites that allowed for molting.

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Marilyn Castro Laquindanum
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Suture (geology)

In structural geology, a suture is a joining together along a major fault zone, of


separate terranes, tectonicunits that have different plate
tectonic, metamorphic and paleogeographic histories. The suture is often
represented on the surface by an orogen or mountain range. The term was
borrowed from surgerywhere it describes the sewing together of two pieces of
tissue, but the sutures of the skull, where separate plates of bone have fused,
may be a better metaphor.
[1]

Overview
In plate tectonics, sutures are seen as the remains of subduction zones, and the
terranes that are joined together are interpreted as fragments of different
paleocontinents or tectonic plates.
Outcrops of sutures can vary in width from a few hundred meters to a couple
of kilometers. They can be networks of mylonitic shear zones or brittle fault
zones, but are usually both. Sutures are usually associated
with igneous intrusions and tectonic lenses with varying kinds
of lithologies from plutonic rocksto ophiolitic fragments.
An example from Great Britain is the Iapetus Suture which, though now
concealed beneath younger rocks, has been determined by geophysical means
to run along a line roughly parallel with the Anglo-Scottish border and represents
the joint between the former continent of Laurentia to the north and the
former micro-continent of Avalonia to the south. Avalonia is in fact
a plain which dips steeply northwestwards through the crust, underthrusting
Laurentia.
[2]

Paleontological use
When used in paleontology, suture can also refer to fossil exoskeletons, as in the
suture line, a division on a trilobitebetween the free cheek and the fixed cheek;
this suture line allowed the trilobite to perform ecdysis (the shedding of its skin).

Notes
1.

^ There is a difference between the geophysical and geological


definition of suture zones and terrane boundaries. The geophysical definitions
are generally based upon the integration of a physical response over the
thickness of the crust, whereas the geological definition is almost always as a
line or zone at the Earths surface. Harris, Anthony L. and Fettes, D. J.

(1988) The Caledonian-Appalachian orogen published for the Geological


Society by Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, England, page 4, ISBN
978-0-632-01796-6 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]
2.
^ Oliver, G. J. H.; Stone, P. and Bluck, B. J. (2002) The Ballantrae
Complex and Southern Uplands terrane pp. 167200 In Trewin, N. H. (editor)
(2002) The Geology of Scotland The Geological Socciety, London, page 191,
ISBN 978-1-86239-126-0 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]

Source
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Suture (geology), which is available in its original form here:
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erm : suture zone
Definition : The area where two continental plates have joined together through continental collision. Suture zones are marked
by extremely high mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas and the Alps.

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