Mark A. Smethurst

Research Field

New palaeomagnetic data from the Caledonides of western Ireland indicate that the Silurian rocks of South Mayo underwent oroclinal bending, following folding, in Siluro-Devonian time. Bending was accommodated on faults cutting the Silurian sequence, and was driven by strike slip motion across the Antrim-Galway Line, a recently recognized major curvilinear lineament. We propose that the Silurian rocks in the east of the region suffered up to 30° clockwise rotation, increasing towards the west to approximately 70°. This newly inferred differential rotation of the Silurian rocks, about a sub-vertical axis, implies that the underlying Dalradian rocks of the Connemara Massif to the south must also have undergone clockwise rotation in late Silurian/early Devonian time. This is consistent with published palaeomagnetic data from the Connemara Gabbro and accounts for the swing in strike of the Caledonian orogen in this part of western Ireland. From this we deduce that the swing in strike of the Caledonian rocks elsewhere on the west coast of Ireland might have a similar explanation.

10.1144/gsjgs.151.2.0315

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Citations (12)

Generation of plumes at the margins of chemically distinct large low shear velocity provinces

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2008)

Bernhard Steinberger Kevin Burke Trond H. Torsvik Mark A. Smethurst

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Reinterpretation of the Skagerrak and Silkeborg Gravity and Magnetic Anomalies in Norway and Denmark

81st EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2019 (1999)

Odleiv Olesen Mark A. Smethurst Torben Bidstrup Harald Brekke B. Egeland

The Skagerrak and Silkeborg gravity and magnetic anomalies are situated in the Farsund Basin just offshore the southern tip of Norway and in central Jutland, Denmark, respectively. Gravity highs partly coincide with magnetic lows.

Reinterpretation

10.3997/2214-4609.201407771

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Crustal architecture of the Mozambique belt in Northeastern Mozambique : perspective from U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotopes in zircon

B. Bingen Giulio Viola William L. Griffin J. Jacobs Rognvald Boyd

B. Bingen, G. Viola, W. L. Griffin, J. Jacobs, R. Boyd, R.J. Thomas, E. Daudi, I.H.C. Henderson, E. Beyer, O. Skar, A. Engvik, R.M. Key, A. Solli, J.S. Sandstad, M. Smethurst, E. Tveten, T. Bjerkgard, V.A. Melezhik, D. Jamal, R. Smith, L.M. Hollick, P. Feito 1. Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway, bernard.bingen@ngu.no 2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia 3. Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen, Norway 4. British Geological Survey, NG125GG Keyworth, UK 5. National Directorate for Geology, Maputo, Mozambique 6. Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique

Geochronology

Geological survey

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Long term stability in deep mantle structure: Evidence from the ~ 300 Ma Skagerrak-Centered Large Igneous Province (the SCLIP)

Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2008)

Trond H. Torsvik Mark A. Smethurst Kevin Burke Bernhard Steinberger

Mantle plume

Hotspot (geology)

Core–mantle boundary

10.1016/j.epsl.2007.12.004