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Alternating subduction direction and the evolution of the Atlantic Caledonides

Abstract

The Morarian, Celtic, Grampian and Lakelandian orogenies are the result of alternating subduction northwestwards and then south-eastwards successively from 1,000 to 450 Myr at the margins of one major ocean basin. Subduction on both margins between 450 and 350 Myr caused the final closure of the basin and the Caledonian orogeny.

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Wright, A. Alternating subduction direction and the evolution of the Atlantic Caledonides. Nature 264, 156–160 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/264156a0

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