Large intermontane basins in fold-thrust belts: keys to understanding the formation and evolution of mountain ranges

像加拿大落基山脉这样的山脉是板块构造活动的突出表现，与重要的碳氢化合物和贵金属储量密切相关。在全球范围内，与山脉隆起相关的过程被认为影响从全球气候到世界海洋化学的方方面面。尽管它们很重要，但对山脉带形成的性质的全面了解仍然难以捉摸。该项目将研究山脉内形成的沉积盆地(山间盆地)，以了解盆地和周围山脉如何在数百万年的时间跨度内演变。山间盆地中沉积的沉积物提供了支配山脉抬升和演化的过程的独特记录，因此有可能阐明山脉发展的许多鲜为人知和有争议的方面。该项目将通过详细的地质检查来确定盆地内的沉积历史和周围山脉的演变，并将利用久经考验的新技术。山区的海拔历史(古海拔历史)将使用最近开发的一种方法重建，该方法利用沉积在沉积岩中的矿物中同位素丰度的自然变化。通过将沉积和地壳形变的历史与这些盆地的古海拔记录结合起来，这项研究将为山脉的形成、生长和演化提供重要的新见解。然后，这些信息可以用来检验板块构造假说，检查气候和山脉之间的联系，并探索山脉发展与加拿大含油气和贵金属岩石成因之间的关系。

Mountain ranges like the Canadian Rockies are prominent manifestations of plate tectonic activity and are intimately linked to important reserves of hydrocarbons and precious metals. At a global scale, the processes associated with the uplift of mountains are thought to influence everything from global climate to the chemistry of the world's oceans. Despite their importance, a comprehensive understanding of the nature of mountain belt formation remains elusive. This project will examine sedimentary basins that form within mountain ranges (intermontane basins) in order to understand how the basins and the surrounding mountains evolve over time spans of millions of years. The sediments deposited within intermontane basins provide a unique record of the processes that govern the uplift and evolution of mountains and thus have the potential to elucidate many lesser-known and controversial aspects of mountain range development. This project will determine the history of sedimentation within the basins and the evolution of the surrounding mountains through detailed examinations of the geology, and will utilize both time-tested and novel techniques. The elevation history of mountainous regions (the paleoelevation history) will be reconstructed using a recently developed method, which exploits natural variations in the abundance of isotopes within minerals that precipitate in sedimentary rocks. By integrating the history of sediment deposition and crustal deformation with the paleoelevation record of these basins, this research will provide important new insights into how mountain ranges form, grow and evolve. This information can then be used to test plate tectonic hypotheses, examine the connections between climate and mountain belts, and explore the relationships between mountain range development and the genesis of hydrocarbon- and precious metal-bearing rocks in Canada.