@article{curry_hudec_peel_fernandez_apps_snedden_2024, title={Structural Restorations of the Complete Conjugate US-Mexico Eastern Gulf of Mexico Margin}, volume={43}, ISSN={["1944-9194"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1029/2023TC007897}, DOI={10.1029/2023TC007897}, abstractNote={AbstractWe present the first sequential structural restoration with flexural backstripping of the Gulf of Mexico US‐Mexico conjugate margin salt basin. We construct four large‐scale (100s of km) balanced, sequential structural restorations to investigate spatio‐temporal patterns of subsidence, geometry of the original salt basin, feedbacks between post‐salt structural and stratigraphic evolution, paleo‐bathymetry, and crustal configurations. The restorations are based on interpretations of 2D and 3D seismic data, and include sequential sedimentary decompaction, flexural isostatic backstripping, and thermal isostatic corrections. The spatially variable crustal thinning factor is directly measured from seismic data, and lithologic parameters are determined by well penetrations. We present a model for the original salt basin and discuss evidence for and implications of a deep water salt basin setting for the GoM. Our analysis suggests a salt basin that contained ∼1–2 km thick salt in a basin 175–390 km across with ∼1 km of bathymetry after salt deposition. The base of salt is mostly smooth with <1 km of local relief in the form of normal faults that disrupt a pre‐salt sedimentary section. We find that supra‐salt extension and shortening are not balanced, with measurable extension exceeding shortening by 18–30 km on each cross‐section. Our subsidence analysis reveals anomalous subsidence totaling 1–2 km during Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous times that may reflect dynamic topography or depth‐dependent thinning. We offer an interpretation of crustal breakup invoking pre‐salt clastic sedimentation, salt deposition in a deep water syn‐thinning basin, and post‐salt lower‐crustal exhumation.}, number={1}, journal={TECTONICS}, author={Curry, Magdalena Ellis and Hudec, Michael R. and Peel, Frank J. and Fernandez, Naiara and Apps, Gillian and Snedden, John W.}, year={2024}, month={Jan} }
 @article{george_perez_struble_curry_horton_2022, title={Aseismic ridge subduction focused late Cenozoic exhumation above the Peruvian flat slab}, volume={600}, ISSN={["1385-013X"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117754}, DOI={10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117754}, abstractNote={Subduction of aseismic ridges and flat slab subduction are important processes that punctuate Cordilleran orogenesis and may enhance exhumation and rock uplift in the overriding plate. Distinguishing between the two drivers is often challenging, as many modern flat slabs spatially coincide with subducting buoyant ridges. The Peruvian flat slab is the largest region of active flat slab subduction on Earth, spanning over 1300 km of the subducting Nazca plate along the western margin of South America. The flat slab is associated with two seafloor ridges: the Nazca Ridge at the southern terminus and the fully subducted Inca Plateau in the north. These aseismic ridges are spatially confined with respect to the flat slab, allowing assessment of the relative roles of aseismic ridge interactions and flat slab subduction in driving upper plate exhumation. We present: (1) a regional compilation of geochronologic ages of Andean igneous rocks, which track the spatio-temporal evolution of Neogene magmatic arc cessation and hence slab flattening; (2) calculated geomorphic indices, which document landscape perturbations and climatic or lithologic changes, (3) a summary of erosion rates from river catchments on the western Andean slope, and; (4) a regional synthesis of thermochronologic ages that reflect the timing and magnitude of upper crustal cooling. Thermochronometric cooling ages systematically track the progressive passage of the Nazca Ridge, suggesting that the buoyant ridge focused exhumation in the overriding plate. Geomorphic indices demonstrate enhanced topography and steeper channels closer to the position of the subducted ridge. The spatial progression of basement block uplifts in Peru also coincides with the timing of ridge passage. In hinterland regions, >2 km of exhumation occurred since ca. 15 Ma above the Peruvian flat slab. For individual locations within the orogen, active rock uplift declines after ridge passage, suggesting that increased coupling is not maintained across the entirety of the flat slab. We argue that above broad zones of flat slab subduction, focused areas of aseismic ridge subduction concentrate upper-plate exhumation and uplift. These observations may be relevant to other flat slab systems, which exhibit a broad zone of arc shutoff with corridors of focused exhumation.}, journal={EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={George, Sarah W. M. and Perez, Nicholas D. and Struble, William and Curry, Magdalena Ellis and Horton, Brian K.}, year={2022}, month={Dec} }
 @article{capaldi_odium_curry_stockli_2022, title={Variable thermal histories across the Pyrenees orogen recorded in modern river sand detrital geo-/thermochronology and PECUBE thermokinematic modelling}, volume={6}, ISSN={["1365-2117"]}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bre.12685}, DOI={10.1111/bre.12685}, abstractNote={AbstractThe Pyrenees Mountains are a classic example of a doubly‐verging collisional orogenic system with flanking retro‐ and pro‐foreland basin systems. Previous bedrock and detrital geo‐/thermochronologic studies have observed magmatic and exhumation‐related ages that reflect a complex thermo‐tectonic evolution of the European and Iberian plate margins related to break‐up and assembly of the Gondwana, Pangea and Pyrenean‐Alpine orogenic cycles. This study integrates detrital zircon, rutile and apatite U‐Pb dating and, detrital zircon and apatite (U‐Th)/He dating from modern river sands from the northern and southern Pyrenees, with PECUBE thermokinematic modelling of bedrock cooling ages to simulate detrital age distributions in order to evaluate: (1) regional patterns in long‐term crustal processes associated with pre‐Pyrenean crustal shortening, crustal thinning and magmatism along the Iberian and European plate margin; (2) timing of regional cooling and inferred erosion related to Pyrenean orogenesis; and (3) the exhumation processes associated with post‐orogenic decay and erosion. Modern river multimineral detrital geo‐/thermochronometry results are consistent with previous bedrock thermal history models and records punctuated Variscan and Pyrenean cooling events in the pro‐wedge that contrasts with protracted Permian to Pliocene thermal history preserved in the retro‐wedge of the orogen. Detrital age distributions from PECUBE modelling predict the Pyrenean age component in both detrital apatite and zircon (U‐Th)/He age distributions, indicating the modelled exhumation patterns in the Axial Zone and Northern Pyrenean Zone can predict observed Pyrenean thermochronology ages. The presence of strong Pyrenean age peaks amongst the modern river sand and modelled detrital cooling age distributions suggests retro‐wedge deformation and exhumation remained active during the main phase of pro‐wedge activity and experienced significant orogenic decay. Isolated Miocene apatite He ages from the North Pyrenees modern river record post‐orogenic cooling, due to tectonic mode switch to extension and (or) climate‐driven enhanced exhumation.}, number={5}, journal={BASIN RESEARCH}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Capaldi, Tomas N. and Odium, Margaret L. and Curry, Magdalena Ellis and Stockli, Daniel F.}, year={2022}, month={Jun} }
 @article{wolf_huismans_muñoz_curry_beek_2021, title={Growth of Collisional Orogens From Small and Cold to Large and Hot—Inferences From Geodynamic Models}, url={https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021168}, DOI={10.1029/2020JB021168}, abstractNote={AbstractIt is well documented that the interplay between crustal thickening and surface processes determines growth of continent‐continent collision orogens from small and cold to large and hot. Additionally, studies have demonstrated that the structural style of a mountain belt is strongly influenced by inherited (extensional) structures, the pattern of erosion and deposition, as well as the distribution of shallow detachment horizons. However, the factors controlling distribution of shortening and variable structural style as a function of convergence and surface process efficiency remain less explored. We use a 2D upper‐mantle scale plane‐strain thermo‐mechanical model (FANTOM) coupled to a planform, mass conserving surface‐process model (Fastscape), to investigate the long‐term evolution of mountain belts and the influence of lithospheric pull, extensional inheritance, surface processes efficiency, and decoupling between thin‐and thick‐skinned tectonics. We establish an evolutionary shortening distribution for orogenic growth from a mono‐vergent wedge to an orogenic plateau, and find that internal crustal loading is the main factor controlling the large scale evolution, while lithospheric pull modulates the plate driving force for orogenesis. Limited foreland‐basin filling and minor exhumation of the orogen core are characteristic for low surface‐process efficiency, while thick foreland‐basin fill, and profound exhumation of the orogen core are characteristic for high surface‐process efficiency. Utilizing a force balance analysis, we show how inherited structures, surface processes, and decoupling between thin‐and thick‐skinned deformation influence structural style during orogenic growth. Finally, we present a comparison of our generic modeling results with natural systems, with a particular focus on the Pyrenees, Alps, and Himalaya‐Tibet.}, journal={Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth}, author={Wolf, Sebastian G. and Huismans, Ritske S. and Muñoz, Josep‐Anton and Curry, Magdalena Ellis and Beek, Peter}, year={2021}, month={Feb} }
 @article{curry_beek_huismans_wolf_fillon_muñoz_2021, title={Spatio-temporal patterns of Pyrenean exhumation revealed by inverse thermo-kinematic modeling of a large thermochronologic data set}, volume={49}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/g48687.1}, DOI={10.1130/g48687.1}, abstractNote={Abstract
               Large thermochronologic data sets enable orogen-scale investigations into spatio-temporal patterns of erosion and deformation. We present the results of a thermo-kinematic modeling study that examines large-scale controls on spatio-temporal variations in exhumation as recorded by multiple low-temperature thermochronometers in the Pyrenees mountains (France/Spain). Using 264 compiled cooling ages spanning ∼200 km of the orogen, a recent model for its topographic evolution, and the thermo-kinematic modeling code Pecube, we evaluated two models for Axial Zone (AZ) exhumation: (1) thrust sheet–controlled (north-south) exhumation, and (2) along-strike (east-west) variable exhumation. We also measured the degree to which spatially variable post-orogenic erosion influenced the cooling ages. We found the best fit for a model of along-strike variable exhumation. In the eastern AZ, rock uplift rates peak at ≥1 mm/yr between 40 and 30 Ma, whereas in the western AZ, they peak between 30 and 20 Ma. The amount of post-orogenic (<20 Ma) erosion increases from <1.0 km in the eastern Pyrenees to >2.5 km in the west. The data reveal a pattern of exhumation that is primarily controlled by structural inheritance, with ancillary patterns reflecting growth and erosion of the antiformal stack and post-orogenic surface processes.}, number={6}, journal={Geology}, publisher={Geological Society of America}, author={Curry, Magdalena Ellis and Beek, Peter and Huismans, Ritske S. and Wolf, Sebastian G. and Fillon, Charlotte and Muñoz, Josep-Anton}, year={2021}, month={Jun}, pages={738–742} }
 @article{curry_al._2021, title={Supplemental Material: Spatio-temporal patterns of Pyrenean exhumation revealed by inverse thermo-kinematic modeling of a large thermochronologic data set}, url={https://doi.org/10.1130/GEOL.S.14120372.v1}, DOI={10.1130/GEOL.S.14120372.v1}, abstractNote={Data table and supplemental figures.<br>}, author={Curry, Magdalena Ellis and al.}, year={2021}, month={Feb} }
 @article{curry_al._2021, title={Supplemental Material: Spatio-temporal patterns of Pyrenean exhumation revealed by inverse thermo-kinematic modeling of a large thermochronologic data set}, url={https://doi.org/10.1130/GEOL.S.14120372}, DOI={10.1130/GEOL.S.14120372}, abstractNote={Data table and supplemental figures.<br>}, author={Curry, Magdalena Ellis and al.}, year={2021}, month={Feb} }
 @article{curry_beek_huismans_wolf_muñoz_2019, title={Evolving paleotopography and lithospheric flexure of the Pyrenean Orogen from 3D flexural modeling and basin analysis}, volume={515}, url={https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.03.009}, DOI={10.1016/j.epsl.2019.03.009}, abstractNote={We present the results of a numerical modeling study of the Pyrenees Mountains investigating the spatio-temporal variation in lithospheric flexure in response to the developing orogen, with the aim of setting constraints on paleotopography. We employ a finite-element method to model the 3D flexural deformation of the lithosphere beneath the Pyrenean orogen since the onset of convergence in the Late Cretaceous. Using subsurface and structural data, we describe the evolving geometry of both the northern Aquitaine and southern Ebro foreland basins at the Paleocene (early orogenic phase), the end- and mid-Eocene (peak orogenic phase), the Oligocene (late orogenic phase), and the present (post-orogenic phase). The flexural modeling provides insight into how both the rigidity of the lithosphere and the paleotopographic load have varied over the course of orogenesis to shape the basin geometry. Employing a 3D continuous-plate model, we find that the overriding European plate has slightly higher rigidity than the underthrusting Iberian plate. The best-fit model results for the modern setting produce a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 458 m using effective elastic thickness (Te) values of 23 and 16 km for the European and Iberian plates, respectively. We also test a broken-plate model, which produces a similar RMSE but predicts higher Te (32 km for the European plate and 26 km for the Iberian plate). The broken-plate model results indicate minimal vertical plate-boundary forces are necessary to reproduce the observed basin geometry. Flexural modeling results suggest that the topographic load doubled from the Paleocene to the Oligocene, and achieved modern topography by the end of the Eocene. The topography remained relatively stable throughout the Oligocene and Neogene, with only limited growth and decay. These results have implications for surface processes and foreland-basin development of the Pyrenean Orogen, tectonic inheritance, and the geodynamic evolution of Western Europe.}, journal={Earth and Planetary Science Letters}, publisher={Elsevier BV}, author={Curry, Magdalena Ellis and Beek, Peter and Huismans, Ritske S. and Wolf, Sebastian G. and Muñoz, Josep-Anton}, year={2019}, month={Jun}, pages={26–37} }
 @article{curry_peel_hudec_norton_2018, title={Extensional models for the development of passive‐margin salt basins, with application to the Gulf of Mexico}, url={https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12299}, DOI={10.1111/bre.12299}, abstractNote={AbstractRecent subsalt petroleum discoveries associated with rifted‐margin salt basins have piqued interest in the presalt geology of the Gulf of Mexico margin. Available subsurface data does not uniquely constrain the subsalt geometry, so creating an interpretation of the crustal architecture requires the application of geological models for crustal extension and breakup. However, published interpretations of the nature of the transition from continental rifting to seafloor spreading range from magma‐rich to magma‐poor. To address this uncertainty, we present 2D forward kinematic models for crustal configurations generated by diverse models (symmetric extension, depth‐dependent extension, and volcanic extension). Through a series of conceptual balanced cross‐sections grounded in a ~600 km 2D seismic line from the NE Gulf of Mexico, we demonstrate the implications of each model for the limit of oceanic crust, basement morphology, crustal architecture, and hydrocarbon prospectivity. We discuss evidence for the dominant crustal processes, including geodynamic factors and structural and stratigraphic observations. Based on our observations and the geologic history, we favour an asymmetric, magma‐poor to ‐intermediate margin interpretation for the NE Gulf of Mexico, but suggest that the degree of volcanic input and width of the ocean‐continent transition zone may vary along strike. The along‐strike variability highlights the importance of understanding all potential presalt crustal configurations, their key features, and their implications. With increased data availability on the presalt geology in the Gulf of Mexico the relevance of these scenarios can be assessed, allowing development of comprehensive geodynamic and tectonic models of the margin and consideration of petroleum system elements in the presalt sequence.}, journal={Basin Research}, author={Curry, Magdalena A. E. and Peel, Frank J. and Hudec, Michael R. and Norton, Ian O.}, year={2018}, month={Dec} }
 @article{testing fault growth models with low-temperature thermochronology in the northwest basin and range, usa_2016, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016tc004211}, DOI={10.1002/2016tc004211}, abstractNote={AbstractCommon fault growth models diverge in predicting how faults accumulate displacement and lengthen through time. A paucity of field‐based data documenting the lateral component of fault growth hinders our ability to test these models and fully understand how natural fault systems evolve. Here we outline a framework for using apatite (U‐Th)/He thermochronology (AHe) to quantify the along‐strike growth of faults. To test our framework, we first use a transect in the normal fault‐bounded Jackson Mountains in the Nevada Basin and Range Province, then apply the new framework to the adjacent Pine Forest Range. We combine new and existing cross sections with 18 new and 16 existing AHe cooling ages to determine the spatiotemporal variability in footwall exhumation and evaluate models for fault growth. Three age‐elevation transects in the Pine Forest Range show that rapid exhumation began along the range‐front fault between approximately 15 and 11 Ma at rates of 0.2–0.4 km/Myr, ultimately exhuming approximately 1.5–5 km. The ages of rapid exhumation identified at each transect lie within data uncertainty, indicating concomitant onset of faulting along strike. We show that even in the case of growth by fault‐segment linkage, the fault would achieve its modern length within 3–4 Myr of onset. Comparison with the Jackson Mountains highlights the inadequacies of spatially limited sampling. A constant fault‐length growth model is the best explanation for our thermochronology results. We advocate that low‐temperature thermochronology can be further utilized to better understand and quantify fault growth with broader implications for seismic hazard assessments and the coevolution of faulting and topography.}, journal={Tectonics}, year={2016}, month={Oct} }
 @article{ellis_barnes_2015, title={A global perspective on the topographic response to fault growth}, volume={11}, url={http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=ORCID&SrcApp=OrcidOrg&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=WOS:000359480000003&KeyUID=WOS:000359480000003}, DOI={10.1130/GES01156.1}, abstractNote={Precise factors controlling the coevolution of deformation and topography in tectonically active landscapes remain poorly understood due to complex feedbacks between numerous possible variables. Here we examine the links between fault kinematics, emergent topography, and environmental factors on a global data set of active fault-driven mountain ranges (n = 41). Using simple regressions between tectonic, climatic, and topographic variables, we explore the controls on fault-driven landscape development at the range scale. For each fault in our Google Earth accessible database, we compiled (1) topographic metrics from a 30-m digital elevation model including along-strike changes in elevation and relief, fault length, and tip zone length (the along-strike distance from fault tip to where the associated relief stops increasing) and gradient; (2) long-term (10 4–6 yr) tectonic variables including fault slip rate, displacement rate, displacement, and age; (3) climatic variables including annual precipitation; and (4) rock type from geologic maps. Our results show that all mountain ranges reach a uniform value of relief within some distance from their tips and the length scale of this relief growth correlates with long-term vertical displacement rate (R = 0.55) and slip rate (R = 0.51). We apply a well-established framework for fault growth as the tectonic boundary condition to estimate the time required to achieve this uniform relief (∼10 4–6 yr) and suggest that this threshold time indicates regional tectonomorphic equilibrium. Strong correlations between annual precipitation and deformation rates (R > 0.60), and between lithologic strength and mountain relief (R > 0.70), allude to other principal forces affecting emergent landscape form that are often ignored. Our findings demonstrate that fault-driven topography always saturates in relief, suggest there are quantifiable fault-kinematic controls on landscape form, and hint that landscape relief patterns may, in turn, be used to estimate rates of faulting.}, number={4}, journal={Geosphere}, author={Ellis, Magdalena A. and Barnes, Jason B.}, year={2015}, pages={1008–1023} }
 @article{ellis_barnes_colgan_2015, title={Geomorphic evidence for enhanced Pliocene-Quaternary faulting in the northwestern Basin and Range}, volume={7}, url={http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=ORCID&SrcApp=OrcidOrg&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=WOS:000351916600006&KeyUID=WOS:000351916600006}, DOI={10.1130/L401.1}, abstractNote={Mountains in the U.S. Basin and Range Province are similar in form, yet they have different histories of deformation and uplift. Unfortunately, chronicling fault slip with techniques like thermochronology and geodetics can still leave sizable, yet potentially important gaps at Pliocene–Quaternary (∼105–106 yr) time scales. Here, we combine existing geochronology with new geomorphic observations and approaches to investigate the Miocene to Quaternary slip history of active normal faults that are exhuming three footwall ranges in northwestern Nevada: the Pine Forest Range, the Jackson Mountains, and the Santa Rosa Range. We use the National Elevation Dataset (10 m) digital elevation model (DEM) to measure bedrock river profiles and hillslope gradients from these ranges. We observe a prominent suite of channel convexities (knickpoints) that segment the channels into upper reaches with low steepness (mean k sn = ∼182; θref = 0.51) and lower, fault-proximal reaches with high steepness (mean k sn = ∼361), with a concomitant increase in hillslope angles of ∼6°–9°. Geologic maps and field-based proxies for rock strength allow us to rule out static causes for the knickpoints and interpret them as transient features triggered by a drop in base level that created ∼20% of the existing relief (∼220 m of ∼1050 m total). We then constrain the timing of base-level change using paleochannel profile reconstructions, catchment-scale volumetric erosion fluxes, and a stream-power–based knickpoint celerity (migration) model. Low-temperature thermochronology data show that faulting began at ca. 11–12 Ma, yet our results estimate knickpoint initiation began in the last 5 Ma and possibly as recently as 0.1 Ma with reasonable migration rates of 0.5–2 mm/yr. We interpret the collective results to be evidence for enhanced Pliocene–Quaternary fault slip that may be related to tectonic reorganization in the American West, although we cannot rule out climate as a contributing mechanism. We propose that similar studies, which remain remarkably rare across the region, be used to further test how robust this Plio–Quaternary landscape signal may be throughout the Great Basin.}, number={1}, journal={Lithosphere}, author={Ellis, Magdalena A. and Barnes, Jason B. and Colgan, Joseph P.}, year={2015}, pages={59–72} }
 @article{ellis_laubach_eichhubl_olson_hargrove_2012, title={Fracture development and diagenesis of Torridon Group Applecross Formation, near An Teallach, NW Scotland: millennia of brittle deformation resilience?}, volume={169}, url={http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=ORCID&SrcApp=OrcidOrg&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=WOS:000308669800005&KeyUID=WOS:000308669800005}, DOI={10.1144/0016-76492011-086}, abstractNote={The Late Proterozoic Torridon Group Applecross Formation in the foreland of the Moine Thrust Belt, NW Scotland, contains deformation bands, three fracture sets (from oldest to youngest A, B, and L) defined by orientation, crosscutting relations, and progressively less quartz cement in younger sets, and joints. Set A crosscuts deformation bands and strikes north–south. Set B has trimodal orientation defining three linked subsets that formed concurrently. Set L strike ranges from NE–SW to ENE–WSW, in parent crack–wing crack arrays that formed progressively; these are more abundant near small-displacement, oblique-slip faults that offset the overlying Cambrian Eriboll Formation and the Moine Thrust Belt. Applecross sandstones have low fracture abundance, possibly a consequence of low elastic moduli (Young’s modulus 2.3–17.0 GPa, most values <6.9 GPa) and moderate to high subcritical crack index (45–78), resulting from compacted soft lithic grains and clay-mineral cements. Low abundance contradicts models that postulate persistent incipient failure by subsurface fracture. The fracture sequence resembles that found in the overlying Cambrian Eriboll Formation quartzarenites, implying that no widespread late Proterozoic fracture sets exist in this part of the Applecross Formation, an uneventful record for a rock profoundly resistant to brittle deformation.}, number={3}, journal={Journal of the Geological Society}, author={Ellis, Magdalena A. and Laubach, S. E. and Eichhubl, P. and Olson, J. E. and Hargrove, P.}, year={2012}, pages={297–310} }