Continental margin tectonics: Submarine accretionary prisms

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Submarine accretionary prisms are sites of incipient mountain building where sediments and rocks of the deep ocean are uplifted, deformed, and ultimately transformed to continental crust. Accretionary prisms develop at sites of lithospheric convergence, that is, subduction zones. Commonly accretionary prisms form along continental margins, although accretionary prisms may also occur adjacent to island arcs, which are ultimately coalesced into continental landmasses. Here, we review the studies of submarine accretionary prisms during the past four years with primary focus on the contributions of geoscientists from the United States.