Franciscan Complex

E95610

The Franciscan Complex is a chaotic assemblage of deformed oceanic and continental rocks in coastal California, formed in a subduction zone setting and prominently exposed in ranges such as the Santa Lucia Range.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf accretionary complex
geologic formation
mélange
tectonostratigraphic terrane
age Cretaceous
Late Jurassic
early Cenozoic
associatedWith Farallon Plate
North American Plate
containsFossilsOf deep‑marine fauna
radiolaria
country United States
deformation folded
intensely deformed
strongly faulted
formedBy subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath continental margin
lithology basalt
blueschist
chert
eclogite
greenstone
greywacke sandstone
high‑pressure metamorphic rocks
serpentinite
shale
locatedIn California
California Coast Ranges
Diablo Range
Marin County
San Francisco Bay Area
Santa Lucia Range
coastal California
northern California
western margin of North America
metamorphicGrade high‑pressure low‑temperature
namedAfter Franciscan friars of California missions
overlies Coast Range Ophiolite
significance classic example of an accretionary prism complex
record of Mesozoic subduction along western North America
structuralStyle chaotic assemblage
mélange with tectonic blocks in sheared matrix
studiedIn sedimentology
structural geology
tectonics
tectonicSetting accretionary prism
subduction zone
underlies Great Valley Group

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Gabilan Range
Santa Lucia Range
geology

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