Crustal deformation due to Alaska–Yakutat collision

The region of Alaska and adjacent northwest Canada is tectonically active and is subjected to multiple tectonic processes including plate subduction and terrane accretion. These tectonic processes and the forces originating thereof are responsible for high seismicity in the region and deformation of the crust. In the present-day tectonic setting, the Yakutat terrane is obliquely colliding with Alaska along the Aleutian Trench. Also, flat subduction due to under thrusting of a thickened crust, probably of oceanic affinity, is contributing to the tectonic evolution of this region in a basal traction collision style. This study uses the 2D, planform, thin-viscous-sheet model to investigate the effect of the Yakutat terrane colliding with Alaska and adjacent northwest Canada. Along with the obliquity and velocity of convergence, the lateral strength heterogeneities in the crust are considered in this investigation. The results of the numerical model are constrained with the observed topography and stress orientation in Alaska. It is shown that the Alaska–Yakutat collision is producing asymmetric deformation of the crust with respect to the normal to the collision boundary and that lateral strength heterogeneities contribute significantly to the deformation of the crust. Also, the influence of this collision can be observed up to a distance of ∼700 km inland from the collision boundary.