Taconian seismogenic deformation in the appalachian orogen and the North American craton

Originally the paradigm of plate tectonics was largely based on seismological interpretation of earthquakes. It therefore behoves that geological literature should pay more attention to the detection of seismic activity in ancient rocks. The effects of earthquakes on relatively young Tertiary and Holocene deposits have been recognized, commonly in the context of engineering works. In this paper, observational evidence for seismogenic structures in the Lower Palaeozoic carbonate belt of E. North America is presented. The structures range from minor faults and liquefaction effects to breccias and melanges. It is sometimes possible to suggest the dynamics of faults on which earthquakes occurred. Although most of the deformation happened at the margins of the craton and the growing orogenic belt, intracratonic faulting, earthquakes and synsedimentary deformation also took place.