Did westward subduction cause cretaceous–tertiary orogeny in the north American Cordillera? / Вызвала ли западная субдукция мелово-третичный орогенез в Североамериканских Кордильерах?

The North American portion of the Cordilleran orogen extends continuously from Alaska to southern Mexico, and from east to west over much of its length the orogen comprises an easterly vergent fold-thrust belt, a complexly deformed metamorphic hinterland that collapsed gravitationally, and an interlaced mosaic of exotic terranes. Although most models for the development of the Cordilleran orogen invoke Late Jurassic–Cretaceous intraplate, backarc shortening above an eastwardly dipping subduction zone, a simple collisional model in which the leading edge of North America was subducted to the west, beneath a segmented, arc-bearing microcontinent, better fi ts the data.