Rockies Origin Rewritten: Westward-Dipping Craton Redefines the Mountain's Birth
A new seismic tomography study of the Canadian Rockies shows the North American craton dips about 6 degrees west near the Rockies, revealing a multi-layer Cordillera-craton boundary rather than a sharp vertical step. This challenges the long-held subduction-only view of the Rockies’ formation and suggests a more complex interaction with mantle rocks beneath. Led by University of Alberta researchers and published in Nature Communications, the work refines our understanding of the boundary’s evolution and points to future research to fully unravel the mountain range’s birth history.