Midcontinent rift system

This view of the rift system's evolution is compatible with the rift being part of an evolving plate boundary system rather than an isolated episode of midplate volcanism. Citation: Merino, M., G. R. Keller, S. Stein, and C. Stein (2013), Variations in Mid-Continent Rift magma volumes consistent with microplate evolution, Geophys. Res.

Midcontinent rift system. The Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America hosts a diverse suite of magmatic and hydrothermal mineral deposits in the Lake Superior region where rift rocks are exposed at or near the surface. Historically, hydrothermal deposits, such as Michigan's native copper deposits and the White Pine sediment-hosted stratiform ...

The Humboldt Fault (red) and Midcontinent Rift System (green) in Kansas and Nebraska. The Humboldt Fault or Humboldt Fault Zone, is a normal fault or series of faults, that extends from Nebraska southwestwardly through most of Kansas. Kansas is not particularly earthquake prone, ranking 45th out of 50 states by damage caused.

1. Introduction. The shallow, dense igneous rocks of North America's 1.1‐Ga failed Midcontinent Rift (MCR) System create a striking magnetic anomaly and gravity high that demarcate the rift axis (Chase & Gilmer, 1973; Hinze et al., 1992; King & Zietz, 1971).The system consists of two arms that converge in the Lake Superior region—one extending southeast through Michigan and one extending ...The Midcontinent rift system (MCR) of North America is a major geological and geophysical anomaly. This feature was initially identified through potential field studies of North America (e.g., Ocola and Meyer, 1973). Later seismic reflection studies, building upon geological mapping of the rift-related rocks, interpreted the MCR as deposits of ...MIDCONTINENT RIFT SYSTEM BIBLIOGRAPHY By Steven A. Hauck December 1995 Technical Report NRRI/TR-95/33 Funded by the Natural Resources Research Institute In ...The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is one of the world’s largest continental rifts and has an age of 1.1 Ga (giga-annum). The MRS hosts a diverse …The structure and geometry of the 1.1-b.y.-old Midcontinent Rift system under Lake Superior is interpreted from 20 seismic reflection profiles recorded during the early and mid-1980s. The seismic data reveal that rift basins under Lake Superior are variable in depth and are partially filled with Keweenawan age sediments to depths of 7 …Abstract We report the ages of detrital zircons (207Pb/206Pb LA-ICPMS; ) from 12 clastic units that are representative of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America. Magmatism of the MRS spanned 1115-1085 Ma. The Puckwunge, Nopeming, and Bessemer basal sandstones and the Oronto and Bayfield Group sandstones received a predominance of Keweenaw Rift-Grenville (1.3 ...His presentation illustrates, using a giant crowbar, the completion of the Midcontinent Rift, which is a large crack that started to form about 1.1 billion ...

We test this algorithm on the Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift (MCR), north-central United States. The MCR provides a challenge because it hosts a gravity high overlying low shear-wave velocity crust in a generally flat region. Our initial density estimates are derived from a seismic velocity/crustal thickness model based on joint inversion of ...rocks of the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS). The MRS is a failed rift, a great rip through the earth’s crust, that stretches for a thousand miles from eastern Lake Superior, across the center of Iowa, and south into Kansas (Fig. 1). The rift formed about 1.1 billion years ago, and had it continued to spread, it would have formed a new ocean.Halls, 1997; Riller et al., 1999). Recently, the Midcontinent rift system has been interpreted as the failed arm of a triple junction as seafloor spread-ing between Laurentia and Amazonia was established (Stein et al., 2015, 2016). The volume of magmatism appears to require mantle hotspot input beyond passive rifting (Stein et al., 2015, 2016).The 1.1 Ga Middle Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a major intracontinental, thermo-tectonic structure that is traced by gravity and magnetic data, subsurface drilling, and outcrop control over a length of 2,000 km within the central United States (Van...The Middle Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System is one of the world's great continental rifts. This 1,100-Ma rift, which extends more than 2,000 km across the North American craton, is a major ...The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is expressed geophysically by a semi-linear, regional gravity high that trends across the Midcontinent and Great Lakes region of North America. The gravity high is interrupted by two prominent, semi-circular gravity lows, which have been interpreted from modeling and seismic-reflection sections as basement ...rift arm to the east. The Nebraska segment of the Mid-Continent Rift System parallels fabrics within the earlier Central Plains Orogen [35]. In the southern part of the study area, within eastern Kansas, the Mid-Continent Rift System is cut by a series of NW-SE trending dextral strike-slip faults, on which there have been historical earthquakes ...

The Midcontinent Rift System, which curves for more than 2000 km across the Upper Midwest, is one of the world's great continental rifts. Rifting began about 1.1 billion years ago, when the Earth's crust began to split along the margin of the Superior craton.The Midcontinent Rift system and surrounding Precambrian rocks are known to host highly significant mineral resources. Our project objectives are to increase understanding of this system through the integration of new and legacy geophysical data with geochemical and borehole data, map the lithology and structure of PreCambrian rocks, and develop an integrated 3D geologic model of the region.1 Introduction The Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS), formed about 1.1 Ga, is a large arcuate structure located in central North America. It is the most striking anorogenic geologic feature observed within the Precambrian basement rocks forming the North American craton. Moreover, it numbers among the world's greatest continental ...The Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MCRS) is considered one of the most important tectonic features in North America and was formed during a ...The MCR probably formed as part of the rifting of Amazonia (Precambrian northeast South America) from Laurentia (Precambrian North America) and became inactive once seafloor spreading was established. A cusp in Laurentia's apparent polar wander path near the onset of MCR volcanism, recorded by the MCR's volcanic rocks, likely reflects the rifting.

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The Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic ...Aug 10, 1993 · Mafic intrusive rocks constitute a major portion of the exposed 1100 Ma (Keweenawan) Midcontinent Rift system in northeastern Minnesota; however, prior to this study, geochronological data were insufficient to allow rigorous interpretation of intrusive histories and their relationships to extrusive suites. The Midcontinent Rift system and surrounding Precambrian rocks are known to host highly significant mineral resources. Our project objectives are to increase understanding of this system through the integration of new and legacy geophysical data with geochemical and borehole data, map the lithology and structure of PreCambrian rocks, and develop an integrated 3D geologic model of the region.26 Oca 2014 ... A billion years ago, North America was trying to split apart, just as East Africa is today. The split, called the mid-continent rift system, ...The resistivity signature of the 1.1 Ga Mid-continent Rift System is examined in detail, in particular as relates to rift geometry, extent, and segmentation. An unrecognized expanse of (concealed ...The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a Late Mesoproterozoic (∼1.1 Ga) sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks exposed in the Lake Superior Region of North America. The MRS continues to be the focus of much research due to its economic mineral deposits as well as its archive of Precambrian life and tectonic processes. In order to constrain ...

True amplitude processing of The Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program on Crustal Evolution seismic reflection data from the Midcontinent Rift System of North America shows large differences in the reflectivity of the Moho transition zone beneath the axial rift, beneath the rift flanks, and outside of the rift. The Moho reflection from the axial rift has a discontinuous, diffractiveThe Midcontinent Rift system and surrounding Precambrian rocks are known to host highly significant mineral resources. Our project objectives are to increase understanding of this system through the integration of new and legacy geophysical data with geochemical and borehole data, map the lithology and structure of PreCambrian rocks, and develop an integrated 3D geologic model of the region.1 Introduction [2] The Mid-Continent Rift System (MCRS) is one of the most prominent features on the Bouguer gravity map of the central United States (Figure 1).The rift formed at ~1.1 Ga, recorded by two pulses of magmatic activity lasting ~15 Myr [White, 1997], making it one of the most extensive paleorifts in the world [Hinze et al., 1997].The Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic ...Aug 3, 2018 · The Midcontinent Rift system and surrounding Precambrian rocks are known to host highly significant mineral resources. Our project objectives are to increase understanding of this system through the integration of new and legacy geophysical data with geochemical and borehole data, map the lithology and structure of PreCambrian rocks, and develop an integrated 3D geologic model of the region. People in Shanghai, where the local dialect is already coming under threat from standard Mandarin, don't want to be told how they should address their grannies. People in Shanghai don’t want to be told how they should address their grandmot...Prominent examples of rift failure include the North Sea, the West African Rift System and the Midcontinent Rift underlying the Great Lakes of North America. Rifting stopped in these cases because ...1. Introduction [2] The recent discovery of the Eagle Ni-Cu-PGE deposit in Upper Michigan represents a major breakthrough in the exploration for magmatic sulfide deposits in the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) ().Prior to the Eagle discovery, sulfide mineralization in the MRS was known to occur mainly in the basal zones of large layered mafic intrusions within the Duluth and Mellen complexes ...The Midcontinent Rift System is a 1.1 Ga failed continental rift in the Midwestern United States and Canada (Fig. 1).This area contains ~ 1 – 2 × 10 6 km 3 of …S-to-P receiver functions constrain a Moho, crustal underplating and midlithosphere discontinuities beneath the Midcontinent Rift; The Moho and crustal underplating directly beneath the rift axis vary in character from north to south; Midlithospheric discontinuities predate the rifting event and seem unperturbed by rift-related activityUnique to the mid-continent is the preservation of this tectonic collage, largely unmodified by tectonic events since the 1.1 Ga Mid-continent rift system nearly tore it apart. I have investigated aspects of the structure and evolution of the region through the lens of a 3D resistivity model based upon EarthScope magnetotelluric data.

Compressional-wave seismic velocity (velocity) and bulk density (density) data were compiled from published sources for rock suites and earth materials that are significant for geophysical modeling of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region. The data include laboratory measurements of outcrop and drill core …

Geophysical investigations and crustal structure of the North American Midcontinent Rift system (W.J. Hinze et al.). The igneous petrology and magmatic evolution of the Midcontinent rift system (K.W. Klewin, S.B. Shirey). The Midcontinent rift in the Lake Superior region with emphasis on its geodynamic evolution (W.F. Cannon).igneous activity and sedimentation along the midcontinent rift system at about 1100 Myr ago. This appears to be the youngest Precambrian igneous activity in the midcontinent region. To the east of the midcontinent region is the Grenville Province, which represents a major crustal event. The Grenville Province is large andMidcontinent Rift. The Midcontinent Rift (MCR), a 3000-km-long band of more than 2 million km 3 of buried igneous and sedimentary rocks that outcrop near Lake Superior, has been extensively studied, as reviewed by Ojakangas et al. (2001) and S. Stein et al. (2018). To the south, it is buried by younger sediments, but easily traced because the ... 2. Simplified map of the Midcontinent Rift defined from gravity sur­ veys 4 3. Detailed structural interpretation of the Superior Zone of the Mid-continent Rift System 5 4. General geology of the western Lake Superior Basin part of the Mid-continent Rift System 6 5. General stratigraphic section in the western part of the Lake Superior Basin 7The Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MCRS) is considered one of the most important tectonic features in North America and was formed during a ...Compressional-wave seismic velocity (velocity) and bulk density (density) data were compiled from published sources for rock suites and earth materials that are significant for geophysical modeling of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region. The data include laboratory measurements of outcrop and drill core samples, seismic refraction studies, and a sonic log ...The graphic, inset, shows gravity mapping done of the Midcontinent Rift System by the U.S. Geological Survey: "MRS volcanic rocks (shown as warmer, reddish colors) that occupy the center of the rift are more dense than the MRS sedimentary rocks (shown as cooler bluish colors) that flank both sides of the volcanics." At left, a diagram from ...An example of a failed rift is the Midcontinent Rift System (Keweenawan Rift), an ancient rift in the North American continent that extends in an arc from eastern Kansas to Minnesota, through lake Superior, and down into Michigan. This rift originated about 1.1 billion years ago and is thought to have formed over a hot spot in the Earth's ...

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Mar 7, 2023 · Prominent examples of rift failure include the North Sea, the West African Rift System and the Midcontinent Rift underlying the Great Lakes of North America. Rifting stopped in these cases because ... MIDCONTINENT RIFT SYSTEM BIBLIOGRAPHY By Steven A. Hauck December 1995 Technical Report NRRI/TR-95/33 Funded by the Natural Resources Research Institute In ...The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is an example of a mafic-dominated continental rift where silicic magmatism is locally significant. The best-preserved example of this is on the NE limb of the rift along the North Shore of Lake Superior where rhyolites comprise a large percentage (up to 25%; Green, J.C., Fitz, T.J., III, 1993. Extensive felsic lavas and rheoignimbrites in the Keweenawan ...The Midcontinent rift system (MCR) of North America is a major geological and geophysical anomaly. This feature was initially identified through potential field studies of North America (e.g., Ocola and Meyer, 1973). Later seismic reflection studies, building upon geological mapping of the rift-related rocks, interpreted the MCR as deposits of ...The Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic volcanic rocks and clastic sediments. For most of its extent it is buried beneath Paleozoic rocks but can be traced by its strong gravity and magnetic ...The Kizler North Field in northwest Lyon County, Kansas, is a producing field with structures associated with both uplift of the Ancestral Rockies (Pennsylvanian to early Permian) and reactivation of structures along the Proterozoic midcontinent rift system (MRS), which contributed to the current complex and poorly understood play mechanisms.An official website of the United States government. Here's how you know21 Ara 2022 ... The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) or Keweenawan Rift is a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long geological rift in the center of the North American ...Transcript[ edit] [A map of North America shows the Midcontinent Rift System as a red line curving through the Great Lakes and down through the midwestern United States.] 1.1 billion years ago, the North American continent began to split in half. [Black Hat stands at a lectern with a "Vote 2020" sign on it. ….

The Midcontinent Rift (MCR) or Keweenawan Large Igneous Province (LIP) is a 3000 km long failed rift system that was active from about 1160 Ma to 1085 Ma (Heaman et al., 2007, Miller & Nicholson ...Learn about the Midcontinent Rift System, a 2,000 km long geological rift in the center of the North American continent that failed to become an ocean. Find out how the rift formed, what rocks it produced, and what natural resources it contains.The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a Late Mesoproterozoic (∼1.1Ga) sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks exposed in the Lake Superior Region of North America. The MRS continues to be the ...1 Introduction [2] The Mid-Continent Rift System (MCRS) is one of the most prominent features on the Bouguer gravity map of the central United States (Figure 1).The rift formed at ~1.1 Ga, recorded by two pulses of magmatic activity lasting ~15 Myr [White, 1997], making it one of the most extensive paleorifts in the world [Hinze et al., 1997].The ~1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift (MCR), the 3000 km long largely buried feature causing the largest gravity and magnetic anomaly within the North American craton, is traditionally considered a failed rift formed by isolated midplate volcanism and extension.Open the PDF Link PDF for Segmented structure of the middle Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System, North America in another window Add to Citation Manager Integrated geophysical modeling of the North American Midcontinent Rift System: New interpretations for western Lake Superior, northwestern Wisconsin, and eastern MinnesotaThe Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic ...THE MID-CONTINENT RIFT ZONE. On the southern margin of what is today the Canadian Shield a split, or rift occurred about 1.1 Ga (billion years ago). This is called the Keweenawan Rift, or mid-continent rift system (see below). In sum, it opened, filled with up to 15 km of lavas (which solidified into a rock called basalt), and then the rifting ...The Eagle Ni-Cu-(platinum-group element, PGE) deposit in northern Michigan is associated with mafic-ultramafic intrusions that formed during the early stages of picritic magmatism in the ~1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift System (a, b in Fig. 1).Ding et al. (2010, 2011) have described the general setting of the deposit, age, characteristics of the parental magmas, and their petrochemical evolution. Midcontinent rift system, The Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic ..., We focus on lava flows from the well-preserved 1.1 Ga Keweenawan CFBP that erupted within the Midcontinent Rift System. We present a new geochemical, petrographic, and stratigraphic synthesis from ..., Midcontinent Rift System named the East Continent Rift. Basin. While geologic and geophysical data are pres- ently lacking for much of the rift basin, parts ..., Green, J.C., 1983, Geologic and geochemical evidence for the nature and development of the Middle Proterozoic (Keweenawan) midcontinent rift ofNorth, To the north and west of New Madrid's jagged Reelfoot Rift is the much larger and even more unthinkably ancient Midcontinent Rift, formed more than a billion years ago when there was nothing ..., The Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic ..., The Keweenawan Midcontinent rift system was imposed upon the terrane suture in our study area at ca. 1100 Ma. This event nearly separated the ancient continent and imparted enormous volumes of mafic magma to various depths in the crust (Hinze et al., 1997; Nicholson et al., 1997; Vervoort et al., 2007; Stein et al., 2015), engendering numerous high-grade base and precious metal deposits ..., The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) or Keweenawan Rift is a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long geological rift in the center of the North American continent and south-central part of the North American plate. It formed when the continent's core, the North American craton, began to split apart during the Mesoproterozoic era of the …, The prerift crust, however, was thinned 25-30 km beneath the central rift (compared with its flanks), providing evidence for crustal extension by factors of about 3-4. The Midcontinent rift system differs from Phanerozoic rifts in having total crustal thicknesses equal to or greater than the surrounding (presumably unextended) regions., Midcontinent Rift. The Midcontinent Rift (MCR), a 3000-km-long band of more than 2 million km 3 of buried igneous and sedimentary rocks that outcrop near Lake Superior, has been extensively studied, as reviewed by Ojakangas et al. (2001) and S. Stein et al. (2018). To the south, it is buried by younger sediments, but easily traced because the ... , The Nebraska segment of the Mid-Continent Rift System parallels fabrics within the earlier Central Plains Orogen . In the southern part of the study area, within eastern Kansas, the Mid-Continent Rift System is cut by a series of NW-SE trending dextral strike-slip faults, on which there have been historical earthquakes [39,40]., Although the magmatism in the North American Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is generally accepted to have formed via partial melting of the Keweenaw Plume (i.e., the plume that impinged on the MRS ..., We report the ages of detrital zircons (207Pb/206Pb LA-ICPMS; ) from 12 clastic units that are representative of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America. Magmatism of ..., The Keweenawan Midcontinent rift system was imposed upon the terrane suture in our study area at ca. 1100 Ma. This event nearly separated the ancient continent and imparted enormous volumes of mafic magma to various depths in the crust (Hinze et al., 1997; Nicholson et al., 1997; Vervoort et al., 2007; Stein et al., 2015), engendering numerous high-grade base and precious metal deposits ..., The Midcontinent Rift System is a 1.1 Ga failed continental rift in the Midwestern United States and Canada (Fig. 1).This area contains ~ 1 - 2 × 10 6 km 3 of mafic igneous rocks (Hutchinson et al. 1990; Merino et al. 2013).Rift-related volcanism includes voluminous tholeiitic flood basalt flows, minor picritic flows, and some intermediate-felsic volcanic rocks (Green 1982, 2002)., Ga Midcontinent rift system basalts: Implications for multiple mantle sources during rift development: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v . 34, p. 504–520, https:// doi .org /10 .1 139 /e17 -041., [A map of North America shows the Midcontinent Rift System as a red line curving through the Great Lakes and down through the midwestern United States.] 1.1 billion years ago, the North American continent began to split in half. [Black Hat stands at a lectern with a "Vote 2020" sign on it. He gestures to an image of the globe with a giant ..., Nov 1, 2020 · The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America represents a major thermal-tectonic rifting event ca. 1.1 Ga marked by a huge volume of igneous rock emplaced in a relatively short time span of ~30 million years, followed by deposition of a thick package of clastic sediments with subsequent faulting (Wold and Hinze, 1982). , Generalized geology of the Lake Superior region with Midcontinent Rift-related intrusions, showing the location of the Tamarack intrusion, the Eagle intrusion, and the Duluth Complex relative to ..., The Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System of North America is remarkably similar to Phanerozoic rifted continental margins and flood basalt provinces. Like the younger analogues, the volcanism within this older rift can be explained by decompression melting and rapid extrusion of igneous material during lithospheric extension above a broad ..., An "age low' occurs in northern Wisconsin where values range from 1070-1172 Ma for rocks with crystallization ages of 1760 to 1865 Ma. These values overlap with the main episode of mafic igneous activity (1090 to 1120 Ma) along the Midcontinent rift system (MRS)., Abstract: The Keweenaw fault system along Lake Superior’s south shore in Michigan, USA is one of the most significant fault systems associated with North America’s Midcontinent Rift System. Reverse slip has thrust Portage Lake Volcanics (ca. 1.1 Ga) southeastward over Jacobsville Sandstone (ca. 1.0 Ga)., Uncertainty exists in the configuration and extent of the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) because of deficiencies in geophysical data and limited information from …, Rift-wide correlation of 1.1 Ga Midcontinent rift system basalts, implications for multiple mantle sources during rift development Can. J. Earth Sci. , 34 ( 1997 ) , pp. 504 - 520 CrossRef View in Scopus Google Scholar, Thor Volcanic Group of the Midcontinent Rift System. Most solid lines around and within the MRS mark faults rather than lithologic contacts. Precambrian geology modified from Anderson (1988; 1992). of the well and as deep below the Precambrian surface as possible in order to avoid surface samples that have been strongly weathered., The kimberlites of Riley and Marshall Counties are located just east of the mid-continent rift system in north-eastern Kansas (Fig. 1) and intrude Permian age limestone and shale of the Chase ..., Geophysical investigations and crustal structure of the North American Midcontinent Rift system (W.J. Hinze et al.). The igneous petrology and magmatic evolution of the Midcontinent rift system (K.W. Klewin, S.B. Shirey). The Midcontinent rift in the Lake Superior region with emphasis on its geodynamic evolution (W.F. Cannon)., The prerift crust, however, was thinned 25-30 km beneath the central rift (compared with its flanks), providing evidence for crustal extension by factors of about 3-4. The Midcontinent rift system differs from Phanerozoic rifts in having total crustal thicknesses equal to or greater than the surrounding (presumably unextended) regions., Rift-wid e correlation of 1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift System basalts: Implications for multiple sources during rift development. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences , 34 (4), 504 - 520. https://doi ..., The Midcontinent rift system is a 1.1-b.y.-old structure extending from Kansas, through the Lake Superior region, and into southern Michigan. The rift is filled with thick sequences of basaltic volcanic rocks and clastic sediments. For most of its extent it is buried beneath Paleozoic rocks but can be traced by its strong gravity and magnetic ..., The North American Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a major magmatic continental rift that stretches approximately 2200 km from Kansas northeast to the Lake Superior region, where it curves southward and is inferred to extend into lower Michigan (Figure 1; Ojakangas et al., 2001a).Because much of the MRS lies beneath Phanerozoic …, They are essential for the U.S. economy; however the U.S. imports about 90 percent of the platinum-group elements that we need to use. The project objective is to assess the Duluth Complex and related mafic-ultramafic intrusions in the 1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region. Our current activities focus on a Keweenawan..., The prerift crust, however, was thinned 25-30 km beneath the central rift (compared with its flanks), providing evidence for crustal extension by factors of about 3-4. The Midcontinent rift system differs from Phanerozoic rifts in having total crustal thicknesses equal to or greater than the surrounding (presumably unextended) regions.