Development of Foreland Intracratonic Plateaus (Ozark Plateau and Appalachian Plateaus): A Consequence of Topographic Inversion Due To Erosion of Adjacent Fold-Thrust Belts

Unlike well-known plateaus associated with Cenozoic orogens, the Appalachian and Ozark Plateaus of the eastern United States fringe the foreland side of a long inactive and deeply eroded orogen. These foreland intracratonic plateaus (FIPs), which are underlain by sub-horizontal cratonic-platform strata and, in places, foreland-basin strata, now lie 0.5–1.2 km above sea level, notably higher than adjacent fold-thrust belts. An escarpment lies at or near the boundary between the FIPs and the fold-thrust belts. Why did the topographic inversion leading to the development of the FIPs take place? To address this question, we built a numerical model, using Landlab, to simulate how topography evolves as foreland lithosphere flexes upward when post-tectonic erosion causes unloading. In this model, flat-lying cap-rock strata (sandstone and limestone) of the foreland have greater resistance to erosion than do the deformed, tilted, cleaved, and fractured strata of the fold-thrust belt, especially where the fold-thrust belt contains argillaceous facies. We tested the model by characterizing the development of the Ozark Plateau in the foreland of the Ouachita fold-thrust belt. Results demonstrate that regional isostatic uplift due to erosion, given reasonable differences in resistance to erosion between the fold-thrust belt and the foreland, can generate the observed topographic inversion and a distinct escarpment, yielding a plateau. This model may help explain the post-Paleozoic evolution of the Catskill Mountains, the Deep Valleys Province, and the Cumberland Plateau, highlands which border the Appalachian fold-thrust belt.