Steep crystalline-basement faults, commonly indicated by potential-field anomalies, played a crucial role in evolution of continental cratonic platforms. In the Phanerozoic Western Canada Sedimentary Province, history of crustal block movements and warps is reconstructed from the distribution of depocenters, lithofacies and structures in structural-formational étages in sedimentary cover. Each étage is a rock succession formed during a particular tectonic stage; regional tectonic restructuring closes each stage, and the next stage represents a new tectonic regime. Practical tectonic analysis, based on observation of rocks and geophysical data, is a reliable guide for deciphering a region's geologic history and for resource exploration.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Basic notions and definitions.- Structural-formational, tectonic étages as fundamental units of regional tectonic analysis.- Regional tectonic analysis of the Western Canada sedimentary province in Alberta, Saskatchewan and adjacent parts of the U.S..- Methodological reasons for using structural-formational étages in regional tectonic analysis.- Reconstruction of structural history of a craton by using structural-formational étages in its cover and pre-cover volcano-sedimentary basins.- Finding an adequate regional tecnotic interpretation constrained by mappable properties of rocks.- Place of neotectonic and current crustal movements in regional tectonic studies.- Conclusions: Advantages of practical tectonics.