Introduction to the Special Issue on Accretion Tectonics

Abundant geological and geophysical data demonstrate tectonic complexities on land far greater than those on the ocean floor. In the oceans, geological features are well explained by plate tectonics. On land, however, plate tectonics is less successful explaining the large and complex Cordilleran chains of the world. Although some of these chains result from classical plate collisions, the origin of others remains enigmatic.