ABSTRACT
The upwards pushing of a granite pluton may produce active gneiss domes (Ollier and Pain 1981). These landforms occur in Papua New Guinea (e.g. Dayman dome and Goodenough dome), with ancient examples from the USA (e.g. Okanogon dome, Washington State), and many of the world’s orogens. They stand 2,000-3,000 m high and are tens of kilometres across. Their formation seems to involve the metamorphosing of sediments to gneiss; the formation of granite, which starts to rise as a pluton; the arching of the gneiss by the rising pluton to form a dome of foliated gneiss; and the eruption of the dome at the ground surface, shouldering aside the bounding rocks.
