Sea-floor spreading and the early opening of the North Atlantic

We have examined available magnetic and gravity data bearing on the initiation of sea-floor spreading in the North Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland. The change in character of the magnetic field on the continental margin on either side of the Atlantic from a landward magnetic quiet zone to a seaward “noisy”, magnetic signature is postulated to be related to a change from continental to oceanic crust. Sea-floor spreading between Ireland and Newfoundland was initiated during the long normal geomagnetic polarity interval in the Late Cretaceous. Rockall Trough may have opened at this time. At the end of the normal polarity interval (Late Santonian) the ridge axis jumped westward to bypass Rockall Trough and the related offset initiated the Charlie Gibbs fracture zone.A reconstruction is presented for the relative position between North America and Europe prior to the initiation of sea-floor spreading in the Late Cretaceous.     

洋中脊扩张速率对洋壳速度结构的约束

洋中脊速度结构是揭示大洋岩石圈演化过程的重要约束.为探讨不同扩张速率下洋中脊的洋壳速度结构特征,挑选了全球152处快速(全扩张速率 90mm·a-1)、慢速(全扩张速率20～50mm·a-1)和超慢速(全扩张速率20mm·a-1)扩张洋中脊和非洋中脊的洋壳1-D地震波速度结构剖面,通过筛选统计、求取平均值等方法对分类的洋壳1-D速度结构进行对比研究,获得了不同扩张速率下洋中脊洋壳速度结构差异以及洋中脊与非洋中脊洋壳速度结构差异的新认识:(1)快速、慢速和超慢速扩张洋中脊的平均正常洋壳厚度分别为6.4km、7.2km和5.3km,其中洋壳层2的厚度基本相似,洋壳厚度差异主要源自洋壳层3;其洋壳厚度变化范围分别为4.9～8.1km、4.6～8.7km和4.2～10.2km,随着洋中脊扩张速率减小,洋壳厚度的变化范围逐渐增大;(2)快速扩张洋中脊的洋壳速度大于慢速和超慢速,可能与快速扩张脊洋壳生成过程中深部高密度岩浆上涌比较充足有关;(3)非洋中脊(10Ma)的洋壳比洋中脊(10Ma)的洋壳厚～0.3km,表明洋壳厚度与洋壳年龄有一定的正相关性.     

Dalrymple Trough: An active oblique-slip ocean–continent boundary in the northwest Indian Ocean

The Dalrymple Trough marks part of the transform plate boundary between India and Arabia in the northern Arabian Sea. Oblique extension is presently active across this portion of the boundary at a rate of a few millimetres per year, and seismic reflection profiles across the trough confirm that it is an extensional structure. We present new swath bathymetric and wide-angle seismic data from the trough. The bathymetric data show that the trough is bounded by a single, steep, 3-km-high scarp to the southeast and a series of smaller, en-echelon scarps to the northwest. Wide-angle seismic data show that a typical oceanic crustal velocity structure is present to the northwest, with a crustal thickness of ~ 6 km. There is an abrupt change in crustal thickness and velocity structure at the northwestern edge of the trough, and the trough itself is underlain by 12-km-thick crust interpreted as thinned continental crust. Therefore we infer that Dalrymple Trough is an unusual obliquely extending plate boundary at which continental crust and oceanic crust are juxtaposed. The extensional deformation is focused on a single major fault in the continental lithosphere, but distributed over a region ~ 60 km wide in the oceanic lithosphere.     

Major Cretaceous volcanic province in southern Rockall Trough

A group of three large curvilinear ridges, called the Barra Volcanic Ridge System, has been mapped in the acoustic basement of southern Rockall Trough. Typically, each ridge is about 2 km high and 20 km wide at its base. A crudely-layered acoustic character, moderate density but high strength of magnetisation point to a volcanic-sedimentary (ash?) composition for the ridges. Seismic continuity with the acoustic basement of the rest of Rockall Trough suggests that the trough basement is of similar composition. An age for the ridges of Lower Cretaceous is indicated by well ties and consideration of regional geology. Volumetrically, the ridges are on the scale of hot spot features such as the Wyville-Thomson Ridge.     

SEASAT geoid anomalies and the Macquarie Ridge complex

The seismically active Macquarie Ridge complex forms the Pacific-India plate boundary between New Zealand and the Pacific-Antarctic spreading center. The Late Cenozoic deformation of New Zealand and focal mechanisms of recent large earthquakes in the Macquarie Ridge complex appear consistent with the current plate tectonic models. These models predict a combination of strike-slip and convergent motion in the northern Macquarie Ridge, and strike-slip motion in the southern part. The Hjort trench is the southernmost expression of the Macquarie Ridge complex. Regional considerations of the magnetic lineations imply that some oceanic crust may have been consumed at the Hjort trench. Although this arcuate trench seems inconsistent with the predicted strike-slip setting, a deep trough also occurs in the Romanche fracture zone.Geoid anomalies observed over spreading ridges, subduction zones, and fracture zones are different. Therefore, geoid anomalies may be diagnostic of plate boundary type. We use SEASAT data to examine the Macquarie Ridge complex and find that the geoid anomalies for the northern Hjort trench region are different from the geoid anomalies for the Romanche trough. The Hjort trench region is characterized by an oblique subduction zone geoid anomaly, e.g., the Aleutian-Komandorski region. Also, limited first-motion data for the large 1924 earthquake that occurred in the northern Hjort trench suggest a thrust focal mechanism. We conclude that subduction is occurring at the Hjort trench. The existence of active subduction in this area implies that young oceanic lithosphere can subduct beneath older oceanic lithosphere.     

A model for the early evolution of the Irish continental margin

It has been suggested that Porcupine Ridge, west of Ireland, represents a continental fragment displaced westwards relative to Europe at an early stage in the opening of the North Atlantic. This hypothesis presents difficulties, particularly in relation to the magnetic evidence for the onset of seafloor spreading at these latitudes. However, the structure of the Irish continental margin, so far as it is known, appears consistent with a westward rotation of Porcupine Ridge by some 23°; and there are still grounds for supposing that the adjacent Rockall Trough may represent a locus of Mesozoic seafloor spreading with which the rotation could have been associated.     

Reply to “Comments on ‘Poles of rotation’”

Analysis of published data on sea floor spreading for the different oceans demonstrates a close correlation between interruptions of spreading at sea and compressive periods on land and between periods of spreading activity and periods of “no compression” of the orogenic regions. The evolution of both orogenic and oceanic areas appears to be rhythmic. The model is generalized to a dynamic model for the Earth's crust in which periods of global compression and extension follow alternately. Such a model fits better the geological evidences from orogenic regions than the present model for sea floor spreading which postulates an expansion in the mid ocean ridges and a compression along the continental margins underthrusted by oceanic crust.     

Lithospheric model with thick oceanic crust at the continental boundary: A mechanism for shallow spreading ridges in young oceans

In a general lithospheric model of a simple divergent ocean and continental margin that satisfies the constraints of isostasy and gravity anomalies, the free-air gravity anomaly at the margin is modelled by an oceanic crust that thickens exponentially toward the margin from its common value of 6.4 km about 600 km from the margin to 17.7 km at the margin; this postulated thickening is supported empirically by seismic refraction measurements made near continental margins. The thickness of the oceanic crust matches that of the continental lithosphere at breakup, as observed today in Afar and East Africa, and is interpreted as the initial oceanic surface layer chilled against the continental lithosphere. With continued plate accretion, the chilled oceanic crust thins exponentially to a steadystate thickness, which is achieved about 40 m.y. after breakup. These findings contrast with the generally held view that the oceanic crust has a uniform thickness.During the first 40 m.y. of spreading, the thicker oceanic crust, of density 2.86 g/cm³, displaces the denser (3.32 g/cm³) subjacent material; by isostasy, the spreading ridge and the rest of the seafloor thus stand higher in younger( <40m.y.) oceans than they do in older(>40m.y.) oceans. This is postulated to be the cause of the empirical relationship between the crestal depth of spreading ridges and the age (or half-width) of ocean basins.     

Asymmetric rifting of the northern Mariana Trough

The evolution of rifting in the northern Mariana Trough was studied, based on single-channel seismic reflection profiles and heat flow. The rift showed structural asymmetry. The northernmost part of the Mariana Trough at 24°N, just south of Minami-Iwojima Island, is now in an incipient rifting stage and shows a half-graben structure. The arc crust just behind the volcanic front is cut by a few major east-dipping normal faults. The major faults extend southward behind the Hiyoshi seamounts around 23°30'N. The rift develops to a full-graben stage at ∼ 23°N, where the width of the trough increases to 80 km. The trough is comprised of several faulted and tilted blocks of island-arc crust. Maximum subsidence occurs along a row of small grabens on the eastern margin of the trough. These grabens are separated by arc volcanoes, and their depths increase southward from 2500 m at 23°20'N to 4500 m at 22°N. The strike of each graben is north-northwest–south-southeast, which is close to the trend of the remnant West Mariana Ridge, but oblique to the active Mariana arc. Crustal extension becomes concentrated along the eastern margin of the trough as rifting progresses. The transition from rifting to sea floor spreading may occur at ∼ 22°N, where the width of the trough is ∼ 120 km. The possible spreading center lies along the southern extension of the grabens on the eastern margin. The period of back-arc rifting before spreading begins is estimated to be less than 3 million years. Heat flow is asymmetric in the rift. High heat flow was observed only in or close to the row of grabens along the eastern margin of the trough. The asymmetric pure shear extension model fits the observed heat flow distribution better than the simple shear extension model.     

Heat flow and age of the Gulf of Oman

We present the results of twenty heat flow stations in the Gulf of Oman which are used to infer the first reliable age estimates for the basin. A mean surface heat flux of 42.6±3.6 mW m^?2 exhibits no significant regional variation. After correction for thick and rapidly deposited sediments this yields an age of 70 to 100 Ma according to oceanic thermal models. This age is also consistent with the sediment corrected basement depths of 5.5–6.0 km and with formation during the Cretaceous quiet zone. The latter can explain the absence of magnetic sea-floor spreading lineations. Heat flow measurements are also used to confirm the presence of gas hyrdate layers. The measured thermal gradient yields a depth for the solid to free gas phase transition which is the same as that deduced from “bright spots” seen on seismic reflection profiles.     

汕头－吕宋岛岩石圈速度结构与震源构造──台湾浅滩7．3级地震构造之一

汕头－吕宋岛岩石圈速度结构剖面，划分出华南陆缘古生代陆壳、陆架区晚古生代－中生代陆壳、陆坡带中生代－早第三纪过渡壳、新生代南海海盆洋壳及吕宋岛中生代－新生代岛弧陆壳与东吕宋海槽洋壳等地壳构造组分，并确定了上述地壳构造之间的边界断裂构造及其性质。结合地震震源分布及机制，初步确定了华南陆架盆岭构造带北、南两侧地震构造的控震构造与发震构造性质及其震源力学特征；１）指出１９９４年９月１６日台湾浅滩７．３级地震属于板缘壳幔地震及造成一千公里有感范围的原因；２）马尼拉海沟的海底地堑构造与南海海盆岩石圈地幔上隆是马尼拉海沟俯冲带震源显示正断层性质的原因，且为被动的或转换俯冲带；３）东吕宋海槽仍属于菲律宾海俯冲带性质；吕宋岛东西两侧俯冲带岩石圈板片震源深度的准三层分布，可能表明俯冲带岩石圈板片存在相应的低速滑移层。     

The concentrations of the heavy metals in the four new Antarctic meteorites Yamato (a), (b), (c) and (d) and in Orgueil, Murray, Allende, Abee, Allegan, Mocs and Johnstown

All active midocean ridges show a uniform relationship between depth and age of the oceanic crust. Recently, it has been shown by numerical methods that convective flow in a Newtonian fluid will have a positive gravity anomaly and an upward surface deformation associated with an ascending limb. If there is thermal convection in the upper mantle, these calculations predict that there may be a correlation between free air gravity anomalies and differences from the uniform relationship between oceanic depth and age. To investigate such a correlation, we considered the crestal elevation and free air gravity anomaly over the crest of the midocean ridges. It has been suggested that the differences from the depth versus age relationship are related to spreading rate. Thus, we also considered a correlation between crestal elevation and changes in rate along the ridge axis.We found a positive correlation between free air gravity and differences in crestal depth of the midocean ridge system. We found no correlation between spreading rate and gravity and no uniform relationship which holds in all the oceans between spreading rate and observed crestal depths.The long wavelength gravity anomalies which are correlated with the differences in crestal depth cannot be supported by an 80 km thick lithosphere. Thus, they are considered evidence of flow within the aesthenosphere. Further, the correlation between gravity anomaly and differences in crestal depth has the same sign and gradient as predicted by the investigations of convection in a Newtonian fluid.     

中国海-西太平洋地区典型剖面的重-磁-震联合反演研究

重-磁-震联合反演是获取地壳结构的重要方法.此次研究,我们主要基于全球最新的水深、重磁异常、沉积物厚度等数据,结合实测地震数据和前人研究成果,分析了中国海-西太平洋地区的莫霍面展布特征,并利用重磁震联合反演方法获得了跨越中国海-西太平洋典型剖面的地壳结构和异常体分布,揭示了陆壳到洋壳的典型变化规律.结果表明,从浙江地区到马里亚纳俯冲带,地壳结构大致呈现由厚到薄、由老到新、由复杂到简单的特征.浙江地区（扬子块体和华夏块体）地壳结构复杂,三层结构明显,地壳内断裂带发育,并伴有广泛的岩浆侵入;东海地区莫霍面起伏剧烈,地壳厚度变化较大,冲绳海槽地壳明显减薄,是其过渡壳性质的体现;西菲律宾海盆、九州-帕劳海脊、帕里西维拉海盆、马里亚纳俯冲带等构造单元地壳结构相对简单,二层结构明显.其中,西菲律宾海盆和帕里西维拉海盆地壳内部磁异常变化较为剧烈,海盆扩张过程中形成的磁异常体分布广泛,地壳厚度（5~8 km）明显小于陆壳;九州-帕劳海脊地壳厚度可达~20 km,缺失中地壳,表现为岛弧地壳结构;同源的西马里亚纳岛弧和东马里亚纳火山弧地壳结构相似,浅层磁异常体分布广泛,西马里亚纳岛弧地壳厚度（~17 km）略小于东马里亚纳火山弧（~20 km）,体现了裂离的不对称性;马里亚纳海槽具有正常的洋壳结构（~7 km）,但扩张中心未发生明显破裂.对比各构造单元地壳结构的异同点,我们进一步认识到,陆壳与洋壳之间不是孤立的,陆壳可能会演化出洋壳的结构或组分,板块的演化总是处于动态循环过程中.此研究加深了我们对中国海-西太平洋深部构造特征的整体理解,促进了我们对大陆边缘演化与板块相互作用的认识,深化了我国管辖海域及邻近地区的基础地质调查.     

关于西沙海槽正磁异常带的地球物理认识

南海北部西沙海槽存在东西向正磁异常带,长约350 km,前人推测为基性或超基性物质反磁化的反映.通过对西沙海槽大比例尺高精度航磁资料分带化极处理和反演拟合,发现西沙海槽正磁异常带由海槽北缘隐伏强磁性体斜磁化引起.磁性体埋深超过9 km,推测是残留洋壳（蛇绿岩）,为海南岛昌江—琼海断裂带或海南岛九所—陵水断裂带所代表的缝合带在南海北部的延伸段.     

Implications of melting for stabilisation of the lithosphere and heat loss in the Archaean

The increased depth and volume of melting induced in a higher temperature Archaean mantle controls the stability of the lithosphere, heat loss rates and the thickness of the oceanic crust. The relationship between density distributions in oceanic lithosphere and the depth of melting at spreading centres is investigated by calculating the mineral proportions and densities of residual mantle depleted by extraction of melt fractions. The density changes related to compositional gradients are comparable to those produced by thermal effects for lithosphere formed from a mantle which is 200°C or more hotter than modern upper mantle. If Archaean continental crust formed initially above oceanic lithosphere, the compositional density gradients may be sufficient to preserve a thick Archaean continental lithosphere within which the Archaean age diamonds are preserved. The amount of heat advected by melts at mid-ocean ridges today is small but heat advected by melting becomes proportionally more important as higher mantle temperatures lead to a greater volume of melt and as the rate of production of oceanic plates increases. Archaean tectonics could have been dominated by spreading rates 2–3 times greater than now and with mantle temperatures between ca. 1600°C and 1800°C at the depth of the solidus. Mid-ocean ridge melting would produce a relatively thick but light refractory lithosphere on which continents could form, protected from copious volcanism and high mantle temperatures.     

A detailed seismic structure of Rockall Bank (55°N, 15°W) — A synthetic seismogram analysis

Seismic data from a 250 km long refraction profile on Rockall Bank have been re-interpreted to determine a detailed velocity-depth structure. The analysis was carried out using synthetic seismograms to match the amplitude and waveforms of the experimental records. The structure obtained from a travel-time analysis alone was found to be inadequate, and the final preferred velocity-depth model is defined more in terms of velocity gradients than of constant velocity layers. In the preferred structure a thin high-velocity layer, 6.7–6.9 km/s, was found in the upper crust at a depth of 7 km and the Moho transition was modelled by a velocity gradient zone 1.5 km thick with the velocity rising from 7.5 to 8.2 km/s. This new analysis supports the conclusion of the previous analysis: Rockall Bank is a continental fragment.     

Paleobathymetry of the crest of spreading ridges related to the age of ocean basins

Measurements of the crest of the spreading ridge in the young ocean basins of the Afar region and Gulf of Aden and in the mature Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans show that the depth of the ridge crest is correlated (r = 0.99) with the logarithm of the age of the ocean basin. Ridge crests in a very young basin (Afar) are at sea level, at about 1.5 km in young basins (Gulf of Aden), and at about 2.6 km in mature basins (Indian, Atlantic, Pacific). A new curve that relates crestal depth and age of the ocean basin is coupled with the existing depth/age curve for oceanic crust in a comprehensive scheme which can be used for relating depth and age of oceanic crust.     

南海西南次海盆的地热流特征与分析

为系统地了解南海西南次海盆的地热流特征,本文通过对研究区及邻域地热流数据的补充采集、收集整理和统计分析,获得了87个有效的地热流数据、一批热导率和生热率的地热参数资料,地热流测点在空间上覆盖了整个区域.研究区的地热流数据分布结果表明,西南次海盆热流密度的平均值为98.1±14.8 mW·m^-2,洋陆过渡带为103.6±19.4 mW·m^-2,南沙岛礁区和西部陆缘分别为79.0±15.5 mW·m^-2和78.3±15.6 mW·m^-2.研究区表层沉积物热导率的平均值0.86±0.06 W·mK^-1,生热率的平均值1.11±0.17 μW·m^-3,海底温度的平均值为2.43±0.01℃.综合海底地形地貌、地质与地球物理资料,认为研究区的热流特征在空间上具有一定的分布规律,表现为：（1）洋盆区测点的热流密度平均值高于两侧陆缘;（2）东南缘洋陆过渡带上测点的地热流密度值高于邻近海盆和南沙岛礁区的测点,而西北缘这种特征不明显;（3）西北翼的热流密度值总体比东南翼高;（4）沿着古扩张中心方向,西南次海盆热流值具有自东北向西南端方向逐步增大的趋势,表明海盆区同时存在着洋中脊与大陆裂谷两种不同的热状态,西南段裂谷热流值比东北段洋中脊高.对西南次海盆沉积物的热导率和生热率值参数的测量及数据空间分析可见,这两种热参数的空间分布无明显规律性,可能与海盆形成之后复杂的沉积环境相关.根据热流-洋壳年龄之间的关系,在西南次海盆东北段26个测站数据中,发现靠近古扩张中心的数据与理论值呈负偏移,而远离古扩张中心的数据呈正偏移,此现象是海盆内地热流数据受不同类型的地下流体影响所致.     

Geochemical characteristics of Carboniferous greenstones in the Inner Zone of Southwest Japan

Abstract Greenstones, representing remnants of paleo-oceanic crust, occur in Permian and Jurassic accretionary complexes of the Inner Zone in the Southwestern Japan arc. The formation age of most of the greenstones is early Carboniferous, based on fossil ages for overlying limestones and Sm-Nd isotope ages of the greenstones themselves. The geochemistry of such greenstones is similar to those of present-day oceanic islands. Greenstones of the Permian accretionary complex (Akiyoshi belt) are alkalic and tholeiitic in composition. Some alkali basalts show peculiar features from an EM-1 mantle source, such as the Gough Island and Tristan da Chunha basalts in the South Atlantic. Greenstones of the Jurassic accretionary complex (Tamba belt) are also alkali and tholeiitic basalts with both basalt types in the northern part of the Tamba belt coming from strongly depleted characters similar to a mid-ocean ridge basalt source mantle. The variable geochemistry of the oceanic basalts is explained by hypothesis on existence of a Carboniferous mantle plume below the spreading ridge which divides the Farallon and Izanagi plates. The Akiyoshi belt seamounts and/or oceanic islands of the Farallon plate and Tamba belt seamounts and/or oceanic islands of the Izanagi plate formed simultaneously by the upwelling of the thermal plume. Some part of the Akiyoshi belt basalts originated locally from an EM-1 mantle source, while basalts from the northern parts of the Tamba belt have a normal-type mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB) source component. Existence of an N-MORB signature is consistent with the presence of a spreading center in a Carboniferous 'Pacific Ocean' that caused separation of the Farallon and Izanagi plates. Disparity in accretion ages of the basaltic rocks in the Permian and Jurassic may have been caused by differences in the relative motion of the two plates.     

The influence of edifice slope and substrata on volcano spreading

Gravitational volcano spreading is caused by flow of weak substrata due to volcanic loading, and is now a process known to affect many edifices. The process produces extension in the upper edifice, evidenced by gräben and normal faults, and compression at the base, seen in strike–slip faults and thrusts. Where spreading is identified, host volcanoes have a range of fault densities, variable rift and gräben shapes, and different degrees of structural asymmetry. Previous studies have suggested a link between edifice shape and structure and the proportion of brittle to ductile material in the substrata or lower edifice. We study this link using refined sand cone analogue models standing on a brittle–ductile/sand–silicone substrata. Two scenarios have been investigated, the first mainly represents oceanic volcanoes with a ductile layer within the edifice (type I), where there is an outer ductile free surface. The second represents most continental volcanoes that have ductile substrata (type II). We apply the model results to natural examples and develop quantitative relationships between slope, brittle–ductile ratio fault density, spreading rate and structural style. Displacement fields calculated from stereophotogrammetry show significant differences between different slope models. We find that more faults are produced when the cone is initially steeper, or when the brittle substratum is thinner. However, the effect of the brittle layer dominates over that of slope. The strike–slip movements are found to be an essential feature in the spreading mechanism and the gräben are in fact transtensional features. Strike–slip and graben faults make a conjugate flower pattern. The structures produced are well-organised for type II edifices, but they are poorly organised for type I models. Type I models represent good analogues for oceanic volcanoes that are commonly affected by large slumps bounded by an extensional zone and lack of well-formed sector gräben. The well-observed connection between oceanic volcano rifts and large landslide-slumps is confirmed to be a consequence of spreading.