Crustal structure and tectonic provinces of the Riiser-Larsen Sea area (East Antarctica): results of geophysical studies

About 16,000 km of multichannel seismic (MCS), gravity and magnetic data and 28 sonobuoys were acquired in the Riiser-Larsen Sea Basin and across the Gunnerus and Astrid Ridges, to study their crustal structure. The study area has contrasting basement morphologies and crustal thicknesses. The crust ranges in thickness from about 35 km under the Riiser-Larsen Sea shelf, 26–28 km under the Gunnerus Ridge, 12–17 km under the Astrid Ridge, and 9.5–10 km under the deep-water basin. A 50-km-wide block with increased density and magnetization is modeled from potential field data in the upper crust of the inshore zone and is interpreted as associated with emplacement of mafic intrusions into the continental margin of the southern Riiser-Larsen Sea. In addition to previously mapped seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies in the western Riiser-Larsen Sea, a linear succession from M2 to M16 is identified in the eastern Riiser-Larsen Sea. In the southwestern Riiser-Larsen Sea, a symmetric succession from M24B to 24n with the central anomaly M23 is recognized. This succession is obliquely truncated by younger lineation M22–M22n. It is proposed that seafloor spreading stopped at about M23 time and reoriented to the M22 opening direction. The seismic stratigraphy model of the Riiser-Larsen Sea includes five reflecting horizons that bound six seismic units. Ages of seismic units are determined from onlap geometry to magnetically dated oceanic basement and from tracing horizons to other parts of the southern Indian Ocean. The seaward edge of stretched and attenuated continental crust in the southern Riiser-Larsen Sea and the landward edge of unequivocal oceanic crust are mapped based on structural and geophysical characteristics. In the eastern Riiser-Larsen Sea the boundary between oceanic and stretched continental crust is better defined and is interpreted as a strike-slip fault lying along a sheared margin.     

Models of magnetic and Bouguer gravity anomalies for the deep structure of the central Alboran Sea basin

 Magnetic and gravimetric data from the central Alboran Sea allow identification of two axes of crustal thinning, which were probably active during the Oligocene–Early Miocene. The western Alboran basin axis is subparallel and may be related in origin to the Gibraltar Arc. The ENE–WSW trending Alboran Channel axis is probably intruded by basic igneous rocks and may represent the western end of the Algerian–Balearic basin rift. Present-day small areas with high heat flow may well be related to volcanism and an anomalous mantle. Areas of active deformation in the Alboran Sea accommodate the present Eurasia-Africa convergence. Received: 17 May 1996 / Revision received: 19 April 1997     

Possible northward extension of the Philippine Fault Zone offshore Luzon Island (Philippines)

The Philippine Fault Zone, a system of left-lateral strike-slip faults traversing the length of the Philippine Islands, is associated with the oblique convergence between the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) and the Eurasian Plate (EP). Although it is a major deformational structure within the diffuse PSP–EP convergent boundary, some of its segments, particularly its marine extensions, are not well studied. To investigate the crustal deformation in the marine prolongation of the Philippine Fault Zone offshore Luzon Island, multi-channel seismic (MCS) data, gravity data and centroid moment tensor solutions were used in this study. Focal mechanism solutions from the Global CMT catalog were inverted to determine the average principal stress directions and consequently understand the prevailing stress regime in the study area. The stress inversion results indicate that the direction of maximum compression (σ1) is 321°N, which coincides with the PSP–EP convergence direction. From the MCS profiles, the study area was subdivided into deformation zone and a relatively stable zone. Thrust faulting, folding and general uplift are observed in the deformation zone. This zone is further subdivided into the active and inactive segments. In the active segment, uplift is occurring in the submarine ridge. This deformation pattern can be related to the ongoing uplift in some regions bisected by the PFZ. The inactive segment, characterized by intense folding of the sequences and faulting of the basement and overlying sequences, is suggested as the precursor of the Philippine Fault Zone. Deformation appears to be recently shifted to the east as delineated by an uplifted N-NW trending submarine ridge offshore NW Luzon Island.     

Miocene-to-recent structure and basinal architecture along the Central Range strike-slip fault zone, eastern offshore Trinidad

Previous GPS-based geodetic studies and onland paleoseismologic studies in Trinidad have shown that the 50-km-long, linear, onland segment of the Central Range fault zone (CRFZ) accommodates at least 60% of the total rate of right-lateral displacement (∼20 mm/yr) between the Caribbean and South American plates. 2D and 3D seismic reflection data from a 60-km-long and 30-km-wide swath of the eastern shelf of Trinidad (block 2AB) were used to map the eastern offshore extension of this potentially seismogenic and hazardous fault system and to document its deeper structure and tectonic controls on middle Miocene to recent clastic stratigraphy. Two unconformity surfaces and seafloor were mapped using 3D seismic data to generate isochron maps and to illustrate the close control of the CRFZ and associated secondary faults on small, clastic basins formed along its anastomosing strands and the east-west-striking North Darien Ridge fault zone (NDRFZ) that exhibits a down-to-the-north normal throw. Mapped surfaces include: 1) the middle Miocene angular unconformity, a prominent, regional unconformity surface separating underlying thrust-deformed rocks from a much less deformed overlying section; this regional unconformity is well studied from onland outcrops in Trinidad and in other offshore areas around Trinidad; 2) a Late Neogene angular unconformity developed locally within block 2AB that is not recognized in Trinidad; and 3) the seafloor of the eastern Trinidad shelf which exhibits linear scarps for both the CRFZ and the east-west-striking North Darien Ridge fault zone. Clastic sedimentary fill patterns identified on these isochron maps indicate a combined effect of strike-slip and reverse faulting (i.e., tectonic transpression) produced by active right-lateral shear on the CRFZ, which is consistent with the obliquity of the strike of the fault to the interplate slip vector known from GPS studies in onland Trinidad. The NDRFZ and a sub-parallel and linear family of east-west-striking faults with normal and possibly transtensional motions also contributed to the creation of accommodation space within localized, post-middle Miocene clastic depocenters south of the CRFZ.     

First results from the North Iceland experiment

Between June 2004 and September 2004 a temporary seismic network was installed on the northern insular shelf of Iceland and onshore in north Iceland. The seismic setup aimed at resolving the subsurface structure and, thus, the geodynamical transition from Icelandic crust to typical oceanic crust along Kolbeinsey Ridge. The experiment recorded about 1,000 earthquakes. The region encloses the Tjörnes Fracture Zone containing the Husavik–Flatey strike-slip fault and the extensional seismic Grimsey Lineament. Most of the seismicity occurs in swarms offshore. Preliminary results reveal typical mid-ocean crust north of Grimsey and a heterogeneous structure with major velocity anomalies along the seismic lineaments and north–south trending subsurface features. Complementary bathymetric mapping highlight numerous extrusion features along the Grimsey Lineament and Kolbeinsey Ridge. The seismic dataset promises to deliver new insights into the tectonic framework for earthquakes in an extensional transform zone along the global mid-ocean ridge system.     

Tracing the middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault Zone through the southern Sea of Marmara based on seismic reflection studies

We studied the active deformation zone of the middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault Zone through the southern part of the Sea of Marmara by means of high-resolution as well as deep seismic reflection data. Our main objective was to investigate the active deformation within the uppermost sedimentary layers at high resolution as well as deeper sedimentary layers, focusing on the tectonic and stratigraphic setting between Gemlik and Bandırma. The middle strand of the North Anatolian Fault reaching the Gulf of Gemlik is a main fault which has a lazy-S shape in the Gulf of Gemlik, and extends westwards to Bandırma as a main fault which is an E–W-trending single right-lateral fault controlling the zone along the Gemlik and Bandırma sub-basins. Small-scale faults, consistent with a dextral shear regime, are present in the vicinity of the main fault. Several oblique fault groups parallel to the main fault were detected. The deformation in the Gulf of Gemlik is characterized by a series of synthetic and antithetic faults emanating from the main fault. The boundary faults in the Gulf of Gemlik have a compressive component, which indicates the sill areas of the gulfs of Gemlik and Bandırma to be push-up structures. Four seismic stratigraphic units were identified in the sediments of the gulfs of Gemlik and Bandırma, providing evidence of tectonic influence. The present tectonic structure between Gemlik and Bandırma is not a pull-apart structure. The microseismic study in this area has shown that fault planes are either strike-slip or compressional, and that the stress tensor is compatible with pure strike-slip in the E–W fault system.     

Active tectonic morphology and submarine deformation of the northern Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba from analyses of multibeam data

A high-resolution marine geophysical study was conducted during October-November 2006 in the northern Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat, providing the first multibeam imaging of the seafloor across the entire gulf head spanning both Israeli and Jordanian territorial waters. Analyses of the seafloor morphology show that the gulf head can be subdivided into the Eilat and Aqaba subbasins separated by the north-south-trending Ayla high. The Aqaba submarine basin appears starved of sediment supply, apparently causing erosion and a landward retreat of the shelf edge. Along the eastern border of this subbasin, the shelf is largely absent and its margin is influenced by the Aqaba Fault zone that forms a steep slope partially covered by sedimentary fan deltas from the adjacent ephemeral drainages. The Eilat subbasin, west of the Ayla high, receives a large amount of sediment derived from the extensive drainage basins of the Arava Valley (Wadi ’Arabah) and Yutim River to the north–northeast. These sediments and those entering from canyons on the south-western border of this subbasin are transported to the deep basin by turbidity currents and gravity slides, forming the Arava submarine fan. Large detached blocks and collapsed walls of submarine canyons and the western gulf margin indicate that mass wasting may be triggered by seismic activity. Seafloor lineaments defined by slope gradient analyses suggest that the Eilat Canyon and the boundaries of the Ayla high align along north- to northwest-striking fault systems—the Evrona Fault zone to the west and the Ayla Fault zone to the east. The shelf–slope break that lies along the 100 m isobath in the Eilat subbasin, and shallower (70–80 m isobaths) in the Aqaba subbasin, is offset by approx. 150 m along the eastern edge of the Ayla high. This offset might be the result of horizontal and vertical movements along what we call the Ayla Fault on the east side of the structure. Remnants of two marine terraces at 100 m and approx. 150 m water depths line the southwest margin of the gulf. These terraces are truncated by faulting along their northern end. Fossil coral reefs, which have a similar morphological appearance to the present-day, basin margin reefs, crop out along these deeper submarine terraces and along the shelf–slope break. One fossil reef is exposed on the shelf across the Ayla high at about 60–63 m water depth but is either covered or eroded in the adjacent subbasins. The offshore extension of the Evrona Fault offsets a fossil reef along the shelf and extends south of the canyon to linear fractures on the deep basin floor.     

Ocean basins near the Scotia–Antarctic plate boundary: Influence of tectonics and paleoceanography on the Cenozoic deposits

The distribution of seismic units in deposits of the basins near the Antarctic–Scotia plate boundary is described based on the analysis of multichannel seismic reflection profiles. Five main seismic units are identified. The units are bounded by high-amplitude continuous reflectors, named a to d from top to bottom. The two older units are of different age and seismic facies in each basin and were generally deposited during active rifting and seafloor spreading. The three youngest units (3 to 1) exhibit, in contrast, rather similar seismic facies and can be correlated at a regional scale. The deposits are types of contourite drift that resulted from the interplay between the northeastward flow of Weddell Sea Bottom Water (WSBW) and the complex bathymetry in the northern Weddell Sea, and from the influence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the WSBW in the Scotia Sea. A major paleoceanographic event was recorded by Reflector c, during the Middle Miocene, which represents the connection between the Scotia Sea and the Weddell Sea after the opening of Jane Basin. Unit 3 (tentatively dated ∼Middle to Late Miocene) shows the initial incursions of the WSBW into the Scotia Sea, which influenced a northward progradational pattern, in contrast to the underlying deposits. The age attributed to Reflector b is coincident with the end of spreading at the West Scotia Ridge (∼6.4 Ma). Unit 2 (dated ∼Late Miocene to Early Pliocene) includes abundant high-energy, sheeted deposits in the northern Weddell Sea, which may reflect a higher production of WSBW as a result of the advance of the West Antarctic ice-sheet onto the continental shelf. Reflector a represents the last major regional paleoceanographic change. The timing of this event (∼3.5–3.8 Ma) coincides with the end of spreading at the Phoenix–Antarctic Ridge, but may be also correlated with global events such as initiation of the permanent Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet and a major sea level drop. Unit 1 (dated ∼Late Pliocene to Recent) is characterized by abundant chaotic, high-energy sheeted deposits, in addition to a variety of contourites, which suggest intensified deep-water production. Units 1 and 2 show, in addition, a cyclic pattern, more abundant wavy deposits and the development of internal unconformities, all of which attest to alternating periods of increased bottom current energy.     

Geometry and structure of the Vitiaz Trench Lineament (SW Pacific)

Swath bathymetric, sonar imagery and seismic reflection data collected during the SOPACMAPS cruise Leg 3 over segments of the Vitiaz Trench Lineament and adjacent areas provide new insights on the geometry and the stuctural evolution of this seismically inactive lineament. The Vitiaz Trench Lineament, although largely unknown, is one of the most important tectonic feature in the SW Pacific because it separates the Cretaceous crust of the Pacific Plate to the north from the Cenozoic lithosphere of the North Fiji and Lau Basins to the south. The lineament is considered to be the convergent plate boundary between the Pacific and Australian Plates during midde to late Tertiary time when the Vitiaz Arc was a continuous east-facing are from the Tonga to the Solomon Islands before the development of the North Fiji and Lau Basins. Progressive reversal and cessation of subduction from west to east in the Late Miocene-Lower Plioene have been also proposed. However, precise structures and age of initiation and cessation of deformation along the Vitiaz Trench Lineament are unknown.The lineament consists of the Vitiaz Trench and three discontinuous and elongated troughs (Alexa, Rotuma and Horne Troughs) which connect the Vitiaz Trench to the northern end of the Tonga Trench. Our survey of the Alexa and Rotuma Troughs reveals that the lineament is composed of a series of WNW-ESE and ENE-WSW trending segments in front of large volcanic massifs belonging to the Melanesian Border Plateau, a WNW trending volcanic belt of seamounts and ridges on Pacific crust. The Plateau and Pacific plate lying immediately north of the lineament have been affected by intense normal faulting, collapse, and volcanism as evidenced by a series of tilted blocks, grabens, horsts and ridges trending N 120° to N100° and N60°–70°. This tectonism includes several normal faulting episodes, the latest being very recent and possibly still active. The trend of the fault scarps and volcanic ridges parallels the different segments of the Vitiaz Trench Lineament, suggesting that tectonics and volcanism are related to crustal motion along the lineament.Although the superficial observed features are mainly extensional, they are interpreted as the result of shortening along the Vitiaz Trench Lineament. The fabric north of the lineament would result from subduction-induced normal faulting on the outer wall of the trench and the zig-zag geometry of the Vitiaz Trench Lineament might be due to collision of large volcanic edifices of the Melanesian Border Plateau with the trench, provoking trench segmentation along left-lateral ENE-WSW trending transform zones. The newly acquired bathymetric and seismic data suggest that crustal motion (tectonism associated with volcanism) continued up to recent times along the Vitiaz Trench Lineament and was active during the development of the North Fiji Basin.     

Investigation of Fethiye-Marmaris Bay (SW Anatolia): seismic and morphologic evidences from the missing link between the Pliny Trench and the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone

New (2009) multi-beam bathymetric and previously published seismic reflection data from the NE-SW-oriented Fethiye Bay and the neighboring N-S-oriented Marmaris Bay off SW Anatolia were evaluated in order to interpret the seafloor morphology in terms of the currently still active regional tectonic setting. This area lies between the Pliny Trench, which constitutes the eastern sector of the subduction zone between the African and Eurasian plates in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone of the Anatolian Plate. The bathymetric data document the very narrow shelf of the Anatolian coast, a submarine plain between the island of Rhodes and Marmaris Bay, and a large canyon connecting the abyssal floor of the Rhodes Basin with Fethiye Bay. The latter are here referred to as the Marmaris Plain and Fethiye Canyon, respectively. Several active and inactive faults have been identified. Inactive faults (faults f1) delineate a buried basin beneath the Marmaris Plain, here referred to as the Marmaris Basin. Other faults that affect all stratigraphic units are interpreted as being active. Of these, the NE-SW-oriented Marmaris Fault Zone located on the Marmaris Plain is interpreted as a transtensional fault zone in the seismic and bathymetric data. The transtensional character of this fault zone and associated normal faults (faults f3) on the Marmaris Plain correlates well with the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone on land. Another important fault zone (f4) occurs along the Fethiye Canyon, forming the northeastern extension of the Pliny Trench. The transpressional character of faults f4 inferred from the seismic data is well correlated with the compressional structures along the Pliny Trench in the Rhodes Basin and its vicinity. These observations suggest that the Marmaris Fault Zone and faults f3 have evolved independently of faults f4. The evidence for this missing link between the Pliny Trench and the Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone implies possible kinematic problems in this tectonic zone that deserve further detailed studies. Notably, several active channels and submarine landslides interpreted as having been triggered by ongoing faulting attest to substantial present-day sediment transport from the coast into the Rhodes Basin.     

台湾岛以东海域海底地形特征及其构造控制

基于2000年5~6月在台湾岛以东海域调查获得的多波束全覆盖测深等地质和地球物理资料,对该海域海底地形特征进行了研究,探讨了构造对海底地形的控制作用及其构造地质意义.研究表明,琉球岛弧岛坡区和琉球海沟表现为典型的西太平洋沟-弧-盆体系控制下的构造地形;台湾岛东部岛坡等深线近南北向平行密集排列,地形坡度大,弧陆碰撞造就了该区独特的地形特征;花东盆地海底峡谷发育,其形成主要受基底起伏和走滑断裂的控制;加瓜海脊东西两侧水深和地形特征明显不同,但其基底可能属于花东盆地,加瓜海脊的东侧对应了两个不同性质板块的边界;西菲律宾海盆表现为北西向线状脊-槽相间排列,并遭受北东向转换断层的切割,根据海底地形、转换断层和磁异常条带的方向推测,研究区海底形成于距今60~45Ma的西菲律宾海盆北东-南西向扩张期.     

Multichannel seismic data imaging of inversion tectonics of the Alboran Ridge (western Mediterranean Sea)

The Alboran Ridge is an anticlinorium structure trending N65°E bounded by two main right lateral strikeslip fault systems, one north and one south. These transpressional features connect westward to a pull-apart zone where massive diapirism occurs. The orientation of the diapiric zone is N150°E. That orientation and the right lateral motion along the Alboran Ridge fit a N150°E convergent motion between African and Iberian plates. We suggest that the southern Alboran Basin evolved as an extensional stage from Burdigalian to Langhian and as a transpressional stage during Tortonian to present time.     

Faulting, mass-wasting and deposition in an active dextral shear zone, the Gulf of Saros and the NE Aegean Sea, NW Turkey

Structural, mass-wasting and sedimentation processes along an active dextral shear zone beneath the Gulf of Saros and the NE Aegean Sea were investigated on the basis of new high-resolution swath bathymetric data and multi-channel seismics. A long history of dextral shearing operating since the Pliocene culminated in the formation of a NE-SW-trending, ca. 800-m-deep basin (the so-called inner basin) in this region, which is bordered by a broad shelf along its northern and eastern sides and a narrow shelf at the southern side. The western extension of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (the Ganos Fault) cuts the eastern shelf along a narrow deformation zone, and ends sharply at the toe of the slope, where the strain is taken up by two NE-SW-oriented fault zones. These two fault zones cut the basin floor along its central axis and generate a new, Riedel-type pull-apart basin (the so-called inner depression). According to the bathymetric and seismic data, these basin boundary fault zones are very recent features. The northern boundary of the inner depression is a through-going fault comprising several NE-SW- and E-W-oriented, overlapping fault segments. The southern boundary fault zone, on the other hand, consists of spectacular en-echelon fault systems aligned in NE–SW and WNW–ESE directions. These en-echelon faults accommodate both dextral and vertical motions, thereby generating block rotations along their horizontal axis. As the basin margins retreat, the basin widens continuously by mass-wasting of the slopes of the inner basin. The mass-wasting, triggered by active tectonics, occurs by intense landsliding and channel erosion. The eroded material is transported into the deep basin, where it is deposited in a series of deep-sea fans and slumps. The high sedimentation rate is reflected in an over 1,500-m-thick basin fill which has accumulated in Pliocene–Quaternary times.     

Constructing a 3D structural block diagram of the Central Basin in Marmara Sea by means of bathymetric and seismic data

In this study we made a comparative interpretation of multibeam bathymetric and seismic reflection data with different resolutions and penetration properties collected in the Central Basin of the Marmara Sea. Our main objectives were (i) to investigate and compare the active tectonic deformation observed on the sea bottom and within the uppermost sedimentary layers to that of the deep-seated deformation within the limits of resolution and penetration of the available geophysical data and (ii) to build a three-dimensional (3D) block diagram of the active tectonic and buried features by means of a sliced mapping technique. In this approach, we produced slice maps of the active and buried structural features at selected depths and then combined them to form a 3D structural block diagram. Motivation for our work was to produce a 3D structural diagram to derive a more detailed image of the structural features in the Central Basin where there is no available 3D seismic data. The observations from the bathymetry and seismic data and developed 3D diagram support the presence of a through-going strike-slip fault that forms a rotational depression zone against a right-stepping strike-slip faulting causing a pull-apart basin in the Central Depression zone.     

Tectonic effects of a subducting aseismic ridge: The subduction of the Nazca Ridge at the Peru Trench

A 1987 survey of the offshore Peru forearc using the SeaMARC II seafloor mapping system reveals that subduction of the Nazca Ridge has resulted in uplift of the lowermost forearc by as much as 1500 m. This uplift is seen in the varied depths of two forearc terraces opposite the subducting ridge. Uplift of the forearc has caused fracturing, minor surficial slumping, and increased erosion through small canyons and gullies. Oblique trending linear features on the forearc may be faults with a strike-slip component of motion caused by the oblique subduction of the Nazca Ridge. The trench in the zone of ridge subduction is nearly linear, with no re-entrant in the forearc due to subduction of the Nazca Ridge. Compressional deformation of the forearc due to subduction of the ridge is relatively minor, suggesting that the gently sloping Nazca Ridge is able to slide beneath the forearc without significantly deforming it. The structure of the forearc is similar to that revealed by other SeaMARC II surveys to the north, consisting of: 1) a narrow zone (10 to 15 km across) of accreted material making up the lower forearc; 2) a chaotic middle forearc; 3) outcropping consolidated material and draping sediment on the upper forearc; and 4) the smooth, sedimented forearc shelf.The subducting Nazca plate and the Nazca Ridge are fractured by subduction-induced faults with offsets of up to 500 m. Normal faulting is dominant and begins about 50 km from the trench axis, increasing in frequency and offset toward the trench. These faults are predominantly trench-parallel. Reverse faults become more common in the deepest portion of the trench and often form at slight angles to the trench axis.Intrusive and extrusive volcanic areas on the Nazca plate appear to have formed well after the seafloor was created at the ridge crest. Many of the areas show evidence of current scour and are cut by faulting, however, indicating that they formed before the seafloor entered the zone of subduction-induced faulting.     

On sediment deposition and nature of the plate boundary at the junction between the submarine Lomonosov Ridge,Arctic Ocean and the continental margin of Arctic Canada/North Greenland

The first seismic reflection data from the shallowest part of the submarine Lomonosov Ridge north of Arctic Canada and North Greenland comprise two parallel single channel lines (62 and 25 km long, offset 580 m) acquired from a 10 day camp on drifting sea ice. The top of southern Lomonosov Ridge is bevelled (550 m water depth) and only thin sediments (< 50 ms) cover acoustic basement. We suggest erosion of a former sediment drape over the ridge crest was either by a grounded marine ice sheet extending north from Ellesmere Island and/or deep draft icebergs. More than 1 km of sediments are present at the western entrance to the deep passage between southern Lomonosov Ridge and the Lincoln Sea continental margin. Here, the uppermost part (+ 0.3 s thick) of the section reflects increased sediment input during the Plio–Pleistocene. The underlying 0.7 s thick succession onlaps the slope of a subsiding Lomonosov Ridge. An unconformity at the base of the sedimentary section caps a series of NW–SE grabens and mark the end of tectonic extension and block faulting of an acoustic basement represented by older margin sediments possibly followed by minor block movements in a compressional regime. The unconformity may relate to termination of Late Cretaceous deformation between Lomonosov Ridge and Alpha Ridge or be equivalent to the Hauterivian break-up unconformity associated with the opening of the Amerasia Basin. A flexure in the stratigraphic succession above the unconformity is most likely related to differential compaction, although intraplate earthquakes do occur in the area.     

Seismic imaging of the Formosa Ridge cold seep site offshore of southwestern Taiwan

Multi-scale reflection seismic data, from deep-penetration to high-resolution, have been analyzed and integrated with near-surface geophysical and geochemical data to investigate the structures and gas hydrate system of the Formosa Ridge offshore of southwestern Taiwan. In 2007, dense and large chemosynthetic communities were discovered on top of the Formosa Ridge at water depth of 1125 m by the ROV Hyper-Dolphin. A continuous and strong BSR has been observed on seismic profiles from 300 to 500 ms two-way-travel-time below the seafloor of this ridge. Sedimentary strata of the Formosa Ridge are generally flat lying which suggests that this ridge was formed by submarine erosion processes of down-slope canyon development. In addition, some sediment waves and mass wasting features are present on the ridge. Beneath the cold seep site, a vertical blanking zone, or seismic chimney, is clearly observed on seismic profiles, and it is interpreted to be a fluid conduit. A thick low velocity zone beneath BSR suggests the presence of a gas reservoir there. This “gas reservoir” is shallower than the surrounding canyon floors along the ridge; therefore as warm methane-rich fluids inside the ridge migrate upward, sulfate carried by cold sea water can flow into the fluid system from both flanks of the ridge. This process may drive a fluid circulation system and the active cold seep site which emits both hydrogen sulfide and methane to feed the chemosynthetic communities.     

Seismic structure and tectonics of the Shackleton Fracture Zone (Drake Passage,Scotia Sea)

The structural framework of the southern part of the Shackleton Fracture Zone has been investigated through the analysis of a 130-km-long multichannel seismic reflection profile acquired orthogonally to the fracture zone near 60° S. The Shackleton Fracture Zone is a 800-km-long, mostly rectilinear and pronounced bathymetric lineation joining the westernmost South Scotia Ridge to southern South America south of Cape Horn, separating the western Scotia Sea plate from the Antarctic plate. Conventional processing applied to the seismic data outlines the main structures of the Shackleton Fracture Zone, but only the use of enhanced techniques, such as accurate velocity analyses and pre-stack depth migration, provides a good definition of the acoustic basement and the architecture of the sedimentary sequences. In particular, a strong and mostly continuous reflector found at about 8.0 s two-way traveltime is very clear across the entire section and is interpreted as the Moho discontinuity. Data show a complex system of troughs developed along the eastern flank of the crustal ridge, containing tilted and rotated blocks, and the presence of a prominent listric normal fault developed within the oceanic crust. Positive flower structures developed within the oceanic basement indicate strike-slip tectonism and partial reactivation of pre-existing faults. Present-day tectonic activity is found mostly in correspondence to the relief, whereas fault-induced deformation is negligible across the entire trough system. This indicates that the E–W-directed stress regime present in the Drake Passage region is mainly dissipated along a narrow zone within the Shackleton Ridge axis. A reappraisal of all available magnetic anomaly identifications in the western Scotia Sea and in the former Phoenix plate, in conjunction with new magnetic profiles acquired to the east of the Shackleton Fracture Zone off the Tierra del Fuego continental margin, has allowed us to propose a simple reconstruction of Shackleton Fracture Zone development in the general context of the Drake Passage opening.     

The morphology and tectonics of the Mark area from Sea Beam and Sea MARC I observations (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 23° N)

High-resolution Sea Beam bathymetry and Sea MARC I side scan sonar data have been obtained in the MARK area, a 100-km-long portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift valley south of the Kane Fracture Zone. These data reveal a surprisingly complex rift valley structure that is composed of two distinct spreading cells which overlap to create a small, zero-offset transform or discordant zone. The northern spreading cell consists of a magmatically robust, active ridge segment 40–50 km in length that extends from the eastern Kane ridge-transform intersection south to about 23°12′ N. The rift valley in this area is dominated by a large constructional volcanic ridge that creates 200–500 m of relief and is associated with high-temperature hydrothermal activity. The southern spreading cell is characterized by a NNE-trending band of small (50–200 m high), conical volcanos that are built upon relatively old, fissured and sediment-covered lavas, and which in some cases are themselves fissured and faulted. This cell appears to be in a predominantly extensional phase with only small, isolated eruptions. These two spreading cells overlap in an anomalous zone between 23°05′ N and 23°17′ N that lacks a well-developed rift valley or neovolcanic zone, and may represent a slow-spreading ridge analogue to the overlapping spreading centers found at the East Pacific Rise. Despite the complexity of the MARK area, volcanic and tectonic activity appears to be confined to the 10–17 km wide rift valley floor. Block faulting along near-vertical, small-offset normal faults, accompanied by minor amounts of back-tilting (generally less than 5°), begins within a few km of the ridge axis and is largely completed by the time the crust is transported up into the rift valley walls. Features that appear to be constructional volcanic ridges formed in the median valley are preserved largely intact in the rift mountains. Mass-wasting and gullying of scarp faces, and sedimentation which buries low-relief seafloor features, are the major geological processes occurring outside of the rift valley. The morphological and structural heterogeneity within the MARK rift valley and in the flanking rift mountains documented in this study are largely the product of two spreading cells that evolve independently to the interplay between extensional tectonism and episodic variations in magma production rates.     

Morpho-sedimentary evidence for a canyon�Cchannel�Ctrench interconnection along the Taiwan�CLuzon plate margin, South China Sea

Examining bathymetric and seismic reflection data collected from the deep-sea region between Taiwan and Luzon in 2006 and 2008, we identified a connection between a submarine canyon, a deep-sea channel, and an oceanic trench in the northern South China Sea. The seafloor of the South China Sea north of 21°N is characterized by two broad slopes: the South China Sea Slope to the west, and the Kaoping Slope to the east, intersected by the prominent Penghu Canyon. This negative relief axis parallels the strike of the Taiwan orogen, extends downslope in an approx. N–S direction, and eventually merges with the northern Manila Trench via a hitherto unidentified channel. The discovery of this channel is pivotal, because it allows connecting the Penghu Canyon to the Manila Trench. This channel is 80 km long and 20–30 km wide, with water depths of 3,500–4,000 m. The progressive morphological changes recorded in the aligned canyon, channel, and trench suggest that they represent three distinct segments of the same longitudinal sediment conduit from southern Taiwan to the northern Manila Trench. Major sediment input would be via the Kaoping Canyon and Kaoping Slope, with a smaller contribution from the South China Sea Slope. We determined the northern end of the Manila Trench to be located at about 20°15′N, 120°15′E, where sediment accumulation has produced a bathymetry shallower than 4,000 m, thereby abruptly terminating the trench morphology. Comparison with existing data reveals a similarity with, for example, the Papua New Guinea–Solomon Sea Plate convergent zone, another modern analog of a mountain source to oceanic sink longitudinal sediment transport system comprising canyon–channel–trench interconnections.