Seismic study of the transform-rifted margin in Davis Strait between Baffin Island (Canada) and Greenland: What happens when a plume meets a transform - art. no. B04402

Type Article
Date 2007-04
Language English
Author(s) Funck T1, Jackson H2, Louden K4, Klingelhoefer FraukeORCID3
Affiliation(s) 1 : Danish Lithosphere Ctr, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2 : Geol Survey Canada, Bedford Inst Oceanog, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.
3 : IFREMER, Ctr Brest, Dept Geodynam & Geophys, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
4 : Dalhousie Univ, Dept Oceanog, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1, Canada.
Source Journal of Geophysical Research ( JGR ) - Solid earth (0148-0227) (American Geophysical Union), 2007-04 , Vol. 112 , N. B4 , P. NIL_150-NIL_171
DOI 10.1029/2006JB004308
WOS© Times Cited 56
Keyword(s) magmatic underplating, refraction seismics, transform margin
Abstract [ 1] The Davis Strait transform margin was studied using a 630-km-long wide-angle reflection/ refraction seismic transect extending from SE Baffin Island to Greenland. Dense airgun shots were recorded by 28 ocean bottom seismometers deployed along the line. A P wave velocity model was developed from forward and inverse modeling of the wide-angle data and incorporation of coincident deep multichannel reflection seismic data. Off Baffin Island in the Saglek Basin, 7 to 11-km-thick two-layered continental crust (5.8 - 6.6 km/s) is observed. Off Greenland, continental crust is divided into three layers (5.4 - 6.8 km/s) with a maximum thickness of 20 km. Farther offshore Greenland the crust thins to 7 - 12 km and the lower crust disappears. Between the continental blocks a 140-km-wide zone with oceanic crust ( layer 2 is 5.4 - 6.2 km/s and layer 3 is 6.7 - 7.0 km/s) is located. The western half of this zone is interpreted to be part of a volcanic margin with seaward dipping reflectors; the eastern part is associated with the Ungava fault zone (UFZ), the major transform fault in Davis Strait. The UFZ thus acted as leaky transform fault during phases of transtension. Southward flow of material from the Iceland plume created a 4 to 8-km-thick underplated layer (7.4 km/s) beneath the thinned portions of the continental crust and beneath previously emplaced oceanic crust. Plume related Paleogene volcanism is indicated by an up to 4-km thick layer (4.3 - 5.8 km/s) with basalts and interbedded sediments that can be traced from SE Baffin Island 400 km toward the east.
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Funck T, Jackson H, Louden K, Klingelhoefer Frauke (2007). Seismic study of the transform-rifted margin in Davis Strait between Baffin Island (Canada) and Greenland: What happens when a plume meets a transform - art. no. B04402. Journal of Geophysical Research ( JGR ) - Solid earth, 112(B4), NIL_150-NIL_171. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JB004308 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/4393/