Rifting consequences of three plate separation

Type Article
Date 1994-04
Language English
Author(s) Sibuet Jean-Claude1, Srivastava Shiri2
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER CTR BREST,BP 70,F-29280 PLOUZANE,FRANCE.
2 : GEOL SURVEY CANADA,ATLANTIC GEOSCI CTR,DARTMOUTH B2Y 4A2,NS,CANADA.
Source Geophysical Research Letters (0094-8276) (Amer Geophysical Union), 1994-04 , Vol. 21 , N. 7 , P. 521-524
DOI 10.1029/93GL03304
WOS© Times Cited 5
Abstract Submarine sedimentary basins parallel to the trends of passive continental margins are well explained by tensional processes between two lithospheric plates. This leaves open the enigma of many basins which strike across margins. We use examples from the North Atlantic to show that such basins may be formed during the initial rifting stage due to enhanced lithospheric thinning caused by the separation of three plates. We suggest that volcanics can be emplaced in these basins and, in the extreme case, where mantle temperature and consequently the degree of partial melting are particularly high, that basaltic flows can be thick enough to fill and hide the basins.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
30291.pdf 4 1 MB Open access
Top of the page