FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal BT AF SIBUET, Jean-Claude KLINGELHOEFER, Frauke HUANG, Yuan-Ping YEH, Yi-Ching RANGIN, Claude LEE, Chao-Shing HSU, Shu-Kun AS 1:1,2,3;2:3;3:4;4:5;5:6;6:1;7:4; FF 1:PDG-REM-GM-LAD;2:PDG-REM-GM-LAD;3:;4:;5:;6:;7:; C1 Natl Taiwan Ocean Univ, Inst Appl Geophys, 2 Pei Ning Rd, Keelung 202, Taiwan. 44 Rue Cloitre, F-29280 Plouzane, France. Ifremer Ctr Brest, BP 70, F-29280 Plouzane, France. Natl Cent Univ, Dept Earth Sci, Chungli 320, Taiwan. Taiwan Ocean Res Inst, 219,Sec 1 Dongfang Rd, Kaohsiung 852, Taiwan. CNRS, UMR 7329, Lab GEOAZUR, 250 Rue Albert Einstein, F-06560 Valbonne, France. C2 UNIV NATL TAIWAN OCEAN NTOU, TAIWAN 44 Rue Cloitre, F-29280 Plouzane, France. IFREMER, FRANCE UNIV NATL CENT NCU, TAIWAN TAIWAN OCEAN RES INST TORI, TAIWAN CNRS, FRANCE SI BREST SE PDG-REM-GM-LAD IN WOS Ifremer jusqu'en 2018 copubli-france copubli-int-hors-europe IF 2.888 TC 28 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/45180.pdf LA English DT Article DE ;Northern Bay of Bengal;Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data;Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics AB Since the early Cretaceous, the Bay of Bengal was formed during rifting between India and Antarctica and then by subsequent seafloor spreading. The nature of the crust underlying the Bay of Bengal is oceanic south of 15°N, but remains unknown (thinned continental crust, serpentinized mantle or oceanic crust) north of this limit. In order to better define the nature of the crust in the northern Bay of Bengal, three wide-angle reflection seismic and refraction profiles were acquired during the multichannel seismic reflection Bengal cruise. Nine ocean-bottom seismometers were deployed alternatively on three profiles. A seismic source consisting of 64 air guns with a volume of 6180 in3 was used simultaneously with a 10.05-km long streamer to acquire both seismic reflection and refraction data. Tomographic and forward modeling of the three refraction profiles reveal a 20-km thick crust north of the Bengal delta front beneath a minimum of 13 km thick sedimentary cover. The crust thins to about 10 km immediately south of the EW trending delta front and the thickness of sediments reaches a minimum of 7 km. Crustal velocities and velocity gradients are consistent with a continental origin of the crust in this area. At the base of the crust, high seismic velocities (>7.2 km/s) are interpreted as magmatic underplating. Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data cannot resolve the nature of the upper 4–5 km of crust (oceanic crust, exhumed mantle or thinned continental crust). Coincident seismic reflection profiles show the emplacement of a volcanic intrusion, sills and some seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) located close to the northern prolongation of the Ninety East ridge before 70 Ma (Maastrichtian). However, most of the fan-shaped reflectors identified in the northern Bay of Bengal are synrift features. We conclude that the crust in the northern Bay of Bengal is thinned continental crust intruded by volcanic products with the presence of a minor amount of underplating material at its base. Such a crustal structure probably extends from the northern Bay of Bengal (19°N) to the Shillong Plateau (25°N). These new findings are critical for the oil and gas exploration presently very active in the northern Bay of Bengal area. PY 2016 PD NOV SO Marine And Petroleum Geology SN 0264-8172 PU Elsevier Sci Ltd VL 77 UT 000384861400030 BP 471 EP 486 DI 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 ID 45571 ER EF