Pervasive detachment faults within the slow spreading oceanic crust at the poorly coupled Antilles subduction zone
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2021-09 | ||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Marcaillou Boris1, Klingelhoefer Frauke2, Laurencin Muriel3, Lebrun Jean-Frédéric4, Laigle Mireille1, Lallemand Serge5, Schenini Laure1, Gay Aurelien5, Boucard Milton4, Ezenwaka Kingsley1, Graindorge David6 | ||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, IRD, Géoazur, Valbonne, France 2 : IFREMER, Dpt. of Marine Geosciences, Plouzané, France 3 : Université de Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte d’Opale, UMR 8187, LOG, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, Lille, France 4 : Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Université des Antilles, Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe, (FWI) 5 : Geosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Université des Antilles, Montpellier, France 6 : Geosciences Océan, UMR 6538, Université Bretagne Occidentale, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Plouzané, France |
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Source | Communications Earth & Environment (2662-4435) (Springer Science and Business Media LLC), 2021-09 , Vol. 2 , N. 1 , P. 203 (7p.) | ||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1038/s43247-021-00269-6 | ||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Oceanic crust formed at slow-spreading ridges is currently subducted in only a few places on Earth and the tectonic and seismogenic imprint of the slow-spreading process is poorly understood. Here we present seismic and bathymetric data from the Northeastern Lesser Antilles Subduction Zone where thick sediments enable seismic imaging to greater depths than in the ocean basins. This dataset highlights a pervasive tectonic fabric characterized by closely spaced sequences of convex-up Ridgeward-Dipping Reflectors, which extend down to about 15 km depth with a 15-to-40° angle. We interpret these reflectors as discrete shear planes formed during the early stages of exhumation of magma-poor mantle rocks at an inside corner of a Mid-Atlantic Ridge fracture zone. Closer to the trench, plate bending could have reactivated this tectonic fabric and enabled deep fluid circulation and serpentinization of the basement rocks. This weak serpentinized basement likely explains the very low interplate seismic activity associated with the Barbuda-Anegada margin segment above. |
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