Continental break-up at the Galicia Margin

The Galicia margin has been at the forefront the development and testing of models on the break-up of magma-poor passive margins. However the current paradigm of continental break-up is still largely based on two dimensional observations. The data presented here from a high resolution 3D seismic reflection data reveal in unprecedented detail the complexity of continental break-up. Using the 3D geometry of the faults, analysing fault displacement at a number of different levels, and mapping syn-rift sediments it has been possible to offer a new model of break-up. This model combines elements of previous models but offers a new degree of clarity over the mechanism including fault linkage. Slip initiates at different points on the a weakened serpentinised mantle forming a slip surface that propagates up through a network of faults forming the S reflector, a detachment fault whilst also dissecting the crust, allowing further water ingress and weakening. Progressive slip and weakening rotates slip surfaces, eventually new sites of slip initiation form that propagate through the crust forming a new fault network and ceasing slip on the previous network. Continued weakening and slip eventually leads to break-up

Resolving the fine-scale velocity structure of continental hyperextension at the Deep Galicia Margin using full-waveform inversion

Continental hyperextension during magma-poor rifting at the Deep Galicia Margin is characterised by a complex pattern of faulting, thin continental fault blocks, and the serpentinisation, with local exhumation, of mantle peridotites along the S-reflector, interpreted as a detachment surface. In order to understand fully the evolution of these features, it is important to image seismically the structure and to model the velocity structure to the greatest resolution possible. Travel-time tomography models have revealed the long-wavelength velocity structure of this hyperextended domain, but are often insufficient to match accurately the short-wavelength structure observed in reflection seismic imaging. Here we demonstrate the application of two-dimensional (2D) time-domain acoustic full-waveform inversion to deep water seismic data collected at the Deep Galicia Margin, in order to attain a high resolution velocity model of continental hyperextension. We have used several quality assurance procedures to assess the velocity model, including comparison of the observed and modelled waveforms, checkerboard tests, testing of parameter and inversion strategy, and comparison with the migrated reflection image. Our final model exhibits an increase in the resolution of subsurface velocities, with particular improvement observed in the westernmost continental fault blocks, with a clear rotation of the velocity field to match steeply dipping reflectors. Across the S-reflector there is a sharpening in the velocity contrast, with lower velocities beneath S indicative of preferential mantle serpentinisation. This study supports the hypothesis that normal faulting acts to hydrate the upper mantle peridotite, observed as a systematic decrease in seismic velocities, consistent with increased serpentinisation. Our results confirm the feasibility of applying the full-waveform inversion method to sparse, deep water crustal datasets

Three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure of the Deep Galicia rifted margin

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, 7-12 April 2019, Vienna, Austria.-- 1 pageIn 2013, we carried out the Galicia-3D controlled-source reflection-refraction seismic experiment at the Deep Galicia rifted margin in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain. We acquired more than 3200 km of seismic profiles within a three-dimensional (3D) box measuring 64 by 20 km (1280 km2). The main features within this box are: the peridotite ridge (PR), composed of serpentinized peridotite; a series of fault bounded, rotated basement blocks; and the S reflector, which has been interpreted across most of the box as a low angle detachment fault forming the crust-mantle boundary. Shots from two 3300 cu.in airgun arrays fired alternately in a flip-flop configuration, with a shot spacing of 37.5 m, were recorded by four six-kilometer streamers of R/V Marcus Langseth, as well as by 72 Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) of the Galicia-3D network. We present tomographic results obtained using three well known controlled-source seismic tomography codes: the three-dimensional (3D) first-arrival time seismic tomography code FAST, and the 3D joint refraction-reflection travel-time tomography codes TOMO3D and JIVE3D. Results obtained with three different codes were compared with the seismic reflection images of the area, and this comparison confirms that the main features of the area are accurately represented in all three results. The 3.5, 5 and 6.5 km/s contours match well the top of the acoustic and crystalline basements and the S-reflector, respectively.Largest differences between results ofdifferent codes occur, as expected, in poorly resolved areas. n addition, due to differences in parameterisations and inversion schemes, the same structure is expressed in three different ways in the results. Below the S-reflector, P-wave velocities indicate a degree of serpentinisation of 45 to 30 %. The distribution of the serpentinisation allows us to estimate the amount of water reaching the mantle, and suggests that the water reaches the mantle when faults are active. Our models allow us to explore the relationship between extension inferred from fault heaves and crustal thickness variations in 3

3D development of detachment faulting during continental breakup

The developing asymmetry of rifting and continental breakup to form rifted margins has been much debated, as has the formation, mechanics and role of extensional detachments. Bespoke 3D seismic reflection data across the Galicia margin, west of Spain, image in unprecedented detail an asymmetric detachment (the S reflector). Mapping S in 3D reveals its surface is corrugated, proving that the overlying crustal blocks slipped on S surface during the rifting. Crucially, the 3D data show that the corrugations on S perfectly match the corrugations observed on the present-day block-bounding faults, demonstrating that S is a composite surface, comprising the juxtaposed rotated roots of block-bounding faults as in a rolling hinge system with each new fault propagation moving rifting oceanward; changes in the orientation of the corrugations record the same oceanward migration. However, in contrast to previous rolling hinge models, the slip of the crustal blocks on S occurred at angles as low as ∼20°, requiring that S was unusually weak, consistent with the hydration of the underlying mantle by seawater ingress following the embrittlement of the entire crust. As the crust only becomes entirely brittle once thinned to ∼10 km, the asymmetric S detachment and the hyper-extension of the continental crust only developed late in the rifting process, which is consistent with the observed development of asymmetry between conjugate magma poor margin pairs. The 3D volume allows analysis of the heaves and along strike architecture of the normal faults, whose planes laterally die or spatially link together, implying overlaps in faults activity during hyper-extension. Our results thus reveal for the first time the 3D mechanics and timing of detachment faulting growth, the relationship between the detachment and the network of block-bounding faults above it and the key processes controlling the asymmetrical development of conjugate rifted margins. Highlights • The 3D seismic data provide unprecedented details of the mechanisms of breakup. • S detachment is corrugated and made of root zones of successive normal faults. • S rooted steeply but continued to slip at low-angle (down to 20°). • Extensional faulting migrated oceanwards by sets of faults active concurrently. • The asymmetric detachment developed as the crust became entirely brittle

Rifted Margins: State of the Art and Future Challenges

8 pages, 1 figureImprovements in seismic imaging, computing capabilities, and analytical methods, as well as a number of industry deep-water wells sampling distal offshore settings, have underpinned new concepts for rifted margin evolution developed in the last two decades; these mark significant progress in our understanding of extensional systems. For example, the tectonic, sedimentary, and magmatic processes linked to the formation of rifted margins have been overhauled, giving rise to more quantitative approaches and new concepts. However, these processes cannot be understood in isolation, requiring consideration of the continuum in which inheritance and physical processes are integrated within a plate tectonic framework. The major progress and fundamental developments of past research in rifted margins have been made hand-in-hand with other domains of Earth Sciences and have fundamental implications for the understanding of key geological systems such as active rifts, the ocean lithosphere, subduction zones, and collisional orogens. The “IMAGinING RIFTING” workshop, organized in Pontresina-Switzerland in September 2017, gathered researchers from all disciplines working on rifts and rifted margins, and included participants from academia and industry. This contribution summarizes the workshop discussions, in addition to outlining our state-of-the-art knowledge of rifted margins. We highlight future challenges in unraveling the processes and conditions under which these extensional systems form and, ultimately, how tectonic plates rupture and new oceans are born. Our aims here are to provide a framework for future research endeavors and to promote collaboration not only within the rift and rifted margins communities, but across other Earth Science discipline