Spatial and temporal evolution of hyperextended rift systems: Implication for the nature, kinematics, and timing of the Iberian-European plate boundary

International audienceWe focus on the Iberian-European plate boundary (IEPB), whose nature, age, and evolution are strongly debated. In contrast to previous interpretations of the IEPB as a major lithospheric-scale left-lateral strike-slip fault, we propose a more complex deformation history. The mapping of rift domains at the transition between Iberia and Europe emphasizes the existence of spatially disconnected rift systems. Based on their restoration, we suggest that the deformation was partitioned between a set of distinct left-lateral transtensional rift systems from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. A plate kinematic reorganization at Aptian-Albian time resulted in the onset of sea-floor spreading in the western Bay of Biscay and extreme crustal and lithosphere thinning in intra-continental rift basins to the east. The formation and reactivation of the IEPB is interpreted as the result of the polyphase evolution of a diffuse transient plate boundary that failed to localize. The results of this work may provide new insights on (1) processes preceding breakup and the initiation of segmented and strongly oblique shear margins, (2) the deformation history of nascent divergent plate boundaries, and (3) the kinematics of the southern North Atlantic and Alpine domain in western Europe

Rifted Margins: State of the Art and Future Challenges

Improvements 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 disciplines

Structure of the ocean–continent transition, location of the continent–ocean boundary and magmatic type of the northern Angolan margin from integrated quantitative analysis of deep seismic reflection and gravity anomaly data

AbstractThe crustal structure and distribution of crustal types on the northern Angolan rifted continental margin have been the subject of much debate. Hyper-extended continental crust, oceanic crust and exhumed serpentinized mantle have all been proposed to underlie the Aptian salt and the underlying sag sequence. Quantitative analysis of deep seismic reflection and gravity anomaly data, together with reverse post-break-up subsidence modelling, have been used to investigate the ocean–continent transition structure, the location of the continent–ocean boundary, the crustal type and the palaeobathymetry of Aptian salt deposition. Gravity inversion methods (used to give the depth to the Moho and the crustal thickness), residual depth anomaly analysis (used to identify departures from oceanic bathymetry) and subsidence analysis have all shown that the distal Aptian salt is underlain by hyper-extended continental crust rather than exhumed mantle or oceanic crust. We propose that the Aptian salt was deposited c. 0.2 and 0.6 km below global sea-level and that the inner proximal salt subsided by post-rift (post-tectonic) thermal subsidence alone, whereas outer distal salt formation was synrift, prior to break-up, resulting in additional tectonic subsidence. Our analysis argues against Aptian salt deposition on the Angolan margin in a 2–3 km deep isolated ocean basin and supports salt deposition on hyper-extended continental crust formed by diachronous rifting migrating from east to west and culminating in the late Aptian.</jats:p

The palaeo-bathymetry of base Aptian salt deposition on the northern Angolan rifted margin: constraints from flexural back-stripping and reverse post-break-up thermal subsidence modelling

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Tectono-stratigraphic evolution and crustal architecture of the Orphan Basin during North Atlantic rifting

The Orphan Basin is located in the deep offshore of the Newfoundland margin, and it is bounded by the continental shelf to the west, the Grand Banks to the south, and the continental blocks of Orphan Knoll and Flemish Cap to the east. The Orphan Basin formed in Mesozoic time during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean between eastern Canada and western Iberia–Europe. This work, based on well data and regional seismic reflection profiles across the basin, indicates that the continental crust was affected by several extensional episodes between the Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous, separated by events of uplift and erosion. The preserved tectono-stratigraphic sequences in the basin reveal that deformation initiated in the eastern part of the Orphan Basin in the Jurassic and spread towards the west in the Early Cretaceous, resulting in numerous rift structures filled with a Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous syn-rift succession and overlain by thick Upper Cretaceous to Cenozoic post-rift sediments. The seismic data show an extremely thinned crust (4–16 km thick) underneath the eastern and western parts of the Orphan Basin, forming two sub-basins separated by a wide structural high with a relatively thick crust (17 km thick). Quantifying the crustal architecture in the basin highlights the large discrepancy between brittle extension localized in the upper crust and the overall crustal thinning. This suggests that continental deformation in the Orphan Basin involved, in addition to the documented Jurassic and Early Cretaceous rifting, an earlier brittle rift phase which is unidentifiable in seismic data and a depth-dependent thinning of the crust driven by localized lower crust ductile flow

Contrasting styles of (U)HP rock exhumation along the Cenozoic Adria-Europe plate boundary (Western Alps, Calabria, Corsica)

Since the first discovery of ultrahigh pressure (UHP) rocks 30 years ago in the Western Alps, the mechanisms for exhumation of (U)HP terranes worldwide are still debated. In the western Mediterranean, the presently accepted model of synconvergent exhumation (e.g., the channel-flow model) is in conflict with parts of the geologic record. We synthesize regional geologic data and present alternative exhumation mechanisms that consider the role of divergence within subduction zones. These mechanisms, i.e., (i) the motion of the upper plate away from the trench and (ii) the rollback of the lower plate, are discussed in detail with particular reference to the Cenozoic Adria-Europe plate boundary, and along three different transects (Western Alps, Calabria-Sardinia, and Corsica-Northern Apennines). In the Western Alps, (U)HP rocks were exhumed from the greatest depth at the rear of the accretionary wedge during motion of the upper plate away from the trench. Exhumation was extremely fast, and associated with very low geothermal gradients. In Calabria, HP rocks were exhumed from shallower depths and at lower rates during rollback of the Adriatic plate, with repeated exhumation pulses progressively younging toward the foreland. Both mechanisms were active to create boundary divergence along the Corsica-Northern Apennines transect, where European southeastward subduction was progressively replaced along strike by Adriatic northwestward subduction. The tectonic scenario depicted for the Western Alps trench during Eocene exhumation of (U)HP rocks correlates well with present-day eastern Papua New Guinea, which is presented as a modern analog of the Paleogene Adria-Europe plate boundary