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

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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Extension modes and breakup processes of the southeast China-Northwest Palawan conjugate rifted margins

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Mid-mantle deformation inferred from seismic anisotropy

With time, convective processes in the Earth's mantle will tend to align crystals, grains and inclusions. This mantle fabric is detectable seismologically, as it produces an anisotropy in material properties—in particular, a directional dependence in seismic-wave velocity. This alignment is enhanced at the boundaries of the mantle where there are rapid changes in the direction and magnitude of mantle flow, and therefore most observations of anisotropy are confined to the uppermost mantle or lithosphere and the lowermost-mantle analogue of the lithosphere, the D" region. Here we present evidence from shear-wave splitting measurements for mid-mantle anisotropy in the vicinity of the 660-km discontinuity, the boundary between the upper and lower mantle. Deep-focus earthquakes in the Tonga–Kermadec and New Hebrides subduction zones recorded at Australian seismograph stations record some of the largest values of shear-wave splitting hitherto reported. The results suggest that, at least locally, there may exist a mid-mantle boundary layer, which could indicate the impediment of flow between the upper and lower mantle in this region