A recipe for microcontinent formation

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Research Article| March 01, 2001 A recipe for microcontinent formation R. Dietmar Müller; R. Dietmar Müller 1University of Sydney, School of Geosciences, Building F05, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Carmen Gaina; Carmen Gaina 1University of Sydney, School of Geosciences, Building F05, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Walter R. Roest; Walter R. Roest 2Geological Survey of Canada, 615 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E9, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar David Lundbek Hansen David Lundbek Hansen 3Department of Earth Sciences, University of Aarhus, DK 8200 Aarhus N., Denmark Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2001) 29 (3): 203–206. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0203:ARFMF>2.0.CO;2 Article history received: 11 Aug 2000 rev-recd: 04 Dec 2000 accepted: 04 Dec 2000 first online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation R. Dietmar Müller, Carmen Gaina, Walter R. Roest, David Lundbek Hansen; A recipe for microcontinent formation. Geology 2001;; 29 (3): 203–206. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0203:ARFMF>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Accreted slivers of continental margins are common in the geologic record, but the processes that lead to their formation are poorly understood. We observe an association of plume-related microcontinent isolation and subsequent long-term asymmetries in oceanic crustal accretion based on four recent examples: the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, Jan Mayen in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea, and the East Tasman Plateau and the Gilbert Seamount Complex in the Tasman Sea. These microcontinents formed by rerifting of a young continental margin (<25 m.y. old) in the vicinity of a mantle-plume stem, followed by asymmetric seafloor spreading. Two-dimensional numerical stochastic basin modeling suggests that a yield-strength minimum along the landward edge of a rifted margin, thermally enhanced by heating from a mantle plume, may cause a spreading ridge to jump onto this zone of weakness. This action isolates a passive-margin segment. The association of large igneous provinces and microcontinents should be useful for identifying similar events in the geological record. You do not currently have access to this article.