Crustal breakup and continent-ocean transition at South Atlantic conjugate margins

Abstract

[1] Seismic reflection and refraction profiles, and potential field data, complemented by crustal-scale gravity modeling and plate reconstructions are used to study the evolution of the central and south segments of the South Atlantic conjugate margins. The central segment is characterized by a hyperextended continent-ocean transitional domain that shows evidence of rotated fault blocks and a detachment surface active during rifting. A polyphase rifting evolution mode, associated with a complex time-dependent thermal structure of the lithosphere, is substantiated for the central segment that is not a “magma-poor” end-member. Increase of volcanic activity during the late stages of rifting may have “interrupted” the extensional system implying a failed exhumation phase that was replaced instead by continental breakup and emplacement of fully igneous crust. The continent-ocean transitional domain along the “magma-dominated” south segment is characterized by a large volume of flood basalts and high-velocity/high-density lower crust. The northern province of the south segment is characterized by symmetrical seaward-dipping reflections and symmetrical continent-ocean transitional domain. The influence of the Tristan da Cunha plume on this province is very likely. The central province of the south segment is characterized by along-strike tectonomagmatic asymmetry, which can be caused by the initial continental stretching and accompanying magmatism rather than by the subsequent seafloor spreading. The Tristan da Cunha plume on the central province may have influenced the volume of magmatism but did not necessarily alter the process of rifted margin formation, implying that the central province of the south segment may have much in common with “magma-poor” margins.