Crustal structure of the Southeast Georgia embayment-Carolina trough: Preliminary results of a composite seismic image of a continental suture(?) and a volcanic passive margin

Abstract

New deep-penetration multichannel seismic reflection data, combined with refraction results and magnetics modeling, support a hypothesis that the Carolina trough is a Mesozoic volcanic passive margin exhibiting a seaward-dipping wedge and associated underplating. The structure of Carolina platform continental crust is consistent with the late Paleozoic continental collision that produced the Appalachians, but imbrication has had no obvious effect on shallower structures produced by Mesozoic extension and volcanism. The origin of prominent magnetic anomalies crossing the Southeast Georgia embayment can be explained by processes attending Mesozoic separation of Africa and North America, and is not related to a Paleozoic continental suture, as previously postulated.