Insights about the structure and evolution of the Scotia Arc from a new magnetic data compilation

Abstract

Analysis of a new regional compilation of magnetic anomalies from marine, aeromagnetic and satellite data reveals the main structural/tectonic elements of the Scotia Arc. The most relevant magnetic anomaly in the continental crust, the Pacific Margin Anomaly (PMA), is related to composite magmatic arc batholiths. It was emplaced by subduction processes along the Pacific continental margin of the Antarctic Peninsula and can be followed within the continental blocks of the South Scotia Ridge and South America. Four representative magnetic profiles also show the structure in depth, and allow us to characterize the main crustal elements of the region. The new compilation and models improve our knowledge of the Scotia Arc's development. The PMA is seen to have a roughly W–E orientation, decreasing in intensity eastwards from the Pacific Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula, and extending towards the South Scotia Ridge to Discovery Bank and even to Herdman Bank. However, the identification of the PMA in the North Scotia Ridge is uncertain, since the magnetic anomalies and the modeled profiles do not support the presence of an important batholithic body. This setting can be attributed to the kinematics of subduction, almost orthogonal to the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula and oblique along the South American margin. Based on the new magnetic anomaly map, magnetic modeling, and the continuity of the PMA along the Antarctic Peninsula and South Scotia Ridge, we propose a reconstruction of the initial distribution of the main continental blocks in the initial stages during the Cretaceous. The anomalies identified in the northern Scotia Sea are probably related to local basic and/or intermediate igneous rocks intruded in pull-apart basins that developed in the South America–Antarctica plate boundary deformation zone during the initial stages of South Atlantic Ocean and Weddell Sea spreading.