Mesozoic magnetic lineations and the magnetic quiet zone off northwest Africa

Abstract

An extensive compilation of recently acquired geophysical reconnaissance data has allowed the Mesozoic magnetic lineations (The Eastern Keathley sequence) to be identified and mapped in detail for the area off northwest Africa lying between Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands. These anomalies were generated as one limb of a symmetric spreading center (Paleo Mid-Atlantic Ridge) from about 107 to 153 m.y.B.P. Offsets in the lineation pattern serve to identify fracture zone traces whose trends are approximately east-west. The seaward boundary of the marginal quiet zone does not precisely define an isochron due to the presence of a variable width transition zone of intermediate amplitude magnetic anomalies. Crust underlying the marginal quiet zone was generated, at least in part, during the Jurassic, Graham normal polarity epoch. The quiet zone boundary is not offset significantly on opposite sides of the Canaries lineament as previously suggested. A possible counterpart of the U.S. east coast magnetic anomaly is observed in some areas near the shelf/slope break of Spanish Sahara and Mauritania. The presence of relatively high-amplitude (but not-correlatable) magnetic anomalies seaward of the Mesozoic sequence and presumably generated during the Cretaceous, Mercanton normal polarity epoch remains a paradox.