PLATE KINEMATICS OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC: CHRON C34 TO PRESENT

Abstract

A high‐resolution seafloor spreading history of the South Atlantic since chron C34 is constrained by a combination of Seasat altimeter data and underway marine geophysical data. A set of 45 finite rotation poles defines the relative position of Africa and South America at roughly 2‐m.y. intervals. A set of 12 stage poles constrain the relative motion of these two plates at 5‐ to 10‐m.y. intervals. The position of the stage poles continuously migrates, reflecting the continuously changing azimuths of the fracture zones. Major changes in spreading direction are observed in the Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic as the fracture zones sweep out broad S‐shaped curves similar to the pattern seen on the Kane fracture zone in the central Atlantic. Small offset fracture zones were found to be the most accurate recorders of changes in plate motion; large offset fracture zones, such as the Agulhas‐Falkland fracture zone, were the least reliable recorders. At 30°S, spreading rates decrease throughout the Late Cretaceous from a high of 75 mm/yr at the end of chron C34 to a low of 30 mm/yr around chron C27. A period of slow spreading between chron C30 and chron C20 corresponds to a zone of fracture zone proliferation, an increase in the amplitude of geoid anomalies over fracture zones, greater relief on topographic profiles, and locally, evidence of intraplate crustal deformation. Spreading rates increase at chron C20 to about 50 mm/yr and then gradually decrease during the late Paleogene and Neogene. A comparison of synthetic fracture zones based on the South Atlantic stage poles to the observed trends of fracture zones in the equatorial Atlantic indicates that the Vema and Marathon fracture zones were generated by South Atlantic spreading, as opposed to central Atlantic spreading, at least as far back as 35 m.y. ago and possibly 50 m.y. ago.