Structural Style of Continental Rifting in Goban Spur and Porcupine Basins, Irish Atlantic Margin

Abstract

In this work we present a structural analysis of two geological cross-sections across the Porcupine and Goban Spur basins located in the offshore of western Ireland. They represent a N trending Mesozoic rift complex related to the Atlantic opening. The main objective is to improve the understanding of the style of the continental rifting developed in the N sector of the Atlantic margin. Our approach consists of the interpretation of seismic data, a detailed geometrical and geological description of the tectonic structures, section construction and balancing. Furthermore, comparing our results with rifting models proposed by other authors, we obtained a consistent scenario of rift development. The most interesting aspect about the structural style concerns the passive mode of opening of this rift complex. The main evidences involve the asymmetry degree of the basins, timing of the volcanism, a delaminated crust observed in the Goban Spur sector and a hyper-extended crust in the Porcupine area.