Offshore Seismic Data Research Articles

Older than you think: using U–Pb calcite geochronology to better constrain basin-bounding fault reactivation, Inner Moray Firth Basin, western North Sea

Like many rift basins worldwide, the Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB) is bounded by major reactivated fault zones, including the Helmsdale Fault and the Great Glen Fault (GGF). The Jurassic successions exposed onshore close to these faults at Helmsdale and Shandwick preserve folding, calcite veining and minor faulting consistent with sinistral (Helmsdale Fault) and dextral (GGF) transtensional movements. This deformation has been widely attributed to Cenozoic post-rift fault reactivation. Onshore fieldwork and U–Pb calcite geochronology of five vein samples associated with transtensional movements along the Helmsdale Fault and a splay of the GGF show that faulting occurred during the Early Cretaceous ( c. 128–115 Ma, Barremian–Aptian), while the Helmsdale Fault preserves evidence for earlier Late Jurassic sinistral movements ( c. 159 Ma, Oxfordian). This demonstrates that both basin-bounding faults were substantially reactivated during the episodic NW–SE-directed Mesozoic rifting that formed the IMFB. Although there is good evidence for Cenozoic reactivation of the GGF offshore, the extent of such deformation along the north coast of the IMFB remains uncertain. Our findings illustrate the importance of oblique-slip reactivation processes in shaping the evolution of continental rift basins given that this deformation style may not be immediately obvious in interpretations of offshore seismic reflection data. Supplementary Material: Appendix A – orthomosaic model obtained from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photography of the Helmsdale locality (GeoTiff format); Appendix B – orthomosaic model obtained from UAV photography of the Shandwick locality (GeoTiff format); Appendix C – geochronology data; and Appendix D – additional thin section microphotographs of sample HD1 showing repeated cycles of syntaxial grain growth are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6708518

Heterogeneous Strain Distribution in the Malawi (Nyasa) Rift, East Africa: Implications for Rifting in Magma‐Poor, Multi‐Segment Rift Systems

AbstractHalf‐graben basins bounded by border faults typify early‐stage continental rifts. Deciphering the role that intra‐rift faults play in rift basin development is challenging as patterns of early‐stage faulting are commonly overprinted by subsequent deformation; yet the characterization of these faults is crucial to understand the fundamental controls on their evolution, their contribution to rift opening, and to assess their seismic hazard. By integrating multiple offshore seismic reflection data sets with age‐dated drill core, late‐Quaternary and cumulative faulting patterns are characterized in the Central and South Basins of the Malawi (Nyasa) Rift, an active, early‐stage rift system. Almost all intra‐rift faults offset a late‐Quaternary lake lowstand surface, suggesting they are active and should be considered in hazard assessments. Fault throw profiles reveal sawtooth patterns indicating segmented slip histories. Observed extension on intra‐rift faults is approximately twice that predicted from hanging wall flexure of the border fault, suggesting that intra‐rift faults accommodate a proportion of the regional extension. Cumulative and late‐Quaternary throws on intra‐rift faults are correlated with throw measured on the border fault in the Central Basin, whereas an anticorrelation is observed in the South Basin. Viewed in a regional context, these differences do not relate solely to the proposed southward younging of the rift. Instead, it is inferred that the distribution of extension is also influenced by variations in lithospheric structure and crustal heterogeneities that are documented along the rift axis.

Detecting Shallow Gas Reservoir in the F3 Block, the Netherlands, Using Offshore Seismic Data and High-Resolution Multi-Synchrosqueezing Transform

Detecting Shallow Gas Reservoir in the F3 Block, the Netherlands, Using Offshore Seismic Data and High-Resolution Multi-Synchrosqueezing Transform

Influence of seawater depth on offshore ground motion characteristics and seismic responses of sea-crossing cable-stayed bridges

This paper studies the effect of seawater depth on offshore earthquake motion characteristics and seismic response of bridges. By analyzing the offshore seismic data recorded by the K-NET during 2006–2021, the horizontal amplification coefficient spectrum and V/H spectral ratio of offshore ground motions were compared for various offshore stations at different seawater depths. Moreover, a numerical model simulating the propagation process of seismic waves in the seabed was developed to investigate the effects of seawater depth and site conditions on offshore ground motions. Finally, a site-seawater-pile foundation-cable-stayed bridge coupling model was created to study the influence of seawater depth on the seismic responses of sea-crossing cable-stayed bridges. The results reveal that the vertical response spectrum of offshore ground motion in deeper seawater is lower for periods longer than 0.3 s. The numerical models reveal that seawater has a suppression effect on the P wave near the resonance frequency of the seawater layer. Due to the hydrodynamic effect, the longitudinal bridge seismic response is significantly amplified. The amplification effect becomes more obvious with an increase in seawater depth. Therefore, it is important to consider the influence of the seawater layer in the seismic design of sea-crossing bridges.

Strain Partitioning within the Caribbean–North America Transform Plate Boundary in Southern Haiti, Tectonic and Hazard Implications

ABSTRACT Global Positioning System measurements and high-resolution offshore seismic data within the transform Caribbean–North American plate boundary in southern Haiti, Greater Antilles, show 6–7 mm/yr of plate boundary-normal shortening within a crustal sliver bounded to the south by the Enriquillo left-lateral strike-slip fault and to the north by a south-dipping reverse fault system offshore the northern coast of the Southern Peninsula of Haiti. This overlooked fault system, which we name “Jérémie–Malpasse” (JM), marks the overthrusting of the Cretaceous oceanic crust of the Caribbean basin of the Southern Peninsula over accreted terranes of island arc crust to the north. Geological and geodetic data are consistent with a tectonic model that reconciles recent observations of plate boundary-perpendicular shortening with ample geological evidence for purely strike-slip motion on the Enriquillo fault. This model also provides a framework to interpret the 2010 Mw 7.0 and 2021 Mw 7.2 earthquakes in southern Haiti, whose oblique slip mechanisms are indicative of a localized transpressional strain regime. These findings imply that regional seismic hazard maps must be updated to account for both the existence of the ∼350 km long JM fault system and for the possibility that future earthquakes in southern Haiti may occur on nonvertical faults with a significant component of reverse slip.

The distinct morphologic signature of underplating and seamounts in accretionary prisms, insights from thermomechanical modeling applied to Coastal Iranian Makran

The active structures of the Iranian Makran, especially the presence of normal faults, vary laterally in the upper plate of the subduction zone, and their relationship with the deep duplexes and seamounts at depth remains unknown due to poor coverage of data onshore. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between deep structures and the topographic slope using thermo-mechanical simulations. The initial and boundary conditions of the models, including basal heat flux and convergence rate, are calibrated using the depth of the seafloor, bottom seafloor reflectors and the few available well temperature. We specifically test the influence of seamount subduction and thermally controlled changes in rock strength and décollement on the relationship between topography and deep tectonic structures. The inclusion of the brittle-ductile transition and dehydration reactions like the smectite-illite transition produce the three slope segments observed in the Makran accretionary prism. The three segments correspond to a regular accretionary prism, a flat segment that marks the smectite-illite transition, and a rise in topography located above the zone where the tegument reaches its temperature-controlled brittle-ductile transition causing underplating. Nevertheless, the models show that neither the decrease in friction associated with dehydration nor the onset of underplating is sufficient for the observed normal faults to arise in a self-consistent manner from the simulations. Crustal-scale normal faults only emerge in simulations that include subduction of a large seamount. These simulations also produce a large-thrust-slice that is the scar of former subducting seamount and serves as a buttress for the formation of a new imbricated zone. Using offshore seismic reflection data, the published onshore tomographic profiles, and our thermo-mechanical simulations, we propose two onshore-offshore cross-sections of the Iranian Makran accretionary prism.

Subsurface Fluid Flow Feature as Hydrocarbon Indicator in the Alamein Basin, Onshore Egypt; Seismic Attribute Perspective

The interpretation of subsurface fluid flow features in seismic reflection data is a key part of identifying the presence of hydrocarbon and active petroleum systems. Currently, this kind of study is mainly conducted utilizing offshore seismic reflection data with very limited cases utilizing onshore seismic reflection data. In addition, the Alamein basin is an area of prolific study in onshore Egypt, with most related studies concentrating on basin analysis and reservoir characterization. Therefore, in our study we aimed to make practical and effective use of onshore seismic reflection data with seismic attribute analysis to describe seismic facies, delineating and interpreting subsurface fluid flow features. The relatively vertical V-shaped and pipe or concave-up-shaped features with distorted reflections inside them are revealed through the analysis of variance, sweetness, chaos, instantaneous frequency and the RMS amplitude of seismic attributes. These subsurface fluid flow features are a product of mature source rock that migrates hydrocarbon vertically through faults (especially deep-seated faults) and fracture systems (fault and fracture-related subsurface fluid flow features). The classification scheme presented in our study could be implemented in the onshore case worldwide.

Application of Noise Attenuation on 2D Shallow Offshore Seismic Reflection Data: A Case Study from the Baltic Sea

Noise is always present in offshore seismic data, as there isn't a single method that could eliminate all the forms of noise. In this study, noise removal techniques were applied to attenuate different noises in 2D shallow-marine seismic data from the Baltic Sea area. Amplitude recovery should be applied before the noise attenuation stage as a preconditioning process for showing all noises in the deeper part of the seismic data. Frequency filters (notch filter and low-cut filter), frequency-wavenumber (FK) filter, and swell noise attenuation (Deswell) were applied as robust noise attenuation techniques. The method of directly modifying the amplitude spectrum of the seismic data is known as frequency filtering. A notch filter can be used to remove the harmonic noise of the power line harmonic noise (mono-frequency noise). A low-cut filter can be used to remove the low-frequency noises due to the influence of hydrostatic pressure variations. The linearly correlated events, such as tail-buoy and operational noise, were removed using the FK filter. Incoherent noise, such as swell noise, can be attenuated by swell noise attenuation (Deswell). The seismic results are displayed before and after the applied noise attenuation techniques to prove the validity of the applied filters. This study aimed to show the importance of shallow offshore seismic data processing in removing different types of noise, as it increases the value of data for seismic data interpretation and marine geohazard assessment.

Geophysical and Geological Views of Potential Water Resources in the North-Eastern Adriatic Sea

The increasing demand for freshwater requires the identification of additional and less-conventional water resources. Amongst these, offshore freshwater systems have been investigated in different parts of the world to provide new opportunities to face increasing water requests. Here we focus on the north-eastern Adriatic Sea, where offshore aquifers could be present as a continuation of onshore ones. Geophysical data, in particular offshore seismic data, and onshore and offshore well data, are interpreted and integrated to characterise the hydrogeological setting via the interpretation of seismo-stratigraphic sequences. We focus our attention on two areas located in the proximity of the Tagliamento and Isonzo deltas. Well and seismic data indicate that the Quaternary sediments, that extend from onshore to offshore areas, are the most promising from an offshore freshwater resources point of view, while the several kilometres thick pre-Quaternary carbonate and terrigenous sequences likely host mainly salty waters.

SparseTFNet: A Physically Informed Autoencoder for Sparse Time–Frequency Analysis of Seismic Data

The time-frequency (TF) analysis is an effective tool in seismic signal processing. The sparsity-based TF transforms have been widely used to obtain high localized TF representations in recent past years. These TF transforms formulate a sparse TF representation as an inverse optimization problem using simple mathematical models, which are typically based on a hand-crafted prior knowledge. Unlike the traditional sparsity-based TF transforms, the supervised deep learning (DL)-based sparse TF representations don’t require this prior knowledge and instead use a large amount of labeled data set, which is difficult to label for seismic data. In this study, to bridge the gap between the traditional sparsity-based transforms and the supervised DL-based transforms, we propose a DL-based sparse TF analysis approach based on a physically informed autoencoder model, named the SparseTFNet. The proposed SparseTFNet includes two modules: a convolutional neural networks (CNN)-based encoder and a traditional inverse TF representation-based decoder. The CNN-based encoder is implemented by training the inverse optimization problem in the absence of the “ground-truth" TF representation, which can be trained with only seismic traces. The traditional inverse short time Fourier transform (STFT) is utilized as the decoder module in this study, which is used as a physical constraint to ensure the high accuracy of the calculated TF representation. Finally, after training and validating the proposed model using the noise-free and noisy synthetic seismic traces, the model is applied to three-dimensional (3D) offshore seismic data. The results show that the proposed SparseTFNet model has good performance in the delineation of the depositional fluvial channels.

Glacial deposits and landforms at the terminus of a Laurentide ice stream, Oneida Lake, New York, from multichannel seismic reflection data

AbstractThe deglaciation record of the Ontario Lowland and Mohawk Valley of North America is important for constraining the retreat history of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, end-Pleistocene paleoclimate, and ice-sheet processes. The Mohawk Valley was an important meltwater drainage route during the last deglaciation, with the area around modern Oneida Lake acting as a valve for meltwater discharge into the North Atlantic Ocean. The Mohawk Valley was occupied by the Oneida Lobe and Oneida Ice Stream during the last deglacial period. Multichannel seismic reflection data can be used to generate images of preglacial surfaces and internal structures of glacial bedforms and proglacial lake deposits, thus contributing to studies of deglaciation. This paper uses 217 km of offshore multichannel seismic reflection data to image the entire Quaternary section of the Oneida basin. A proglacial lake and paleo-calving margin is interpreted, which likely accelerated the Oneida Ice Stream, resulting in elongated bedforms observed west of the lake. The glacial bedforms identified in this study are buried by proglacial lake deposits, indicating the Oneida basin contains a record of glacial meltwater processes, including a 60-m-thick proglacial interval in eastern Oneida Lake.

New onshore insights into the role of structural inheritance during Mesozoic opening of the Inner Moray Firth Basin, Scotland

The Inner Moray Firth Basin (IMFB) forms the western arm of the North Sea trilete rift system that initiated mainly during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous with the widespread development of major NE–SW-trending dip-slip growth faults. The IMFB is superimposed over the southern part of the older Devonian Orcadian Basin. The potential influence of older rift-related faults on the kinematics of later Mesozoic basin opening has received little attention, partly owing to the poor resolution of offshore seismic reflection data at depth. New field observations augmented by drone photography and photogrammetry, coupled with U–Pb geochronology, have been used to explore the kinematic history of faulting in onshore exposures along the southern IMFB margin. Dip-slip north–south- to NNE–SSW-striking Devonian growth faults are recognized that have undergone later dextral reactivation during NNW–SSE extension. The U–Pb calcite dating of a sample from the synkinematic calcite veins associated with this later episode shows that the age of fault reactivation is 130.99 ± 4.60 Ma (Hauterivian). The recognition of dextral-oblique Early Cretaceous reactivation of faults related to the underlying and older Orcadian Basin highlights the importance of structural inheritance in controlling basin- to sub-basin-scale architectures and how this influences the kinematics of IMFB rifting. Supplementary material: Analytical protocols and analysed sample details are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5635432

Seismic velocity structure along the North Anatolian Fault beneath the Central Marmara Sea and its implication for seismogenesis

SUMMARY The offshore part of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) beneath the Marmara Sea is a well-known seismic gap for future M > 7 earthquakes in the sense that more than 250 yr have passed since the last major earthquake in the Central Marmara region. Although many studies discussed the seismic potential for the future large earthquake in this region on the basis of historical record, geodetic and geological observations, it is difficult to evaluate the actual situation on the seismic activity and structure along the NAF beneath the Marmara Sea due to the lack of ocean bottom seismic observations. Using ocean bottom seismometer observations, an assessment of the location of possible asperities that could host an expected large earthquake is undertaken based on heterogeneities in the microseismicity distribution and seismic velocity structure. Specifically, seismic tomography and precise hypocentre estimations are conducted using offshore seismic data whose recording period is 11 months. About five times more microearthquakes are detected with respect to events recorded in a land-based catalogue. A comparison with previously published results from offshore observation data suggests that the seismicity pattern had not changed from 2014 September to 2017 May. The location accuracy of microearthquakes is greatly improved from only the land-based earthquake catalogue, particularly for depth direction. There are several aseismic and inactive zones of microearthquake, and the largest one is detected using land-based seismic observation, whereas other zones are newly detected via offshore observations. The obtained velocity model shows a strong lateral contrast, with two changing points. The western changing point corresponds to a segmentation boundary, where the dip angle of the NAF segments changed. High-velocity zones from tomographic images are characterized by low seismicity eastward of the segment boundary. To the east of 28.50°E, the high-velocity zone becomes thicker in the depth direction and is characterized by low seismicity. Although the low seismic activity alone could be interpreted as both strong coupling and fully creeping, the high-velocity features at the same can be concluded that these zones are consist of brittle material and strong coupling. From comparison with other geodetic and seismic studies, we interpret these zones as locked zones that had been ruptured by the past large earthquakes and could be ruptured by future ones. These zones might accumulate strain since the main shock rupture associated with the 1766 May Ms 7.3 earthquake, the latest major earthquake in this region.

Deformation Pattern of the Northern Sector of the Malta Escarpment (Offshore SE Sicily, Italy): Fault Dimension, Slip Prediction, and Seismotectonic Implications

Marine seismic reflection data coupled with on-land structural measurements improve our knowledge about the active deformation pattern of the northern sector of the Malta Escarpment, a bathymetric and structural discontinuity in the near-offshore of Eastern Sicily. As favourably oriented to be reactivated within the Neogene Africa–Europe convergence, it is believed that the Malta Escarpment has a significant role in the recent seismotectonic framework of the Western Ionian Basin and the Hyblean foreland domain of SE Sicily, where some of the largest and most destructive Mediterranean earthquakes are located according to available historical catalogs. Offshore seismic data along with bathymetric grids illuminate the shallow subseafloor setting and allow more accurate mapping of the seafloor expression of previously identified faults in the area. The seismic interpretation and the near-fault sediment pattern analysis provide constraints on fault 3D geometries as well as on their through-time tectonic activity, suggesting also that part of the observed deformation may have been caused by nontectonic processes. Identified faults form currently an E-dipping, roughly N–S trending, and 60 km-long extensional belt deforming the seafloor with a significant displacement amount in the Ionian offshore between Catania and Siracusa. 3-dimensional parameters of faults were then used to derive expected magnitudes and their reactivation propensity. Empirical scaling relationships and forward methods point to a high seismic potential for the detected fault as well as predict the fault slip behavior according to the field-derived differential stress. This combined analysis along with faults displacement measurements pointed out how the longest and most continuous fault could be capable of generating M > 7 seismic events, putting forward strong seismotectonic implications for the adjacent and densely populated Hyblean Plateau. The expected magnitude and the estimated recurrence time interval are compatible with those inferred for large historical earthquakes in the area even if other offshore seismic sources cannot be ruled out.

Quaternary Rock Uplift Rates and Their Implications for the Western Flank of the North Anatolian Fault Restraining Bend; Inferences From Fluvial Terrace Ages

AbstractIn the western flank of the North Anatolian Fault restraining bend (i.e., Central Pontides), the Filyos River incises through the uplifting Karabük Range, creating the ~1.7‐km‐deep Filyos River Gorge on the hanging wall of the reverse Karabük Fault. Seven fluvial strath terrace levels are preserved in this gorge. optically stimulated luminescence ages from quartz‐rich sediments of five terrace levels reveal an average long‐term rock uplift rate of 0.45 ± 0.02 mm yr−1 with an unsteady pattern of uplift during the last 542 ± 24 kyr. Uplift rates of 1.52 ± 0.6 and 0.74 ± 0.3 mm yr−1 occurred before 366 ± 19 kyr, followed by lower rates of ~0.1 and 0.31 mm yr−1 through present. These later uplift rates may reflect relatively slower tectonic rates since ~366 kyr, with closer similarity to regional uplift rates of ~0.3 mm yr−1 yielded from the eastern flank of the Central Pontides. The Karabük Range fluvial terraces are near the North Anatolian Fault, meaning pre‐ ~366 kyr uplift rates may be a glimpse of the highest Central Pontides Quaternary rock uplift rates on uplifting hanging wall blocks activated by the restraining bend. When we consider offshore seismic reflection data, the focal mechanism solution of the Bartın Earthquake, onshore structural data, and regional tectonic geomorphology, the western flank of the Central Anatolian Plateau's northern margin is propagating northward as a growing orogenic wedge with a positive flower‐structure geometry.

Bayesian trans-dimensional full waveform inversion: synthetic and field data application

SUMMARYSeismic full waveform inversion (FWI) is a state-of-the-art technique for estimating subsurface physical models from recorded seismic waveform, but its application requires care because of high non-linearity and non-uniqueness. The final outcome of global convergence from conventional FWI using local gradient information relies on an informative starting model. Bayesian inference using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling is able to remove such dependence, by a direct extensive search of the model space. We use a Bayesian trans-dimensional MCMC seismic FWI method with a parsimonious dipping layer parametrization, to invert for subsurface velocity models from pre-stack seismic shot gathers that contain mainly reflections. For the synthetic study, we use a simple four-layer model and a modified Marmousi model. A recently collected multichannel off-shore seismic reflection data set, from the Lord Howe Rise (LHR) in the east of Australia, is used for the field data test. The trans-dimensional FWI method is able to provide model ensembles for describing posterior distribution, when the dipping-layer model assumption satisfies the observed data. The model assumption requires narrow models, thus only near-offset data to be used. We use model stitching with lateral and depth constraints to create larger 2-D models from many adjacent overlapping submodel inversions. The inverted 2-D velocity model from the Bayesian inference can then be used as a starting model for the gradient-based FWI, from which we are able to obtain high-resolution subsurface velocity models, as demonstrated using the synthetic data. However, lacking far-offset data limits the constraints for the low-wavenumber part of the velocity model, making the inversion highly non-unique. We found it challenging to apply the dipping-layer based Bayesian FWI to the field data. The approximations in the source wavelet and forward modelling physics increase the multimodality of the posterior distribution; the sampled velocity models clearly show the trade-off between interface depth and velocity. Numerical examples using the synthetic and field data indicate that trans-dimensional FWI has the potential for inverting earth models from reflection waveform. However, a sparse model parametrization and far offset constraints are required, especially for field application.

Tsunami hazard assessment in the Makran subduction zone

The lack of offshore seismic data caused uncertainties associated to understating the behavior of future tsunamigenic earthquakes in the Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ). Future tsunamigenic events in the MSZ may trigger significant near-field tsunamis. Run-up heights in the near-field are controlled by the heterogeneity of slip over the rupture area. Considering a non-planar geometry for the Makran subduction zone, a range of random k^{-2} slip models were generated to hypothesize rupturing on the fault zone. We model tsunamis numerically and assess probabilistic tsunami hazard in the near-field for all synthetic scenarios. The main affected areas by tsunami waves are the area between Jask and Ormara along the shorelines of Iran and Pakistan and the area between Muscat and Sur along the Oman coastline. The maximum peak-run-up along the shores of Iran and Pakistan is about 16 m and about 12 m for the Oman shoreline. The slip distributions control the run-up along the Makran coastlines. The dependency of run-up to the heterogeneity of slip is higher in the most impacted areas. Those areas are more vulnerable to tsunami hazard than other areas.

Provenance of the Newfoundland Appalachian foreland basins

The tectonic history of the Appalachian orogen is recorded in the adjacent foreland. Offshore seismic data suggest that an initial, Middle Ordovician foreland basin was filled by sources in Newfoundland, whereas the Late Ordovician foreland basin was loaded and filled by sources to the SW, in the Quebec segment of the orogen, where NW-vergent Taconian arc-continent collision may have continued later than in Newfoundland. We test this hypothesis using U/Pb ages of detrital zircon within foreland basin successions in western Newfoundland. Previously published results from the oldest foreland succession, the Middle Ordovician Goose Tickle Group, demonstrate ages similar to units preserved with the Humber Arm Allochthon, emplaced during Middle Ordovician Taconic orogenesis, including a predominant Paleoproterozoic peak at 1.85 Ga. In this study we investigated U/Pb geochronology of detrital zircon from younger foreland successions from Upper Ordovician to Devonian. The largest proportion of analyses within all foreland successions fall between 0.95 and 1.3 Ga, with largest peaks occurring between 1.0 and 1.1 Ga, typical of zircon derived from the Grenville Orogen. Earlier Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic ages range from 1.3 to 2.0. The abundance of Mesoproterozoic grains and conspicuous lack of 1.85 Ga Paleoproterozoic zircon in the overlying Upper Ordovician Long Point Group and latest Silurian to Early Devonian Clam Bank Formation indicates that these sediments were not derived from units within the Humber Arm Allochthon. Probability density plots of continental margin units in the Quebec/New England segment of the orogen demonstrate a similar strong Mesoproterozoic and weak Paleoproterozoic signature, suggesting derivation of the Long Point Group from the Quebec segment of the orogen. Within the mid-Paleozoic Clam Bank - Red Island Road succession, typical Gondwanan ages are absent and 1.0 Ga grains derived from the Grenville Orogen are abundant. This is consistent with underthrusting of the Gondwanan microcontinents Ganderia and Avalonia during Salinic and Acadian orogenesis. Only Mesoproterozoic zircon grains were found in the Early Devonian Red Island Road Formation, consistent with derivation from Mesoproterozoic Grenville massifs in western Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island which were exhumed during Devonian Acadian inversion.

Emplacement and 3D geometry of crustal-scale saucer-shaped intrusions in the Fennoscandian Shield

Saucer-shaped intrusions of tens of meters to tens of kilometres across have been observed both from surface geological mapping and geophysical observations. However, there is only one location where they have been reported to extend c. 100 km laterally, and emplaced both in a sedimentary basin and the crystalline basement down to 12 km depth. The legacy BABEL offshore seismic data, acquired over the central Fennoscandian Shield in 1989, have been recovered and reprocessed with the main goal of focusing on this series of globally unique crustal-scale saucer-shaped intrusions present onshore and offshore below the Bothnian Sea. The intrusions (c. 1.25 Ga), emplaced in an extensional setting, are observed within both sedimentary rocks (<1.5 Ga) and in the crystalline basement (>1.5 Ga). They have oval shapes with diameters ranging 30–100 km. The reprocessed seismic data provide evidence of up-doming of the lower crust (representing the melt reservoir) below the intrusions that, in turn, are observed at different depths in addition to a steep seismically transparent zone interpreted to be a discordant feeder dyke system. Relative age constraints and correlation with onshore saucer-shaped intrusions of different size suggest that they are internally connected and fed by each other from deeper to shallower levels. We argue for a nested emplacement mechanism and against a controlling role by the overlying sedimentary basin as the saucer-shaped intrusions are emplaced in both the sedimentary rocks as well as in the underlying crystalline basement. The interplay between magma pressure and overburden pressure, as well as the, at the time, ambient stress regime, are responsible for their extensive extent and rather constant thicknesses (c. 100–300 m). Saucer-shaped intrusions may therefore be present elsewhere in the crystalline basement to the same extent as observed in this study some of which are a significant source of raw materials.

The Fragmented Death of the Farallon Plate

AbstractThe processes that accompany the death of an oceanic plate, as a ridge nears a trench, remain enigmatic. How the plate might reorganize, fragment, and eventually be captured by one of the bounding plates are among the unresolved details. We present a tomographic model of the Pacific Northwest from onshore and offshore seismic data that reveals a hole in the subducted Juan de Fuca plate. We suggest that this hole is the result of a tear along a preexisting zone of weakness, is causing volcanism on the North American plate, and is causing deformation in the Juan de Fuca plate offshore. We propose that in the final stages of an oceanic plate's life, deformation on the surface can be driven by deeper dynamics and that the fragmentation and the eventual capture of oceanic plate fragments may be governed by a process that operates from the bottom up.