Rifting of the Tyrrhenian Basin: A Natural Laboratory to Study Extension of Continental Lithosphere and Conjugate Rifted Margin Formation
Abstract
The Tyrrhenian basin has been created by extension of continental lithosphere above a retreating slab during the Neogene. The basin is not currently extending, but its structure preserves information of the time evolution of the rifting process. The basin opened from north to south with different amounts of extension. The northern region stopped opening after relatively low extension. The amount of extension increases southwards to a region where full crustal separation produced mantle exhumation. The final structure displays two conjugate margins with an asymmetric structure. We present results from a two-vessel seismic experiment that took place in spring 2010. The cruise was carried out with the Spanish R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa (SdG) and the Italian R/V Urania in a first leg. The ships collected 5 E-W trending wide-angle seismic (WAS) profiles across the entire basin using 17 Ocean Bottom Seismometers and 25 Ocean Bottom Hydrophones and a 4800 c.i. G-II gun array. During the second leg the R/V SdG collected 16 Multichannel Seismic Reflection (MCS) profiles using a 3.75 km-long streamer and a 3000 c.i. G-II gun array. MCS profiles were acquired coincident with the WAS profiles, and a number of additional lines concentrated in the central region of the basin where mantle exhumation took place. The seismic data covers the region of the basin that experienced different amount of extension from north to south. In this presentation we compare observations from different transects to study the evolution of the processes of continental margin formation by trading space (different areas with different extension factors) for time (evolution of extension). Each transect provides the tectonic structure, the geometry of sedimentary deposits, and seismic velocity distribution. This information allows to interpret the mechanisms of deformation and to study the symmetry-asymmetry structure of the conjugated margins, and thus of the processes involved in their formation. The integration of full coverage multibeam bathymetry of the little-sedimented basin permits to interpret the 3D geometry of structures mapped in the seismic profiles.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.T31D..03R
- Keywords:
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- 8105 TECTONOPHYSICS / Continental margins: divergent