Geophysical constraints on the nature of geological domains of continental rifted margins: examples from the west iberia margin and ligurian basin
- Autores: Irene Merino Pérez
- Directores de la Tesis: César Rodriguez Ranero (dir. tes.), Valentí Sallarès Casas (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat de Barcelona ( España ) en 2021
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Rafael Bartolomé de la Peña (presid.), Marta Maria de Almeida Neres (secret.), Ingo Grevemeyer (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias de la Tierra por la Universidad de Barcelona
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TESEO
- Resumen
In this PhD work, we carry out a geophysical and geological study of two classical examples of rifted continental margins: the Gulf of Lions (GoL), located in the Western Mediterranean, and the Tagus Abyssal Plain (TAP), located in the West Iberia margin. In spite of numerous previous studies of these regions, there is a debate on the crustal structure and the processes that led to the formation of the basin. Our study aims to 1) determine the nature of rocks forming the main geological domains of the basin, 2) define the tectonic structure of the basement and 3) place constrains and discuss the kinematics and tectonic and magmatic mechanisms involved in basin formation.
To study the GoL, we used a geophysical data set acquired during the SARDINIA-2006 survey by the Ifremer Institute (France). In particular, we used a Multi-Channel Seismic (MCS) line and a coincident Wide-Angle Seismic (WAS) profile. Altogether, these lines cover a 467-km-long seismic transect that runs NW-SE across the GoL until the central part of the Liguro-Provençal basin. The geophysical data used to study the TAP were collected during the FRAME-2018 survey within the framework of the FRAME project. We present spatially coincident MCS and WAS data, along a 350 km-long, E-W trending profile located at 38º N, crossing the basin in the North-West Iberian margin.
We apply joint refraction and reflection travel-time tomography (TT) that combines travel-times from MCS and WAS data to provide new constraints on the structure and petrological nature of basement domains along the margins. The result of this joint WAS-MCS tomography is a P-waves velocity (Vp) model of the margin that is fully consistent with the MCS image along the profile, making the geological interpretation less subjective. The processing of MCS data provides the tectonic structure and geometry of the sedimentary basins.
The results from the GoL support the existence of three geological domains that are: 1) a continental domain formed by normal faults that tilted the continental basement, 2) a ~100 km wide domain bounded by continental crust domains, characterized by a 4-5 km thick layer with high velocity and steep gradients that we interpret as a lens-shaped body of oceanic crust and 3) a thin continental crust (<4 km). This configuration implies that the continent-ocean transition (COT) occurs abruptly (<10 km along profile) at each side of the oceanic domain.
In the case of the TAP, the models show that the crustal structure is more complex, presenting sharp boundaries between five different domains at the base of the continental slope and across the J-anomaly. Thus, the profile across the TAP shows that Domain I and Domain III are made of 4-6 km thick continental crust. Domain III shows a lower crust with comparatively higher velocities possibly due to limited magmatic intrusions. Domain II, previously interpreted as oceanic crust, is shown to constitute a ~70 km wide domain of exhumed and serpentinized mantle. The westernmost 200 km of the profile include Domain IV and Domain V with a basement made of oceanic crust. The new Vp model and seismic images support that the COT is located ~300 km offshore and that occurs abruptly from 10 to 15 km wide. Based on these results, we discuss a new geodynamic scenario characterized by two main phases of crustal extension. According to the presented distribution of the basement, rifting in the TAP would have started with continental crust extension, continued with exhumation of the mantle, followed by the formation of the oceanic crust of the J-magnetic anomaly, and continued with spreading of oceanic crust of the Cretaceous Magnetic Quiet Zone.
The interpretation of these results differs from current conceptual models of the formation of both examples of rifting systems. Its integration offers the opportunity to review the existing conceptual models related to rifted margins that involve mantle exhumation and indicate that the response of the continental lithosphere to extension processes may be more complex than previously assumed.
