STRUCTURE OF THE BEAUFORT SEA CONTINENTAL MARGIN

Geophysics ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Wold ◽  
T. L. Woodzick ◽  
N. A. Ostenso

An airlifted gravity survey was conducted in 1968 in the Beaufort Sea between Barter Island and Banks Island, south into the Mackenzie River Delta area and northward to about 74° latitude. The 1968 gravity data were combined with data from previous airlifted surveys and ice island T‐3. The major feature of the free‐air anomaly gravity map of this area is a more or less continuous 100 mgal high paralleling the coast from Barrow, Alaska, to the edge of the survey area north of Banks Island. The gravity high is explained by a thinning of the crust and a ridge in the basement rocks at about the 200 m isobath. This linear anomaly is broken by saddles off the Colville, Mackenzie, and Bernard Rivers, which are interpreted to reflect sedimentary fans built by the discharge of these rivers. Two‐dimensional crustal models constructed from gravity profiles indicate a narrow transition zone from ocean to continental crustal thickness, 55 km to 100 km shoreward of the 2000 m isobath. In a review of continental margin structure, Worzel (1968) found the transition zone to be centered under the 2000 m isobath. The departure from “normal” in the Beaufort Sea area may be explained by a greater accumulation of sediments seaward of the “structural” continental margins. This accumulation implies a faster rate of sedimentation and/or a greater age for the Beaufort Sea continental margins than for those analyzed by Worzel.

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
A. J. Flavelle ◽  
Y. Yoshimura

In general large, thick sedimentary basins are delineated by negative gravity features. The gravity data are usually expressed in the form of Bouguer anomaly contours.Ordinary Bouguer anomaly data fail as a direct indicator of approximate sedimentary thickness in zones on and adjacent to the continental margin. Rapid variations in crustal and ocean thickness cause gravitational variations which are not removed during the computation of Bouguer anomaly values.If crustal thickness variations are known or can be calculated then gravitational corrections can be made which take this factor into account. Similar corrections for variations in sea water attraction can be made. The resultant Bouguer anomaly map, corrected for those variations, will indicate in more definite terms density variations in the material of the upper crust. In particular Bouguer anomaly patterns over continental areas adjacent to the continental slope can be more easily interpreted in terms of sedimentary thickness.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Sanchez-Rojas

A new gravity data compilation for Venezuela was processed and homogenized. Gravity was measured in reference to the International Gravity Standardization Net 1971, and the complete Bouguer anomaly was calculated by using the Geodetic Reference System 1980 and 2.67 Mg/m3. A regional gravity map was computed by removing wavelengths higher than 200 km from the Bouguer anomaly. After the anomaly separation, regional and residual Bouguer gravity fields were then critically discussed in term of the regional tectonic features. Results were compared with the previous geological and tectonic information obtained from former studies. Gravity and topography data in the spectral domain were used to examine the elastic thickness and depths of the structures of the causative measured anomaly. According to the power spectrum analysis results of the gravity data, the averaged Moho depths for the massif, plains, and mountainous areas in Venezuela are 42, 35, and 40 km, respectively. The averaged admittance function computed from the topography and Free-Air anomaly profiles across Mérida Andes showed a good fit for a regional compensation model with an effective elastic thickness of 15 km.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra M. Barr ◽  
Sonya A. Dehler ◽  
Louis Zsámboki

Magnetic and gravity data from northeastern Cape Breton Island, southwestern Newfoundland, and the intervening Cabot Strait area were compiled and used to generate a series of maps displaying magnetic (filtered total field, first and second derivative) and gravity (Bouguer anomaly onshore, free-air anomaly offshore) information to enhance the anomaly pattern associated with regional geology. With further constraints from previously published seismic reflection interpretations and detailed maps of onshore geology, five two-dimensional subsurface models were generated.  Potential field anomalies in the offshore can be correlated with onshore faults, rock units, and pre-Carboniferous terranes.  In Newfoundland, the Cabot – Long Range Fault separates Grenvillian basement to the northwest from peri-Gondwanan Port aux Basques subzone basement in the southeast and can be traced to the Wilkie Brook Fault on Cape Breton Island.  The Cape Ray Fault/Red Indian Line merges offshore with the Cabot – Long Range Fault so that Notre Dame subzone rocks do not extend across the Cabot Strait area.  The Port aux Basques – Exploits subzone boundary crosses the strait but is likely buried by younger rocks onshore in Cape Breton Island.  Magnetic halos in the Exploits subzone are probably caused by Silurian – Devonian plutons like those in the Burgeo Intrusive Suite. The Exploits – Bras d’Or terrane boundary is located within the Ingonish magnetic anomaly, which was resolved into four overlapping components representing basement sources intruded into metasedimentary rocks and dioritic and granodioritic plutons of the Bras d’Or terrane.  The Bras d’Or terrane can be traced to the Cinq-Cerf block and Grey River areas in southern Newfoundland.  The interpretations suggest that Bras d’Or terrane ‘basement’ may underlie all of Exploits subzone, and that the Aspy terrane of Cape Breton Island is part of that subzone. SOMMAIRELes données magnétométriques et gravimétriques du nord-est de l’île du Cap-Breton, dans le sud-ouest de Terre-Neuve, et de la région du détroit de Cabot contigu, ont été compilées et utilisées pour produire une série de cartes affichant les particularités magnétiques (champ total filtré, dérivé première et seconde) et gravimétriques (anomalie de Bouguer de la côte, anomalie à l’air libre extracôtière) pour ajouter à la compréhension des motifs d’anomalie de la géologie régionale.  En tenant compte des limitations imposées par les interprétations de données de levés de sismique réflexion déjà publiées et de cartes détaillées de géologie continentale, cinq modèles 2D du sous-sol ont été produits.  Des anomalies de champ potentiel en zone extracôtière peuvent être corrélées avec des failles, des unités lithologiques et des terranes pré-carbonifères sur la côte.   Sur l’île de Terre-Neuve, la faille de Cabot-Long Range qui sépare le socle grenvillien au nord-ouest de la sous-zone de socle péri-gondwanienne, de Port-aux- Basques au sud-est, peut être reliée à la faille de Wilkie Brook sur l’île du Cap-Breton.  La faille du Cap Ray et la linéation de Red Indian se fondent au large avec la faille de Cabot – Long  Range, ce qui signifie que les roches de la sous-zone de Notre-Dame ne traversent pas la région du détroit de Cabot.  La limite de la sous-zone de Port aux Basques-Exploits traverse le détroit, mais elle est vraisemblablement enfouie sous des roches plus jeunes sur l’île du Cap-Breton.  Les halos magnétiques dans la sous-zone Exploits sont probablement causés par des plutons siluro-dévoniens comme c’est le cas de ceux de la séquence intrusive de Burgeo.  La limite du terrane Exploits-Bras d’Or est située dans l’anomalie magnétique Ingonish, laquelle s’est révélée être constituée de quatre composantes superposées représentant des sources de socle engoncées dans des roches métasédimentaires, et dans des plutons dioritiques et granodioritiques du terrane de Bras d’Or.  On peut suivre le terrane de Bras d’Or jusque dans les régions du bloc de Cinq-Cerf et de Grey River dans le sud de Terre-Neuve.  Les interprétations permettent de penser que le « socle » du terrane de Bras d’Or pourrait constituer l’assise rocheuse de la sous-zone Exploits, et que le terrane Aspy de l’île du Cap-Breton ferait partie de cette sous-zone.


1968 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 963-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lamar Worzel

Geophysical data available for the continental margins of North America, South America, Africa, and Europe are examined and summarized. Seismic reflection profiling provide much detail of the uppermost sedimentary cover; seismic refraction data delineate the broad outlines of the upper crustal layers; and gravity data restrict the choices of the deeper crustal structure and that of the upper mantle.Conclusions about the variability of the sedimentation at the various continental shelves, slopes, and rises are given. The transition zone between continental and oceanic structure is restricted to a narrow zone varying between 50 km and 300 km in width for various coasts. This transition zone is localized in the region of the 2000 m isobath for all the coasts studied. The continental margins are generally in isostatic equilibrium as a whole, although departing from this equilibrium somewhat, expecially in the transition zone.


2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (11) ◽  
pp. 1581-1600
Author(s):  
Luke A. Pettinga ◽  
Zane R. Jobe

ABSTRACT Submarine landscapes, like their terrestrial counterparts, are sculpted by autogenic sedimentary processes toward morphologies at equilibrium with their allogenic controls. While submarine channels and nearby, inter-channel continental-margin areas share boundary conditions (e.g., terrestrial sediment supply, tectonic deformation), there are significant differences between the style, recurrence, and magnitude of their respective autogenic sedimentary processes. We predict that these process-based differences affect the rates of geomorphic change and equilibrium (i.e., graded) morphologies of submarine-channel and continental-margin longitudinal profiles. To gain insight into this proposed relationship, we document, classify (using machine learning), and analyze longitudinal profiles from 50 siliciclastic continental margins and associated submarine channels which represent a range of sediment-supply regimes and tectonic settings. These profiles tend to evolve toward smooth, lower-gradient longitudinal profiles, and we created a “smoothness” metric as a proxy for the relative maturity of these profiles toward the idealized equilibrium profile. Generally, higher smoothness values occur in systems with larger sediment supply, and the smoothness of channels typically exceeds that of the associated continental margin. We propose that the high rates of erosion, bypass, and deposition via sediment gravity flows act to smooth and mature channel profiles more rapidly than the surrounding continental margin, which is dominated by less-energetic diffusive sedimentary processes. Additionally, tectonic deformation will act to reduce the smoothness of these longitudinal profiles. Importantly, the relationship between total sediment supply and the difference between smoothness values of associated continental margins and submarine channels (the “smoothness Δ”) follows separate trends in passive and active tectonic settings, which we attribute to the variability in relative rates of smoothness development between channelized and inter-channel environments in the presence or absence of tectonic deformation. We propose two endmember pathways by which continental margins and submarine channels coevolve towards their respective equilibrium profiles with increased sediment supply: 1) Coupled Evolution Model (common in passive tectonic settings), in which the smoothness Δ increases only slightly before remaining static, and 2) Decoupled Evolution Model (common in active tectonic settings), in which the smoothness Δ increases more rapidly and to a greater final value. Our analysis indicates that the interaction of the allogenic factors of sediment supply and tectonic deformation with the autogenic sedimentary processes characteristic of channelized and inter-channel areas of the continental margin may account for much of the variability between coevolution pathways and depositional architectures.


1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1374-1379 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Dallmeyer

Hornblende and biotite from autochthonous basement rocks within the Indian Head Range complex of southwest, insular Newfoundland record undisturbed 40Ar/39Ar release spectra with average total-gas ages of 880 Ma (hornblende) and 825 Ma (biotite). These gas-retention ages date the times when this segment of the western Appalachian basement terrane cooled below hornblende and biotite argon retention temperatures (~500 °C and ~300 °C respectively) following culmination of the ~ 1150–1100 Ma Grenville metamorphism. Although these results indicate that elevated temperatures were maintained for a prolonged period following the Grenville thermal peak, once initiated, cooling must have been relatively rapid because hornblende and biotite record generally similar total-gas dates.The undisturbed release spectra of minerals within the Indian Head Range complex indicate that this segment of the western Appalachian basement terrane was not affected by Paleozoic metamorphism. This is consistent with recent tectonic models that indicate that the overlying Humber Arm allochthon was emplaced into its present position as a cold, already assembled structural unit. Lack of Paleozoic metamorphism within the Indian Head basement rocks is also compatible with suggestions that the obduction site of the Bay of Islands ophiolite lay considerably east of the Early Paleozoic continental margin of North America.


Geophysics ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Verdun ◽  
Roger Bayer ◽  
Emile E. Klingelé ◽  
Marc Cocard ◽  
Alain Geiger ◽  
...  

This paper introduces a new approach to airborne gravity data reduction well‐suited for surveys flown at high altitude with respect to gravity sources (mountainous areas). Classical technique is reviewed and illustrated in taking advantage of airborne gravity measurements performed over the western French Alps by using a LaCoste & Romberg air‐sea gravity meter. The part of nongravitational vertical accelerations correlated with gravity meter measurements are investigated with the help of coherence spectra. Beam velocity has proved to be strikingly correlated with vertical acceleration of the aircraft. This finding is theoretically argued by solving the equation of the gravimetric system (gravity meter and stabilized platform). The transfer function of the system is derived, and a new formulation of airborne gravity data reduction, which takes care of the sensitive response of spring tension to observable gravity field wavelengths, is given. The resulting gravity signal exhibits a residual noise caused by electronic devices and short‐wavelength Eötvös effects. The use of dedicated exponential filters gives us a way to eliminate these high‐frequency effects. Examples of the resulting free‐air anomaly at 5100‐m altitude along one particular profile are given and compared with free‐air anomaly deduced from the classical method for processing airborne gravity data, and with upward‐continued ground gravity data. The well‐known trade‐off between accuracy and resolution is discussed in the context of a mountainous area.


Elements ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Philippe Agard ◽  
Mark R. Handy

The Alps preserve abundant oceanic blueschists and eclogites that exemplify the selective preservation of fragments of relatively short-lived, small, slow-spreading North Atlantic–type ocean basins whose subducting slabs reach down to the Mantle Transition Zone at most. Whereas no subducted fragments were returned during the first half of the subduction history, those exhumed afterwards experienced conditions typical of mature subduction zones worldwide. Sedimentary-dominated units were under-plated intermittently, mostly at ~30–40 km depth. Some mafic–ultramafic-dominated units formed close to the continent were subducted to ~80 km and offscraped from the slab only a few million years before continental subduction. Spatiotemporal contrasts in burial and preservation of the fragments reveal how along-strike segmentation of the continental margin affects ocean subduction dynamics.


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