Magmatism and rift margin evolution: evidence from northwest Australia
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Deep crustal seismic observations from northwest Australia demonstrate that the Cuvier margin is a volcanic passive margin that formed as Greater India rifted away from Australia in the Early Cretaceous. Formation of the Cuvier Basin and initial sea-floor spreading resulted in the emplacement of exceptionally thick oceanic crust, while contemporaneous spreading off the adjacent Exmouth Plateau formed normal-thickness oceanic crust. Rapid rifting of the Cuvier margin created strong lateral temperature gradients in the subjacent upper mantle at the time of breakup. This induced small-scale convection in the upper mantle that increased the rate of upwelling and, thus, the volume of melt generated by decompression partial melting. In turn, this resulted in a larger volume of magma at the initiation of sea-floor spreading, and thicker oceanic crust was initially emplaced. -from Authors
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Tidsskrift | Geology |
Vol/bind | 20 |
Udgave nummer | 9 |
Sider (fra-til) | 853-857 |
Antal sider | 5 |
ISSN | 0091-7613 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 1992 |
ID: 355635267