Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal
Since the early Cretaceous, the Bay of Bengal was formed during rifting between India and Antarctica and then by subsequent seafloor spreading. The nature of the crust underlying the Bay of Bengal is oceanic south of 15°N, but remains unknown (thinned continental crust, serpentinized mantle or ocean...
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2016
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Online Access: | https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/45180.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/ |
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ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:45571 2023-05-15T13:50:50+02:00 Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal Sibuet, Jean-claude Klingelhoefer, Frauke Huang, Yuan-ping Yeh, Yi-ching Rangin, Claude Lee, Chao-shing Hsu, Shu-kun 2016-11 application/pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/45180.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/ eng eng Elsevier Sci Ltd https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/45180.pdf doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2016-11 , Vol. 77 , P. 471-486 Northern Bay of Bengal Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics text Publication info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2016 ftarchimer https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 2021-09-23T20:28:36Z Since the early Cretaceous, the Bay of Bengal was formed during rifting between India and Antarctica and then by subsequent seafloor spreading. The nature of the crust underlying the Bay of Bengal is oceanic south of 15°N, but remains unknown (thinned continental crust, serpentinized mantle or oceanic crust) north of this limit. In order to better define the nature of the crust in the northern Bay of Bengal, three wide-angle reflection seismic and refraction profiles were acquired during the multichannel seismic reflection Bengal cruise. Nine ocean-bottom seismometers were deployed alternatively on three profiles. A seismic source consisting of 64 air guns with a volume of 6180 in3 was used simultaneously with a 10.05-km long streamer to acquire both seismic reflection and refraction data. Tomographic and forward modeling of the three refraction profiles reveal a 20-km thick crust north of the Bengal delta front beneath a minimum of 13 km thick sedimentary cover. The crust thins to about 10 km immediately south of the EW trending delta front and the thickness of sediments reaches a minimum of 7 km. Crustal velocities and velocity gradients are consistent with a continental origin of the crust in this area. At the base of the crust, high seismic velocities (>7.2 km/s) are interpreted as magmatic underplating. Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data cannot resolve the nature of the upper 4–5 km of crust (oceanic crust, exhumed mantle or thinned continental crust). Coincident seismic reflection profiles show the emplacement of a volcanic intrusion, sills and some seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) located close to the northern prolongation of the Ninety East ridge before 70 Ma (Maastrichtian). However, most of the fan-shaped reflectors identified in the northern Bay of Bengal are synrift features. We conclude that the crust in the northern Bay of Bengal is thinned continental crust intruded by volcanic products with the presence of a minor amount of underplating material at its base. Such a crustal structure probably extends from the northern Bay of Bengal (19°N) to the Shillong Plateau (25°N). These new findings are critical for the oil and gas exploration presently very active in the northern Bay of Bengal area. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) East Ridge ENVELOPE(-136.671,-136.671,63.833,63.833) Marine and Petroleum Geology 77 471 486 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) |
op_collection_id |
ftarchimer |
language |
English |
topic |
Northern Bay of Bengal Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics |
spellingShingle |
Northern Bay of Bengal Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics Sibuet, Jean-claude Klingelhoefer, Frauke Huang, Yuan-ping Yeh, Yi-ching Rangin, Claude Lee, Chao-shing Hsu, Shu-kun Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal |
topic_facet |
Northern Bay of Bengal Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics |
description |
Since the early Cretaceous, the Bay of Bengal was formed during rifting between India and Antarctica and then by subsequent seafloor spreading. The nature of the crust underlying the Bay of Bengal is oceanic south of 15°N, but remains unknown (thinned continental crust, serpentinized mantle or oceanic crust) north of this limit. In order to better define the nature of the crust in the northern Bay of Bengal, three wide-angle reflection seismic and refraction profiles were acquired during the multichannel seismic reflection Bengal cruise. Nine ocean-bottom seismometers were deployed alternatively on three profiles. A seismic source consisting of 64 air guns with a volume of 6180 in3 was used simultaneously with a 10.05-km long streamer to acquire both seismic reflection and refraction data. Tomographic and forward modeling of the three refraction profiles reveal a 20-km thick crust north of the Bengal delta front beneath a minimum of 13 km thick sedimentary cover. The crust thins to about 10 km immediately south of the EW trending delta front and the thickness of sediments reaches a minimum of 7 km. Crustal velocities and velocity gradients are consistent with a continental origin of the crust in this area. At the base of the crust, high seismic velocities (>7.2 km/s) are interpreted as magmatic underplating. Wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data cannot resolve the nature of the upper 4–5 km of crust (oceanic crust, exhumed mantle or thinned continental crust). Coincident seismic reflection profiles show the emplacement of a volcanic intrusion, sills and some seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) located close to the northern prolongation of the Ninety East ridge before 70 Ma (Maastrichtian). However, most of the fan-shaped reflectors identified in the northern Bay of Bengal are synrift features. We conclude that the crust in the northern Bay of Bengal is thinned continental crust intruded by volcanic products with the presence of a minor amount of underplating material at its base. Such a crustal structure probably extends from the northern Bay of Bengal (19°N) to the Shillong Plateau (25°N). These new findings are critical for the oil and gas exploration presently very active in the northern Bay of Bengal area. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sibuet, Jean-claude Klingelhoefer, Frauke Huang, Yuan-ping Yeh, Yi-ching Rangin, Claude Lee, Chao-shing Hsu, Shu-kun |
author_facet |
Sibuet, Jean-claude Klingelhoefer, Frauke Huang, Yuan-ping Yeh, Yi-ching Rangin, Claude Lee, Chao-shing Hsu, Shu-kun |
author_sort |
Sibuet, Jean-claude |
title |
Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal |
title_short |
Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal |
title_full |
Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal |
title_fullStr |
Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern Bay of Bengal |
title_sort |
thinned continental crust intruded by volcanics beneath the northern bay of bengal |
publisher |
Elsevier Sci Ltd |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/45180.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-136.671,-136.671,63.833,63.833) |
geographic |
East Ridge |
geographic_facet |
East Ridge |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_source |
Marine And Petroleum Geology (0264-8172) (Elsevier Sci Ltd), 2016-11 , Vol. 77 , P. 471-486 |
op_relation |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/45180.pdf doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00345/45571/ |
op_rights |
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2016.07.006 |
container_title |
Marine and Petroleum Geology |
container_volume |
77 |
container_start_page |
471 |
op_container_end_page |
486 |
_version_ |
1766254156168822784 |