Generation of Buried Transient Landscapes and Residual Depth Anomalies ...

• Main Author: Conway-Jones, Benedict
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository 2022
• Subjects: Iceland Plume; Dynamic Topography; Paleoclimatology; Faroe-Shetland Basin; Iceland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.89737; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/342315

During Cenozoic times, the Icelandic plume has played a dominant role in controlling periodic uplift of oceanographic gateways across the North Atlantic Ocean. Five exquisitely preserved Paleogene buried landscapes are mapped on three-dimensional seismic reflection surveys from the Faroe-Shetland basin. A regional biostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic framework shows that these transient landscapes recur at intervals of 2–4 million years. Dendritic drainage patterns recovered from these landscapes are disequilibrated and contain multiple knickzones and knickpoints that are systematically arranged within catchment areas. Applying the stream power law, longitudinal river profiles are inverted to calculate spatially and temporally varying uplift histories. These unique landscapes are attributed to laterally advecting pulses of hot material that travel away from the centre of the Icelandic plume. Kinematic modelling suggests that these pulses are 100±50 °C hotter than ambient plume material. There is a ...