Geology of a Stable Intraplate Region: The Cape Verde/Canary Basin

• Main Author: Ballard,J Alan
• Other Authors: NAVAL OCEAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY NSTL STATION MS
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1982
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Geology; Geochemistry and Mineralogy; Seismology; *OCEANIC CRUST; REFLECTION; BATHYMETRY; STRATIGRAPHY; SEISMIC WAVES; GEOMORPHOLOGY; NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; OCEAN BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY; SEDIMENTS; BASINS(GEOGRAPHIC); OCEAN BOTTOM; STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY; Canary Basin; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA122613; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA122613

This report evaluates a unique bathymetric, magnetic, and seismic data set in terms of the geological history of a major ocean basin. It develops a seismic-stratigraphic classification for deep sea sediments and proposes a tectonic development history within the framework of sea floor spreading theory. The study will be useful to oceanographers, geologists, and geophysicists attempting to synthesize large quantities of data to construct a model for regional development. To resolve some of the controversies engendered by previous narrowly focused studies, this study will assess the relative importance of primary and secondary volcanism, epeirogenic uplift and subsidence, and determine the sequence of tectonic events that have modified Cape Verde/Canary Basin morphology since its formation and rifting away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The geologic factors that must be considered in the solution to these problems include: (1) temporal and spatial distribution of fracture zones, small scale faults, abyssal hills and seamounts; (2) locations of depocenters, relationship between depocenters and post-rifting diastrophism, correlation of sediment distribution with island volcanism, seismic stratigraphic evidence for recent unwarping and the timing of such events; and the age of the sea floor, and the tectonic significances of the 'J' anomaly, the M-sequence, and the Cretaceous magnetic 'Quiet Zone'. Includes envelopes with maps.