Early rifting of Gondwana : Conclusions from the crustal structure of the Falkland Plateau

During the Jurassic, the Falkland Plateau was part of Gondwana and occupied a position between the African, South American and Antarctic plates. Several contrasting kinematic models exist for the breakup of Gondwana because of the currently unknown crustal structure of the plateau. In this thesis, I...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schimschal, Claudia Monika
Other Authors: Jokat, Wilfried, Spiegel, Cornelia
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: Universität Bremen 2018
Subjects:
Falkland Plateau
Maurice Ewing Bank
Gondwana breakup
Wide-angle seismic data
550
550 Earth sciences and geology
ddc:550
Antarctic
Ewing
Maurice
Antarc*
Online Access:https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/handle/elib/1460
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:46-00106633-11
Description
Summary:During the Jurassic, the Falkland Plateau was part of Gondwana and occupied a position between the African, South American and Antarctic plates. Several contrasting kinematic models exist for the breakup of Gondwana because of the currently unknown crustal structure of the plateau. In this thesis, I present the results of recently acquired wide-angle seismic data along the entire plateau that provide sound constraints on its role in geodynamic reconstructions. The new data show that the Falkland Plateau Basin consists of up to 20 km thick oceanic crust. Maurice Ewing Bank is an up to 29 km thick continental fragment, which was directly attached to the Falkland Islands block during the Jurassic. Rifting between the Falkland Islands and the Maurice Ewing Bank started at 178 Ma and ceased at around 154 Ma.

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