Abstract
Anomalies in teleseismic arrivals at stations astride the West African Craton margin in Senegal are large and systematic for rays which have passed beneath the craton margin. Lateral variation in seismic velocity structure beneath the margin persists to several hundred kilometres depth. The major relative delay time and slowness–azimuth anomalies fit a simple model of a steep boundary in the mantle aligned with the major gravity anomaly associated with the craton margin. The mantle beneath the Mauritanide orogenic belt has lower P-velocity than the adjacent craton between ∼80 and 220 km, but higher average velocity both above and below that depth range.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Jordan, T. H. Rev. Geophys. 13, 1 (1975).
Powell, C. Nature 254, 40 (1975).
Romanowicz, B. A. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 57, 479 (1979).
Anderson, D. L. J. geophys. Res. 84, 7555 (1979).
Okal, E. A. & Anderson, D. L. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2, 313 (1975).
Engdahl, E. R. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2, 420 (1975).
Jordan, T. H. J. Geophys. 43, 473 (1977).
Menke, W. H. Bull, seism. Soc. Am. 67, 725 (1977).
Haddon, R. A.W. & Husebye, E. S. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 55, 19 (1978).
Sengupta, M. K. & Julian, B. R. Bull. seism. Soc. Am. 66, 1555 (1976).
Fairhead, J. D. & Reeves, C. V. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 36, 63 (1977).
Pollack, H. N. & Chapman, D. S. Tectonophysics 38, 279 (1977).
Gass, I. G., Chapman, D. S., Pollack, H. N. & Thorpe, R. S. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A288, 581 (1978).
Dorbath, C. & Dorbath, L. Cah. Géophys; ORSTOM No. 16, 27 (1979).
Crenn, Y. & Rechenmann, J. Cah. Géophys. ORSTOM No. 6 (1965).
Gibbs, R. A. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 27, 378 (1975).
Mathur, S. P. Tectonophysics 24, 151 (1974).
Young, J. B. & Gibbs, P. G. AWRE Rep. No. 0 54/68 (HMSO, London, 1968).
Jeffreys, H. & Bullen, K. E. Gray Milne Trust (reprinted by Smith & Ritchie, Edinburgh, 1967).
Briden, J. C., Mereu, R. F. & Whitcombe, D. N. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. (submitted).
Whitcombe, D. N. J. R. astr. Soc. (submitted).
Aki, K., Christoffersson, A. & Husebye, E. S. J. geophys. Res. 82, 277 (1977).
Léveq̂ue, J. J. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 63, 23 (1980).
Taylor, S. R. & Toksöz, M. N. J. Geophys. Res. 84, 7627 (1979).
Romanowicz, B. A. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 63, 217 (1980).
Knopoff, L. Tectonophysics 13, 497 (1972).
England, P. C., Worthington, M. H. & King, D. W. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 48, 71 (1977).
Smith, M. L., Julian, B. R., Engdahl, E. R., Gubbins, D. & Gross, R. EOS 59, 1130 (1978).
Christoffersson, A. & Husebye, E. S. J. geophys. Res. 84, 6168 (1979).
Sutton, J. & Watson, J. V. Nature 274, 433 (1974).
Onsott, T. C. & Hargraves, R. B. Nature 289, 131 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Briden, J., Whitcombe, D., Stuart, G. et al. Depth of geological contrast across the West African craton margin. Nature 292, 123–128 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292123a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292123a0
This article is cited by
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.