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Rapid mantle-driven uplift along the Angolan margin in the late Quaternary

Nature Geoscience volume 9, pages 909–914 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Mantle flow can cause the Earth’s surface to uplift and subside, but the rates and durations of these motions are, in general, poorly resolved due to the difficulties in making measurements of relatively small vertical movements (hundreds of metres) over sufficiently large distances (about 1,000 km). Here we examine the effect of mantle upwelling through a study of Quaternary uplift along the coast of Angola. Using both optically stimulated luminescence on sediment grains, and radiocarbon dating of fossil shells, we date a 25 m coastal terrace at about 45 thousand years old, when sea level was about 75 m lower than today, indicating a rapid uplift rate of 1.8–2.6 mm yr−1 that is an order of magnitude higher than previously obtained rates averaged over longer time periods. Automated extraction and correlation of coastal terrace remnants from digital topography uncovers a symmetrical uplift with diameter of more than 1,000 km. The wavelength and relatively short timescale of the uplift suggest that it is associated with a mantle process, possibly convective upwelling, and that the topography may be modulated by rapid short-lived pulses of mantle-derived uplift. Our study shows that stable continental regions far from the effects of glacial rebound may experience rapid vertical displacements of several millimetres per year.

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Figure 1: Regional setting of the study sites.
Figure 2: OxCal age model using the Marine13 marine curve incorporating the eight OSL samples and two radiocarbon ages.
Figure 3: Uplift rates at Benguela.
Figure 4: Regional terrace correlations.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Royal Society of London. The European Space Agency provided KOMPSAT2 imagery under project allocation C1P.6462. The use of SRTM global data was enabled by the OpenTopography Facility with support from the National Science Foundation under NSF Award Numbers 1226353 and 1225810. We thank A. Buta-Neto and C. Tunguno (Universidad Agostinho Neto) and P. Gomez (Benguela Museum) for help during fieldwork, the Head of the Department of Geology at Universidad Agostinho Neto for his support, and C. Laiginhas for organizing all fieldwork logistics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Centre for the Observation and Modelling for Earthquakes and Tectonics (COMET), Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK

    R. T. Walker & A. B. Watts

  2. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK

    M. Telfer

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondesbosch 7701, South Africa

    R. L. Kahle, B. Kahle & R. A. Sloan

  4. Research Laboratories for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK

    M. W. Dee & J.-L. Schwenninger

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  1. R. T. Walker
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Contributions

R.T.W. and A.B.W. conceived and designed the experiments; M.T. and R.T.W. performed the fieldwork and undertook all sample collection; J.-L.S. and M.T. performed the OSL sample analyses, and M.W.D. performed the radiocarbon calibrations and age modelling; R.L.K. constructed the method for automatic terrace extraction; B.K., R.L.K. and R.A.S. performed the regional terrace correlations; M.W.D., R.L.K., R.A.S., M.T. and R.T.W. co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to R. T. Walker.

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Walker, R., Telfer, M., Kahle, R. et al. Rapid mantle-driven uplift along the Angolan margin in the late Quaternary. Nature Geosci 9, 909–914 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2835

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