Abstract
Two distinct types of passive continental margin are known to occur1–3: one characterized by tilted and rotated fault blocks and crustal thinning (for example, refs 4–6) has clearly been formed by extension; the second and possibly more widely occurring type is characterized by the absence of tilted fault blocks and by a ubiquitous thick sequence of oceanward-dipping reflectors now known to be of volcanic origin3,7,8. An oceanic origin for this volcanic sequence has been attributed, from magnetic and seismic evidence9–11, to some kind of ‘sub-aerial seafloor spreading’. However, evidence for the nature of the deep structure that would support an oceanic origin has been lacking. We report here new seismic reflection data and an interpretation of the deep crustal structure of the dipping reflector sequence of the south-west Rockall Plateau. Gravity models of the margin suggest that the dipping reflectors are underlain by stretched continental crust.
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Roberts, D., Ginzburg, A. Deep crustal structure of south-west Rockall Plateau. Nature 308, 435–439 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/308435a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/308435a0
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