| one publication added to basket [141498] | Seismic images of Caledonian, lithosphere-scale collision structures in the southeastern North Sea along Mona Lisa Profile 2
Abramovitz, T.; Thybo, H. (2000). Seismic images of Caledonian, lithosphere-scale collision structures in the southeastern North Sea along Mona Lisa Profile 2. Tectonophysics 317(1-2): 27-54
In: Tectonophysics. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV: New York; London; Amsterdam. ISSN 0040-1951; e-ISSN 1879-3266, more
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| Keywords |
Crustal structure
Dimensions > Thickness > Crustal thickness
Earth structure > Earth mantle
Faults
Records > Analog records > Seismic profiles
Velocity > Seismic velocities
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract |
The unexposed suture between Baltica and Eastern Avalonia is imaged by coincident normal-incidence reflection and wide-angle reflection/refraction seismic data of the MONA LISA project. We present new results of the upper lithospheric, seismic structure from the N-S-striking profile 2 across the Caledonian Deformation Front, which represents the crustal collision suture between Baltica and Eastern Avalonia that formed after closure of the Tornquist Sea during the Caledonian orogeny in Late Ordovician times. Three different crustal types are identified with great similarities to the nearby profile 1: (1) a three-layered crust typical of shields to the north; (2) a transitional crust (suture zone) in the central part; and (3) a two-layered crust of Caledonian origin to the south characterized by very low velocities throughout the crust. The crustal thickness varies from 38-35 km under the northern margin of the Ringkoebing-Fyn High (Baltica crust) to 28-27 km beneath the North German Basin in the Caledonian crust to the south. The suture zone is imaged by S-dipping crustal reflections from 1.9 to 10.6 s two-way travel time (twt) over a horizontal distance of similar to 70 km within the transitional crust. The reflection suture zone terminates in a similar to 60 km wide reflective lens with velocities of 6.6-6.8 km/s in the lowermost crust. The reflective lens may be interpreted as a remnant of oceanic or island-arc crust that was accreted to the leading edge of Baltica during closure of the Tornquist Sea. Alternatively, the reflective lens may represent an indentor of Baltica crust into the Avalonian terrane. The change in lower crustal reflectivity and the abrupt transition from a three- to a two-layered crust further south suggest that the Trans-European Fault and the Elbe Lineament continue into the North Sea. The upper mantle reflectivity is dominated by bands of strong- amplitude, S-dipping reflections from 13.5 to 21.8 s twt, and a weaker band of N-dipping reflections from 12 to 16 s twt. Reversed wide-angle refractions and reflections indicate the presence of a S-dipping high-velocity layer (8.65-8.8 km/s) in the uppermost mantle. |
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