Abstract: Continental breakup above an anomalously hot mantle may lead to the development of volcanic margins. Volcanic margins are characterized by (1) thick seaward dipping lava flow sequences, (2) central intrusive complexes associated with dyke swarms parallel to the coast, and (3) high seismic velocity bodies in the lower crust attributable to magma underplating. A conceptual model for volcanic margins development has recently been proposed based on onshore studies of the Greenland margins and the British Tertiary Igneous Province. It is proposed that the long-lived central intrusions are genetically linked to underlying persistent zones of mantle fusion. These localized melting domains (or soft spots), equivalent to small mantle diapirs, may locally soften the extending continental lithosphere. The low-viscosity diapirs would (1) localize tectonic strain and (2) feed the volcanic margin with magma. Thus such soft spots can control the along-strike magmatic and tectonic segmentation of volcanic margins. Recent geophysical investigations appear to show that the along-strike structure of volcanic passive margins is compatible with such a segmentation process. Here we present a set of scaled experiments designed to study how such localized rheological heterogeneities in the sub-Moho mantle may have a mechanical effect on continental breakup. Four-layer models were constructed using sand and silicone putties to represent the brittle and ductile layers of both crust and mantle. The soft spots are simulated by low-viscosity silicone putty emplaced within the brittle material. At the scale of the entire breakup zone, the soft spots display an oceanic-type strength profile defining low-strength zones where continental breakup is initiated. The rift orientation and segmentation are strongly controlled by the distribution of the low-viscosity heterogeneities, rather than by the direction of regional extension. The experiments are compared with the geometry and segmentation of the onshore part of the Greenland volcanic margins.

Abstract: Northern Victoria Land is located at the boundary between an extended, presumably hot, region (West Antarctic Rift System) and the thick, possibly cold, East Antarctic craton. The style and timing of Tertiary deformation along with relationships with the magmatic activity are still unclear, and contrasting models have been proposed. We performed structural and morphotectonic analyses at the NE termination of northern Victoria Land in the Admiralty Mountains area, where the relationship between topography, tectonics, and magmatism is expected to be well pronounced. We found evidence of two subsequent episodes of faulting, occurring concurrently with the Neogene McMurdo volcanism. The first episode is associated with dextral transtension, and it is overprinted by extensional tectonics during the emplacement of large shield alkaline volcanoes. Upper mantle seismic tomography shows that the extensional regime is limited to regions overlying a low-velocity anomaly. We interpret this anomaly to be of thermal origin, and have tested the role of large-scale upwelling on lithosphere deformation in the area. The results of this integrated analysis suggest that the morphotectonic setting of the region and the magmatism is likely the result of upwelling flow at the boundary between the cold cratonic and the hot stretched province (WARS), at work until recent time in this portion of the northern Victoria Land.

Abstract: Transform motion along oceanic transforms generally occurs along narrow faults zones. Another class of oceanic transforms exists where the plate boundary is quite large (∼100 km) and includes several subparallel faults. Using a 2-D numerical modeling, we simulate the slip distribution and the crustal stress field geometry within such broad oceanic transforms (BOTs). We examine the possible configurations and evolution of such BOTs, where the plate boundary includes one, two, or three faults. Our experiments show that at any time during the development of the plate boundary, the plate motion is not distributed along each of the plate boundary faults but mainly occurs along a single master fault. The finite width of a BOT results from slip transfer through time with locking of early faults, not from a permanent distribution of deformation over a wide area. Because of fault interaction, the stress field geometry within the BOTs is more complex than that along classical oceanic transforms and includes stress deflections close to but also away from the major faults. Application of this modeling to the 100 km wide Tjrnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) in North Iceland, a major BOT of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that includes three main faults, suggests that the Dalvik Fault and the Husavik-Flatey Fault developed first, the Grismsey Fault being the latest active structure. Since initiation of the TFZ, the Husavik-Flatey Fault accommodated most of the plate motion and probably persists until now as the main plate structure.