TY - JOUR A1 - Fromm, T. A1 - Planert, Lars A1 - Jokat, Wilfried A1 - Ryberg, Trond A1 - Behrmann, Jan H. A1 - Weber, Michael H. A1 - Haberland, Christian T1 - South Atlantic opening: A plume-induced breakup? JF - Geology N2 - Upwelling hot mantle plumes are thought to disintegrate continental lithosphere and are considered to be drivers of active continental breakup. The formation of the Walvis Ridge during the opening of the South Atlantic is related to a putative plume-induced breakup. We investigated the crustal structure of the Walvis Ridge (southeast Atlantic Ocean) at its intersection with the continental margin and searched for anomalies related to the possible plume head. The overall structure we identify suggests that no broad plume head existed during opening of the South Atlantic and anomalous mantle melting occurred only locally. We therefore question the importance of a plume head as a driver of continental breakup and further speculate that the hotspot was present before the rifting, leaving a track of kimberlites in the African craton. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1130/G36936.1 SN - 0091-7613 SN - 1943-2682 VL - 43 IS - 10 SP - 931 EP - 934 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Boulder ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ryberg, Trond A1 - Haberland, Christian A1 - Haberlau, Thomas A1 - Weber, Michael H. A1 - Bauer, Klaus A1 - Behrmann, Jan H. A1 - Jokat, Wilfried T1 - Crustal structure of northwest Namibia: Evidence for plume-rift-continent interaction JF - Geology N2 - The causes for the formation of large igneous provinces and hotspot trails are still a matter of considerable dispute. Seismic tomography and other studies suggest that hot mantle material rising from the core-mantle boundary (CMB) might play a significant role in the formation of such hotspot trails. An important area to verify this concept is the South Atlantic region, with hotspot trails that spatially coincide with one of the largest low-velocity regions at the CMB, the African large low shear-wave velocity province. The Walvis Ridge started to form during the separation of the South American and African continents at ca. 130 Ma as a consequence of Gondwana breakup. Here, we present the first deep-seismic sounding images of the crustal structure from the landfall area of the Walvis Ridge at the Namibian coast to constrain processes of plume-lithosphere interaction and the formation of continental flood basalts (Parana and Etendeka continental flood basalts) and associated intrusive rocks. Our study identified a narrow region (<100 km) of high-seismic-velocity anomalies in the middle and lower crust, which we interpret as a massive mafic intrusion into the northern Namibian continental crust. Seismic crustal reflection imaging shows a flat Moho as well as reflectors connecting the high-velocity body with shallow crustal structures that we speculate to mark potential feeder channels of the Etendeka continental flood basalt. We suggest that the observed massive but localized mafic intrusion into the lower crust results from similar-sized variations in the lithosphere (i.e., lithosphere thickness or preexisting structures). Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1130/G36768.1 SN - 0091-7613 SN - 1943-2682 VL - 43 IS - 8 SP - 739 EP - 742 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Boulder ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Planert, Lars A1 - Behrmann, Jan H. A1 - Jokat, Wilfried A1 - Fromm, Tanja A1 - Ryberg, Trond A1 - Weber, Michael A1 - Haberland, Christian T1 - The wide-angle seismic image of a complex rifted margin, offshore North Namibia: Implications for the tectonics of continental breakup JF - Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth N2 - Voluminous magmatism during the South Atlantic opening has been considered as a classical example for plume related continental breakup. We present a study of the crustal structure around Walvis Ridge, near the intersection with the African margin. Two wide-angle seismic profiles were acquired. One is oriented NNW–SSE, following the continent–ocean transition and crossing Walvis Ridge. A second amphibious profile runs NW–SE from the Angola Basin into continental Namibia. At the continent–ocean boundary (COB) the mafic crust beneath Walvis Ridge is up to 33 km thick, with a pronounced high-velocity lower crustal body. Towards the south there is a smooth transition to 20–25 km thick crust underlying the COB in the Walvis Basin, with a similar velocity structure, indicating a gabbroic lower crust with associated cumulates at the base. The northern boundary of Walvis Ridge towards the Angola Basin shows a sudden change to oceanic crust only 4–6 km thick, coincident with the projection of the Florianopolis Fracture Zone, one of the most prominent tectonic features of the South Atlantic ocean basin. In the amphibious profile the COB is defined by a sharp transition from oceanic to rifted continental crust, with a magmatic overprint landward of the intersection of Walvis Ridge with the Namibian margin. The continental crust beneath the Congo Craton is 40 km thick, shoaling to 35 km further SE. The velocity models show that massive high-velocity gabbroic intrusives are restricted to a narrow zone directly underneath Walvis Ridge and the COB in the south. This distribution of rift-related magmatism is not easily reconciled with models of continental breakup following the establishment of a large, axially symmetric plume in the Earth's mantle. Rift-related lithospheric stretching and associated transform faulting play an overriding role in locating magmatism, dividing the margin in a magma-dominated southern and an essentially amagmatic northern segment. KW - Wide-angle seismic KW - Crustal structure KW - Walvis Ridge KW - Hotspot KW - Rifted continental margin KW - South Atlantic Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.024 SN - 0040-1951 SN - 1879-3266 VL - 716 SP - 130 EP - 148 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -