The initial Gondwana break-up: A synthesis based on new potential field data of the Africa-Antarctica Corridor

Mueller, C.; Jokat, Wilfried

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2018.11.008

Cited by 88 publications

(125 citation statements)

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“…The massive Jurassic/Early Cretaceous Mozambique Ridge is considered to be an LIP that formed during early Gondwana dispersal in the African–Antarctic corridor 25–31 . The northern Natal Valley was emplaced between M26r to M18n (157.1–144 Ma) and the entire Mozambique Ridge between M18n to M6n (144–131.7 Ma) 27,30,31 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…a Gridded anomaly map of the total magnetic field intensity (TMI) in the Mozambique Basin from ref. 31 showing that the entire Mozambique Ridge is characterized by well-expressed magnetic lineations and the major fractures and structural boundaries in the Mozambique Basin, relevant to Gondwana breakup, and selected major tectonic structures onshore SE-Africa. The locations of the magnetic spreading anomalies in the Mozambique Basin are taken from refs.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Superplume mantle tracked isotopically the length of Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea

et al. 2019

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Seismological findings show a complex scenario of plume upwellings from a deep thermo-chemical anomaly (superplume) beneath the East African Rift System (EARS). It is unclear if these geophysical observations represent a true picture of the superplume and its influence on magmatism along the EARS. Thus, it is essential to find a geochemical tracer to establish where upwellings are connected to the deep-seated thermo-chemical anomaly. Here we identify a unique non-volatile superplume isotopic signature (‘C’) in the youngest (after 10 Ma) phase of widespread EARS rift-related magmatism where it extends into the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. This is the first sound evidence that the superplume influences the EARS far from the low seismic velocities in the magma-rich northern half. Our finding shows for the first time that superplume mantle exists beneath the rift the length of Africa from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean offshore southern Mozambique.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superplume mantle tracked isotopically the length of Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea

et al. 2019

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“…The disintegration of Pangea occurred on two parallel breakups, spaced 6,000 km apart, in the Central Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean (Figure a). Whereas the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean is now well dated at Sinemurian (195 Ma) (Sahabi, Aslanian, & Olivet, ), the age of the Indian Ocean and the initial position of the different plates (Madagascar, India and Antarctica) with respect to Africa are still under debate (Davis, Lawver, Norton, & Gahagan, ; Gaina et al, ; Gaina, Hinsbergen, & Spakman, ; Gibbons, Whittaker, & Müller, ; Leinweber & Jokat, ; Mueller & Jokat, ; Nguyen, Hall, Bird, & Ball, ; Reeves, Teasdale, & Mahanjane, ; Sahabi, ; Thompson et al, ) (Figure b). The Northern Natal Valley (NNV) holds a key position in the East Gondwana breakup.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This debate leads to two tendencies for the Gondwana reconstruction (Figure c): an old hypothesis with a loose fit in the Mozambique area (Sahabi, ) and a set of recent models with a tighter fit implying a large overlap of plates. For instance, Mueller and Jokat (), derived from the Leinweber and Jokat model (), proposed a 300‐km‐wide overlap of the Antarctic plate on the Mozambican Coastal Plain (MCP) and the NNV, implying an oceanic nature of substratum for both areas. However, new results based on both inversion and forward analysis of new sea surface vector geomagnetic data acquired in 2009 (Hanyu, Nogi, & Fujii, ) seem to rule out the existence of an extinct E–W spreading centre and support instead the presence of stretched continental crust, with basaltic magma intrusion in the NNV.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gondwana breakup: Messages from the North Natal Valley

et al. 2020

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The Natal Valley, offshore Mozambique, is a key area for understanding the evolution of East Gondwana. Within the scope of the integrated multidisciplinary PAMELA project, we present new wide-angle seismic data and interpretations, which considerably alter Geoscience paradigms. These data reveal the presence of a 30-km-thick crust that we argue to be of continental nature. This falsifies all the most recent palaeoreconstructions of the Gondwana. This 30-km-thick continental crust 1,000 m below sea level implies a complex history with probable intrusions of mantle-derived melts in the lower crust, connected to several occurrences of magmatism, which seems to evidence the crucial role of the lower continental crust in passive margin genesis. S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O NAdditional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. Figure S1. Example of the OBS data MZ1OBS30 on profile MZ1. Data S1. Multi-channel seismic (MCS) data.

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“…These ridges formed today's Riiser-Larsen Sea and Mozambique and Somali basins. Together, they accommodated the divergence of two large plates that was splitting Gondwana into eastern (bearing Antarctica, India and Australia) and western (bearing South America and Africa) parts at half spreading rates of 20-25 km/Myr 62,63 . For the Falkland Plateau Basin to have opened along the same plate boundary, half rates implied by its magnetic reversal isochrons would therefore need to have been half as fast as modelled in Fig.…”

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confidence: 96%

The Skytrain plate and tectonic evolution of southwest Gondwana since Jurassic times

Eagles

Eisermann

2020

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Uncertainty about the structure of the Falkland Plateau Basin has long hindered understanding of tectonic evolution in southwest Gondwana. New aeromagnetic data from the basin reveal Jurassic-onset seafloor spreading by motion of a single newly-recognized plate, Skytrain, which also governed continental extension in the Weddell Sea Embayment and possibly further afield in Antarctica. The Skytrain plate resolves a nearly century-old controversy by requiring a South American setting for the Falkland Islands in Gondwana. The Skytrain plate’s later motion provides a unifying context for post-Cambrian wide-angle paleomagnetic rotation, Cretaceous uplift, and post-Permian oblique collision in the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica. Further north, the Skytrain plate’s margins built a continuous conjugate ocean to the Weddell Sea in the Falkland Plateau Basin and central Scotia Sea. This ocean rules out venerable correlation-based interpretations for a Pacific margin location and subsequent long-distance translation of the South Georgia microcontinent as the Drake Passage gateway opened.

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The initial Gondwana break-up: A synthesis based on new potential field data of the Africa-Antarctica Corridor

Cited by 88 publications

References 93 publications

Superplume mantle tracked isotopically the length of Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea

Superplume mantle tracked isotopically the length of Africa from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea

Gondwana breakup: Messages from the North Natal Valley

The Skytrain plate and tectonic evolution of southwest Gondwana since Jurassic times

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