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Crustal structure of the Murray Ridge, northwest Indian Ocean, from wide-angle seismic data

Crustal structure of the Murray Ridge, northwest Indian Ocean, from wide-angle seismic data
Crustal structure of the Murray Ridge, northwest Indian Ocean, from wide-angle seismic data
The Murray Ridge/Dalrymple Trough system forms the boundary between the Indian and Arabian plates in the northern Arabian Sea. Geodetic constraints from the surrounding continents suggest that this plate boundary is undergoing oblique extension at a rate of a few millimetres per year. We present wide-angle seismic data that constrains the composition of the Ridge and of adjacent lithosphere beneath the Indus Fan. We infer that Murray Ridge, like the adjacent Dalrymple Trough, is underlain by continental crust, while a thin crustal section beneath the Indus Fan represents thinned continental crust or exhumed serpentinized mantle that forms part of a magma-poor rifted margin. Changes in crustal structure across the Murray Ridge and Dalrymple Trough can explain short-wavelength gravity anomalies, but a long-wavelength anomaly must be attributed to deeper density contrasts that may result from a large age contrast across the plate boundary. The origin of this fragment of continental crust remains enigmatic, but the presence of basement fabrics to the south that are roughly parallel to Murray Ridge suggests that it separated from the India/Seychelles/Madagascar block by extension during early breakup of Gondwana.
Controlled source seismology, Continental margins: transform, Indian Ocean
0956-540X
454-463
Minshull, T.A.
bf413fb5-849e-4389-acd7-0cb0d644e6b8
Edwards, R.A.
e733909a-1bd5-4302-ad8d-61e811b9d8fe
Flueh, E.R.
8b59db7d-91e0-4308-affa-fadc5ecf6a3e
Minshull, T.A.
bf413fb5-849e-4389-acd7-0cb0d644e6b8
Edwards, R.A.
e733909a-1bd5-4302-ad8d-61e811b9d8fe
Flueh, E.R.
8b59db7d-91e0-4308-affa-fadc5ecf6a3e

Minshull, T.A., Edwards, R.A. and Flueh, E.R. (2015) Crustal structure of the Murray Ridge, northwest Indian Ocean, from wide-angle seismic data. Geophysical Journal International, 202 (1), 454-463. (doi:10.1093/gji/ggv162).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Murray Ridge/Dalrymple Trough system forms the boundary between the Indian and Arabian plates in the northern Arabian Sea. Geodetic constraints from the surrounding continents suggest that this plate boundary is undergoing oblique extension at a rate of a few millimetres per year. We present wide-angle seismic data that constrains the composition of the Ridge and of adjacent lithosphere beneath the Indus Fan. We infer that Murray Ridge, like the adjacent Dalrymple Trough, is underlain by continental crust, while a thin crustal section beneath the Indus Fan represents thinned continental crust or exhumed serpentinized mantle that forms part of a magma-poor rifted margin. Changes in crustal structure across the Murray Ridge and Dalrymple Trough can explain short-wavelength gravity anomalies, but a long-wavelength anomaly must be attributed to deeper density contrasts that may result from a large age contrast across the plate boundary. The origin of this fragment of continental crust remains enigmatic, but the presence of basement fabrics to the south that are roughly parallel to Murray Ridge suggests that it separated from the India/Seychelles/Madagascar block by extension during early breakup of Gondwana.

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Geophys. J. Int.-2015-Minshull-454-63.pdf - Version of Record
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Published date: July 2015
Keywords: Controlled source seismology, Continental margins: transform, Indian Ocean
Organisations: Geology & Geophysics, Marine Geoscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 383914
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/383914
ISSN: 0956-540X
PURE UUID: 819528e4-436c-4c35-808d-3563a9980f3a
ORCID for T.A. Minshull: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8202-1379

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Date deposited: 11 Nov 2015 15:44
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:04

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Author: T.A. Minshull ORCID iD
Author: R.A. Edwards
Author: E.R. Flueh

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