Determining the three-dimensional geometry of a dike swarm and its impact on later rift geometry using seismic reflection data
File(s)G39672-Phillips-Final accepted.docx.pdf (3.13 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Phillips, TB
Magee, C
Jackson, CA-L
Bell, RE
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Dike swarm emplacement accommodates extension during rifting and large igneous province (LIP) formation, with ancient dike swarms serving to localize strain during later tectonic events. Deciphering three-dimensional (3-D) dike swarm geometry is critical to accurately calculating magma volumes and magma-assisted crustal extension, allowing syn-emplacement mantle and tectonic processes to be interrogated. It is also important for quantifying the influence of ancient dike swarms on post-emplacement faulting. However, the essentially 2-D nature of Earth's surface, combined with the difficulties in imaging subvertical dikes in seismic reflection data and the relatively low resolution of geophysical data in areas of active diking, means our understanding of dike swarm geometry at depth is limited. We examine an ~25-km-wide, >100-km-long, west-southwest–trending dike swarm imaged, due to post-emplacement rotation to shallower dips, in high-quality 2-D and 3-D seismic reflection data offshore southern Norway. Tuned reflection packages correspond to thin (<75 m thick), closely spaced dikes. These data provide a unique opportunity to image and map an ancient dike swarm at variable structural levels. Crosscutting relationships indicate emplacement occurred in the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian, and was linked to the formation of the ca. 300 Ma Skagerrak-centered LIP. Dike swarm width increases with depth, suggesting that magma volume and crustal extension calculations based on surface exposures are dependent on the level of erosion. During the Mesozoic, rift-related faults localized above and exploited mechanical anisotropies within the dike swarm. We demonstrate that seismic reflection data are a powerful tool in understanding dike swarm geometry and the control of dikes on subsequent faulting.
Date Issued
2017-12-08
Date Acceptance
2017-11-02
Citation
Geology, 2017, 46 (2), pp.119-122
ISSN
0091-7613
Publisher
Geological Society of America
Start Page
119
End Page
122
Journal / Book Title
Geology
Volume
46
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Geological Society of America.
Sponsor
Research Council of Norway
Grant Number
125000/807097
Subjects
04 Earth Sciences
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-12-01