Crustal structure of the southern margin of the African continent: Results from geophysical experiments


Contact
Karsten.Gohl [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

A number of geophysical onshore and offshore experiments were carried out along a profile across the southern margin of the African Plate in the framework of the Inkaba yeAfrica project. Refraction seismic experiments show that Moho depth decreases rapidly from over 40 km inland to around 30 km at the present coast before gently thinning out toward the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone, which marks the transition zone between the continental and oceanic crust. In the region of the abruptly decreasing Moho depth, in the vicinity of the boundary between the Namaqua-Natal Mobile Belt and the Cape Fold Belt, lower crustal P-wave velocities up to 7.4 km/s are observed. This is interpreted as metabasic lithologies of Precambrian age in the Namaqua-Natal Mobile Belt, or mafic intrusions added to the base of the crust by younger magmatism. The velocity model for the upper crust has excellent resolution and is consistent with the known geological record. A joint interpretation of the velocity model with an electrical conductivity model, obtained from magnetotelluric studies, makes it possible to correlate a high-velocity anomaly north of the center of the Beattie magnetic anomaly with a highly resistive body. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.



Item Type
Article
Authors
Divisions
Programs
Publication Status
Published
Eprint ID
19596
DOI https://www.doi.org/10.1029/2008jb005612

Cite as
Stankiewicz, J. , Parsiegla, N. , Ryberg, T. , Gohl, K. , Weckmann, U. , Trumbull, R. and Weber, M. (2008): Crustal structure of the southern margin of the African continent: Results from geophysical experiments , Journal of Geophysical Research, 113 (B10) . doi: https://www.doi.org/10.1029/2008jb005612


Download
[thumbnail of Fulltext]
Preview
PDF (Fulltext)
Sta2008f.pdf

Download (6MB) | Preview
Cite this document as:

Share


Citation

Research Platforms
N/A

Campaigns
N/A


Actions
Edit Item Edit Item