Ocean floor structure in the junction area of the King Trough and the Azores-Biscay Rise (North Atlantic)

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Abstract

The paper, based on geological and geophysical data obtained during 55-th expedition of the research vessel “Akademik Nikolaj Strakhov”, examines the structure of the King’s Trough and its immediate surroundings (King’s mesostructural cluster), located on the eastern flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic. Six provinces were identified within the southeastern part of the King’s Trough, based on the results of bathymetric mapping, each of which has its own morphostructural appearance, which was formed as a result of multistage tectonic and volcanic processes, alternating and conjugate with each other in time. According to seismoacoustic profiling data, three main types of seismic faces have been identified: a) pelagic complexes; b) deposits of turbidite flows; c) chaotic facies of gravitational genesis. It is shown that the anomalous magnetic field of the study area is a superposition of linear and isometric anomalies. The first were formed during the generation of oceanic crust in the axial spreading zone. The second are associated with volcanic massifs formed in intraplate conditions. The obtained data confirm the assumption that the formation of the King’s Trough was preceded by the formation of an extended arched uplift, which became the scene of intense intraplate volcanism, the intensity of which increased from the southeast to the northwest. This stage was followed by subsidence of the axial part of the uplift with the formation of the King’s Trough and the Peak and Freen Troughs.

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About the authors

S. G. Skolotnev

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

A. A. Peyve

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

K. O. Dobrolyubova

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

A. N. Ivanenko

Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

I. S. Patina

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. A. Bogolyubskiy

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. N. Dobrolyubov

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

I. A. Veklich

Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

S. A. Dokashenko

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. L. Lyubinetskiy

Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

I. A. Ilyin

Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: sg_skol@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

References

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Location of the work area of ​​the 55th flight of the ANS (the black polygon in the inset is the King test site).

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3. Fig. 2. Scheme of morphostructural provinces. The cities are marked with numbers: 1) flank structures of the MAR; 2) southeastern; 3) central segment of the Azor-Biscayne uplift; 4) southeastern depressions; 5) southeastern end of the King's touchdown; 6) the central part touches King. Black lines are the border between the provinces. Red circles are the productive stations of dredging of the 55th ANS cruise. In the gentle position is the depth scale.

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4. Fig. 3. Section of the upper part of the sedimentary cover in the Peak Basin.

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5. Fig. 4. Magnetic survey map. The orientation of linear magnetic anomalies from the catalogue [17] and the position of the linear anomalies we identified within the study area are shown.

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