Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Aug 1986
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986e%26psl..79..133r&link_type=abstract
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 79, Issue 1-2, p. 133-144.
Mathematics
Logic
19
Scientific paper
Caribbean plate boundaries are almost everywhere either strike-slip or convergent, so oceanic crust accreted at the spreading axis within the Cayman Trough provides information critical to determining the relative motions and tectonic interactions among the Caribbean and surrounding plates. The tectonic evolution of the Trough as inferred from magnetic anomaly identifications is not entirely compatible with either its crustal subsidence or the geological evidence for time of opening and rate of offset movement along the North American-Caribbean plate boundary. A close examination of basement topography and depth within the Trough suggests that the total opening of the Cayman Trough is about 1100 km and that this opening occurred in two stages. Crust generated by the present, ongoing stage of very slow spreading has extensive relief and shows a distinct increase of crustal depth with increasing distance from the spreading center. Crust generated by an earlier episode of faster spreading is characterized by reduced topographic relief and no appreciable differential subsidence, and is separated from the younger crust by distinct topographic breaks. The rate of spreading of the current slow spreading episode is 15 +/- 5 mm/yr, based upon a new crustal subsidence curve which accommodates lateral as well as vertical cooling of the accreting slab. The Trough has opened at this rate for about 30 Ma. The rate of opening prior to 30 Ma cannot be determined with any reliability from crustal subsidence. A reexamination of magnetic anomalies in the central part of the Trough shows that these anomalies can be generated at a much slower spreading rate than previously thought. This revised interpretation of Cayman Trough evolution brings magnetic, subsidence and geological evidence into much better agreement.
Rosencrantz Eric
Sclater John G.
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