Specific features of the genesis of the Azores-Gibraltar fault zone (North Atlantic) |
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Authors: | E V Verzhbitskii M V Kononov A F Byakov O V Grinberg |
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Institution: | 1.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology,Russian Academy of Sciences,Moscow,Russia |
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Abstract: | Maps of the main structures and the degree of geothermal studies of the Azores-Gibraltar and Iceland regions are constructed.
Computer modeling of the coefficient of velocity of thermal subsidence into the asthenosphere of the Azores segment of the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge is performed. According to the results of modeling, this velocity exceeds the mean velocity of thermal
subsidence of the mid-ocean ridges of the world ocean by a factor of ∼ 1.5. The high velocity of subsidence of the Azores
segment of the ridge is caused by the influence of the hot substance of the plume on the process of subsidence. The distributions
of the heat flow in the Horseshoe basin, Alboran Sea, and southern part of the Iberian Peninsula are analyzed. A zone of increased
heat flow and seismicity, extending from the Madeira-Torre Ridge through the Horseshoe basin, and farther to the east through
the southern parts of Spain and France, is identified for the first time. The identified geothermal zone marks the northern
branch of the diffuse boundary between the Eurasian and African plates. In the region of the Alpine chain, this zone joins
the southern boundary between the Eurasian and African plates, which runs along the northern part of Africa and the Apennine
Peninsula. The European and African plate boundaries outline the identified Western-Mediterranean plate, which mainly consists
of the oceanic and thinned continental lithospheres of the Algerian-Provence and Tyrrhenian basins. |
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