Larsen
Hans Christian
Larsen
Hans Christian
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PreprintCrustal structure across the Grand Banks–Newfoundland Basin Continental Margin – II. Results from a seismic reflection profile( 2006-03-03) Lau, K. W. Helen ; Louden, Keith E. ; Deemer, Sharon ; Hall, Jeremy ; Hopper, John R. ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Holbrook, W. Steven ; Larsen, Hans ChristianNew multi-channel seismic (MCS) reflection data were collected over a 565km transect covering the non-volcanic rifted margin of the central eastern Grand Banks and the Newfoundland Basin in the northwestern Atlantic. Three major crustal zones are interpreted from west to east over the seaward 350-km of the profile: (1) continental crust; (2) transitional basement; (3) oceanic crust. Continental crust thins over a wide zone (~160 km) by forming a large rift basin (Carson Basin) and seaward fault block, together with a series of smaller fault blocks eastward beneath the Salar and Newfoundland basins. Analysis of selected previous reflection profiles (Lithoprobe 85-4, 85-2 and Conrad NB-1) indicates that prominent landward-dipping reflections observed under the continental slope are a regional phenomenon. They define the landward edge of a deep serpentinized mantle layer, which underlies both extended continental crust and transitional basement. The 80-km-wide transitional basement is defined landward by a basement high that may consist of serpentinized peridotite and seaward by a pair of basement highs of unknown crustal origin. Flat and unreflective transitional basement most likely is exhumed, serpentinized mantle, although our results do not exclude the possibility of anomalously thinned oceanic crust. A Moho reflection below interpreted oceanic crust is first observed landward of magnetic anomaly M4, 230 km from the shelf break. Extrapolation of ages from chron M0 to the edge of interpreted oceanic crust suggests that the onset of seafloor spreading was ~138Ma (Valanginian) in the south (southern Newfoundland Basin) to ~125Ma (Barremian-Aptian boundary) in the north (Flemish Cap), comparable to those proposed for the conjugate margins.
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ArticleSeismic velocity structure of the rifted margin of the eastern Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Canada(American Geophysical Union, 2006-11-17) Van Avendonk, Harm J. A. ; Holbrook, W. Steven ; Nunes, Gregory T. ; Shillington, Donna J. ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Louden, Keith E. ; Larsen, Hans Christian ; Hopper, John R.We present a compressional seismic velocity profile of the crust of the eastern margin of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Canada. This velocity model was obtained by a tomographic inversion of wide-angle data recorded on a linear array of 24 ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs). At the landward side, we imaged a crustal thickness of 27 km in Flemish Pass and beneath Beothuk Knoll, which is thinner than the 35-km-thick crust of the central Grand Banks. We therefore assume that the eastern rim of the Grand Banks stretched uniformly by 25%. Farther seaward, the continental crust tapers rapidly beneath the continental slope to ~6 km thickness. In the distal margin we find a 60-km-wide zone with seismic velocities between 5.0 and 6.5 km/s that thins to the southeast from 6 km to 2 km, which we interpret as highly extended continental crust. Contrary to other seismic studies of the margins of the Grand Banks, we find seismic velocities of 8 km/s and higher beneath this thin crustal layer in the continent-ocean transition. We conclude that mantle was locally emplaced at shallow levels without significant hydration from seawater, or serpentinized mantle was removed along a décollement in the final stages of continental rifting. The outer edge of highly extended continental crust borders a 25-km-wide zone where seismic velocities increase gradually from 6.3 km/s just below the top of acoustic basement to 7.7 km/s at 5 km below basement. We interpret this area as a relatively narrow zone of exhumed and serpentinized continental mantle. Seawards, we imaged a thin and laterally heterogeneous layer with a seismic velocity that increases sharply from 5.0 km/s in basement ridges to 7.0 km/s at its base, overlying mantle velocities between 7.8 and 8.2 km/s. We interpret this area as unroofed mantle and very thin oceanic crust that formed at an incipient, magmastarved, ultraslow spreading ridge. A comparison of the conjugate rifted margins of the eastern Grand Banks and the Iberia Abyssal Plain show that they exhibit a similar seaward progression from continental crust to mantle to oceanic crust. This indicates that before continental breakup, rifting exhumed progressively deeper sections of the continental lithosphere on both conjugate margins. A comparison between the continent-ocean transition of the Grand Banks and Flemish Cap shows that the final phase of continental rifting and the formation of the first oceanic crust required more time at the Grand Banks margin than at the southeastern margin of Flemish Cap.
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ArticleIce sheet–derived submarine groundwater discharge on Greenland's continental shelf(American Geophysical Union, 2011-07-28) DeFoor, Whitney ; Person, Mark ; Larsen, Hans Christian ; Lizarralde, Daniel ; Cohen, Denis ; Dugan, BrandonIsotopically light (−1‰ to −8‰ δ18O) and fresh pore fluids (300–520 mM Cl−) were found in continental shelf sediments up to 100 km offshore of southeastern (SE) Greenland, suggesting infiltration and mixing of ice sheet meltwater with seawater to depths of 260 m. These geochemical anomalies may be associated with ice sheet–derived submarine groundwater discharge (SMGD). We present a continental-scale reconstruction of the late Pleistocene hydrogeology of SE Greenland using finite element analysis that incorporates ice sheet loading and solute and isotope transport. Results indicate that subglacial infiltration and SMGD are of the same order of magnitude and are highly dependent on the permeability of the subaerial basalt. Simulated infiltration and SMGD almost doubled during the Last Glacial Maximum, compared to ice-free conditions. Much of the present-day glacially induced groundwater discharge occurs on land. Subice infiltration on the continental shelf likely represents a mixture of seawater and meltwater during past glacial maximums. Simulated SMGD during the most recent interval of glacial retreat is about 4% of the total ice sheet melting. At present, the simulated rate of SMGD is about 11% of the estimated current melting rate.
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ArticleEvidence for asymmetric nonvolcanic rifting and slow incipient oceanic accretion from seismic reflection data on the Newfoundland margin(American Geophysical Union, 2006-09-22) Shillington, Donna J. ; Holbrook, W. Steven ; Van Avendonk, Harm J. A. ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Hopper, John R. ; Louden, Keith E. ; Larsen, Hans Christian ; Nunes, Gregory T.Prestack depth migrations of seismic reflection data collected around the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 210 transect on the Newfoundland nonvolcanic margin delineate three domains: (1) extended continental crust, (2) transitional basement, and (3) apparent slow spreading oceanic basement beyond anomaly M3 and indicate first-order differences between this margin and its well-studied conjugate, the Iberia margin. Extended continental crust thins abruptly with few observed faults, in stark contrast with the system of seaward dipping normal faults and detachments imaged within continental crust off Iberia. Transition zone basement typically appears featureless in seismic reflection profiles, but where its character can be discerned, it does not resemble most images of exhumed peridotite off Iberia. Seismic observations allow three explanations for transitional basement: (1) slow spreading oceanic basement produced by unstable early seafloor spreading, (2) exhumed, serpentinized mantle with different properties from that off Iberia, and (3) thinned continental crust, likely emplaced by one or more detachment or rolling-hinge faults. Although we cannot definitively discriminate between these possibilities, seismic reflection profiles together with coincident wide-angle seismic refraction data tentatively suggest that the majority of transitional basement is thinned continental crust emplaced during the late stages of rifting. Finally, seismic profiles image abundant faults and significant basement topography in apparent oceanic basement. These observations, together with magnetic anomaly interpretations and the recovery of mantle peridotites at ODP Site 1277, appear to be best explained by the interplay of extension and magmatism during the transition from nonvolcanic rifting to a slow spreading oceanic accretion system.
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ArticleCorrection to “Evidence for asymmetric nonvolcanic rifting and slow incipient oceanic accretion from seismic reflection data on the Newfoundland margin”(American Geophysical Union, 2006-12-09) Shillington, Donna J. ; Holbrook, W. Steven ; Van Avendonk, Harm J. A. ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Hopper, John R. ; Louden, Keith E. ; Larsen, Hans Christian ; Nunes, Gregory T.
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ArticleA deep seismic investigation of the Flemish Cap margin: implications for the origin of deep reflectivity and evidence for asymmetric break-up between Newfoundland and Iberia(Blackwell Publishing, 2006-02-21) Hopper, John R. ; Funck, Thomas ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Louden, Keith E. ; Holbrook, W. Steven ; Larsen, Hans ChristianSeismic reflection and refraction data were acquired along the southeast margin of Flemish Cap at a position conjugate to drilling and geophysical surveys across the Galicia Bank margin. The data document first-order asymmetry during final break-up between Newfoundland and Iberia. An abrupt necking profile of continental crust observed off Flemish Cap contrasts strongly with gradual tapering on the conjugate margin. There is no evidence beneath Flemish Cap for a final phase of continental extension that resulted in thin continental crust underlain by a strong 'S'-like reflection, which indicates that this mode of extension occurred only on the Galicia Bank margin. Compelling evidence for a broad zone of exhumed mantle or for peridotite ridges is also lacking along the Flemish Cap margin. Instead, anomalously thin, 3–4-km-thick oceanic crust is observed. This crust is highly tectonized and broken up by high-angle normal faulting. The thin crust and rift structures that resemble the abandoned spreading centre in the Labrador sea suggest that initial seafloor spreading was affected by processes observed in present-day ultra-slow spreading environments. Landwards, Flemish Cap is underlain by a highly reflective lower crust. The reflectivity most likely originates from older Palaeozoic orogenic structures that are unrelated to extension and break-up tectonics.
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PreprintCrustal structure across the Grand Banks–Newfoundland Basin Continental Margin – I. Results from a seismic refraction profile( 2006-03-03) Lau, K. W. Helen ; Louden, Keith E. ; Funck, Thomas ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Holbrook, W. Steven ; Hopper, John R. ; Larsen, Hans ChristianA P-wave velocity model along a 565-km-long profile across the Grand Banks/Newfoundland basin rifted margin is presented. Continental crust ~36-kmthick beneath the Grand Banks is divided into upper (5.8-6.25 km/s), middle (6.3- 6.53 km/s) and lower crust (6.77-6.9 km/s), consistent with velocity structure of Avalon zone Appalachian crust. Syn-rift sediment sequences 6-7-km thick occur in two primary layers within the Jeanne d’Arc and the Carson basins (~3 km/s in upper layer; ~5 km/s in lower layer). Abrupt crustal thinning (Moho dip ~ 35º) beneath the Carson basin and more gradual thinning seaward forms a 170-km-wide zone of rifted continental crust. Within this zone, lower and middle continental crust thin preferentially seaward until they are completely removed, while very thin (<3 km) upper crust continues ~60 km farther seaward. Adjacent to the continental crust, high velocity gradients (0.5-1.5 s-1) define an 80-km-wide zone of transitional basement that can be interpreted as exhumed, serpentinized mantle or anomalously thin oceanic crust, based on its velocity model alone. We prefer the exhumed-mantle interpretation after considering the non-reflective character of the basement and the low amplitude of associated magnetic anomalies, which are atypical of oceanic crust. Beneath both the transitional basement and thin (<6 km) continental crust, a 200-kmwide zone with reduced mantle velocities (7.6-7.9 km/s) is observed, which is interpreted as partially (<10%) serpentinized mantle. Seaward of the transitional basement, 2- to 6-km-thick crust with layer 2 (4.5-6.3 km/s) and layer 3 (6.3-7.2 km/s) velocities is interpreted as oceanic crust. Comparison of our crustal model with profile IAM-9 across the Iberia Abyssal Plain on the conjugate Iberia margin suggests asymmetrical continental breakup in which a wider zone of extended continental crust has been left on the Newfoundland side.
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ArticleCrustal structure of the ocean-continent transition at Flemish Cap : seismic refraction results(American Geophysical Union, 2003-11-19) Funck, Thomas ; Hopper, John R. ; Larsen, Hans Christian ; Louden, Keith E. ; Tucholke, Brian E. ; Holbrook, W. StevenWe conducted a seismic refraction experiment across Flemish Cap and into the deep basin east of Newfoundland, Canada, and developed a velocity model for the crust and mantle from forward and inverse modeling of data from 25 ocean bottom seismometers and dense air gun shots. The continental crust at Flemish Cap is 30 km thick and is divided into three layers with P wave velocities of 6.0–6.7 km/s. Across the southeast Flemish Cap margin, the continental crust thins over a 90-km-wide zone to only 1.2 km. The ocean-continent boundary is near the base of Flemish Cap and is marked by a fault between thinned continental crust and 3-km-thick crust with velocities of 4.7–7.0 km/s interpreted as crust from magma-starved oceanic accretion. This thin crust continues seaward for 55 km and thins locally to ~1.5 km. Below a sediment cover (1.9–3.1 km/s), oceanic layer 2 (4.7–4.9 km/s) is ~1.5 km thick, while layer 3 (6.9 km/s) seems to disappear in the thinnest segment of the oceanic crust. At the seawardmost end of the line the crust thickens to ~6 km. Mantle with velocities of 7.6–8.0 km/s underlies both the thin continental and thin oceanic crust in an 80-km-wide zone. A gradual downward increase to normal mantle velocities is interpreted to reflect decreasing degree of serpentinization with depth. Normal mantle velocities of 8.0 km/s are observed ~6 km below basement. There are major differences compared to the conjugate Galicia Bank margin, which has a wide zone of extended continental crust, more faulting, and prominent detachment faults. Crust formed by seafloor spreading appears symmetric, however, with 30-km-wide zones of oceanic crust accreted on both margins beginning about 4.5 m.y. before formation of magnetic anomaly M0 (~118 Ma).