BRAVOSEIS: Geophysical investigation of rifting and volcanism in the Bransfield strait, Antarctica

Details

• Journal Title:
  Journal of South American Earth Sciences
• Personal Author:
  Almendros, J. ; Wilcock, W. ; Soule, D. ; Teixidó, T. ; Vizcaíno, L. ; Ardanaz, O. ; Granja-Bruña, J.L. ; Martín-Jiménez, D. ; Yuan, X. ; Heit, B. ; Schmidt-Aursch, M.C. ; Geissler, W. ; Dziak, R. ; Carrión, F. ; Ontiveros, A. ; Abella, R. ; Carmona, E. ; Agüí-Fernández, J.F. ; Sánchez, N. ; Serrano, I. ; Davoli, R. ; Krauss, Z. ; Kidiwela, M. ; Schmahl, L.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PMEL (Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory)
• Description:
  The Bransfield Basin is a back-arc basin located in Western Antarctica between the South Shetland Islands and Antarctic Peninsula. Although the subduction of the Phoenix plate under the South Shetland block has ceased, extension continues through a combination of slab rollback and transtensional motions between the Scotia and Antarctic plates. This process has created a continental rift in the basin, interleaved with volcanic islands and seamounts, which may be near the transition from rifting to seafloor spreading. In the framework of the BRAVOSEIS project (2017–2020), we deployed a dense amphibious seismic network in the Bransfield Strait comprising 15 land stations and 24 ocean-bottom seismometers, as well as a network of 6 moored hydrophones; and acquired marine geophysics data including multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiler, gravity & magnetics, multi-channel seismics, and seismic refraction data. The experiment has collected a unique, high quality, and multifaceted geophysical data set in the Central Bransfield Basin, with a special focus on Orca and Humpback seamounts. Preliminary results confirm that the Bransfield region has slab-related intermediate depth seismicity, with earthquake characteristics suggesting distributed extension across the rift. Gravity and magnetic highs delineate a segmented rift with along-axis variations that are consistent with increased accumulated strain to the northeast. Orca volcano shows evidences of an active caldera and magma accumulation at shallow depths, while Humpback volcano has evolved past the caldera stage and is currently dominated by rifting structures. These differences suggest that volcanic evolution is influenced by the position along the rift. Although a lot of analysis remains, these results provide useful constraints on the structure and dynamics of the Bransfield rift and associated volcanoes.
• Keywords:
  Amphibious Seismic NetworkMarine GeophysicsBack-arc BasinSubmarine Volcano Antarctica Bransfield Strait Humpback Volcano Orca Volcano
• Source:
  Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 104
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102834
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Bransfield Strait ; Antarctica
• Rights Information:
  Accepted Manuscript
• Rights Statement:
  The NOAA IR provides access to this content under the authority of the government's retained license to distribute publications and data resulting from federal funding. While users may legally access this content, the copyright owners retain rights that govern the reproduction, redistribution, and re-use of this work. The user is solely responsible for complying with applicable copyright law.
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:785ea68b251a5bc9aa1e4827666946b9c8a1e8945f32150401e4529e317bb374085e31008dd6616ea4041ea5c8ed1547c7a59cd7fbaaceb48619cd33402f9cab
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/30709/noaa_30709_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.32 MB ]