Tectonic Evolution of the Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic Lesser Antilles Subduction System and the Mesozoic-Recent Rifted-Passive Margin of Northern Morocco Using an Integration of Geologic, Seismic Reflection, and Gravity Data

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorMann, Paul
dc.contributor.committeeMemberRotzien, Jonathan R.
dc.contributor.committeeMemberSun, Jiajia
dc.creatorMiller, Benjamin Donald
dc.creator.orcid0000-0002-1300-7127
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-15T22:34:57Z
dc.date.available2022-06-15T22:34:57Z
dc.date.createdDecember 2021
dc.date.issued2021-12
dc.date.submittedDecember 2021
dc.date.updated2022-06-15T22:34:58Z
dc.description.abstractThe largely submarine, 850-km-long, late Cretaceous to recent Lesser Antilles subduction system consists of the Aves Ridge remnant arc, the Grenada back-arc basin, the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc (LAVA), the Tobago forearc basin, and the Barbados accretionary prism. Differing tectonic models have been proposed to explain the origin of these five main components of the Lesser Antilles magmatic terranes and their intervening sedimentary basins. Chapter 2 of this thesis tests three of these differing tectonic models using three dip-direction and one strike-direction gravity transect. Based on the integration of the crustal thickness information from the gravity transects and a compilation of radiometric dates, the tectonic model that best fits the gravity profiles and dates include: 1) an eastward shift about 190 km of the volcanic arc from the late Cretaceous Aves Ridge to its present-day location of the LAVA during the Oligocene; this eastward shift was likely a response to slab rollback; and 2) a westward shift of 180 km from the inactive Outer Arc to the presently active Inner Arc (13-5 Ma); this westward shift was likely a response to the subduction of elevated areas of fracture zones in the Atlantic oceanic. Chapter 3 of this thesis describes the 950-km-long, Jurassic Agadir-Essaouira-Rharb marginal rift underlies the Mesozoic-Recent, rifted-passive margin of northwestern Morocco. Seismic data integrated with gravity models show that the 8-15 km-thick necked zone of rifted continental crust is overlain by a single marginal rift that concentrates the thickest (1-5 km) area of Jurassic salt. The four 170-280-km-long, dip 2D gravity models created along the coast of northern Morocco were constrained by several previous refraction studies and delineate three crustal provinces of the rifted-passive margin: 1) early Jurassic oceanic crust of the deepwater area of the Atlantic Ocean; 2) thinned continental crust that includes the marginal rift on the slope and outer shelf; and 3) full-thickness and unstretched continental crust of the shelf and land areas of Morocco. The integration of the gravity models with the seismic reflection data helped constrain the width and depth of the marginal rift, which was not well imaged from seismic reflection data.
dc.description.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
dc.format.digitalOriginborn digital
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/9194
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectLesser Antilles
dc.subjectGravity
dc.subjectGrenada Basin
dc.subjectMorocco
dc.subjectSeismic
dc.subject2D
dc.subjectCaribbean
dc.subjectEastern
dc.subjectTectonic
dc.subjectEvolution
dc.subjectrifted
dc.subjectpassive
dc.subjectMargin
dc.subjectSeismic Reflection
dc.titleTectonic Evolution of the Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic Lesser Antilles Subduction System and the Mesozoic-Recent Rifted-Passive Margin of Northern Morocco Using an Integration of Geologic, Seismic Reflection, and Gravity Data
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
thesis.degree.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
thesis.degree.disciplineGeophysics
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
MILLER-THESIS-2021.pdf
Size:
10.82 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
PROQUEST_LICENSE.txt
Size:
4.43 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
LICENSE.txt
Size:
1.82 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download

Collections

Published ETD Collection