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Research project

Determining the 3D structure of the west Galicia rifted margin

Project overview

Continental breakup occurs by stretching and thinning of the lithosphere. At some rifted margins, the style of deformation changes at high degrees of extension to one dominated by motion along low-angle detachment faults. Seismic profiles available before this project demonstrated that the deformation is highly three- dimensional, but were insufficient to determine the nature of this 3D deformation. To determine how this final phase of continental extension occurs, we conducted a 3D combined reflection and wide-angle seismic experiment on the west Galicia margin, which is characterised by crust thinning to less than 3 km, well-defined fault blocks, probable detachment and polyphase faulting, but virtually no magmatism or thick sediment piles to obscure the structures and the amount of extension.

Staff

Lead researcher

Professor Tim Minshull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science

Research interests

  • Continental breakup and the onset of seafloor spreading
  • Methane hydrate beneath the seafloor and its role in the Earth system
  • Exploration geophysics: seismic and electromagnetic imaging
Other researchers

Professor Jonathan Bull

Professor in Ocean & Earth Science

Research interests

  • Fluid Flow and Carbon Capture and Storage
  • Monitoring, Measurement and Verification
  • Marine Geophysics

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Geology and Geophysics

We research a wide range of societally impactful areas of geology and geophysics for a sustainable future. The latest facilities and technology development support our activities.

Research outputs

Crustal strain-dependent serpentinisation in the Porcupine Basin, offshore Ireland
Manel Prada,
Louise Watremez,
Chen Chen,
Brian M. O'Reilly,
Tim A. Minshull,
Tim J. Reston,
Patrick M. Shannon,
Dirk Klaeschen,
Gerlind Wagner,
& Viola Gaw
, 2017 , Earth and Planetary Science Letters , 474 , 148--159
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.06.040
Type: article
Fault-controlled hydration of the upper mantle during continental rifting
G. Bayrakci,
T.A. Minshull,
D.S. Sawyer,
T.J. Reston,
D. Klaeschen,
C. Papenberg,
C. Ranero,
J.M. Bull,
R.G. Davy,
D.J. Shillington,
M. Perez-Gussinye,
& J.K. Morgan
, 2016 , Nature Geoscience , 9 (5) , 384--388
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2671
Type: article
Continental hyperextension, mantle exhumation and thin oceanic crust at the continent-ocean transition, West Iberia: new insights from wide-angle seismic
R.G. Davy,
T.A. Minshull,
G. Bayrakci,
J.M. Bull,
D. Klaeschen,
C. Papenberg,
T.J. Reston,
D.S. Sawyer,
& C.A. Zelt
, 2016 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth , 121 , 3177--3199
DOI: 10.1002/2016JB012825
Type: article
Deep structure of the Porcupine Basin from wide-angle seismic data
L. Watremez,
M. Prada,
T. Minshull,
B. O'reilly,
Chen Chen,
T. Reston,
P. Shannon,
G. Wagner,
V. Gaw,
D. Klaeschen,
R. Edwards,
& S. Lebedev
, 2016
DOI: 10.1144/PGC8.26
Type: bookChapter
The peridotite ridge province in the southern Iberia Abyssal Plain: seismic constraints revisited
T.A. Minshull,
S.M. Dean,
& R.B. Whitmarsh
, 2014 , Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth , 119 (3) , 1580--1598
DOI: 10.1002/2014JB011011
Type: article
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