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From Oblique Rifting To A Transform Margin: The Opening Of The Equatorial Atlantic
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 6th International Congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society, Aug 1999, cp-215-00277
Abstract
From oblique rifting to a transform margin, what do we really know about that?<br>The integrated analysis of the Brazilian and African equatorial basins provided important insights regarding the process<br>of continental fragmentation through the activation of transform faults. A quite dynamic ruptural process produced an<br>unique segment among the Circum-Atlantic basins, which can not be adequately explained by conventional extensional<br>processes, such as passive or active rifting, or by mechanisms such as pure-shear or simple-shear, typical of divergent<br>margins. Even though shearing signatures and pull apart features are easily recognized throughout the margin, their<br>magnitude and rift architecture vary significantly accordingly with the distance from the main transform faults, generating<br>significant differences in the thermal evolution, basin architecture, tectonic subsidence, facies distribution and uplift history.