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Frontal Accretion and Piggyback Basin Development at the Southern Edge of the Barbados Ridge Accretionary Complex

1990; Linguagem: Inglês

10.2973/odp.proc.sr.110.163.1990

A. Mascle, L. Endignoux, Touria Chennouf,

earthquake and tectonic studies

About 4000 m of sediments are accreted at the front of the Barbados Ridge between 10° and 11°S.As a result, the structures are wide enough to be clearly depicted by seismic reflection and Seabeam data in contrast to the Leg 110 transect to the north, where stuctures are poorly resolved by geophysics.This is therefore a convenient area for studying the tectonic processes such as the thrusting and folding prevailing at the toe of an accretionary complex.Piggyback basins have developed as a result: (1) of a high rate of sedimentation from the Guyana margin through a network of submarine canyons, and (2) of the relatively high angle of thrust faulting at the deformation front as deduced from section balancing modeling.Most of the differences in structural style along the deformation front of the Barbados Ridge from north to south can be related to variations in the distribution, facies, and thickness of sediments on the Atlantic oceanic crust.