Aeromagnetic anomalies and discordant lineations beneath the Niger Delta: Implications for new fracture zones and multiple sea-floor spreading directions in the meso-Atlantic' Gulf of Guinea cul-de-sac

Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/91GL01236· OSTI ID:5558840

Babalola, O O; Gipson, M Jr ^[1]

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1. Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia (United States)

An aeromagnetic contour map compiled over shallow water and onshore portions of the Nigerian continental margin, shows several elongate, long-wavelength anomaly closures with some alternating polarity, separated by steep gradient, NE lineations. The lineations are interpreted as new fracture zones or extensions of previously mapped ones. The NE trend in the western delta region is concordant with the fracture zone trends of the deeper Gulf of Guinea. Aeromagnetic lineations of the SE Niger Delta Basin however, discordantly trend ENE. Their termination against the former, is interpreted as evidence of early sea-floor spreading in a ENE-WSW direction in addition to the well documented NE-SW spreading of the Gulf of Guinea and the rest of the meso-Atlantic sea-floor; The geophysical crustal structure indicate the existence of two Early Cretaceous triple junctions beneath the Niger Delta Basin. The two triple-junctions further support the hypothesis that the African continent was a multi-plate system (in the Niger Delta region) during the early opening of the Atlantic.

• OSTI ID: 5558840
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States), Vol. 18:6; ISSN 0094-8276
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
NIGER RIVER
RIVER DELTAS
LINEAMENTS
AERIAL SURVEYING
AFRICA
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MAGNETIC SURVEYS
MAPPING
PLATE TECTONICS
REMOTE SENSING
SEA-FLOOR SPREADING
COASTAL REGIONS
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
RIVERS
SEAS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
SURVEYS
TECTONICS
580000* - Geosciences