ISSN:
1573-0581
Keywords:
Geoid topography
;
fracture zone morphology
;
satellite altimetry
;
transform fault
;
plate reconstructions
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract Geoid data from Geosat and subsatellite basement depth profiles of the Kane Fracture Zone in the central North Atlantic were used to examine the correlation between the short-wavelength geoid (λ=25–100 km) and the uncompensated basement topography. The processing technique we apply allows the stacking of geoid profiles, although each repeat cycle has an unknown long-wavelength bias. We first formed the derivative of individual profiles, stacked up to 22 repeat cycles, and then integrated the average-slope profile to reconstruct the geoid height. The stacked, filtered geoid profiles have a noise level of about 7 mm in geoid height. The subsatellite basement topography was obtained from a recent compilation of structure contours on basement along the entire length of the Kane Fracture Zone. The ratio of geoid height to topography over the Kane Fracture Zone valley decreases from about 20–25 cm km-1 over young ocean crust to 5–0 cm km-1 over ocean crust older than 140 Ma. Both geoid and basement depth of profiles were projected perpendicular to the Kane Fracture Zone, resampled at equal intervals and then cross correlated. The cross correlation shows that the short-wavelength geoid height is well correlated with the basement topography. For 33 of the 37 examined pro-files, the horizontal mismatches are 10 km or less with an average mismatch of about 5 km. This correlation is quite good considering that the average width of the Kane Fracture Zone valley at median depth is 10–15 km. The remaining four profiles either cross the transverse ridge just east of the active Kane transform zone or overlie old crust of the M-anomaly sequence. The mismatch over the transverse ridge probably is related to a crustal density anomaly. The relatively poor correlation of geoid and basement depth in profiles of ocean crust older than 130–140 Ma reflects poor basement-depth control along subsatellite tracks.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00286284
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