Structural zoning of the African-Antarctic Sector of the Southern Ocean based on the analysis of anomalous gravity and magnetic fields

Abstract

The African-Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean is the least studied part of the World Ocean, the structure and evolution of the tectonosphere of which remains debatable. The complex history of the development of the region under study, accompanied by manifestations of intense magmatic and tectonic activity, has contributed to the formation of a number of large underwater ridges and rises. Identifying the features of the deep structure of the tectonosphere on the basis of the analysis of geophysical information and understanding the geodynamic nature of the morphostructures of the studied region is an urgent problem of marine geophysics and geodynamics. Structural analysis of the anomalous gravitational and magnetic fields of the studied region was carried out. Zoning scheme by the anomalous fields as well as a generalized scheme are constructed. The results of the sestudiesmadeit possible to identify heterogeneous blocks of the lithosphere, which for medon different spreading ridges and are separated by submarine rises.

Keywords

• anomalous gravitational and magnetic fields
• tectonosphere
• structural zoning