Cluster analysis of geophysical fields in the tectonic zoning of the African-Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean

Abstract

The tectonic zoning of the African-Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean was carried out on the basis of cluster analysis of a large volume of heterogeneous geophysical and geological data. It is known that the degree of geological and geophysical exploration of this part of the ocean by marine surveys and drilling remains extremely low. The results of such an analysis make it possible in areas with weak geophysical knowledge to quickly draw up tectonic zoning schemes based on regional geophysical data that are freely available throughout the entire territory of the world ocean and use them as a basis for further interpretation. The following materials were used as input data or classification features: ocean floor topography, gravity anomalies in free air and in the Bouger reduction, ∆Ta anomalous magnetic field model, ocean floor age, geoid height data, and the SL2013sv seismotomography model. «K-means» algorithms and the «Gaussian mixtures» method used for clustering. Based on the results of the application of these algorithms, cluster models of the study region were obtained, in which the selected classes fully reflect the main tectonic elements.

Keywords

• geological and geophysical characteristics
• tectonosphere
• cluster analysis