Mechanical Strength of Extended Lithosphere: Application tothe Exmouth Plateau, Northwest Australia

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A major controversy presently exists over whether extended continental lithosphere, associated with extensional basins and passive continental margins, possesses mechanical strength (or flexural rigidity). This work will: (1) provide a critical examination of the assumptions and methods used in previous studies that concluded that extended lithosphere has negligible strength, (2) investigate the sensitivity of gravity anomalies to variations of flexural rigidity as a function of time since extension, and (3) determine the mechanical strength of the Exmouth plateau margin of northwest Australia.