Collaborative Research: Seismic Study of the Galicia S Detachment

像大西洋这样的海洋盆地是一个过程的最终产物，这个过程始于东非等大陆裂谷，经历了一个年轻的海洋盆地阶段，被认为是现代红海的典型代表，并以数百万年来海底扩张产生的更广泛的海洋盆地结束。洋中脊的岩浆和构造作用产生新洋底的过程。虽然人们对这一过程有了大致的了解，但对它最早阶段的细节却知之甚少，因为地质证据被覆盖的沉积物、与早期裂谷有关的大量火山活动以及在大多数地方厚厚的盐层所掩盖。位于北大西洋东部的加利西亚是一个例外，那里的裂谷几乎没有火山活动，也没有覆盖的盐。因此，这是一个理想的地点，一个强大的国际团队进行三维地震反射测量，以成像早期形成的地质结构。在这个项目的许多更广泛的影响是其强大的国际合作，本科生以及研究生和博士后研究员的参与，以及重要的新数据的科学界的贡献。

Ocean basins such as the Atlantic are the end products of a process that begins with continental rifts such as East Africa, passes through a young ocean basin phase thought to be typified by the modern Red Sea, and ends with a broader ocean basin produced over many millions of years by seafloor spreading ? a process by which new ocean floor is created by magmatic and tectonic processes at mid-ocean ridges. Though the process is understood in an general way, the details of its earliest stages are poorly known because the geologic evidence is obscured by overlying sediments, massive volcanism associated with early rifting, and, in most places, thick deposits of salt. Located in the eastern North Atlantic, Galicia, is an exception, where rifting occurred with little volcanism, and there is no overlying salt. For that reason, it is an ideal locality for a strong international team to carry out this three-dimensional seismic reflection survey to image the early-formed geologic structure. Among the many broader impacts of this project are its strong international collaboration, participation by undergraduate students as well as a graduate student and a post-doctoral fellow, and the contribution of important new data to the scientific community.