The thermal regime of the Gulf of California, rifting processes and the ocean-continent transition

加利福尼亚州海湾是在大陆地壳裂解和海底开始扩张时形成的。该项目的重点是更好地了解墨西哥湾最初的裂谷过程及其随后的演变。在这个项目中，热流测量将在加利福尼亚州海湾的一次研究巡航中获得。这次远洋探险是墨西哥资助的一项研究工作的一部分，目的是了解该地区的地热状况。热流测量的变化将与观察到的裂谷类型相关联，以了解裂谷如何随着开放的继续向海底扩展过渡，这是一个仍然鲜为人知的基本过程。这项研究包括与墨西哥同事的密切合作，并允许获取和访问独特的新热流数据集。通过板块重建、地质关系、最近的带状制图和地震数据，可以很好地了解加利福尼亚州海湾的区域构造历史和结构。鲜为人知的是与裂谷作用有关的过程，以及那些导致观察到的裂谷风格变化和海洋-大陆过渡的过程。这种理解的一个关键是对墨西哥湾热结构的观测限制。该项目的主要科学目标是：1)确定墨西哥湾北部和中部沉积较厚的盆地以及墨西哥湾南部沉积较薄的盆地的背景传导热通量；2)确定热液循环的模式和规模，以及北部湾和南部沉积较厚和沉积较薄的盆地之间的差异，以及与侵入沉积物的岩浆岩床有关的差异；3)将这些观测与裂谷作用和大洋-大陆过渡的样式联系起来。这些目标将通过将新的热流数据与以前收集的数据和建模相结合来实现。

The Gulf of California formed when continental crust rifted apart and seafloor spreading began. The focus of this project is to obtain a better understanding of the processes involved in the initial rifting of the Gulf and its subsequent evolution. During this project heat flow measurements will be obtained on a research cruise in the Gulf of California. The sea-going expedition is part of a funded Mexican research effort to understand the geothermal regime in this region. Variations in heat flow measurements will be correlated with the observed style of rifting to understand how rifting transitions to seafloor spreading as opening continues, a fundamental process that is still poorly known. The study includes strong collaboration with Mexican colleagues and allows acquisition of and access to a unique new heat flow dataset. The regional tectonic history and the structure of the Gulf of California are well understood from plate reconstructions, geologic relationships, recent swath mapping and seismic data. Less well understood are processes associated with rifting and those that have led to observed variations in rifting style and the ocean-continent transition. A key to this understanding is observational constraints on the thermal structure of the Gulf. The principal science goals of this project are to 1) characterize the background conductive heat flux through the thickly sedimented basins in the northern and central Gulf and thinly sedimented basins in the southern Gulf; 2) determine the pattern and magnitude of hydrothermal circulation and differences between the thickly and thinly sedimented basins of the northern and southern Gulf, respectively, and that associated with magmatic sills intruding sediments; and 3) link these observations to styles of rifting and the ocean-continent transition. These goals will be achieved through the integration of new heat flow data with previously collected data and modeling.