Physical Modeling of the Interaction of the Spreading Ridge with the Large Igneous Province of Kerguelen

摘要

The problem of the interaction of spreading ridges with large igneous provinces is widely discussed in the scientific literature. The most striking and well-preserved example of such interaction in the geological past is the "collision" of the Southeast Indian spreading ridge and the Kerguelen plateau, which occurred about 43 Ma ago. The consequence of this event was the division of a single plateau into two parts, the Kerguelen Plateau and the Broken Ridge. The conditions for the formation of these structures were studied experimentally. This paper presents the physical model of the spreading ridge interaction with a large igneous province. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the geological and geophysical data and with the proposed model of the evolution of the region.