Abstract The Newfoundland–Iberia rift is considered to be a type example of a non-volcanic rift. Key features of the conjugate margins are transition zones (TZs) that lie between clearly continental crust and presumed normal (Penrose-type) oceanic crust that appears up to 150–180 km farther seaward. Basement ridges drilled in the Iberia TZ consist of exhumed, serpentinized peridotite of continental affinity, consistent with seismic refraction studies. Although the boundaries between continental crust and the TZs can be defined with relative confidence, there are major questions about the position and nature of the change from rifting to normal sea-floor spreading at the seaward edges of the TZs. Notably, drilling of presumed oceanic crust in the young M-series anomalies (<M5) has recovered serpentinized peridotite, and this basement experienced major extension up to approximately 15 million years after it was emplaced. In addition, existing interpretations place the ‘breakup unconformity’ (normally associated with the separation of continental crust and simultaneous formation of oceanic crust) near the Aptian–Albian boundary, which is also some 15 million years younger than the oldest proposed oceanic crust (anomaly M5–M3) in the rift.ȃ To investigate and potentially resolve these conflicts, we analysed the tectonic history and deep (pre-Cenomanian) stratigraphy of the rift using seismic reflection profiles and drilling results. Rifting occurred in two main phases (Late Triassic–earliest Jurassic and Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous). The first phase formed continental rift basins without significant thinning of continental crust. The second phase led to continental breakup, with extension concentrated in three episodes that culminated near the end of Berriasian, Hauterivian and Aptian time. The first two episodes appear to correlate with separation of continental crust in the southern and northern parts of the rift, respectively, suggesting that the rift opened from south to north in a two-step process. The third episode persisted through Barremian and Aptian time. We suggest that during this period there was continued exhumation of subcontinental mantle lithosphere at the plate boundary, and that elevated in-plane tensile stress throughout the rift caused intraplate extension, primarily within the exhumed mantle. This rifting may have been interrupted for a time during the Barremian when melt was introduced from the southern edge of the rift by plume magmatism that formed the Southeast Newfoundland Ridge and J Anomaly Ridge, and the conjugate Madeira–Tore Rise. We propose that the rising asthenosphere breached the subcontinental mantle lithosphere in latest Aptian–earliest Albian time, initiating sea-floor spreading. This resulted in relaxation of in-plane tensile stress (i.e. a pulse of relative compression) that caused internal plate deformation and enhanced mass wasting. This ‘Aptian event’ produced a strong, rift-wide reflection that is unconformably onlapped by post-rift sediments that were deposited as a stable sea-floor-spreading regime was established. Although previously considered to be a breakup unconformity associated with separation of continental crust, the event instead marks the final separation of the subcontinental mantle lithosphere. Our analysis indicates that interpretation of tectonic events in a non-volcanic rift must consider the rheology of the full thickness of the continental lithosphere, in addition to spatial and temporal changes in extension that may occur from segment to segment along the rift.

The U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico continental margins are thickly sedimented passive margins that formed when Pangea split apart during Middle Jurassic time to create the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Keys to understanding the process of continental breakup and its relation to preexisting structure are found in the structure of the crust beneath the sediment-filled basins and adjacent platforms and embayments that outline the margins. Because of the great thickness of post-rift sedimentary rock in the basins and the presence of massive reef carbonates and salt layers and diapirs, the crustal structure beneath the basins in the region of the transition between oceanic and continental crust is poorly known at present. Recent advances in seismic reflection and refraction data collection techniques (both sources and receivers), however, are just beginning to yield new data to look at the crustal structure in this important region. One of the most important results on the deep structure of continental margins obtained in recent years is recognition of a thick, high-velocity (7.2 to 7.5 km/sec) layer at the base of the crust beneath the U.S. Atlantic continental margin as well as beneath several other margins worldwide. This layer is observed beneath both extended continental crust and early oceanic crust and has been interpreted to indicate that extensive intrusive magmatism was associated with the late stage of rifting and early sea-floor spreading. Only a weak suggestion of such a layer has been observed beneath the Gulf of Mexico margin, although this may be in part due to the difficulty of observing lower crustal arrivals because of the extensive presence of salt in the shallow section.

Abstract A simple, one-dimensional extensional model can explain the major features of the northeastern United States Atlantic continental margin. The extensional model allows us to predict the subsidence history of the margin and we compare that prediction with well data. Tectonic-subsidence observations indicate that the COST B-2 and B-3 wells are over highly thinned continental or oceanic crust, while the G-1 and G-2 wells are over continental crust that experienced less thinning. A two-dimensional finite difference numerical scheme for simulating the thermal and mechanical evolution of a basin supports an extensional origin for the Baltimore Canyon trough. The simulation provides timetemperature history predictions for the sediments. From these we conclude that the trough should contain a significant volume of thermally mature sediments that are more likely to have generated natural gas than oil.