Insights into exhumation and mantle hydration processes at the Deep
Galicia margin from a 3D high-resolution seismic velocity model
Abstract
High-resolution velocity models developed using full waveform inversion
(FWI) are capable of imaging fine details of the nature and structure of
the subsurface. Using a 3D FWI velocity model of hyper-thinned crust at
the Deep Galicia Margin (DGM), we constrain the nature of the crust at
this margin by comparing its velocity structure with those in other
similar tectonic settings. Velocities representative of both the upper
and lower continental crust are present in this hyper-thinned crust.
However, unlike in many other rifted margin settings, there is no clear
evidence for distinct upper and lower crustal layers within the
hyperextended crust. Our velocity model also shows evidence for
exhumation of the lower crust under the footwalls of fault blocks to
accommodate the extension. We used our model to generate a
serpentinization map for the uppermost mantle at the DGM, at a depth of
100 ms (~340m) below the S-reflector, a low-angle
detachment that marks the base of the crust at this margin. Based on
this map, we propose that serpentinization began during rifting and
continued into a post-rift phase until the faults were sealed. We find a
weak correlation between the fault heaves and the degree of
serpentinization beneath the hanging-wall blocks, indicating that
serpentinization was controlled by a complex crosscutting and
unrecognized faulting during and after rifting. A good match between
topographic highs of S and local highly serpentinized areas of mantle
suggests that the serpentinization process resulted in variable uplift
of the S-surface.