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) can image 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) west of Iberia, 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, but there is no clear
evidence for distinct upper and lower crustal layers within the
hyper-thinned crust. Our velocity model supports 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. We find a good alignment between serpentinized areas and
the overlying major block bounding faults on our map, suggesting that
those faults played an important role in transporting water to the upper
mantle. Further, we observe a weak correlation between fault heaves and
serpentinization beneath the hanging-wall blocks, indicating that
serpentinization was controlled by a complex faulting during rifting. A
good match between topographic highs of the S and local highly
serpentinized areas of the mantle suggests that the morphology of the S
was affected by the volume-increasing process of serpentinization and
deformation of the overlying crust.