Deformaciones transtensivas en la Dorsal Sur de Scotia (NE Península Antàrtica)

Abstract

The South Scotia Ridge is studied by swath bathymetry, multichannel seismic and magnetometry profiles, obtained during the HESANT 92/93 cruise. The ridge is composed by thinned continental crust fragments and to the north contacts by a sinistraI transpressive fault with the oceanic crust of the Scotia Sea. Another fault located to the south bounds the ridge with the oceanic crust of the Powell Basin. The most significant active deformation lies in the axial depression of the ridge, within a band delineated by fault systems with WSW-ENE and SW-NE strikes, which separate the northern and southern blocks of the ridge. The northern block is being fragmented from the Antarctic Plate by a zone of transtensive faults, and is probably a independient crustal element