Abstract
It is suggested that Bouvet Island is the surface manifestation of a mantle plume which has resulted in the creation of a chain of seamounts in the South Atlantic and a general shoaling of the region.
The strike of two newly defined large fracture zones borth and south of the Bouvet Island pedestal have been utilized to determine a pole of rotation at 12.5°S, 12.5°W for the Africa-Antarctica motion. A pole at 75°S, 13°E has been calculated for the South America-Antarctica motion. At the triple junction the South America-Africa relative motion is 3.3 cm yr-1 (whole rate) at 075°. The Africa-Antarctica motion is 1.7 cm yr-1 at 065° and the South America-Antarctica motion is 1.6 cm yr-1 at 085.
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Johnson, G.L., Hey, R.N. & Lowrie, A. Marine geology in the environs of Bouvet Island and the South Atlantic triple juction. Mar Geophys Res 2, 23–36 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00451868
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00451868