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The Santa Catarina Plateau and the nature of its basement

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Abstract

The Santa Catarina Plateau is a prominent undersea feature of the Brazilian Southern Margin with approximately 340,000 km2 that interrupts the lower continental slope between depths of 2900 and 3200 m. The plateau’s morphology and basement were unknown until new geophysical data were acquired for the Brazilian Continental Shelf Survey Program (LEPLAC). The multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profile, and mini-airgun data allowed the identification of important morphologic features, such as the Santa Catarina Drift and Pelotas Drift, and the study of their sedimentary processes, especially related to slope instabilities and mass movement. The seismic and gravimetric datase.ts allowed the study of the Torres High, an important structural feature that supports most of the Santa Catarina Plateau. With this new dataset, it was possible to develop different gravimetric models, controlled by the ultra-deep seismic information, to analyze the two competing hypotheses for the nature of Torres High: (1) thickened oceanic crust or (2) continental crust. The crustal and the Moho character below the Torres High, observed in strike- and dip-oriented ultra-deep seismic lines, and the results of the gravimetric model, support the interpretation of its continental nature. Additionally, the analysis of the basement depth and the interpretation of the Bouguer gravity map clearly show the Torres High as a continuous structural feature attached to the South American continent, in a northwest-southeast direction, constituting a continental promontory of the Brazilian land mass and part of the basement of the Santa Catarina Plateau.

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Notes

  1. LEPLAC Program is a Brazilian Government program responsible for the delineation of the Outer Limit of the Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines, according to article 76 of the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the LEPLAC Program for allowing the use of data and figures, as well as to all groups that studied the margin since 1987 in order to produce the Brazilian Submission for the extension of the Continental Shelf according to Article 76 of UNCLOS. The authors also thank ION Geophysical Corporation for permission to use the images from seismic sections PS1-0120 and PS1-0270.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LEPLAC (Brazilian Continental Shelf Survey Program), Directorate of Hidrography and Navigation, Brazilian Navy, Barão de Jaceguai s/n. Ponta da Armação, Niterói, RJ, Brazil

    Izabel K. Jeck, Ana Angelica L. Alberoni & Luiz Carlos Torres

  2. ZAG Consulting in Petroleum Exploration, Rua Tonelero 204/601, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Pedro Victor Zalán

Authors
  1. Izabel K. Jeck
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  2. Ana Angelica L. Alberoni
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  3. Luiz Carlos Torres
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  4. Pedro Victor Zalán
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Correspondence to Izabel K. Jeck.

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Jeck, I.K., Alberoni, A.A.L., Torres, L.C. et al. The Santa Catarina Plateau and the nature of its basement. Geo-Mar Lett 40, 853–864 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-019-00585-z

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