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Geodynamic Aspects of the Evolution of the Northwestern Indian Ocean

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Abstract

This work is devoted to studying the structure of the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean. Primary materials of the area geological and geophysical survey performed in the southern part of the midoceanic Carlsberg Ridge (research vessel Issledovatel’, PGO Yuzhmorgeologiya, 1987) and results of unique studies of the Equator Ridge (the Somali Basin) from a manned underwater vehicle are used. The Rodrigues block is isolated at the southern extremity of the Carlsberg Ridge, which is anomalous in its morphological characteristics. The conclusion is made that this block is a connecting link of the existed continental bridge between the Seychelles Islands and the Maldive Ridge. It is conjectured that the Carlsberg Ridge was formed on a transitional crust. A complex analysis of all data on the structure of the northwestern Indian Ocean convincingly demonstrates that differentiated tectonic movements were the leading geodynamic factor in its evolution.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to I.N. Ponomareva (PGO Yuzhmorgeologiya, Gelendzhik) for the opportunity to get acquainted with the primary geophysical material on the southern part of the Carlsberg Ridge and to E.A. Dolginov and I.E. Lomakin for discussing the problems raised in this study. We are particularly grateful to V.Yu. Burmin for valuable advice and comprehensive assistance in preparing this paper.

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  1. Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, 123242, Moscow, Russia

    V. K. Illarionov & A. N. Boyko

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  1. V. K. Illarionov
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Correspondence to V. K. Illarionov or A. N. Boyko.

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Translated by N. Berestova

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Illarionov, V.K., Boyko, A.N. Geodynamic Aspects of the Evolution of the Northwestern Indian Ocean. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 54, 768–776 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433818070034

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