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A crustal deforming agent and the mechanism of the volcanic activity in the Azores

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Summary

A morphological analysis of the submarine topography in the archipelago region, suggests tangential forces at work in the subcrustal mantle in SE-NW direction which would have given rise to a folding structure in the plastic zones, and a faulting system in the rigid blocks.

The folding system of the archipelago is parallel to that of the Iberian Peninsula and the NW of Africa and also to the submerse crust between those continents and the Azores.

On the other hand, the faulting system has relationship to the building of the islands by eruptive activity through the fractures.

The tangential forces are also supported by geophysical measurements for a geomagnetic transitory anomaly and a migration of epicenters.

A model for representing the crustal deformation under the stresses from SE in the mantle, is presented. This model will explain the chronology of the volcanic formations at each island and in the archipelago as a whole.

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References

  1. -Gravity Expeditions at sea, 1923–1932, vol. II, byVening Meinesz, referenced inTectonica, Sismicidade e Vulcanismo das ilhas dos Açores, byJ. Agostinho, Açoreana, Vol. 1, Fasc. II.

  2. -The volcanoes of the Azorean Islands, byJ. Agostinho, in Bull. Volcanologique, 1936.

  3. -Analysis and interpretation of a transitory geomagnetic anomaly in the secular variation in the Iberian Peninsula and North Atlantic, byA. A. Mendonça Dias, Serviço Meteorológico Nacional, Lisboa, RT 309. Mem. 82, 24 Nov. 56.A convective system in the mantle between the NW of Africa and the Azores, byA. A. Mendonça Dias, communication to the Toronto Assembly 1957, I.U.G.G.

  4. -Modelo hipotético do mecanismo sismico interessando a ilha de S. Miguel, byA. A. Mendonça Dias, in Boletim da Ordem dos Engenheiros, no. 22, Vol. 22, Lisboa, 1955.

  5. -Die Azoren — Os Açores, byI. Friedlaender, in translation byJ. Agostinho, in Açoreana, 1934.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Meteorological Service of Portogal, S. Miguel, Azores

    A. A. De Mendonça Dias

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  1. A. A. De Mendonça Dias
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De Mendonça Dias, A.A. A crustal deforming agent and the mechanism of the volcanic activity in the Azores. Bull Volcanol 21, 95–102 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596508

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596508

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