Complex fault interaction controls continental rifting

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00904-x
• Publication Date: 2017-10-24T09:43:53Z
• Authors: John B. Naliboff; Susanne J. H. Buiter; Gwenn Péron-Pinvidic; Per Terje Osmundsen; Joya Tetreault
• Keywords: Continental Margin; Passive margin

Rifted margins mark a transition from continents to oceans and contain in their architecture record of rift history. Recent investigations have suggested that multiphase deformation the crust mantle lithosphere leads formation distinct margin domains. The processes control transitions between these domains, however, are not fully understood. Here we use high-resolution numerical simulations show how structural inheritance variations extension velocity rifted temporal evolution. Distinct domains form as velocities increase over time focuses along lithosphere-scale detachment faults, which migrate oceanwards through re-activation complex linkages prior fault networks. Our models demonstrate, unprecedented detail, faults formed earliest phases continental subsequent evolution interaction processes, hereby creating widely observed