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THE SUBSAHARIAN WESTERN AFRICAN RIFTED MARGINS: ARCHITECTURAL

ELEMENTS AND CRUSTAL STRUCTURES

Conference Paper · May 2017

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5 authors, including:

Maria Alice Nascimento Fagundes Aragão Luizemara Soares Alves Szameitat

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. Universidade Federal do Paraná
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Monica Heilbron Gianreto Manatschal

Rio de Janeiro State University University of Strasbourg
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 XVI SIMPÓSIO NACIONAL DE ESTUDOS TECTÔNICOS
X INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON TECTONICS
22 a 24 de maio de 2017 | Salvador - BA - Brasil

THE SUBSAHARIAN WESTERN AFRICAN RIFTED MARGINS:

ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS AND CRUSTAL STRUCTURES
Maria Alice Nascimento Fagundes de Aragão 1,4, Luizemara Soares Alves Szameitat 2,4, António Manuel
Figueiredo 3, Mônica Heilbron 4, Gianreto Manatschal 5
1
PETROBRAS, malicenfa@gmail.com
2
UFPR
3
FIGUEROIL
4
GeoAtlantico Institute-TEKTOS-UERJ
5
EOST-Université de Strasbourg

1. INTRODUCTION
Intense research has been carried out at rifted margins in order to describe their geometry and explain
the rifting processes. Studies showed that along the same continental margin a transition between distinct margin
types – magma-rich, magma-poor and transform margins can be observed along the SubSaharian Western
African Margins. Results focus on fundamental questions concerning architectural elements, the arrangement of
domains, the influence of inherited adjacent basement structures and how the transition zones amongst them can
be characterized.
This study investigates the principal tectonic features along these margins in terms of structures such as
architectural elements represented by proximal, necking, distal, outer and oceanic domains. To address these
questions, a multidisciplinary approach is used, integrating geologic, seismic and potential field datasets. Finally,
we propose a crustal structure model for these margins.

2. DATA BASE
The SubSaharian Western African Margins are covered by several seismic programs. Nonetheless the
regional 2D seismic pre-stack depth migrated (PSDM) data of ION shot in the Angola, Congo and Gabon margin
(CongoSPAN) was the most appropriate to accomplish the goal of our study. The program consists of 2D
seismic data covering 25,758 km with 10 km offsets and 18 second record length.
A regional view of the whole analyzed area was given by free gravity and magnetic datasets. Bouguer
Anomaly was calculated using bathymetric data from SMITH & SANDWELL (1997) and free-air anomaly data
from BGI (Bureau Gravimetrique International). Total magnetic field data, subtracting IGRF (International
Geomagnetic Reference Field), was used from MAUS et al. (2009). Gravimetric and magnetic signatures were
analysed from filtered data in order to enhance textural changes that improve the resolution of observed data,
resulting in a better definition of regional geophysical domains.

3. DESCRIPTION OF RESULTS
The Western African SubSaharian continental margin includes a large region from Cameroon to South
Africa reflecting a tectonic environment that comprises distinct margins types – magma-rich, magma-poor and
transform margins. The integrated study of geological, seismic and potential field data has enabled to establish a
structural framework (Fig 01) characterized by a set of comparable architectural elements appointed as proximal,
necking, distal, outer and oceanic domains (PERON-PINVIDIC et al., 2013). These elements show a systematic
oceanward succession, not necessarily in the same order, taking in account the distinct aspects of the
environment that they were generated. These key domains display a strong and consistent continuity along the
continental margin (ARAGÃO, 2016).
Transitional regions normally occur in a gradual way, but interactions between structural domains may
also occur with the possible occurrence of spatial and temporal overprints. In this context, the Outer Domain, the
key feature in the magma-rich margin, tends to disappear northwards where the Distal and Proximal Domains in
magma-poor margins become the most important parts of the margin. Likewise, it is observed the recurrence of
the Outer Domain meanwhile as the Distal Domain in magma-poor margin (north of Gabon Basin) is disturbed

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by the fracture zones presence. These facts may introduce some implications in how the lithospheric breakup
happened in these regions. The nature of the basement in the Distal Domain of the magma-poor margin is
interpreted as hyperextended continental crust and magmatic additions, which is corroborated by gravity profiles
modelling.

Figure 1: Geotectonic framework of the SubSaharian Western African margins overlaid onto the Total
Horizontal Gravity Gradient map (THG). The outer green line delimits the Oceanic Domain and the black line
the Proximal Domain. Geological map based on DE WIT et al. (1988) with ages of the main geotectonic
provinces.

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 Gravity maps of total horizontal gradient of Bouguer Anomaly, total horizontal gradient of Bouguer
Anomaly presented with a cutoff at 5.019E and tilt derivative Bouguer Anomaly are useful to constrain the limits
of the oceanic domain along all these margins. In the region of the Namibe Basin, regional maps of the tilt
derivative of the Bouguer Anomaly, the total magnetic field and the first derivative of the total magnetic field
support the interpretation that the Outer Domain of the magma-rich margin could continue northward from the
Walvis Ridge features.
Moreover, the residual Bouguer Anomaly map together with the total magnetic field and its first vertical
derivative suggest that some region in the Oceanic Domain appear characteristics that regard the continental
crust.
Gravity modeling across the transition zone between distinct margin types (magma-rich, magma-poor
and transform) suggests different mantle regions with density values that may be associated with the occurrence
of changing mechanisms of rifting (e.g. extraction processes of magma) or may be related to inherited structures
as indicated by onshore geological observations.

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The structural framework of the margins revealed, as predict, a systematic oceanward succession of their
structural domains (proximal, necking, distal, outer and oceanic). Not necessarily in the same order, taking in
account the distinct aspects of the environment that they were generated.
The magma-rich margin shows typical characteristics of this setting, as exhibiting an expressive
magmatic sequence (SDR) related to Outer Domain. The available seismic survey, supported by regional
potential field data, suggests that this Outer Domain continues northward from the Walvis Ridge features,
tending to disappear near the Sumbe Chain feature while the development of the structural domains of the
magma-poor margin is observed.
The Distal Domain of the magma-poor margin displays a broad hyperextended continental crust (Fig.
02). In map view, it exhibits along-strike boundary discontinuity zones where in the Total Horizontal Gravity
Gradient map these areas appear as the strong positive gradient. Once in seismic profiles, they show high-
amplitude seismic facies. These areas were interpreted as the result of large amount of magmatic additions.
The Proximal Domain of this margin also shows particularities exhibiting rift magmatism mainly in
southwards. In map view, this magmatic event is also laterally discontinuous and a probable interplay with
basement features as the Malange uplift and the Ambriz arc. We believe that these features act in rifted margins
as strong, stable lithosphere regions among intense syn-rift magmatic emplacement.
In this magma-poor margin there is no evidence of Outer Domain occurrence. The Oceanic Domain of
this margin exhibits a diversity of seismic pattern and some regions have characteristics that regard the
continental crust. In a regional context, the influence of this continental signature could be observed along all
rifted margin. The Total Horizontal Gravity Gradient map shows it as a region with smooth texture, not affected
by oceanic fracture zones. This region shows a pattern that differs from the expected signature for a normal
oceanic lithospheric region. The observations pointed out above suggested the presence of microcontinents.
The proposed continental-oceanic boundary (oceanward boundary of the last continental crust) in the
region of Namibe Basin, transitional zone between magma-rich and magma-poor margins, applied over the
tightest possible reconstruction continental blocks before the break-up (~133 Ma by MOULIN et al. (2010)
shows a best fit between South Atlantic coast lines implying a drastic reduction of the gap resulting from the
extension in this region. In this model, less amount of horizontal movement during the extension of the crust is
needed to accommodate the continental portion, which is in agreement with the recent geological observations in
this region. In the evolution of the breakup process, the Martin Vaz could have played a major role as the
continuity of a probable strike-slip fault that might limit the north portion of the Outer Domain, contact between
the Outer Domain and Ocean Domain in this region. Another relevant point addressed by the model is the fact
that this new board displays the same inflection verified in the Paraná Igneous Province, in this region of the
South American block.
We show that the potential field data can support the interpreted lateral continuity of the structural
domains, since this kind of data have a wide coverage in comparison with the seismic data. Furthermore, it is

331
 useful to point out some geophysical characteristics of the transition zones amongst the different types of
margins, and to propose a crustal structural model for them. To make the model more robust, we analyze the
response of the gravimetric and magnetometric profiles along the representative 2D regional seismic lines. The
2D gravity modeling was used to validate the proposed framework and as a tool to propose crustal structural
models for the distinct margin types found along the SubSaharian Western African Margins.

Figure 2: EW 2D depth seismic profile showing the main tectonic domains interpreted at magma-poor margin
between offshore Gabon and Angola. Interpreted horizons: light blue – sea bottom, brown – top of the Aptian
(?), light pink – salt, purple – top of the rift magmatism – SDRs (?), red – crystalline basement, pink - Moho.
The green line reflects regions affected by magmatic additions. In map view, the yellow line shows the location
of this line.

Acknowledgements: This article is part of PhD thesis carried out at UERJ. We thank all the professors involved in the
courses taken, the managers of Petrobras and the colleague Adriano Viana for encouraging the research and the full support
of the implementation of this PhD thesis. We also wish to thank ION and PGS for permission to include 2D Africa seismic
data in this work and Caesar Rigoti that prepared the figure to illustrate a specific situation in plate reconstruction model.

REFERENCES
ARAGÃO, M.A.N.F. (2016). Arcabouço estrutural, geometria e estrutura crustal das margens rifteadas do Oeste Africano
SubSaariano. Tese de Doutorado, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 183p.

MAUS, S. et al. (2009). EMAG2: A 2-arc-minute resolution Earth Magnetic Anomaly Grid compiled from satellite,
airborne and marine magnetic measurements. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, [S.I.], 10, Q08005.

MOULIN, M., ASLANIAN, D., UNTERNEHR, P. (2010). A new starting point for the South and Equatorial Atlantic
Ocean. Earth-Science Review, 98, 1-37.

PÉRON-PINVIDIC, G., MANATSCHAL, G., OSMUNDSEN, P.T. (2013). Structural comparison of archetypal Atlantic
rifted margins: A review of observations and concepts. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 43, 21-47.

SMITH, W.H.F. & SANDWELL, D.T. (1997). Global seafloor topography from satellite altimetry and ship depth
soundings. Science, [S.I.], 277, 1957-1962.

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