Mcnutt, M. K. | Search NASA

NASA NTRS1993

Implications of new gravity data for Baikal Rift zone structure

Newly available, 2D Bouguer gravity anomaly data from the Baikal Rift zone, Siberia, indicate that this discrete, intracontinental rift system is regionally compensated by an elastic plate about 50 km thick. However, spectral and spatial domain analyses and isostatic anomaly calculations show that simple elastic plate theory does not offer an adequate explanation for compensation in the rift zone, probably because of significant lateral variations in plate strength and the presence of subsurface loads. Our results and other geophysical observations support the interpretation that the Baikal Rift zone is colder than either the East African or Rio Grande rift.

Ruppel, C.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Bathymetric prediction from Seasat altimeter data

The linear response function technique is used to analyze two 1300 km tracks of Seasat altimeter data and corresponding bathymetry in the Musician Seamounts region north of Hawaii. A predictive filter is developed which can operate on Seasat altimetry in poorly surveyed oceanic regions to indicate the presence of major bathymetric anomalies. Modelling of the bathymetry-geoid correlation in the Musician region is attempted using the elastic plate model. The flexural rigidity of the plate is not well constrained by the data but appears to be in the range 5 x 10 to the 21st N m up to 5 x 10 to the 22nd N m at the time of loading. Since the Musician Seamounts and the crust on which they lie are both Late Cretaceous in age, this value represents the effective flexural rigidity of very young lithosphere that was 'frozen in' at the time of volcanism. The modelling indicates that the general form of a predictive filter will strongly depend on various geologic parameters, especially the effective flexural rigidity.

Dixon, T. H.↗