Lithospheric S-velocity structure of the on-shore Potiguar Basin, NE Brazil: High heat-flow in an aborted rift

Abstract

The lithospheric structure of the on-shore Potiguar Basin has been investigated through velocity-depth profiles developed from the joint inversion of receiver functions and surface-wave dispersion at 16 seismic stations in and around the basin. The Potiguar Basin is an aborted rift basin that formed during the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean in the Lower Cretaceous, and is characterized by an unusual surface heat-flow with values as high as 101 mW/m². Our results reveal: (i) A relatively thin crust of ∼30 km below the on-shore Potiguar Basin and a relatively thicker crust of ∼32 km around the basin; (ii) the existence of an anomalous uppermost mantle of ∼4.3 km/s at 30–40 km depth under most seismic stations; and (iii) the presence of a negative velocity gradient centered at ∼125 km depth, which probably represents a shallow Lithosphere Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB). We argue that the anomalous uppermost mantle is associated with magmatic intrusions just below the Moho, deeper than previously postulated from independent heat-flow studies, and that those intrusions result from heating by an active, hot sublithospheric mantle under the basin that keeps the lithosphere thin. We further argue that heating from the magmatic intrusions, along with direct heating from the sublithospheric mantle, may explain the unusually elevated heat flow observed at the surface.