The Structural Zoning of the African–Antarctic Sector of the Southern Ocean Based on the Analysis of Anomalous Gravity and Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The African–Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean is the least studied part of the World Ocean; its structure and evolution of the tectonosphere remains debatable. The complex development history of the region under study, accompanied by manifestations of intense magmatic and tectonic activity, has contributed to the formation of a number of large underwater ridges and rises. Identifying the features of the deep structure of the tectonosphere on the basis of the analysis of geophysical information and understanding the geodynamic nature of the morphostructures of the region under study is an urgent problem of marine geophysics and geodynamics. The structural analysis of the anomalous gravity and magnetic fields of the studied region was carried out. Zoning scheme by the anomalous fields as well as a generalized scheme have been constructed. The results of these studies made it possible to identify heterogeneous blocks of the lithosphere, which were formed on different spreading ridges and are separated by submarine rises.