2-D and 3-D Geodynamic modoelling results: Rheological inheritance and rift segmentation in the Labrador Sea
Description
Here, we use observations from the Labrador Sea to constrain thermal-mechanical simulations of continental rifting. The aimis to investigate the effects of inherited variable lithospheric properties on margin segmentation. These 2-D and 3-D models demonstrate that N-S variations in lithospheric thickness, crustal structure, and rheology within the pre-rift Canadian Shield produce sharp gradients in rifted margin width and the timing of breakup, leading to strong margin segmentation during rifting and continental breakup. See our preprint (DOI) and the peer-reviewed paper (DOI) for more details.
Files
Steps to reproduce
We model the thermal-mechanical evolution of continental extension in a heterogeneous initial lithosphere using the open-source and CIG-supported finite element code ASPECT version 2.0.1-pre. The ASPECT version and parameter files required to reproduce our experiments can be found in the following GitHub branch: https://github.com/naliboff/aspect/tree/labrador_sea_gouiza_naliboff_2020.