Magmatic ocean-continent transitions

Abstract Continental extension may, or may not, be coeval with significant mantle melting, leading to the formation of distinct types of passive margins (respectively magma-poor or volcanic), with distinct crustal structures. Especially in inter-cratonic mobile areas, magmatic breakup and development of volcanic passive margins (VPMs) may postdate the early development of a non-magmatic continental rift system. The time-span between the amagmatic and the magmatic systems may be relatively short or, conversely, long (tens of millions years). Such evolution is often associated with a significant apparent asymmetry in the wideness of conjugate VPMs. In this paper, we attempt to re-interpret the structure of three paired VPMs which developed close to, but separately from, a previous amagmatic aborted rift system. Due to opposite dips in major crustal detachment faults accommodating extension from sedimentary to volcanic stages, those composite margins tend to individualize a fault-dissected continental block (here designed as L-Block) along one of the conjugate margins. In addition to the amount and distribution of amagmatic extension, the time-span between amagmatic and magmatic extension exerts a major structural and rheological control on the final structure of the ocean-continent transitions. The finite margin geometry may be erroneously interpreted as resulting from a continuous process from hyperextension to the final magmatic breakup. However, the early syn-sedimentary extension appears, in many cases, to be low-rate or episodic. Consequently, the VPM final breakup of the lithosphere may shift away from the original amagmatic stretched area to the rifted margin.