The Seychelles Microcontinent (SMc) is a fragment of continental lithosphere that experienced multiple phases of rifting and thermal subsidence during its isolation and submergence within the Indian Ocean. Originally part of central Gondwana, along with India and Madagascar, the SMc first emerged during Mesozoic fragmentation of Gondwana (ca. 220 – 180 Ma) along a complex rifted margin. Fragmentation involved three major rift phases, viz.: 1) Middle Triassic – Middle Jurassic (Rift I), associated with the “Karoo rifts” and break-up between [India-Madagascar-Seychelles] and East Africa; 2) Middle Jurassic – Early Cretaceous (Rift II), associated with the rifting and break-up of Madagascar from [India-Seychelles]; 3) Late Cretaceous (Rift III), associated with the rifting and final break-away of the SMc from India. In this study, the tectonic and sedimentary history of the SMc is analysed using 2D seismic reflection datasets and three exploration wells. Seismic to well-log correlations provide a chrono-stratigraphic framework that identifies seven sequences from the Middle Triassic to the Paleogene. This also identified horst and graben structures related to the extensional tectonics and thermal subsidence of this continental fragment. The latter is reflected also in changes of its litho-facies preserved on the SMc, from terrestrial to marine. The oldest sedimentary rocks identified on the SMc are Middle Triassic organic rich claystones (Sequence 7, Rift I), which grade upwards into alternating Upper Triassic sandstones and mudstones (Sequence 6, Rift I) followed by upward coarsening Lower Jurassic mudstones to sandstone units (Sequence 5, Rift I). These sequences are interpreted as lacustrine facies that evolved into fluvial channel migration facies and finally into progradational delta front facies. Sequence 5 is overlain by Middle Jurassic oolitic limestones that grade upwards into organic rich mudstones (Sequence 4, thermal subsidence after Rift I); the latter are interpreted as restricted-marginal marine deposits. Following Sequence 4, separated by a major break-up unconformity (BU), are the Upper Cretaceous open marine deposits comprising limestones, claystones and sandstones, and terminated with basaltic volcanics (ca. 66 Ma) prior to the separation of the SMc from India (Sequence 3, Rift III). This is overlain by the post-rift – thermal subsidence sequences comprising open marine claystones and shelf limestones (Sequence 2) followed by a sequence of shelf limestones (Sequence 1) that form the present carbonate platform, the Seychelles Plateau that lies approximately 200 m below the present sea-level. Backstripping and subsidence analysis quantifies 3 stages of subsidence; Phase A: Slow subsidence (ca. 5-20 m/Ma), from the Middle Jurassic to the Upper Cretaceous that terminated during a major marine transgression during ingression of the Tethys Sea between East Africa and [Madagascar-Seychelles-India]. This created marine conditions and the subsequent deposition of Sequences 4 and 3; Phase B: Accelerated subsidence (ca. 35-60 m/Ma) recorded throughout the Paleocene to the middle Eocene leading to deeper marine conditions and the subsequent deposition of Sequence 2; and Phase C: Reduced subsidence (ca. 10-30 m/Ma) following the interaction between the Carlsberg Ridge and the Reunion hotspot (ca. 55 Ma) that possibly introduced a reduction in subsidence and the subsequent deposition of Sequence 1 as the SMc drifted and thermally subsided to its submerged present location, and is now dominated mainly by marine carbonates. The effects of the Madagascar and Seychelles/India separation (ca. 84 Ma) are not observed in the subsidence analysis, possibly because it involved transcurrent-rotational movement between the two plates over a short period of time.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:20593 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Mondon, Jean-Luc Andre |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Science |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MSc |
| Format | xiv, 166 leaves: color illustrations, maps, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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