Fracture zones across the Cape Verde Rise, NE Atlantic

Abstract

More accurate locations have been made for 13 fracture zones across the Cape Verde Rise and four previously unknown fracture zones mapped. Evidence for their existence is from analysis of the M series of magnetic anomalies together with evidence from seismic reflection profiles where these data exist. The Cape Verde Islands themselves lie among a series of five fracture zones. The continuity of magnetic lineations and fracture zones across the region of the Cape Verde Islands indicates not only that the islands lie on oceanic crust but also that the original Mesozoic seafloor features and magnetization persist and were not obliterated by the Neogene reheating, uplift and volcanism.