Research Article| February 01, 1983 Sirte Basin, north-central Libya: Cretaceous rifting above a fixed mantle hotspot? Franklyn B. Van Houten Franklyn B. Van Houten 1Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Franklyn B. Van Houten 1Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1983) 11 (2): 115–118. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1983)11<115:SBNLCR>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Franklyn B. Van Houten; Sirte Basin, north-central Libya: Cretaceous rifting above a fixed mantle hotspot?. Geology 1983;; 11 (2): 115–118. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1983)11<115:SBNLCR>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The complex pattern of horsts and grabens in the Sirte Basin may have developed when Mesozoic drift of the African plate put north-central Libya over a fixed mantle hotspot in Early Cretaceous time (140 to 100 m.y. ago). Significant change in the motion of the plate during the prolonged residence above a hypothetical Cameroon plume may have produced stress that fragmented thinned and weakened lithosphere. Successive uplift and subsidence along a reconstructed track of the plume, as well as in the Sirte Basin, are compatible with predicted effects of the drift of northern Africa over a fixed mantle hotspot. This speculation suggests a plausible alternative to the possibility that rifting throughout northern Africa in Early Cretaceous time may have been produced along a wide zone of extension between two African plates when they were at rest relative to underlying plumes. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
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Franklyn B. Van Houten (1983) studied this question.