Slow Seafloor Spreading History Off Southern Australia

A compilation of seafloor spreading magnetic data confirms the pattern of continental separation between Australia and Antarctica. The dataset includes critical data collected during the 1986 R/V Rig Seismic cruise and characterizes a phase of slow spreading with half-rates below 4.4 mm/year. This work was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Modeling plate tectonic kinematics by analyzing spreading half-rates and separation azimuths (e.g., 335°, 360°) over time.
• Interpreting magnetic anomaly data (e.g., anomalies A20, A21) to date and reconstruct seafloor spreading events.
• Studying the response of slow spreading systems to oblique continental boundaries by comparing spreading isochron azimuths (e.g., 090°, 075°) with separation azimuths.
• Correlating ridge jump events between 131.25° E and Tasmania with the offset in the Australia-Antarctica separation line.

Strengths

• Includes critical magnetic data from the 1986 R/V Rig Seismic research cruise.
• Covers the entire southern margin of Australia for a comprehensive regional analysis.
• Provides temporal coverage from breakup at 96 Ma to A20 time at 44.5 Ma, spanning over 50 million years.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and data formats (beyond HTML/PDF) are not provided, limiting immediate technical assessment.
• The core data appears embedded within published journal articles, which may require extraction for computational analysis.
• The update date (2026) appears to be a platform artifact; the underlying research and data collection are historical (1986 cruise).

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Compilation of seafloor spreading magnetic data, including from the 1986 R/V Rig Seismic cruise.

Time Range

From continental breakup at 96 Ma (mid-Cretaceous) to A20 time at 44.5 Ma.

Freshness

null

Geography

Southern margin of Australia, between 129° E and 131.75° E, extending to Tasmania.