SPREADING RATE OF THE SEA-FLOOR IN THE RE D SEA-ADEN REGION BY GEOMAGNETIC AND GEOTHERMAL DATA

Peculiarities of tectonic structure of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Ade n reflecting different stages of development of these areas are discus sed. The specifics of the geophysical fields of the Red Sea-Aden regio n are caused by the character of seafloor spreading. Factors hindering determination of the average rate of spreading by geomagnetic surveys are pointed out. The methods of applying heat flow data for computing the average rate of spreading are considered. The results of measurem ents of the magnetic field and heat flow carried out by the authors in the 41 cruise of the R/V ''Vityaz'' and the 3 cruise of the ''Profess or Shtokman'' are presented. The efficiency of the combined analysis o f geomagnetic and geothermal data for enhancing the reliability of cal culations of the average rate of seafloor spreading (approximately 2 c m/a) in the Owen basin is shown. The age as 14 million years of the Ow en basin lithosphere was calculated.