Z. Benavraham et al., EARLY TECTONIC EXTENSION BETWEEN THE AGULHAS BANK AND THE FALKLAND PLATEAU DUE TO THE ROTATION OF THE LAFONIA MICROPLATE, Earth and planetary science letters, 117(1-2), 1993, pp. 43-58
Along the Southeast African continental margin, a deep sedimentary bas
in and marginal ridge bordering the Agulhas Fracture Zone formed coeva
lly with South American counterparts underlying the Falkland Plateau.
Extension in both the Southern Outeniqua and the Falkland basin is rel
ated to large-angle (approximately 100-degrees) rotation of the Lafoni
a (Falkland Islands) block in Middle-Late Jurassic times, during attem
pted propagation of the proto-Indian Ocean across the active circum-Pa
cific margin of Gondwanaland. In the Early Cretaceous, the Jurassic mi
croplate boundaries were partly reactivated, and partly transected by
a right-lateral shear along the approximately 1200 km long Falkland-Ag
ulhas transform fault. Preceded by substantial vorticity of the surrou
nding crustal blocks, this boundary segment separating the South Ameri
can and African plates was probably generated by complex geodynamic in
teractions between oceanic plate subduction, continental to back-arc r
ift propagation, and the impingement of deep mantle plumes on the lith
osphere.