Curie Depth and geothermal heat flux of the Scotia Sea

This evolution is determined by the underlying asthenospheric mantle. Estimation of the Curie Depth variations in the Scotia Sea by using a spectral approach and applied on magnetic anomaly data led us to determine a thermal model and derive a heat flux map.

Using multichannel seismic and bathymetry data, we show that the West Scotia Sea reaches thermal equilibrium more quickly than other oceans do and thermally behaves like old oceanic crust in large oceans, following a different empirical age (t, in Ma) - depth (d, in m) relationship, d(t)=4480-19380exp(-t⁄4). For oceanic crusts of the same age, underlain by different shallow mantle controlling the heat supply, low heat flux values imply older ages than those predicted for large oceans based on the empirical relationships of the standard plate model.