Propagating rifts and continental breakup

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Abstract
A simple quantitative model is proposed whereby continental breakup starts with a phase of continental rifting and continues with the propagation of rifts toward locked zones. These zones are deformed in the rifting process while oceanic crust is generated in the wake of the rift tip. The deformed zones will cause overlaps when a continental reassembly is attempted. The model accounts for the shape and distribution of magnetic quiet zones at ocean‐continent boundaries and for the detailed geometry of some V‐shaped zones of oceanic magnetic anomalies. The former provide an estimate of the scale at which the hypothesis of rigid plates fails, and the latter are used to measure the velocity of rift propagation. Illustrations are provided for present rifting in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and for early rifting of the South Atlantic and breakup of Pangea.

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