South Scandinavian joints and Alpine/Atlantic-ridge tectonics

Abstract

Field observations and studies of the joints and dykes in an area shed light on its younger tectonic development; thus, joint orientations measured in Southern Sweden and in Norway have been statistically studied and compared regarding their tectonic significance with studies from Europe and the mid-Atlantic ridge. The present investigation indicates that the surface joint systems in Sweden agree with those in Europe; they are the result of the intracratonic stress field and the mechanical response associated with the Alpine orogeny. The stress systems in Southern Norway, on the other hand, are the result of the ongoing extensional or wrench-fault tectonism in the Atlantic crust associated with the stresses near the mid-Atlantic ridge, which act normally to the contiguous coastlines from Scandinavia to France, Portugal and North Africa.