While the offshore Irish Atlantic margin and related rift basins have been intensively studied for several decades, the Porcupine Bank, straddling between the well-studied Porcupine and Rockall basins, is a poorly understood region due to lacking sufficient geophysical data coverage. In this study, ten newly acquired long-offset multichannel seismic profiles extending across the western Porcupine Bank margin, combined with potential field data, are used to investigate the crustal architecture, tectonic history, and rift-related magmatism along the margin. Significant margin-parallel and margin-perpendicular structural variations are observed and these are used to map the crustal architecture in terms of rifted margin domains. In the transitional zone between continental and oceanic crust, both peridotite ridges with shallow reflective basement and exhumed serpentinized mantle with deeper and smoother basement are interpreted, similar to the conjugate Iberian and Newfoundland margins, as well as further south at the Goban Spur margin. In addition to inferred variations in extension rate during poly-phased rifting episodes, the reactivation of pre-existing inherited Caledonian and Variscan structural fabrics are proposed to have influenced the variable geometries and distributions of the crustal domains along the Porcupine Atlantic margin. Northwestward increasing volcanism and related reflectivity patterns support the transition from magma-poor rifting in the southeast to magma-rich rifting in the northwest. Rigid plate reconstructions of the Irish Atlantic and the Newfoundland margins, particularly involving the Flemish Cap, back to the Early Campanian period, show asymmetric rifting and final continental breakup migrating toward the Porcupine Bank region. This asymmetry is possibly due to oblique extension between the two margins, and/or oblique deformation on the Porcupine Bank side due to its rotation during the opening of the Porcupine Basin.

尽管已经对爱尔兰近海大西洋边缘和相关裂谷盆地进行了数十年的深入研究，但由于缺乏足够的地球物理数据覆盖范围，横跨研究广泛的豪猪盆地和洛考尔盆地之间的豪猪银行是一个鲜为人知的地区。在这项研究中，利用十个新近获得的，横跨豪猪河西岸边缘的长偏移多通道地震剖面，结合潜在的现场数据，用于研究沿该边缘的地壳构造，构造历史和与裂谷有关的岩浆作用。观察到显着的边缘平行和边缘垂直结构变化，这些变化用于根据裂谷边缘域绘制地壳构造图。在大陆壳和海洋壳之间的过渡带，解释了具有浅反射基底的橄榄岩山脊和具有更深，更光滑基底的发掘出的蛇纹石化地幔，类似于共轭的伊比利亚边缘和纽芬兰边缘，以及戈班斯普尔边缘的更南端。除了可以推断出多相裂谷过程中扩展速率的变化外，还提出了重新激活先前继承的喀里多尼亚和Variscan结构性织物的方法，以影响沿豪猪大西洋边缘地壳区域的可变几何形状和分布。西北向增加的火山作用和相关的反射率模式支持从东南部的岩浆贫乏裂谷向西北部的富岩浆裂谷过渡。爱尔兰大西洋和纽芬兰边缘的刚性板块重建，特别是法兰德斯海峡，回到坎帕尼亚早期，显示不对称裂谷和最终大陆分裂向豪猪银行地区迁移。这种不对称性可能是由于两个边缘之间的倾​​斜延伸和/或由于在豪猪盆地开放期间其旋转导致的豪猪岸侧的倾斜变形。