| Publications | | » | 41. R2K Advances in Seismic Imaging
Oceanography, 2012
 | | » | 40. R2K Seismic Studies
Oceanography, 2012
| | » | 39. Melt bodies off the EPR
Nature Geoscience, 2012
| | » | 38. JdF Plate: Gravity structure
G-cubed, 2011
| | » | 37. JdF Plate: Layer 2B structure
G-cubed, 2011
| | » | 36. Kane waveform tomography
GRL, 2010
| | » | 35. Kane Oceanic Core Complex
G-cubed, 2009
| | » | 34. Geophysical signatures of oceanic core complexes
GJI, 2009
| | » | 33. Accretion of the lower crust
Nature, 2009
| | » | 32. Faulting of the Juan de Fuca plate
EPSL, 2009
| | » | 31. Axial topography os the Galapagos Spreading Center
G-cubed, 2008
| | » | 30. Juan de Fuca Ridge flanks
G-cubed, 2008
| | » | 29. Seismic structure of oceanic core complexes
G-cubed, 2008
| | » | 28. Juan de Fuca Ridge: structure and hotspots
G-cubed, 2008
| | » | 27. Structure of the TAG segment, Mid-Atlantic Ridge
G-cubed, 2007
| | » | 26. Detachment faulting at TAG, Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Geology, 2007
| | » | 25. Structure of the Endeavour segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge
JGR, 2007
| | » | 24. Magma beneath Lucky Strike Hydrothermal Field
Nature, 2006
| | » | 23. Magma chamber of the Cleft segment, Juan de Fuca Ridge
EPSL, 2006
| | » | 22. Topography and magmatism at the Juan de Fuca Ridge
Geology, 2006
| | » | 21. Structure of the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge
JGR, 2005
| | » | 20. Sub-crustal magma lenses
Nature, 2005
| | » | 19. Constructing the crust at the Galapagos Spreading Center
JGR, 2004
| | » | 18. Atlantis core complex
EPSL, 2004
| | » | 17. Morphology of the Galapagos Spreading Center
G-cubed, 2003
| | » | 16. Crustal structure of the East Pacific Rise
GJI, 2003
| | » | 15. Plume-ridge interaction along the Galapagos Spreading Center
G-cubed, 2002
| | » | 14. Compensation of the Galapagos swellEPSL, 2002
| | » | 13. Structure of Tenerife, Canary Islands
JVGR, 2000
| | » | 12. Underplating in the Canary Islands
JVGR, 2000
| | » | 11. Structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MARK, 23?20'N)
JGR, 2000
| | » | 10. Structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (35?N)
JGR, 2000
| | » | 9. Structure of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
J. Geodyn., 1999
| | » | 8. Structure of overlapping spreading centers in the MELT area
GRL, 1998
| | » | 7. Crustal thickness in the MELT area
Science, 1998
| | » | 6. The MELT experiment
Science, 1998
| | » | 5. The Canary Islands swell
GJI, 1998
| | » | 4. Morphology of the Galapagos Spreading Center
JGR, 1997
| | » | 3. Faulting of slow-spreading oceanic crust
Geology, 1997
| | » | 2. Flexure beneath Tenerife, Canary Islands
EPSL, 1997
| | » | 1. Elastic thickness in the Canary Islands
GRL, 1994
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Canales, J.P., R.S. Detrick, J. Lin, J.A. Collins and D.R. Toomey, Crustal and upper mantle seismic structure beneath the rift mountains and across a non-transform offset at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (35?N), J. Geophys. Res., 105, 2699-2719, 2000
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Abstract
We present new results on the crustal and upper mantle structure beneath the rift mountains along two segments of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and across a nontransform offset (NTO). Our results were obtained from a combination of forward modeling and two-dimensional tomographic inversion of wide-angle seismic refraction data and gravity modeling. The study area includes two segments: OH-1 between the Oceanographer fracture zone and the NTO-1 at 34?35'N and OH-2 between NTO-1 and the NTO at 34?10'N. The center of OH-1 is characterized by anomalously thick crust (~8 km) with a thick Moho transition zone with Vp=7.2-7.6 km/s. This transition zone, coincident with a gravity low, is probably composed of gabbro sills alternating with dunites, as observed in some ophiolites. OH-1 has larger along-axis crustal thickness variations than OH-2, but average crustal thicknesses are similar (6.0?1.2 km at OH-1, 6.1?0.7 at OH-2). Thus we do not find significant differences in magma supply between these segments, in contrast to what has been inferred from morphological and gravity studies. At both segments the shoaling of the Moho is more rapid at the inside than at the outside corners, consistent with models in which the inside-corner crust is tectonically modified. The structural differences between inside- and outside-corner crust are more apparent at OH-2, suggesting that the extrusive layer is thinner at the inside corner of OH-2 than at the inside corner of OH-1, probably due to differences in axial morphology and along-axis magma transport. NTO-1 is characterized by a nearly constant velocity gradient within the upper 5 km and low upper mantle velocities (7.4-7.8 km/s). The anomalous structure beneath NTO-1 is interpreted as fractured mafic crust. The P wave velocities and densities required to match the gravity data suggest that serpentinites are common beneath the NTO-1 and possibly beneath the inside corners. Serpentinization could be as much as 40% at ~3.8 km below seafloor and probably does not occur at subseafloor depths greater than ~6.2 km at the NTO-1. Our results indicate that in a slow spreading environment where magmatism and tectonism are equally important, the seismic Moho cannot be correlated with an unique geological structure. At the center of a segment the seismic Moho may represent the lower boundary of an interlayered grabbro-dunite transition zone, while beneath the inside corner and NTO where the crust is thinner, it may correspond to an alteration front. |
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