Wide‐angle seismic imaging of two modes of crustal accretion in mature Atlantic Ocean crust
File(s)2019JB019100.pdf (19.34 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Davy, Richard
Collier, JS
Henstock, TJ
the VoiLA consortium
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We present a high‐resolution 2‐D P‐wave velocity model from a 225 km long active seismic profile, collected over ~60‐75 Ma central Atlantic crust. The profile crosses five ridge segments separated by a transform and three non‐transform offsets. All ridge discontinuities share similar primary characteristics, independent of the offset. We identify two types of crustal segment. The first displays a classic two‐layer velocity structure with a high gradient layer 2 (~0.9 s‐1) above a lower gradient layer 3 (0.2 s‐1). Here PmP coincides with the 7.5 km s‐1 contour and velocity increases to >7.8 km s‐1 within 1 km below. We interpret these segments as magmatically‐robust, with PmP representing a petrological boundary between crust and mantle. The second has a reduced contrast in velocity gradient between upper and lower crust, and PmP shallower than the 7.5 km s‐1 contour. We interpret these segments as tectonically dominated, with PmP representing a serpentinized (alteration) front. Whilst velocity depth profiles fit within previous envelopes for slow‐spreading crust, our results suggest that such generalizations give a misleading impression of uniformity. We estimate that the two crustal styles are present in equal proportions on the floor of the Atlantic. Within two tectonically dominated segments we make the first wide‐angle seismic identifications of buried oceanic core complexes in mature (> 20 Ma) Atlantic Ocean crust. They have a ~20 km wide “domal” morphology with shallow basement and increased upper‐crustal velocities. We interpret their mid‐crustal seismic velocity inversions as alteration and rock‐type assemblage contrasts across crustal‐scale detachment faults.
Date Issued
2020-06-20
Date Acceptance
2020-04-16
Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2020, 125 (6), pp.1-21
ISSN
2169-9313
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Start Page
1
End Page
21
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Volume
125
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
©2020. The Authors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Identifier
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JB019100
Grant Number
NE/K010743/1
Subjects
0402 Geochemistry
0403 Geology
0404 Geophysics
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-04-28