The morphology and tectonics of the Mark area from Sea Beam and Sea MARC I observations (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 23° N)

High-resolution Sea Beam bathymetry and Sea MARC I side scan sonar data have been obtained in the MARK area, a 100-km-long portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift valley south of the Kane Fracture Zone. These data reveal a surprisingly complex rift valley structure that is composed of two distinct spreading cells which overlap to create a small, zero-offset transform or discordant zone. The northern spreading cell consists of a magmatically robust, active ridge segment 40–50 km in length that extends from the eastern Kane ridge-transform intersection south to about 23°12′ N. The rift valley in this area is dominated by a large constructional volcanic ridge that creates 200–500 m of relief and is associated with high-temperature hydrothermal activity. The southern spreading cell is characterized by a NNE-trending band of small (50–200 m high), conical volcanos that are built upon relatively old, fissured and sediment-covered lavas, and which in some cases are themselves fissured and faulted. This cell appears to be in a predominantly extensional phase with only small, isolated eruptions. These two spreading cells overlap in an anomalous zone between 23°05′ N and 23°17′ N that lacks a well-developed rift valley or neovolcanic zone, and may represent a slow-spreading ridge analogue to the overlapping spreading centers found at the East Pacific Rise. Despite the complexity of the MARK area, volcanic and tectonic activity appears to be confined to the 10–17 km wide rift valley floor. Block faulting along near-vertical, small-offset normal faults, accompanied by minor amounts of back-tilting (generally less than 5°), begins within a few km of the ridge axis and is largely completed by the time the crust is transported up into the rift valley walls. Features that appear to be constructional volcanic ridges formed in the median valley are preserved largely intact in the rift mountains. Mass-wasting and gullying of scarp faces, and sedimentation which buries low-relief seafloor features, are the major geological processes occurring outside of the rift valley. The morphological and structural heterogeneity within the MARK rift valley and in the flanking rift mountains documented in this study are largely the product of two spreading cells that evolve independently to the interplay between extensional tectonism and episodic variations in magma production rates.     

Tectonics of ridge-transform intersections at the Kane fracture zone

The Kane Transform offsets spreading-center segments of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by about 150 km at 24° N latitude. In terms of its first-order morphological, geological, and geophysical characteristics it appears to be typical of long-offset (>100 km), slow-slipping (2 cm yr^-1) ridge-ridge transform faults. High-resolution geological observations were made from deep-towed ANGUS photographs and the manned submersible ALVIN at the ridge-transform intersections and indicate similar relationships in these two regions. These data indicate that over a distance of about 20 km as the spreading axes approach the fracture zone, the two flanks of each ridge axis behave in very different ways. Along the flanks that intersect the active transform zone the rift valley floor deepens and the surface expression of volcanism becomes increasingly narrow and eventually absent at the intersection where only a sediment-covered ‘nodal basin’ exists. The adjacent median valley walls have structural trends that are oblique to both the ridge and the transform and have as much as 4 km of relief. These are tectonically active regions that have only a thin (<200 m), highly fractured, and discontinuous carapace of volcanic rocks overlying a variably deformed and metamorphosed assemblage of gabbroic rocks. Overprinting relationships reveal a complex history of crustal extension and rapid vertical uplift. In contrast, the opposing flanks of the ridge axes, that intersect the non-transform zones appear to be similar in many respects to those examined elsewhere along slow-spreading ridges. In general, a near-axial horst and graben terrain floored by relatively young volcanics passes laterally into median valley walls with a simple block-faulted character where only volcanic rocks have been found. Along strike toward the fracture zone, the youngest volcanics form linear constructional volcanic ridges that transect the entire width of the fracture zone valley. These volcanics are continuous with the older-looking, slightly faulted volcanic terrain that floors the non-transform fracture zone valleys. These observations document the asymmetric nature of seafloor spreading near ridge-transform intersections. An important implication is that the crust and lithosphere across different portions of the fracture zone will have different geological characteristics. Across the active transform zone two lithosphere plate edges formed at ridge-transform corners are faulted against one another. In the non-transform zones a relatively younger section of lithosphere that formed at a ridge-non-transform corner is welded to an older, deformed section that initially formed at a ridge-transform corner.     

A geological transect across the crest of the East Pacific Rise at 21°N latitude made from the deep submersible ALVIN

This paper is a report of geological observations made using the submersible ALVIN on the crest of the East Pacific Rise near 21°N. The profile is 6 km long and crosses a 5–10 km wide plateau which rises 100 m±above the rise flanks. At the axis are exposed fresh glassy pillow lavas with no sediment accumulation in a region termed the neovolcanic zone. This zone is about one kilometer wide and includes elongate ridges of pillow lavas and seventeen hydrothermal vent fields in the study area. Outside the neovolcanic zone the seafloor is extensively fissured in another zone which is up to two kilometers wide. The neovolcanic zone and the fissured zone are included within a rift valley or graben about 3 to 5 km wide and 50 m±deep. This rift valley is asymmetrically located on the west side of the axial plateau; the neovolcanic zone in the study area is asymmetrically located on the east side of the rift graben. Fissured crust is not common outside the rift graben or in the neovolcanic zone; similarly, large throw faults such as those which form the edges of the graben are not found outside of it. These observations can be interpreted according to a volcanic-tectonic cycle in which volcanic eruptions and hydrothermal circulation are followed by a tectonic phase which includes fissuring and vertical movements. When a new cycle starts it may involve a lateral shift of the spreading axis. Lavas along the dive profile are suggested to be no older than a few thousand years based on sediment accumulation. In contrast, seafloor spreading rates here predict crust up to 10⁵ yr old. This observation suggests that lavas from the neovolcanic zone can spread laterally about a kilometer or more and overlap on older crust.     

Geophysical investigations over a segment of the Central Indian Ridge, Indian Ocean

 Swath bathymetric, gravity, and magnetic studies were carried out over a 55 km long segment of the Central Indian Ridge. The ridge is characterized by 12 to 15 km wide rift valley bounded by steep walls and prominent volcanic constructional ridges on either side of the central rift valley. A transform fault at 7°45′S displaces the ridge axis. A mantle Bouguer anomaly low of −14 mGals and shallowing of rift valley over the middle of the ridge segment indicate along axis crustal thickness variations. A poorly developed neovolcanic zone on the inner rift valley floor indicate dominance of tectonic extension. The off-axis volcanic ridgs suggest enhanced magmatic activity during the recent past. Received: 24 May 1996 / Rivision received: 13 January 1997     

Two- and three-dimensional inversions of magnetic anomalies in the MARK area (Mid-Atlantic Ridge 23° N)

Magnetic data collected in conjunction with a Sea Beam bathymetric survey of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of the Kane Fracture Zone are used to constrain the spreading history of this area over the past 3 Ma. Two-dimensional forward modeling and inversion techniques are carried out, as well as a full three-dimensional inversion of the anomaly field along a 90-km-long section of the rift valley. Our results indicate that this portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, known as the MARK area, consists of two distinct spreading cells separated by a small, zero-offset transform or discordant zone near 23°10′ N, The youngest crust in the median valley is characterized by a series of distinct magnetization highs which coalesce to form two NNE-trending bands of high magnetization, one on the northern ridge segment which coincides with a large constructional volcanic ridge, and one along the southern ridge segment that is associated with a string of small axial volcanos. These two magnetization highs overlap between 23° N and 23°10° N forming a non-transform offset that may be a slow spreading ridge analogue of the small ridge axis discontinuities found on the East Pacific Rise. The crustal magnetizations in this overlap zone are generally low, although an anomalous, ESE-trending magnetization high of unknown origin is also present in this area. The present-day segmentation of spreading in the MARK area was inherited from an earlier ridge-transform-ridge geometry through a series of small (∼ 10 km) eastward ridge jumps. These small ridge jumps were caused by a relocation of the neovolcanic zone within the median valley and have resulted in an overall pattern of asymmetric spreading with faster rates to the west (14 mm yr⁻¹) than to the east (11 mm yr⁻¹). Although the detailed magnetic survey described in this paper extends out to only 3 Ma old crust, a regional compilation of magnetic data from this area by Schoutenet al. (1985) indicates that the relative positions and dimensions of the spreading cells, and the pattern of asymmetric spreading seen in the MARK area during the past 3 Ma, have characterized this part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge for at least the past 36 Ma.     

The origin of bathymetric highs at ridge-transform intersections: A multi-disciplinary case study at the Clipperton Fracture Zone

Bathmetric highs on the old crust proximal to ridge-transform intersections (RTIs), termed intersection highs, are common but poorly understood features at offsets of fast to intermediate rate spreading centers. We have combined new reflection seismic, photographic, and geochemical data with previously published Seabeam, SeaMARC I, and SeaMARC II data to address the nature of the intersection highs at the Clipperton Fracture Zone. The Clipperton Intersection Highs are both topped by a carapace of young lavas at least 100 m thick. These lavas, which were erupted on the intersection highs, are chemically similar to their adjacent ridge segments and different from the surrounding older crust. At least some of the erupted magma traveled directly from the adjacent ridge at a shallow crustal level. Ridge-related magma covers and intrudes at least the upper 500 m of the transform tectonized crust at the RTI. We suspect that additional magma enters the intersection highs from directly below, without passing through the ridge. The young oceanic crust near the western Clipperton RTI is not thin by regional comparison. The 1.4 m.y. old crust near the eastern Clipperton RTI thickens approaching the transform offset. If the thermal effects of the proximal ridge were negligible, the eastern intersection high crust would appear to be in isostatic equilibrium. We believe that thermal effects are significant, and that the intersection high region stands anomalously shallow for its crustal thickness. This is attributable to increased temperature in the mantle below the ridge-proximal crust. Although ridge magma is injected into the proximal old crust, plate boundary reorganization is not taking place. Intersection high formation has been an ongoing process at both of the Clipperton RTIs for at least the past 1 m.y., during which time the plate boundary configuration has not changed appreciably. We envision a constant interplay between the intruding ridge magma and the disrupting transform fault motion. In addition, we envision a nearly constant input of magma from below the high, as an extension of the magma supply to the ridge from the mantle. Because the proximal ridge profoundly affects the juxtaposed crust at the RTI, sea floor fabric along the aseismic extensions of this fast-slipping transform fault is primarily a record of processes at work at the RTI rather than a record of transform tectonism.     

Variations in axial processes on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: The median valley of the MARK area

Submersible observations and photogeology document dramatic variations in the distribution of young volcanic rocks, faulting, fissuring, and hydrothermal activity along an 80 km-long segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of the Kane Transform (MARK Area). These variations define two spreading cells separated by a cell boundary zone or a small-offset transform zone. The northern spreading cell is characterized by a median ‘neovolcanic’ ridge which runs down the axis of the median valley floor for 40 km. This edifice is as much as 4 km wide and 600 m high and is composed of very lightly sedimented basalts inferred to be < 5000 years old. It is the largest single volcanic constructional feature discovered to date on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The active Snake Pit hydrothermal vent field is on the crest of this ridge and implies the presence of a magma chamber in the northern spreading cell. In contrast, the southern cell is characterized by small, individual volcanos similar in size to the central volcanos in the FAMOUS area. Two of the volcanos that were sampled appear to be composed of dominantly glassy basaltic rocks with very light sediment cover; whereas, other volcanos in this region appear to be older features. The boundary zone between the two spreading cells is intensely faulted and lacks young volcanic rocks. This area may also contain a small-offset ( < 8 km) transform zone. Magmatism in the northern cell has been episodic and tens of thousands of years have lapsed since the last major magmatic event there. In the southern cell, a more continuous style of volcanic accretion appears to be operative. The style of spreading in the southern cell may be much more typical for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge than that of the northern cell because the latter is adjacent to the 150 km-offset Kane Transform that may act as a thermal sink along the MAR. Such large transforms are not common on the MAR, therefore, lithosphere produced in a spreading cell influenced by a large transform may also be somewhat atypical.     

Tectonic and magmatic ridges in the eltanin fault system,South Pacific

A Seabeam reconnaissance of the 400 km-long fast-slipping (88 mm yr^-1) Heezen transform fault zone and the 55 km-long spreading center that links it to Tharp transform defined and bathymetrically described several types of ridges built by tectonic uplift and volcanic construction. Most prominent is an asymmetric transverse ridge, at which abyssal hills adjacent to the fault zone have been raised 2–3 km above normal rise-flank depths. Topographic and petrologic evidence suggests that this uplift, which has produced a 5400 m scarp from the crest of the ridge to the floor of a 10 km-wide transform valley, is caused by rapid serpentinization of upper mantle which has been exposed to hydrothermal circulation by fault-zone fracturing of an unusually thin crust. Transverse ridges have been thought atypical of fast-slipping transforms. One class of volcanic ridge more common at these sites is the overshot ridge, formed by prolongation of spreading-center rift zones obliquely across the transform. Overshot ridges are well developed at Heezen transform, especially at the eastern end where an eruptive rift zone extending 60 km from the southern tip of the East Pacific Rise has built a transform-parallel ridge that fills the eastern transform valley. Obliteration of fault-zone structure by ridges overshooting from the spreading center intersections means that the topography of the aseismic fracture zones is not just inherited from that of the active transform fault zone. The latter has several en echelon and overlapping fault traces, linked by short oblique spreading axes that generally form pull-apart basins rather than volcanic ridges. Interpretation of the origin and pattern of the fault zone's tectonic and volcanic relief requires refinement of the plate geography and history of this part of the Pacific-Antarctic boundary, using new Seabeam and magnetic traverses to supplement and adjust the existing geophysical data base.     

The geology of the Oceanographer Transform: The ridge-transform intersection

Seven dives in the submersible ALVIN and four deep-towed (ANGUS) camera lowerings have been made at the eastern ridge-transform intersection of the Oceanographer Transform with the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These data constrain our understanding of the processes that create and shape the distinctive morphology that is characteristic of slowly-slipping ridge-transform-ridge plate boundaries. Although the geological relationships observed in the rift valley floor in the study area are similar to those reported for the FAMOUS area, we observe a distinct change in the character of the rift valley floor with increasing proximity to the transform. Over a distance of approximately ten kilometers the volcanic constructional terrain becomes increasingly more disrupted by faulting and degraded by mass wasting. Moreover, proximal to the transform boundary, faults with orientations oblique to the trend of the rift valley are recognized. The morphology of the eastern rift valley wall is characterized by inward-facing scarps that are ridge-axis parallel, but the western rift valley wall, adjacent to the active transform zone, is characterized by a complex fault pattern defined by faults exhibiting a wide range of orientations. However, even for transform parallel faults no evidence for strike-slip displacement is observed throughout the study area and evidence for normal (dip-slip) displacement is ubiquitous. Basalts, semi-consolidated sediments (chalks, debris slide deposits) and serpentinized ultramafic rocks are recovered from localities within or proximal to the rift valley. The axis of accretion-principal transform displacement zone intersection is not clearly established, but appears to be located along the E-W trending, southern flank of the deep nodal basin that defines the intersection of the transform valley with the rift floor.     

The western intersection of Oceanographer fracture zone with the mid-Atlantic ridge

A survey across the western intersection of the mid-Atlantic ridge with Oceanographer fracture zone near 35°N shows this intersection to be different in character from its more typical eastern counterpart. At the western junction the transform valley broadens into a parallelogram shaped deep some 46 by 24 km, which extends well across the trace of the active transform. Within 30 km south of the fracture zone the median valley becomes oblique forming a NE trending ridge which is the SE edge of the deep. Magnetic mapping shows the current spreading centre to be adjacent to this ridge.A sequence of evolution for this intersection over the past 0.7 Ma is proposed to explain the features mapped. We suggest that the oblique ridge crest trends extended across the transform trace to form the elongated graben-like deep with its associated faults and sediment slumps. Such complex patterns may occur as plate-wide changes in spreading direction become modified by localised shear stress fields at ridge crest-transform intersections, as have been observed in a number of other cases. The absence of significant tranverse ridges across from the spreading centre at this particular fracture zone intersection, may have temporarily allowed these stress patterns to propagate across the fracture zone.     

Geologic controls of hydrothermal activity in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift valley: Tectonics and volcanics

The rift valley at three widely separated sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is characterized using geological and geophysical data. An analysis of bottom photographs and fine-scale bathymetry indicates that each study area has a unique detailed geology and structure. Spreading rates are apparently asymmetric at each site. Relationships between tectonic and volcanic structure and hydrothermal activity show that various stages in the evolution of the rift valley are most favorable for seafloor expression of hydrothermal activity. In a stage found at 26°08 N, site 1 (TAG), the rift valley is narrow, consisting of both a narrow volcanically active valley floor and inner walls with small overall slopes. High-temperature hydrothermal venting occurs along the faster spreading eastern inner wall of this U-shaped rift valley. Site 2 (16°46 N) has a narrow valley floor and wide block faulted walls and is at a stage where the rift valley is characterized by a V-shape. No neovolcanic zone is observed within the marginally faulted, predominantly sedimented floor and hydrothermal activity is not observed. The rift valley at site 3 (14°54 N), with postulated extrusive volcanic activity and a stage in valley evolution tending toward a U-shape, shows evidence of hydrothermal activity within the slightly faster spreading eastern inner wall. Evidence for tectonic activity (inward- and outward-facing faults and pervasive fissuring) exists throughout the wide inner wall. Hydrothermal activity appears to be favored within a U-shaped rift valley characterized by a narrow neovolcanic zone and secondarily faulted inner walls.     

Depth to basement and geoid expression of the Kane Fracture Zone: A comparison

Geoid data from Geosat and subsatellite basement depth profiles of the Kane Fracture Zone in the central North Atlantic were used to examine the correlation between the short-wavelength geoid (=25–100 km) and the uncompensated basement topography. The processing technique we apply allows the stacking of geoid profiles, although each repeat cycle has an unknown long-wavelength bias. We first formed the derivative of individual profiles, stacked up to 22 repeat cycles, and then integrated the average-slope profile to reconstruct the geoid height. The stacked, filtered geoid profiles have a noise level of about 7 mm in geoid height. The subsatellite basement topography was obtained from a recent compilation of structure contours on basement along the entire length of the Kane Fracture Zone. The ratio of geoid height to topography over the Kane Fracture Zone valley decreases from about 20–25 cm km^-1 over young ocean crust to 5–0 cm km^-1 over ocean crust older than 140 Ma. Both geoid and basement depth of profiles were projected perpendicular to the Kane Fracture Zone, resampled at equal intervals and then cross correlated. The cross correlation shows that the short-wavelength geoid height is well correlated with the basement topography. For 33 of the 37 examined pro-files, the horizontal mismatches are 10 km or less with an average mismatch of about 5 km. This correlation is quite good considering that the average width of the Kane Fracture Zone valley at median depth is 10–15 km. The remaining four profiles either cross the transverse ridge just east of the active Kane transform zone or overlie old crust of the M-anomaly sequence. The mismatch over the transverse ridge probably is related to a crustal density anomaly. The relatively poor correlation of geoid and basement depth in profiles of ocean crust older than 130–140 Ma reflects poor basement-depth control along subsatellite tracks.     

Kane Fracture Zone

The Kane Fracture Zone probably is better covered by geophysical survey data, acquired both by design and incidentally, than any other fracture zone in the North Atlantic Ocean. We have used this data to map the basement morphology of the fracture zone and the adjacent crust for nearly 5700 km, from near Cape Hatteras to the middle of the Mesozoic magnetic anomalies west of Cap Blanc, northwest Africa. We use the trends of the Kane transform valley and its inactive fracture valley to determine the record of plate-motion changes, and we interpret the basement structural data to examine how the Kane transform evolved in response to changes in plate motion. Prior to about 133 Ma the Kane was a small-offset transform and its fracture valley is structurally expressed only as a shallow ( < 0.5 km) trough. In younger crust, the offset may have increased to as much as 190 km (present offset 150 km) and the fracture valley typically is up to 1.2 km deep. This part of the fracture valley records significant changes in direction of relative plate motion (5°–30°) near 102 Ma, 92 Ma, 59 Ma, 22 Ma, and 17 Ma. Each change corresponds to a major reorganization of plate boundaries in areas around the Atlantic, and the fracture-zone orientation appears to be a sensitive recorder of these events. The Kane transform has exhibited characteristic responses to changes in relative plate motion. Counterclockwise plate-motion changes put the left-lateral transform offset into extension, and the response was for ridge tips at the ridge-transform intersections to propagate across the transform valley and against the truncating lithosphere. Heating of this lithosphere appears to have produced uplift and formation of a well developed transverse ridge that bounds the inactive fracture valley on its older side. The propagating ridge tips also rotated toward the transform fault in response to the local stress field, forming prominent hooked ridges that now extend into or across the inactive fracture valley. Clockwise (compressional) changes in relative plate motion produced none of these features, and the resulting fracture valleys typically have a wide-V shape. The Kane transform experienced severe adaptions to the changes in relative plate motion at about 102 Ma (compressional shift) and 92 Ma (extensional shift), and new transform faults were formed in crust outside the contemporary transform valley. Subsequently, the transform offset has been smaller and the rates of change in plate motion have been more gradual, so transform-fault adjustment has been contained within the transform valley. The fracture-valley structure formed during extensional and compressional changes in relative plate motion can be decidedly asymmetrical in conjugate limbs of the fracture zone. This asymmetry appears to be related to the ‘absolute’ motion of the plate boundary with respect to the asthenosphere.     

Recent structures in the Alboran Ridge and Yusuf fault zones based on swath bathymetry and sub-bottom profiling: evidence of active tectonics

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea in the western Mediterranean is disrupted by deformations resulting from convergence between the African and Eurasian plates. Based on a compilation of existing and new multibeam bathymetry data and high-resolution seismic profiles, our main objective was to characterize the most recent structures in the central sector, which depicts an abrupt morphology and was chosen to investigate how active tectonic processes are shaping the seafloor. The Alboran Ridge is the most prominent feature in the Alboran Sea (>130 km in length), and a key element in the Gibraltar Arc System. Recent uplift and deformation in this ridge have been caused by sub-vertical, strike-slip and reverse faults with associated folding in the most recent sediments, their trend shifting progressively from SW–NE to WNW–ESE towards the Yusuf Lineament. Present-day transtensive deformation induces faulting and subsidence in the Yusuf pull-apart basin. The Alboran Ridge and Yusuf fault zones are connected, and both constitute a wide zone of deformation reaching tens of kilometres in width and showing a complex geometry, including different active fault segments and in-relay folds. These findings demonstrate that Recent deformation is more heterogeneously distributed than commonly considered. A narrow SSW–NNE zone with folding and reverse faulting cuts across the western end of the Alboran Ridge and concentrates most of the upper crustal seismicity in the region. This zone of deformation defines a seismogenic, left-lateral fault zone connected to the south with the Al Hoceima seismic swarm, and representing a potential seismic hazard. Newly detected buried and active submarine slides along the Alboran Ridge and the Yusuf Lineament are clear signs of submarine slope instability in this seismically active region.     

New Observations on the Distribution of Past and Present Hydrothermal Activity in the TAG Area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (26°08′ N)

Seafloor acoustic and photographic imagery combined with high- resolution bathymetry are used to investigate the geologic and tectonic relations between active and relict zones of hydrothermal venting in the TAG (Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse) hydrothermal field at 26°08N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The TAG field consists of a large, currently active, high-temperature mound, two relict zones (the Alvin and Mir zones), and an active low-temperature zone. The active mound and the Alvin relict zone lie along a series of closely-spaced, axis-parallel (NNE-trending) faults in an area of active extension east of the neovolcanic zone. The Alvin zone extends for 2.5 km along these faults from the valley floor onto the eastern wall, and consists of at least five mounds identified using DSL-120 sidescan sonar and bathymetric data. The existence of sulfide structures on most of these mounds is verified with near-bottom electronic still camera (ESC) images from the Argo-II deep-towed vehicle, and is confirmed in at least one case with collected samples. Two of these mounds were previously unidentified. The existence of these mounds extends the length of the Alvin zone by ~0.5 km to the south. Much of the Alvin relict zone appears to be buried by debris from a large mass wasting event on the eastern wall of the median valley. The Mir zone, located on normal fault blocks of the eastern valley wall, cannot be clearly identified in the sidescan data and no structural connections from it to the active mound or Alvin zone can be discerned. The active mound is located at the intersection of an older oblique fault set with the younger axis- parallel faults which extend into the Alvin relict zone, and no fresh volcanics are observed in the vicinity of the mound. The fact that both the active mound and the Alvin relict zone lie along the same set of active, axis-parallel faults suggests that the faults may be a major control on the location of hydrothermal activity by providing pathways for fluid flow from a heat source at the ridge axis.     

Extensional faulting and segmentation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge north of the Kane Fracture Zone (24° 00′ N to 24° 40′ N)

The combination of multi-beam echo-sounder swath bathymetry and high-resolution deep-towed sidescan sonar provides a powerful database from which to examine mid-ocean ridge processes. We have used such a database, gathered from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge north of the Kane Fracture Zone (the MARNOK area), to examine the relationship between tectonic, volcanic, and bathymetric segmentation. We have identified structural domains, with different fault distributions, and neovolcanic segments that are distinct from the 2nd or 3rd order bathymetric segmentation.From their mutual relationships, a model is proposed for the magmatic accretion of oceanic crust at slow spreading ridges that relates the local melt supply to the tectonic style. We suggest that these are mutually interactive, and determine whether volcanic extrusion along the ridge is continuous and slow, or episodic and rapid.     

Morphology of the Blanco Transform Fault Zone-NE Pacific: Implications for its tectonic evolution

The right-lateral Blanco Transform Fault Zone (BTFZ) offsets the Gorda and the Juan de Fuca Ridges along a 350 km long complex zone of ridges and right-stepping depressions. The overall geometry of the BTFZ is similar to several other oceanic transform fault zones located along the East Pacific Rise (e.g., Siquieros) and to divergent wrench faults on continents; i.e., long strike-slip master faults offset by extensional basins. These depressions have formed over the past 5 Ma as the result of continual reorientation of the BTFZ in response to changes in plate motion. The central depression (Cascadia Depression) is flanked by symmetrically distributed, inward-facing back-tilted fault blocks. It is probably a short seafloor spreading center that has been operating since about 5 Ma, when a southward propagating rift failed to kill the last remnant of a ridge segment. The Gorda Depression on the eastern end of the BTFZ may have initially formed as the result of a similar occurrence involving a northward propagating rift on the Gorda ridge system. Several of the smaller basins (East Blanco, Surveyor and Gorda) morphologically appear to be oceanic analogues of continental pull-apart basins. This would imply diffuse extension rather than the discrete neovolcanic zone associated with a typical seafloor spreading center. The basins along the western half of the BTFZ have probably formed within the last few hundred thousands years, possibly as the result of a minor change in the Juan de Fuca/Pacific relative motion.