Small-scale structure of the Kane oceanic core complex, Mid-Atlantic Ridge 23°30′N, from waveform tomography of multichannel seismic data

Abstract

Frequency-domain waveform tomography applied to deep-sea multichannel seismic data collected across the Kane oceanic core complex (OCC) reveals the small-scale structure of this section of oceanic lithosphere formed at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 3.3–2.1 Myr ago that has been uplifted and exhumed at the seafloor along an oceanic detachment fault. Geological and geophysical studies indicate that the central-eastern area of the Kane OCC is formed by a large gabbroic intrusion. The new high-resolution seismic velocity models show that this gabbroic core is 1,000–1,350 m thick and it is underlain by a ∼300-m-thick layer of low-velocity material interpreted as serpentinized peridotite. The models also reveal the presence of a deeper, 200-m-thick by 1,700-m-long high-velocity body interpreted as a small gabbroic sill embedded in serpentinzed peridotite.