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    Development and evolution of detachment faulting along 50 km of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 16.5°N

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    Smith_et_al-2014-Geochemistry,_Geophysics,_Geosystems.pdf (5.019Mb)
    Date
    2014-12-05
    Author
    Smith, Deborah K.  Concept link
    Schouten, Hans A.  Concept link
    Dick, Henry J. B.  Concept link
    Cann, Johnson R.  Concept link
    Salters, Vincent J. M.  Concept link
    Marschall, Horst R.  Concept link
    Ji, Fuwu  Concept link
    Yoerger, Dana R.  Concept link
    Sanfilippo, Alessio  Concept link
    Parnell-Turner, Ross  Concept link
    Palmiotto, Camilla  Concept link
    Zheleznov, Alexei  Concept link
    Bai, Hailong  Concept link
    Junkin, Will  Concept link
    Urann, Ben  Concept link
    Dick, Spencer  Concept link
    Sulanowska, Margaret  Concept link
    Lemmond, Peter  Concept link
    Curry, Scott  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7167
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GC005563
    DOI
    10.1002/2014GC005563
    Keyword
     Oceanic detachment faults; AUV Sentry; Mid-Atlantic Ridge 
    Abstract
    A multifaceted study of the slow spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at 16.5°N provides new insights into detachment faulting and its evolution through time. The survey included regional multibeam bathymetry mapping, high-resolution mapping using AUV Sentry, seafloor imaging using the TowCam system, and an extensive rock-dredging program. At different times, detachment faulting was active along ∼50 km of the western flank of the study area, and may have dominated spreading on that flank for the last 5 Ma. Detachment morphologies vary and include a classic corrugated massif, noncorrugated massifs, and back-tilted ridges marking detachment breakaways. High-resolution Sentry data reveal a new detachment morphology; a low-angle, irregular surface in the regional bathymetry is shown to be a finely corrugated detachment surface (corrugation wavelength of only tens of meters and relief of just a few meters). Multiscale corrugations are observed 2–3 km from the detachment breakaway suggesting that they formed in the brittle layer, perhaps by anastomosing faults. The thin wedge of hanging wall lavas that covers a low-angle (6°) detachment footwall near its termination are intensely faulted and fissured; this deformation may be enhanced by the low angle of the emerging footwall. Active detachment faulting currently is limited to the western side of the rift valley. Nonetheless, detachment fault morphologies also are present over a large portion of the eastern flank on crust >2 Ma, indicating that within the last 5 Ma parts of the ridge axis have experienced periods of two-sided detachment faulting.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 15 (2014): 4692–4711, doi:10.1002/2014GC005563.
    Collections
    • Geology and Geophysics (G&G)
    • Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (AOP&E)
    Suggested Citation
    Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 15 (2014): 4692–4711
     

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