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Seismic evidence for uniform crustal accretion along slow-spreading ridges in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Author

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  • Zhikai Wang

    (Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS)

  • Satish C. Singh

    (Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS)

Abstract

The crustal accretion along mid-ocean ridges is known to be spreading-rate dependent. Along fast-spreading ridges, two-dimensional sheet-like mantle upwelling creates relatively uniform crust. In contrast, the crust formed along slow-spreading ridges shows large along-axis thickness variations with thicker crust at segment centres, which is hypothesised to be due a three-dimensional plume-like mantle upwelling or due to focused melt migration to segment centres. Using wide-angle seismic data acquired from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, here we show that the crustal thickness is nearly uniform (~5.5 km) across five crustal segments for crust formed at the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge with age varying from 8 to 70 Ma. The crustal velocities indicate that this crust is predominantly of magmatic origin. We suggest that this uniform magmatic crustal accretion is due to a two-dimensional sheet-like mantle upwelling facilitated by the long-offset transform faults in the equatorial Atlantic region and the presence of a high concentration of volatiles in the primitive melt in the mantle.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhikai Wang & Satish C. Singh, 2022. "Seismic evidence for uniform crustal accretion along slow-spreading ridges in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-35459-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35459-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. R. Cann & D. K. Blackman & D. K. Smith & E. McAllister & B. Janssen & S. Mello & E. Avgerinos & A. R. Pascoe & J. Escartin, 1997. "Corrugated slip surfaces formed at ridge–transform intersections on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge," Nature, Nature, vol. 385(6614), pages 329-332, January.
    2. Henry J. B. Dick & Jian Lin & Hans Schouten, 2003. "An ultraslow-spreading class of ocean ridge," Nature, Nature, vol. 426(6965), pages 405-412, November.
    3. Ingo Grevemeyer & Lars H. Rüpke & Jason P. Morgan & Karthik Iyer & Colin W. Devey, 2021. "Extensional tectonics and two-stage crustal accretion at oceanic transform faults," Nature, Nature, vol. 591(7850), pages 402-407, March.
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