Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Development and evolution of detachment faulting along 50 km of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 16.5N. / Smith, Deborah K.; Schouten, Hans; Dick, Henry J.B.; Cann, Johnson R.; Salters, Vincent; Marschall, Horst R.; Ji, Fuwu; Yoerger, Dana; Sanfilippo, Alessio; Parnell-Turner, Ross; Palmiotto, Camilla; Zheleznov, Alexei; Bai, Hailong; Junkin, Will; Urann, Ben; Dick, Spencer; Sulanowska, Margaret; Lemmond, Peter; Curry, Scott.
In: GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS, Vol. 15, No. 12, 01.12.2014, p. 4692-4711.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and evolution of detachment faulting along 50 km of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 16.5N
AU - Smith, Deborah K.
AU - Schouten, Hans
AU - Dick, Henry J.B.
AU - Cann, Johnson R.
AU - Salters, Vincent
AU - Marschall, Horst R.
AU - Ji, Fuwu
AU - Yoerger, Dana
AU - Sanfilippo, Alessio
AU - Parnell-Turner, Ross
AU - Palmiotto, Camilla
AU - Zheleznov, Alexei
AU - Bai, Hailong
AU - Junkin, Will
AU - Urann, Ben
AU - Dick, Spencer
AU - Sulanowska, Margaret
AU - Lemmond, Peter
AU - Curry, Scott
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - A multifaceted study of the slow spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at 16.5N 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.
AB - A multifaceted study of the slow spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at 16.5N 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.
KW - AUV Sentry
KW - Mid-Atlantic Ridge
KW - oceanic detachment faults
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921033195&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/2014GC005563
DO - 10.1002/2014GC005563
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84921033195
VL - 15
SP - 4692
EP - 4711
JO - Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
JF - Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
SN - 1525-2027
IS - 12
ER -
ID: 8844069