A. Hosford et al., Crustal evolution over the last 2 m.y. at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge OH-1 segment, 35 degrees N, J GEO R-SOL, 106(B7), 2001, pp. 13269-13285
We present the crustal and mantle velocity structure along the strike of th
e eastern rift mountains at 35 degreesN on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These re
sults were obtained by an inversion of similar to 1800 Pg/Pn and similar to
450 PmP travel times and by gravity modeling. As commonly observed at slow
spreading mid-ocean ridges, thicker crust (9 km) occurs at the segment mid
point, while thinner crust (7 km) is found toward the segment ends. This al
ong strike variation occurs primarily in the lower crust, which is 7 km thi
ck at the segment center and 4-6 km thick at the segment ends. In contrast,
the thickness of the upper crust is relatively constant along strike. At t
he segment ends, relatively low velocities extend for 10-15 km along strike
and from the seafloor to 4 km depth. These low velocities may indicate an
attenuated melt supply and/or fracturing and alteration within the shallow
to mid-crust. Directly beneath a cluster of three seamounts at the segment
center is a region of relatively high velocity (+0.5 km/s) in the mid-crust
. This feature may correspond to a frozen magma chamber that fed the overly
ing volcanoes. A synthesis of these results with those from two companion e
xperiments along the rift valley and the conjugate flank provide a detailed
record of crustal accretion and evolution at this segment. Specifically, t
he crustal velocity structures of each flank are nearly identical, and they
exhibit a thinner and 16% faster upper crust than is observed on axis. The
lower crust is remarkably similar in all three settings, except for a low-
velocity body on axis, which is interpreted as a partially molten zone. The
maximum crustal thickness is also similar in all three profiles, but north
of the segment center, zero-age crust is nearly 4 km thinner than beneath
the eastern flank and 2 km thinner than beneath the western flank. These di
fferences may indicate that segment-centered mantle upwelling varies on a t
imescale of similar to2 m.y.