Cocos plate gravity lineaments due to thermal contraction cracks

Abstract

Gravity lineaments, narrow strips of stronger gravity, were first observed on the ocean floor in the south central Pacific several decades ago, but scientists still debate their origin. Because the south central Pacific gravity lineaments align with the tectonic plate motion, some scientists have suggested that they were created through small‐scale convection cells below the lithosphere that become elongated as the plate moved. Other proposed explanations have included flow of low‐viscosity material along the base of the the lithosphere and cracking of the lithosphere due to thermal contraction. Newly recognized gravity lineaments on the Cocos plate, which lies beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central America, could help scientists figure out how such lineaments form. Cormier et al. identified the lineaments using satellite altimetry data. They used gravity, bathymetric, and magnetic data to investigate the physical characteristics of the lineaments and how they changed over time. (Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, doi:10.1029/2011GC003573, 2011)