Contrast in crustal structure across the Clipperton transform fault from travel time tomography

Abstract

A three‐dimensional (3‐D) seismic refraction study of the Clipperton transform fault, northern East Pacific Rise, reveals anomalously low compressional velocities from the seafloor to the Moho. We attribute this low‐velocity anomaly to intensive brittle deformation, caused by transpression across this active strike‐slip plate boundary. The seismic velocity structure south of the Clipperton transform appears unaffected by these tectonic forces, but to the north, seismic velocities are reduced over 10 km outside the zone of sheared seafloor. This contrast in seismic velocity structure corresponds well with the differences in mid‐ocean ridge morphology across the Clipperton transform. We conclude that the amount of fracturing of the upper crust, which largely controls seismic velocity variations, is strongly dependent on the shallow temperature structure at the ridge axis. Intermittent supply of magma to the shallow crust north of the Clipperton transform allows seawater to penetrate deeper, and the cooler crust is brittle to a greater depth than south of the transform, where a steady state magma lens is known to exist. The crustal thickness averages 5.7 km, only slightly thinner than normal for oceanic crust, and variations in Moho depth in excess of ∼0.3 km are not required by our data. The absence of large crustal thickness variations and the general similarity in seismic structure imply that a steady state magma lens is not required to form normal East Pacific Rise type crust. Perhaps a significant portion of the lower crust is accreted in situ from a patchwork of short‐lived gabbro sills or from ductile flow from a basal magma chamber as has been postulated in some recent ophiolite studies.