Abstract
Author Posting. © The Authors, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 178 (2009): 593-613, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04184.x.
Highlights
Oceanic core complexes (OCCs) expose intrusive crust and lenses of upper mantle at the seafloor
Beyond the local structure within the domal core, regional (10–100 km, laterally) geophysical mapping can illuminate the scales of lithospheric variability associated with OCCs, from which inferences about the balance between tectonic and magmatic processes at spreading centres can be inferred for time periods on the order of a few million years
The fact that OCCs have not been observed on the flanks of any fast spreading ridges, and are only occasionally found on the flanks of intermediate-rate spreading centres, suggests that mechanisms related to the interplay between magmatism and tectonism in the axial zone are crucial
Summary
Oceanic core complexes (OCCs) expose intrusive crust and lenses of upper mantle at the seafloor. Documenting the geophysical structure of the domal cores provides an opportunity to understand the properties of a portion of the oceanic crust whose signature is usually partially overprinted by signals imparted by 1–2 km thick, variably fractured/porous upper crustal rocks that overly the intrusive section. Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data obtained at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 30◦N (Cann et al 1997) provided the first detailed view of each of the main morphologic components of an OCC: shallow, domal footwall block(s) whose corrugated, striated top surface coincides with an exposed, inactive detachment fault; juxtaposed volcanic block(s) inferred to be hanging wall or rider block(s), to the detachment (Fig. 1). The aims of this review are to compile geophysical observations from the past decade, to highlight systematic features/patterns in the data, to assess inherent limitations on subsurface resolution, and to discuss the implications of the current results in terms of processes involved in formation of slow-spread oceanic lithosphere
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