Magmatism at oceanic core complexes on the ultraslow Southwest Indian Ridge: Insights from near-seafloor magnetics

Abstract

Abstract Oceanic core complexes (OCCs) and detachment faults play a key role in crustal accretion at slow and ultraslow spreading centers. We investigated the effect of different magma supply at three OCCs of the Southwest Indian Ridge using high-resolution deep-sea bathymetric and magnetic data. The average equivalent thickness of extrusive basalt deduced from the magnetic anomalies, a proxy for magma supply, decreases from west to east, from the Yuhuang (49.25°E) to Longqi (49.65°E) to Junhui (51.75°E) OCCs. Conversely, serpentinite outcrops become more abundant, the domal OCC morphology flattens as the footwall rotation (measured by the magnetization vector inclination) increases, and hydrothermal evidence becomes sparse. Combined with results from the amagmatic easternmost Southwest Indian Ridge, our study shows that the magma supply controls the character and evolution of the OCCs and detachment faults on the Southwest Indian Ridge.