Abstract

SUMMARY Seismic reflection profiles from Mesozoic oceanic crust around the Blake Spur Fracture Zone (BSFZ) in the western North Atlantic have been widely used in constraining tectonic models of slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges. These profiles have anomalously low basement relief compared to crust formed more recently at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the same spreading rate. Profiles from other regions of Mesozoic oceanic crust also have greater relief. The anomalous basement relief and slightly increased crustal thickness in the BSFZ survey area may be due to the presence of a mantle thermal anomaly close to the ridge axis at the time of crustal formation. If so, the intracrustal structures observed may be representative of an atypical tectonic regime.

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