Plate boundary geometry to Moho depths within the 9°03′N and 12°54′N overlapping spreading centers of the East Pacific Rise

Abstract

Multichannel seismic reflection data from the East Pacific Rise provide a three-dimensional view of overlapping spreading centers (OSCs) at 9°03′N and 12°54′N. Previous studies of the 9°03′N OSC, based on position of the axial magma chamber top, are extended to the base of the crust using the observation that the Moho reflection is disrupted in the vicinity of the ridge axis. The smaller 12°54′N OSC is investigated for comparison. Like the shallower features, the Moho disruption is offset within the OSCs. At the larger 9°03′N OSC, misalignment between the morphologic ridge axis and the axial magma body extends to the base of the crust, where the axial gap in the reflection Moho does not consistently underlay the shallower structures. Spatial relationships within the OSCs between axial topography, axial magma chamber and axial gap in reflection Moho, suggest that ridge tips propagate first by brittle fracturing of the upper crust, followed by intracrustal magma residence, followed finally by establishment or capture of magma pathways from the mantle. Interpreting all three features as demarcating the axial zone of weakness, along which new magma enters the crust, the axial plane within the 9°03′N OSC appears to dip and to rotate with depth. The sense of overlap in the shallow crust is dextral while the sense of offset in the deep crust is sinistral. Spatial relationships within the 9°03′N OSC suggest that the northern, propagating ridge tip has already captured a portion of the deep crustal magma conduit connected with the southern ridge.