Upper crustal densities derived from sea floor gravity measurements: Northern Juan De Fuca Ridge

Abstract

A transect of sea floor gravity stations has been analyzed to determine upper crustal densities on the Endeavour segment of the northern Juan de Fuca Ridge. Data were obtained using ALVIN along a corridor perpendicular to the axis of spreading, over crustal ages from 0 to 800,000 years. Calculated elevation factors from the gravity data show an abrupt increase in density with age (distance) for the upper 200 m of crust. This density change is interpreted as a systematic reduction in bulk porosity of the upper crustal section, from 23% for the axial ridge to 10% for the off‐axis flanking ridges. The porosity decrease is attributed to the collapse and filling of large‐scale voids as the abyssal hills move out of the crustal formation zone. Forward modeling of a plausible density structure for the near‐axis region agrees with the observed anomaly data only if the model includes narrow, along‐strike, low‐density regions adjacent to both inner and outer flanks of the abyssal hills. The required low density zones could be regions of systematic upper crustal fracturing and faulting that were mapped by submersible observers and side‐scan sonar images, and whose presence was suggested by the distribution of heat flow data in the same area.