Variations in crustal structure on the East Pacific Rise crest: A travel time inversion approach

Abstract

Systematic travel time inversion techniques have been applied to first arrival travel times from a number of seismic refraction profiles on the crest and flanks of the East Pacific Rise to generate bounds on the possible velocity-depth distributions. The greatest variability in structure occurs within 5 Myr of the rise crest. The generally similar character of the bounds on the velocity distributions for ages greater than 5 Myr indicates that the most rapid aging occurs within 5 Myr of the crest, though the mantle velocity increases systematically with age. The nature of the bounds on the velocity distribution for the range of velocities associated with layer 3 requires that the velocity distribution within layer 3 increase with depth.