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Distribution of Crustal Melt Bodies at the Hot Spot‐Influenced Section of the Galápagos Spreading Centre From Seismic Reflection Images
Author(s) -
Boddupalli B.,
Canales J.P.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl082201
Subject(s) - geology , seafloor spreading , crust , ridge , seismology , mid ocean ridge , magma chamber , reflection (computer programming) , oceanic crust , accretion (finance) , magma , hydrothermal circulation , geophysics , volcano , tectonics , paleontology , subduction , physics , computer science , astrophysics , programming language
Accretion of the lower crust at mid‐ocean ridges is a debated topic, with modern seismic observations pointing to a complex magmatic system that includes an axial multisill system of middle‐ and lower‐crustal melt lenses and near‐ and off‐axis melt bodies. Here we revisit the hot spot‐influenced section of the western Galápagos Spreading Centre and reprocess multichannel seismic reflection data using a wide‐angle seismic tomography model. Our new images show that the magma reservoir in the lower crust at this ridge section is intruded with partially molten melt lenses. The images also show evidence for off‐axis melt lenses, magmatic‐hydrothermal interactions and Moho reflections in this region. We conclude that the similarities between the axial crustal structure of this hot spot‐influenced mid‐ocean ridge and the multisill magmatic structure imaged at the East Pacific Rise indicate that these features are common along the global mid‐ocean ridge system where seafloor spreading is dominated by magmatic accretion.