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Gravity anomalies of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge north of the Kane Fracture Zone
Author(s) -
Fujimoto H.,
Seama N.,
Lin J.,
Matsumoto T.,
Tanaka T.,
Fujioka K.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/96gl02080
Subject(s) - geology , fracture zone , magnetic anomaly , seismology , bouguer anomaly , oblique case , mid atlantic ridge , ridge , mantle (geology) , tectonics , bathymetry , gravity anomaly , seafloor spreading , mid ocean ridge , geophysics , hydrothermal circulation , paleontology , oceanography , linguistics , philosophy , oil field
High‐resolution gravity and multibeam bathymetric data were newly obtained from the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between latitudes 23°30′N and 28°N. Mantle Bouguer anomalies (MBA) show magmatic accretion focused at discrete centers along the spreading axis except near the oblique portion of the MAR between 24°30′–24°50′N. The MBA also indicates that crustal production near the TAG hydrothermal field has been relatively low during the last 2–3 My. The MBA show 120°‐striking off‐axis traces, indicating northward migration of the oblique portion and northward extension of the segments south of the oblique zone despite a long‐wavelength southward deepening of the axial topography. Observed gravity anomalies support a tectonic interpretation proposed from morphology and geomagnetic anomalies that the segment south of the oblique zone has extended northward by repeatedly adding short segments which migrated westward through asymmetric spreading in the oblique zone.