Authors
Robert A Dunn, Vedran Lekić, Robert S Detrick, Douglas R Toomey
Publication date
2005/9
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Volume
110
Issue
B9
Description
We gathered seismic refraction and wide‐angle reflection data from several active source experiments that occurred along the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge near 35°N and constructed three‐dimensional anisotropic tomographic images of the crust and upper mantle velocity structure and crustal thickness. The tomographic images reveal anomalously thick crust (8–9 km) and a low‐velocity “bull's‐eye”, from 4 to 10 km depth, beneath the center of the ridge segment. The velocity anomaly is indicative of high temperatures and a small amount of melt (up to 5%) and likely represents the current magma plumbing system for melts ascending from the mantle. In addition, at the segment center, seismic anisotropy in the lower crust indicates that the crust is composed of partially molten dikes that are surrounded by regions of hot rock with little or no melt fraction. Our results indicate that mantle melts are focused at mantle depths to the …
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