Abyssal hill characterization at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge
Résumé
The morphology of the flanks of the Southwest Indian Ridge holds a record of seafloor formation
and abyssal hill generation at an ultraslow spreading rate. Statistical analysis of compiled bathymetry and
gravity data from the flanks of the Southwest Indian Ridge from 54°E to 67°E provides estimates of abyssal
hill morphologic character and inferred crustal thickness. The extent of the compiled data encompasses a
spreading rate change from slow to ultraslow at 24 Ma, a significant inferred variation in sub-axis mantle
temperature, and a patchwork of volcanic and non-volcanic seafloor, making the Southwest Indian Ridge an
ideal and unique location to characterize abyssal hills generated by ultraslow spreading and to examine the
effect of dramatic spreading rate change on seafloor morphology. Root mean square abyssal hill height in
ultraslow spreading seafloor ranges from 280 m to 320 m and is on average 80 m greater than found
for slow-spreading seafloor. Ultraslow spreading abyssal hill width ranges from 4 km to 12 km, averaging
8 km. Abyssal hill height and width increases west-to-east in both slow and ultraslow spreading
seafloor, corresponding to decreasing inferred mantle temperature. Abyssal hills persist in non-volcanic seafloor
and extend continuously from volcanic to non-volcanic terrains. We attribute the increase of abyssal
hill height and width to strengthening of the mantle portion of the lithosphere as the result of cooler subaxial
mantle temperature and conclude that abyssal hill height is primarily controlled by the strength of
the mantle component of the lithosphere rather than spreading rate.
Domaines
Planète et Univers [physics]
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Sloan_et_al-2012-Geochemistry,_Geophysics,_Geosystems.pdf (2.6 Mo)
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