Periodic Magmatic Events on Slow-Spreading Mid-Ocean Ridges: Evidence from the North Kolbeinsey Ridge, Atlantic.

Abstract:

The majority of the Earth’s solid surface is produced by volcanic eruptions at mid-ocean ridges. Slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge eruptions are thought to be characterized by cyclic or periodic volcanism separated by periods of tectonic extension. Here we present high-resolution acoustic sidescan data from the North Kolbeinsey Ridge, a shallow slow-spreading ridge where high glacial and steady post-glacial sedimentation rates allow relative flow ages to be determined using backscatter amplitude as a proxy for sediment thickness and hence age. We identify a suite of young lava flows within the axial valley, suggesting that a significant length of the segment was magmatically active at the same time. This suite of flows represents the largest magmatic event in the last 7 kyr but still do not constitute enough volume to maintain the thickness of seismic layer 2A, suggesting that larger volume, periodic magmatic events are required to maintain crustal thickness.