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The three-dimensional seismic velocity structure of the East Pacific Rise near latitude 9° 30′ N

Nature volume 347, pages 639–645 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

Three-dimensional images of crustal seismic structure beneath the East Pacific Rise show pronounced axial heterogeneity over distances of a few kilometres. A linear high-velocity anomaly, approximately 1–2 km in width and restricted to the uppermost 1 km of the crust, is centred on the rise axis. An axial low-velocity anomaly at depths of 1–3 km varies in amplitude along the axis, consistent with a zone of higher crustal temperatures midway between two discontinuities in the morphology of the rise axis. This apparent thermal segmentation along axis is consistent with injection of mantle-derived melt midway along a locally linear, 12-km-long segment of the rise.

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Author notes

  1. Douglas R. Toomey

    Present address: Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    Douglas R. Toomey & Sean C. Solomon

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, USA

    G. M. Purdy

  3. MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    William S. D. Wilcock

Authors
  1. Douglas R. Toomey
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  2. G. M. Purdy
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  3. Sean C. Solomon
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  4. William S. D. Wilcock
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Toomey, D., Purdy, G., Solomon, S. et al. The three-dimensional seismic velocity structure of the East Pacific Rise near latitude 9° 30′ N. Nature 347, 639–645 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/347639a0

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