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Gravity and Magnetic Signatures of Different Types of Spreading at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
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  • Gabriella Alodia,
  • Chris Green,
  • Andrew McCaig,
  • Douglas Paton,
  • Simon Campbell
Gabriella Alodia
University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment

Corresponding Author:eega@leeds.ac.uk

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Chris Green
University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment
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Andrew McCaig
University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment
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Douglas Paton
University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment
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Simon Campbell
Getech Group plc
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Abstract

In recent years it has been recognised that parts of slow spreading ridges such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) are characterised by typical magmatic spreading, while other parts are characterised by the formation of detachment faults and Oceanic Core Complexes (OCC). These different spreading modes can be clearly identified in the near-ridge environment in the bathymetry, with magmatic mode crust characterised by linear fault-bounded ridges, and detachment mode crust by more chaotic bathymetric signatures. The aim of this project is to characterise the magnetic and gravity signatures of lithosphere created by different modes of spreading, with the aim of using these signatures to identify if the structures still remain in ocean-continent transitions, where they have been covered by sediments coming from the continental crust. We first characterise different modes of spreading using available high-resolution bathymetry data of the MAR up to 20 My of age. The identified characteristics are then related to the corresponding ship-borne gravity and magnetic data in the same area. From the gravity anomalies, thinner crust is observed where the OCCs are in place. This allows the mantle to be exhumed to the sea-floor. As for the magnetic anomalies, it is found that in places where OCCs are present, the anomalies are not as symmetrical as those found in magmatic mode regions. We present a range of parameters extracted from the data that characterise different spreading modes, and use these to test whether transitions between detachment and magmatic mode crust identified in the bathymetry can be readily identified in gravity and magnetic data.