A Dual‐Level Magmatic System Beneath the East Pacific Rise, 9°N

Whole mantle shear structure beneath the East Pacific Rise

[1] We model broadband seismograms containing triplicated S, S, and S along with ScS to produce a pure path one-dimensional model extending from the crust to the core-mantle boundary beneath the East Pacific Rise. We simultaneously model all body wave shapes and amplitudes, thereby eliminating depth-velocity ambiguities. The data consist of western North American broadband recordings of East Pa...

Electrical structure beneath the northern MELT line on the East Pacific Rise at 15°45'S

Mantle discontinuity structure beneath the southern east pacific rise from P-to-S converted phases

Receiver functions derived from teleseismic body waves recorded by ocean-bottom seismometers on the southern East Pacific Rise reveal shear waves converted from compressional waves at the mantle discontinuities near 410- and 660-kilometer depth. The thickness of the mantle transition zone between the two discontinuities is normal relative to the global average and indicates that upwelling benea...

Constraints on melt movement beneath the East Pacific Rise from 230Th-238U disequilibrium.

We report 230Th-238U disequilibrium data on mid-ocean ridge basalts recovered 5 to 40 kilometers off the ridge axis near 9 degrees 30'N of the East Pacific Rise. These data indicate near-symmetrical eruptions of normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (NMORBs) and incompatible element-enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts (EMORBs) as far as 20 kilometers off axis. Our results suggest large-scale subsurface l...

Continuous mantle melt supply beneath an overlapping spreading center on the East Pacific Rise.

Tomographic images of upper mantle velocity structure beneath an overlapping spreading center (OSC) on the East Pacific Rise indicate that this ridge axis discontinuity is underlain by a continuous region of low P-wave velocities. The anomalous structure can be explained by an approximately 16-kilometer-wide region of high temperatures and melt fractions of a few percent by volume. Our results ...