The Role of Oceanic Transform Faults in Seafloor Spreading: A Global Perspective From Seismic Anisotropy.

ABSTRACT: Mantle anisotropy beneath mid-ocean ridges and oceanic transforms is key to our understanding of seafloor spreading and underlying dynamics of divergent plate boundaries. Observations are sparse, however, given the remoteness of the oceans and the difficulties of seismic instrumentation. To overcome this, we utilize the global distribution of seismicity along transform faults to measure shear wave splitting of over 550 direct S phases recorded at 56 carefully selected seismic stations worldwide. Applying this source-side splitting technique allows for characterization of the upper mantle seismic anisotropy, and therefore the pattern of mantle flow, directly beneath seismically active transform faults. The majority of the results (60%) return nulls (no splitting), while the non-null measure

SUBMITTER: Eakin CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993317 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature