Volcanic-Tectonic Structure of the Mount Dent Oceanic Core Complex in the Ultraslow Mid-Cayman Spreading Center Determined From Detailed Seafloor Investigation.

ABSTRACT: The flanks of the ultraslow-spreading Mid-Cayman Spreading Center (MCSC) are characterized by domal massifs or oceanic core complexes (OCCs). The most prominent of these, Mount Dent, comprises lower-crustal and upper-mantle lithologies and hosts the Von Damm vent field ~12 km west of the axial deep. Here, presented autonomous underwater vehicle-derived swath sonar (multibeam) mapping and deep-towed side-scan sonar imagery lead to our interpretation that: (i) slip along the OCC-bounding detachment fault is ceasing, (ii) the termination zone, where detachment fault meets the hanging wall, is disintegrating, (iii) the domed surface of the OCC is cut by steep north-south extensional faulting, and (iv) the breakaway zone is cut by outward facing faults. The Von Damm vent field and dispersed poc

SUBMITTER: Haughton GA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9285398 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature