H. J. A. Van Avendonk

Structure and serpentinization of the subducting Cocos plate offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica

The Cocos plate experiences extensional faulting as it bends into the Middle American Trench (MAT) west of Nicaragua, which may lead to hydration of the subducting mantle. To estimate the along strike variations of volatile input from the Cocos plate into the subduction zone, we gathered marine seismic refraction data with the R/V Marcus Langseth along a 396 km long trench parallel transect offshore of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Our inversion of crustal and mantle seismic phases shows two notable features in the deep structure of the Cocos plate: (1) Normal oceanic crust of 6 km thickness from the East Pacific Rise (EPR) lies offshore Nicaragua, but offshore central Costa Rica we find oceanic crust from the northern flank of the Cocos Nazca (CN) spreading center with more complex seismic velocity structure and a thickness of 10 km. We attribute the unusual seismic structure offshore Costa Rica to the midplate volcanism in the vicinity of the Galapagos hot spot. (2) A decrease in Cocos plate mantle seismic velocities from ∼7.9 km/s offshore Nicoya Peninsula to ∼6.9 km/s offshore central Nicaragua correlates well with the northward increase in the degree of crustal faulting outboard of the MAT. The negative seismic velocity anomaly reaches a depth of ∼12 km beneath the Moho offshore Nicaragua, which suggests that larger amounts of water are stored deep in the subducting mantle lithosphere than previously thought. If most of the mantle low velocity zone can be interpreted as serpentinization, the amount of water stored in the Cocos plate offshore central Nicaragua may be about 2.5 times larger than offshore Nicoya Peninsula. Hydration of oceanic lithosphere at deep sea trenches may be the most important mechanism for the transfer of aqueous fluids to volcanic arcs and the deeper mantle.

Contrast in crustal structure across the Clipperton transform fault from travel time tomography

A three-dimensional (3-D) seismic refraction study of the Clipperton transform fault, northern East Pacific Rise, reveals anomalously low compressional velocities from the seafloor to the Moho. We attribute this low-velocity anomaly to intensive brittle deformation, caused by transpression across this active strike-slip plate boundary. The seismic velocity structure south of the Clipperton transform appears unaffected by these tectonic forces, but to the north, seismic velocities are reduced over 10 km outside the zone of sheared seafloor. This contrast in seismic velocity structure corresponds well with the differences in mid-ocean ridge morphology across the Clipperton transform. We conclude that the amount of fracturing of the upper crust, which largely controls seismic velocity variations, is strongly dependent on the shallow temperature structure at the ridge axis. Intermittent supply of magma to the shallow crust north of the Clipperton transform allows seawater to penetrate deeper, and the cooler crust is brittle to a greater depth than south of the transform, where a steady state magma lens is known to exist. The crustal thickness averages 5.7 km, only slightly thinner than normal for oceanic crust, and variations in Moho depth in excess of ∼0.3 km are not required by our data. The absence of large crustal thickness variations and the general similarity in seismic structure imply that a steady state magma lens is not required to form normal East Pacific Rise type crust. Perhaps a significant portion of the lower crust is accreted in situ from a patchwork of short-lived gabbro sills or from ductile flow from a basal magma chamber as has been postulated in some recent ophiolite studies.

A three-dimensional study of a crustal low velocity region beneath the 9°03′N overlapping spreading center

Overlapping spreading centers (OSCs) play a key role in models of magma distribution at fast spreading ridges. To investigate the relationship between ridge-axis discontinuities and magma supply, we conducted a three-dimensional seismic reflection and tomography experiment at the 9°03′N OSC along the East Pacific Rise. Tomographic analysis imaged a broad mid-crustal low velocity zone (LVZ) beneath parts of the overlapper and the associated overlap basin, demonstrating that it is magmatically robust. The complementary datasets reveal a complex storage and tapping of melt: the LVZ and melt sill at either end of the overlap basin are not simply centered beneath the rise crest but are skewed inwards. The subsequent focussing of the LVZ and sill beneath the axis of the eastern limb appears to be due to melt migration toward the tip. The OSC western limb is less magmatically robust and may be in the process of dying.

Seismic images of the Transition fault and the unstable Yakutat-Pacific-North American triple junction

In southern Alaska, the Pacific plate and Yakutat terrane subduct beneath the North American plate along the Aleutian Trench and Pamplona zone, respectively, and are sliding past each other at minimal rates along the Transition fault. As the deformation front of the Pamplona zone stepped eastward during the Pliocene–Pleistocene, the Pacific–North American–Yakutat triple junction became unstable. Four recent seismic images reveal that the Transition fault changes from a single strike-slip boundary east of the deformation front to three strands that step increasingly seaward between the deformation front and the Aleutian Trench. The southern two strands deform the Pacific crust, and the outermost of these became increasingly convergent sometime since 1 Ma, as demonstrated by young growth strata. We propose that this internal deformation of the Pacific plate is an attempt to re-attain stability, which can only be reached by creating a tectonic boundary collinear with the Pamplona zone. The plate reorganization will result in initiation of subduction such that a portion of former Pacific crust will become accreted to the North American plate. Such accretion events caused by triple-junction instability may be an important mechanism for transferring oceanic crust to continental margins.

New geophysical constraints on a failed subduction initiation: The structure and potential evolution of the Gagua Ridge and Huatung Basin

We modeled the velocity structure of the Huatung Basin and Gagua Ridge using offshore wide-angle seismic data along four ∼E-W transects. These transects are accompanied by several multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) profiles that highlight the shallow deformation in this area east of Taiwan. Although it is agreed that the Gagua Ridge was the product of a transient compressional episode in the past, relatively few data have been collected that reveal the deeper structure resulting from this enigmatic process. The velocity models show evidence for normal, to thin, oceanic crustal thicknesses in the Huatung Basin and West Philippine Basin. Moho reflections from the associated MCS profiles confirm the thickness observed in the velocity models. The velocity models indicate significant crustal thickening associated with the Gagua Ridge, to 12–18 km along its entire length. Most importantly, the two central velocity models also show a significant asymmetry in the crustal thickening, suggesting a westward underthrusting of >20 km of WPB oceanic crust beneath that of the Huatung Basin. This geometry is extremely unexpected given interpretations that indicate the Huatung Basin could be significantly older than the West Philippine Basin (Early Cretaceous versus Eocene). Our observations, along with recent geophysical data concerning the age of the Huatung Basin, indicate that the Gagua Ridge was the result of a failed subduction event during the Miocene that may have existed simultaneously and for a short time, competed with the Manila subduction zone to the west in accommodating convergence between the Eurasia and Philippine Sea plates. In this scenario, the present-day Gagua Ridge represents a snapshot of a failed subduction initiation preserved in the geologic record.

Deep crustal structure of an arc‐continent collision: Constraints from seismic traveltimes in central Taiwan and the Philippine Sea

The collision of continental crust of the Eurasian Plate with the overriding Luzon Arc in central Taiwan has led to compression, uplift, and exhumation of rocks that were originally part of the Chinese rifted margin. Though the kinematics of the fold-thrust belt on the west side of the orogen has been described in detail, the style of deformation in the lower crust beneath Taiwan is still not well understood. In addition, the fate of the Luzon Arc and Forearc in the collision is also not clear. Compressional wave arrival times from active-source and earthquake seismic data from the Taiwan Integrated Geodynamic Research program constrain the seismic velocity structure of the lithosphere along transect T5, an east-west corridor in central Taiwan. The results of our analysis indicate that the continental crust of the Eurasian margin forms a broad crustal root beneath central Taiwan, possibly with a thickness of 55 km. Compressional seismic velocities beneath the Central Range of Taiwan are as low as 5.5 km/s at 25 km depth, whereas P wave seismic velocities in the middle crust on the eastern flank of the Taiwan mountain belt average 6.5–7.0 km/s. This suggests that the incoming sediments and upper crust of the Eurasian Plate are buried to midcrustal depth in the western flank of the orogen before they are exhumed in the Central Range. To the east, the Luzon Arc and Forearc are deformed beneath the Coastal Range of central Taiwan. Fragments of the rifted margin of the South China Sea that were accreted in the early stages of the collision form a new backstop that controls the exhumation of Eurasian strata to the west in this evolving mountain belt.

Deep crustal structure in the eastern Gulf of Mexico

We use air gun data recorded by ocean bottom seismometers to constrain the velocity structure along Gulf of Mexico Basin Opening Line 4, a profile extending from the northwestern Florida peninsula across the Florida Escarpment to the central Gulf of Mexico. Moderately thinned continental crust with a Moho depth of 32–33 km, average sediment thickness of 6 km, and an average crustal thickness of 27 km is interpreted on the northeast end of the profile offshore Florida. Thinned and intruded continental crust is identified over a horizontal distance of 225 km where the crustal layer thins from 25 km to 6–7 km; mean seismic velocities of the crust in this region increase from 6.55 km/s to 6.95 km/s from northeast to southwest and are evidence for increased magmatic input as rifting developed. Oceanic crust with an average thickness of 5.6–5.7 km is observed over a distance of 175 km on the southwest end of the profile, with an extinct spreading ridge with an axial valley morphology imaged on a coincident seismic reflection profile. Anomalously high upper oceanic crust velocities of 6.0–6.7 km/s are interpreted as massive basalt flows and could reflect increased temperatures during emplacement. Integrating well, seismic reflection and our seismic refraction data allow us to estimate a full-spreading rate of 2.2 cm/yr for seafloor spreading along the profile; this indicates that oceanic crust was emplaced at a slow-spreading center.

Geophysical Structure of the Southern Alps Orogen, South Island, New Zealand

The central part of the South Island of New Zealand is a product of the transpressive continental collision of the Pacific and Australian plates during the past 5 million years, prior to which the plate boundary was largely transcurrent for over 10 My. Subduction occurs at the north (west dipping) and south (east dipping) of South Island. The deformation is largely accommodated by the ramping up of the Pacific plate over the Australian plate and near-symmetric mantle shortening. The initial asymmetric crustal deformation may be the result of an initial difference in lithospheric strength or an inherited suture resulting from earlier plate motions. Delamination of the Pacific plate occurs resulting in the uplift and exposure of mid-crustal rocks at the plate boundary fault (Alpine fault) to form a foreland mountain chain. In addition, an asymmetric crustal root (additional 8 - 17 km) is formed, with an underlying mantle downwarp. The crustal root, which thickens southwards, comprises the delaminated lower crust and a thickened overlying middle crust. Lower crust is variable in thickness along the orogen, which may arise from convergence in and lower lithosphere extrusion along the orogen. Low velocity zones in the crust occur adjacent to the plate boundary (Alpine fault) in the Australian and Pacific plates, where they are attributed to fracturing of the upper crust as a result of flexural bending for the Australian plate and to high pressure fluids in the crust derived from prograde metamorphism of the crustal rocks for the Pacific plate.

Along-strike structure of the Costa Rican convergent margin from seismic a refraction/reflection survey : evidence for underplating beneath the inner forearc

The convergent margin offshore Costa Rica shows evidence of subsidence due to subduction erosion along the outer forearc and relatively high rates of uplift (∼3–6 mm/yr) along the coast. Recently erupted arc lavas exhibit a low 10Be signal, suggesting that although nearly the entire package of incoming sediments enters the subduction zone, very little of that material is carried directly with the downgoing Cocos plate to the magma generating depths of the mantle wedge. One mechanism that would explain both the low 10Be and the coastal uplift is the underplating of sediments, tectonically eroded material, and seamounts beneath the inner forearc. We present results of a 320 km long, trench-parallel seismic reflection and refraction study of the Costa Rican forearc. The primary observations are (1) margin perpendicular faulting of the basement, (2) thickening of the Cocos plate to the northwest, and (3) two weak bands of reflections in the multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection image with travel times similar to the top of the subducting Cocos plate. The modeled depths to these reflections are consistent with an ∼40 km long, 1–3 km thick region of underplated material ∼15 km beneath some of the highest observed coastal uplift rates in Costa Rica.