North-south variations in structure, topography, and melting regime along the ultra-slow spreading Red Sea Ridge

The Red Sea rift is a nascent ultra-slow spreading ridge superimposed on the Afar plume. Based on high-resolution seismic data, the southernmost (south of the Danakil rift at 17.05°N), southern (17.05-19.75°N), and central (19.75-23.8°N) segments display seafloor spreading that is anomalously magma-rich compared to other ultra-slow spreading centers. In contrast, the northern segment (23.8-28°N) exhibits magma-poor extension along large-offset east- and west-dipping detachments. Sediment-corrected basement depths along the northern Red Sea reveal an axial valley as deep as the Gakkel Ridge (4200-5100 m). South of 19.75°N, plume-supported axial shoaling matches that of adjacent parts of Arabia, Africa, and the Gulf of Aden. Geochemically, the southernmost Red Sea is the locus of plume-ridge interaction. Here, E-MORBs are enriched in alkali, incompatible, and light rare-earth elements.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Bowman, Emilie Elisabeth.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Oliver Jagoutz.

• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122237

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122237