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Direct observation of a section through slow-spreading oceanic crust

Nature volume 337, pages 726–729 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

Understanding the nature and composition of the oceanic crust has been a longstanding goal of Earth scientists. Seismic refraction experiments1–3suggest a simple layered crust made of eruptive basalts underlain by a thick layer of doleritic and gabbroic intrusives and a peridotitic upper mantle. Other evidence comes from ophiolite complexes on land4, although generalizations based on ophiolites are uncertain because they may be dismembered and altered during emplacement, and it is not known whether they represent sections of 'mature' oceanic crust, or crust from very small 'aborted' oceans5, anomalous ocean structures6 or marginal basins. The walls of fracture-zone valleys expose thick sections of oceanic lithosphere which are accessible to in situ observations and sampling7,8, but this approach has been criticized because the pattern of faulting in fracture zones may disrupt the original statigraphy of the crust9, and because the crust near fracture zones is anomalously thin3, 10, 11. Here we report the direct observation and sampling of a section of crust and upper mantle exposed at the Vema fracture zone in the Atlantic, using the French submersibleNautile.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IFREMER CB, BP70 29263, Plouzané, France

    J.-M. Auzende & D. Bideau

  2. Lament-Doherty Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, 10964, USA

    E. Bonatti

  3. Dipartimento Scienze della Terra, Pisa, Italy

    E. Bonatti

  4. GIS Océnologie et G´odynamique, Avenue Le Gorgeu, 29283, Brest Cedex, France

    M. Cannat, Y. Lagabrielle & V. Mamaloukas-Frangoulis

  5. Institut de Géologic, Rue Blessig, 67000, Strasbourg, France

    J. Honnorez

  6. USTL, Laboratoire de Tectonique, Place E. Bataillon, 34060, Montpellier Cedex, France

    J. Malavieille

  7. UPMC, Laboratoire de Petrologie—UA040736, Place Jussieu, 75252, Paris Cedex, France

    C. Mevel

  8. URA Géodynamique, Pare Valrose, 06000, Nice, France

    Y. Lagabrielle

Authors
  1. J.-M. Auzende
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  2. D. Bideau
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  3. E. Bonatti
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  4. M. Cannat
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  5. J. Honnorez
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  6. Y. Lagabrielle
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  7. J. Malavieille
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  8. V. Mamaloukas-Frangoulis
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  9. C. Mevel
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Auzende, JM., Bideau, D., Bonatti, E. et al. Direct observation of a section through slow-spreading oceanic crust. Nature 337, 726–729 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/337726a0

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