Structure of Fast-Spread Ocean Crust Exposed in the Walls of Hess Deep

对上洋地壳及其蛇绿岩复合体组成的地质和地球物理研究表明，该地区在几公里至几厘米尺度上存在明显的非均质性。本项目是利用ALVIN对赫斯深主要海底断裂带进行详细的地质研究，以阐明上洋地壳的岩石学和构造复杂性。赫斯深在主要断崖面上暴露玄武岩和深成岩，平均坡度大于60度，垂向起伏大于2公里。这个进入海洋地壳的窗口是在加拉帕戈斯海岭处形成的，向西延伸到东太平洋隆起东翼正常的100万年地壳中。因为这个悬崖与海底平行，形成了深海丘陵地形，这是地球上最普遍的陆地形式，可以第一次进行检查。这项研究将对东太平洋地壳的横向和纵向非均质性产生更现实的看法。

Geological and geophysical studies of the upper oceanic crust and corresponding components of ophiolite complexes indicate that significant heterogeneities exist in this region on scales of a few kilometers to a few centimeters. This project is a detailed geological study of major submarine fault scarps at the Hess Deep using ALVIN in order to elucidate the petrological and structural complexities of the upper oceanic crust. The Hess Deep exposes basaltic and plutonic rocks on the face of a major fault scarp with average slope greater than 60 degrees and vertical relief of greater than 2 km. This window into the oceanic crust was created at the Galapagos Ridge propagated westward into normal one million-year-old crust of the east flank of the East Pacific Rise. Because this escarpment is parallel to a seafloor responsible for abyssal hill topography, the most pervasive land form on earth, can be examined for the first time. This study will produce a more realistic view of the lateral and vertical heterogeneity of the East Pacific crust.