Temporal Variations in Processes of Lithosphere Formation at the Mid Atlantic Ridge

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A relatively undistured sliver of flexured and uplifted lithosphere is exposed continuously for about 300 km along a seafloor spreading flow line near the Vema Fracture Zone in the central Atlantic Ocean. This lithospheric sliver exposes a basal mantle peridotite unit, a lower crustal gabbro unit, a dike complex, and upper crustal asalts, and is an ideal location for studying temporal changes of accretion processes. The PI has sampled the mantle-derived ultramafic unit at about 40 close-spaced horizontal intervals covering a strectch of time of over 10 my. This project will study texture, modal composition and major and trace element composition of these samples.