Collaborative Research: Structure and Composition of Fast-Spread EPR (East Pacific Rise) Oceanic Crust Exposed at Pito Deep

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AbstractIn this collaborative investigation, a nested-scale survey of major rift escarpments that expose the upper oceanic crust at Pito Deep, located on the northeast edge of the Easter microplate on the EPR will be surveyed and sampled. Major fault scarps bounding a propagating rift along the NE edge of the Easter Microplate cut abyssal hill lineaments and magnetic anomalies at right angles creating a natural cross section of the oceanic crust. Outcrop areas would be located using DSL-120 sidescan sonar, and observed using ALVIN and Jason II. The rationale for this investigation is to extend knowledge of the internal structure and composition of the upper oceanic crust, and by inference, processes at superfast spreading ridges.