Electromagnetic and Tomographic Research of Melt below EPR

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

As for geophysical measurements around the East Pacific Rise (EPR four Ocean Bottom Electro Magnetometers (OBEMs) were successfully retrieved during a research cruise from the end of May/'97 through the beginning of July/'97 by R/V Melville of Scripps Institution of Oceangraphy, US,to yield electromagnetic (EM) time series at the seafloor for more than one year. The OBEMs have been installed at 17ﾟS of EPR during a previous research cruise from the middle of May/'96 through the beginning of July/'96, which was also an international cruise coordinated by Mantle ELectromagnetic and Tomography (MELT) Project. The EM data from these seafloor units are now being analyzed together with those simultaneously collected by US and Australian groups. The goal of the analyzes and subsequent modellings/inversions is reveal the EM structure of melt bodies just below the super spreading center. Specifically, this research aims at quantifying the geometry, melt fraction and connectedness of the melt bodies by a joint observation of seismics and magnetotellurics at the seafloor.In terms of study of the very old oceanic crust in Archaen, rock sampling was conducted in South Africa and Zimbabwe this year. The samples collected are either igneous or sedimentary rocks as old as 2,500 to 3,500 Ma. These samples are in the course of petrological, geological and paleomagnetic analyzes to yield estimates of the tectonic activity at the seafloor and Earth's geomagnetic field in Archaen, which will be combined with the results from the samples collected in Australia ('95) and in Canada ('96) to give reconstruction of a worldwide view of the Earth in Archaen.