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

大洋上部的地质和地球物理研究 蛇绿混杂岩的地壳及相应组分 表明该区域存在显著非均质性， 几公里到几厘米的尺度。 这个项目是 对主要海底断层崖的详细地质研究， 为了阐明岩石学， 和复杂的结构。赫斯 深层暴露的玄武岩和深成岩石表面的一个主要的 平均坡度大于60度的断层崖， 垂直起伏大于2公里。 这扇窗户 大洋地壳在加拉帕戈斯海脊形成 向西进入东翼一百万年前的正常地壳 东太平洋海隆 因为这个悬崖平行于 负责深海丘陵地形的海底， 地球上无处不在的地貌，可以第一次被研究。 这项研究将产生一个更现实的看法，横向和 东太平洋地壳的垂直不均匀性。

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.