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

对上洋壳和相应的蛇绿岩杂岩成分的地质和地球物理研究表明，该地区在几公里到几厘米的尺度上存在显著的不均质性。该项目是利用ALVIN对赫斯深部的主要海底断层崖进行详细的地质研究，以阐明大洋上部地壳的岩石学和结构复杂性。赫斯深部暴露在一个平均坡度大于60度，垂直起伏大于2公里的主要断崖面上的玄武岩和深成岩。这扇观察大洋地壳的窗口是在加拉帕戈斯海脊形成的，向西传播到东太平洋隆起东侧的正常的100万年前的地壳中。由于这一悬崖与海底扩散流线、断层和火山结构平行，导致深海丘陵地形，最普遍的陆地将产生更真实的东太平洋地壳横向和垂直不均一性的观点。

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 spreading flow-line, faults and volcanic structures that are responsible for abyssal hill topography, the most pervasive landwill produce a more realistic view of the lateral and vertical heterogeneity of the East Pacific crust.