Accomplishment Based Renewal to OCE-0526905: The Geology and Tectonics of Ultraslow Spreading Ridges

摘要（Dick 0827825）知识价值：在超过四分之一世纪的时间里，海洋地壳一直被认为是一个简单的分层结构，由覆盖在“片状岩堤”上的熔岩组成，随着地球撕裂，岩浆的冰冻残骸沿着熔岩下面形成的裂缝运输，最后在海底火山下面的岩浆室中结晶了一层厚厚的粗辉长岩。本研究的目标是将Gakkel和西南印度脊（SWIR）三个密集采样区域的岩石详细岩石描述数据与可用的局地测深数据（来自侧扫声纳和海底视频）以及海面磁力和重力数据整合在一起。由此产生的综合将首次将具有代表性的超低速扩张中心脊的构造端部的地质和地壳结构图画在一起。这项工作很重要，因为这类相对较新发现的洋中脊扩展中心，其地质情况目前知之甚少，占全球脊系统的30%左右。更广泛的影响：这项工作的更广泛的影响将增加海底科学的基础设施，为来自超低扩散脊的样本产生一个记录良好的易于访问的数据库，这将使更多的研究人员能够识别和获取新研究的关键材料。它还将培养地质学本科生识别海底岩石的能力，这些数据将成为他们毕业论文的基础。还将开发一个创新实验室，供研究生进行岩石识别、描述和将海底样本整合到海洋地球物理研究中。这项研究也为当地学校和伍兹霍尔海洋研究所在其展览中心举办的“科学公布于众”系列公共讲座提供了海洋地壳公开讲座的基础。

Abstract (Dick 0827825)Intellectual Merit: For over a quarter century the ocean crust has been though to be a simple layered structure comprised of lavas overlying "sheeted dikes", the frozen remains of magma transported along the cracks that form beneath the lavas as the earth tears apart, and finally a thick layer of coarse gabbro rock crystallized in magma chambers beneath the seafloor volcanoes. The goals of this research are to integrate data from detailed rock descriptions of rocks from a new class of mid-ocean ridge spreading center with available local bathymetry from side scan sonar and seafloor video as well as with sea surface magnetics and gravity for three densely sampled regions of the Gakkel and Southwest Indian Ridges (SWIR). The resulting synthesis will draw together, for the first time, a picture of the geology and crustal architecture of representative tectonic end-members for ultraslow spreading centers ridges. The work is important because this relatively recently discovered class of mid-ocean ridge spreading centers, whose geology is presently poorly known, comprise about 30% of the global ridge system. Broader Impacts: The broader impacts of this work will increase the infrastructure for seafloor science by generating a well-documented readily accessible database for samples from ultraslow spreading ridges that will enable additional investigators to identify and obtain key material for new research. It will also train undergraduate geology majors in the identification of seafloor rocks and data from these will form the basis of their senior theses. An innovative laboratory for graduate students in rock identification, description, and integration of seafloor samples into marine geophysical studies will also be developed. The research also forms the basis for public talks on the ocean crust at local schools and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's public lecture series "Science Made Public" at its exhibit center.