Intellectual Merit: This research identifies and characterizes the link between magma supply and plate boundary processes at the Lucky Strike segment of the mid-Atlantic Ridge in a slowly spreading seafloor setting. A better understanding of crustal architecture and seafloor construction are main research targets. Research consists primarily of a field program aboard a French ship and working closely with French collaborators, with land-based data analysis taking place at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US. High-resolution TowCam imaging of individual lava flows, faults, and fissures along the central valley and environs of the mid-Atlantic Ridge will be carried out and integrated with magnetic, submersible, bathymetric, and other field data collected on the cruise. The research will yield micro-topographic profiles, the collection of lava samples for analysis, and near-bottom magnetic data. Three locations on the Lucky Strike segment are slated for study. Outcomes of the work consist of a high-resolution map of the Lucky Strike area and models of seafloor construction and axial volcanism on a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge.
Broader Impacts: This work supports an early career scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and engaged summer undergraduates in research. It also includes significant interaction with French scientists of the InterRidge community and includes cross training of a French graduate student in a US laboratory. Maps and images will be linked to GIS will be available over the web where it can be accessed by scientists and the public; and geochemical data will be archived in the web accessible geochemical database, PetDB.
