This research is designed to establish the morphological character, segmentation geometry, and structure of a significant length of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the central North Atlantic, and to test hypotheses on crustal accretion processes along a slowly spreading mid-ocean ridge. Questions to be addressed are: (1) What is the effect of the Azores hotspot on the morphology, segmentation geometry, and structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? (2) Do major fracture zones in the central North Atlantic separate portions of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with significantly different styles and wavelengths of segmentation? (3) How are differences in the pattern of mantle Bouguer anomalies at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge related to inter-segment morphotectonic variability? (4) What is the relative abundance of conventional transform faults and non-transform discontinuities along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? (5) What controls the formation, stability, and evolution of non-transform offsets on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? The principal investigators will participate in two cruises of the French ship R/V l'Atalante.
