Pressures of Partial Crystallization of Magmas Erupted Along Transform Faults in the Atlantic Ocean
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Date
2015-12
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Crystallization of magmas at mid-ocean ridge transform faults remains a little-studied and poorly-understood phenomenon. Although some crystallization pressures calculated for magmas erupted along transforms transecting the northern part of the East Pacific Rise are anomalously high compared to those erupted along normal ridge segments, the conditions of crystallization of magmas along transform faults as a whole remain unknown. Using data compiled for lavas erupted along five transform faults that cross-cut northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, crystallization and pressures were calculated and compared to each other to fully understand what processes might be occurring. Overall the magmas are found to have pressures within the range of those expected for intra-crustal crystallization, and the magmas appear to have evolved by normal crystallization processes. Some samples yield anomalously high pressures of partial crystallization, but these samples also show unusual chemical characteristics, and therefore the calculated pressures cannot be accepted as recording the actual pressure of crystallization.
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Keywords
Mid-ocean ridges, transform faults, magma crystallization, crystallization pressure