Evidence for Multi-stage Melt Transport in the Lower Ocean Crust: The Atlantis Bank Gabbroic Massif (IODP Hole U1473A, SW Indian Ridge)

Abstract

The architecture of lower oceanic crust at slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridge is diverse, yet the mechanisms that produce this diversity are not well understood. Particularly, the 660-km2 gabbroic massif at Atlantis Bank (Southwest Indian Ridge) exhibits significant compositional zonation, representing a high magma supply end member for accretion of the lower ocean crust at slow and ultraslow-spreading ridges. We present the petrographic and geochemical data of olivine gabbros from the 809-metre IODP Hole U1473A at Atlantis Bank gabbroic massif. Structurally, the upper portion of U1473A consists of a ∼600-metre shear zone; below this, the hole is relatively undeformed, with several minor shear zones. Olivine gabbros away from the shear zones have mineral trace element compositions indicative of high-temperature reaction with an oxide-undersaturated melt. By contrast, olivine gabbros within shear zones display petrographic and chemical features indicative of reaction with a relatively low-temperature, oxide-saturated melt. These features indicate an early stage of primitive to moderately evolved melt migration, followed by deformation-driven transport of highly evolved Fe-Ti-rich melts to high levels in this gabbroic massif. The close relationship between shear zones and the reaction with oxide-saturated melts suggests that syn-magmatic shear zones provide a conduit for late-stage, Fe-Ti-rich melt transport through Atlantis Bank lower crust. This process is critical to generate the compositional zonation observed. Thus, the degree of syn-magmatic deformation, which is fundamentally related to magma supply, plays a dominant role in developing the diversity of lower ocean crust observed at slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges.