Kinematics of the Reykjanes Ridge: Influence of the Iceland Hotspot on Plate Boundary Evolution

Abstract

The slow spreading Reykjanes Ridge overlies the Iceland hotspot and has undergone well ordered changes in crustal segmentation. Previous studies have attributed these changes to varying mantle plume thermal effects, rendering the lithosphere ductile or brittle. Here we use seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies to show that crustal accretion has been focused throughout its spreading history and to determine the detailed evolution of Reykjanes Ridge segments. By ∼53 Ma, organized spreading had developed on an orthogonally spreading linear axis following continental breakup. After a plate motion change at ∼38 Ma, orthogonally spreading offset ridge segments formed by ridge propagation forming varying length fracture zones. From then to the present, the offset segments diachronously migrated back to the original linear geometry from north to south replacing orthogonal with oblique spreading as the axis became linear again. Fracture zones were not terminated, however, simply by reducing segment offsets even to zero. Their termination involved the axial propagation of buoyant upwelling instabilities across the discontinuities, correspondingly extending V-shaped crustal ridges southward. This evolution was guided by a persistent linear deep damp mantle melting interval maintained by the episodic propagation of buoyant upwelling instabilities. Our study indicates that at slow spreading ridges, where buoyant upwelling instabilities govern crustal segmentation, spatial gradients in mantle melting properties may direct the behavior of the instabilities. Where ridges overlie regional hotspot gradients in mantle melting, buoyant instabilities may propagate systematically, and plate boundary evolution may follow an organized pattern.