Accommodation zones and transfer faults: integral components of Mid- Atlantic Ridge extensional systems

Abstract

The style of tectonic extension varies rapidly along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge primarily as a consequence of along-axis variations in magma budget and episodic magmatism. Such variations require various types of strike-slip and oblique faults or fault zones in order to accommodate variations in extensional strain at different scales. The types of accommodation zones and smaller scale transfer faults are well known in continental extensional terranes and are an important aspect of the extensional geometry along slow-spreading ridges and in ophiolites. -Author