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Crustal structure and mantle transition zone thickness beneath a hydrothermal vent at the ultra-slow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (49°39′E): a supplementary study based on passive seismic receiver functions

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Abstract

As a supplementary study, we used passive seismic data recorded by one ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) station (49°41.8′E) close to a hydrothermal vent (49°39′E) at the Southwest Indian Ridge to invert the crustal structure and mantle transition zone (MTZ) thickness by P-to-S receiver functions to investigate previous active seismic tomographic crustal models and determine the influence of the deep mantle thermal anomaly on seafloor hydrothermal venting at an ultra-slow spreading ridge. The new passive seismic S-wave model shows that the crust has a low velocity layer (2.6 km/s) from 4.0 to 6.0 km below the sea floor, which is interpreted as partial melting. We suggest that the Moho discontinuity at ~9.0 km is the bottom of a layer (2–3 km thick); the Moho (at depth of ~6–7 km), defined by active seismic P-wave models, is interpreted as a serpentinized front. The velocity spectrum stacking plot made from passive seismic data shows that the 410 discontinuity is depressed by ~15 km, the 660 discontinuity is elevated by ~18 km, and a positive thermal anomaly between 182 and 237 K is inferred.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the scientists and crew of the DY115-21 cruise (Leg 6) of the R/V “Dayang Yihao”, especially Prof. John Chen, Prof. Xuelin Qiu and Prof. Minghui Zhao. The study is supported by the National Basic Research program of China (Grant 2012CB417301), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 91228205, 41576037 and 41176046).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Aiguo Ruan, Hao Hu & Jiabiao Li

  2. Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, China

    Aiguo Ruan, Hao Hu, Jiabiao Li, Xiongwei Niu, Xiaodong Wei, Jie Zhang & Aoxing Wang

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  1. Aiguo Ruan
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  2. Hao Hu
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  3. Jiabiao Li
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  4. Xiongwei Niu
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  5. Xiaodong Wei
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  6. Jie Zhang
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  7. Aoxing Wang
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Correspondence to Aiguo Ruan.

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Ruan, A., Hu, H., Li, J. et al. Crustal structure and mantle transition zone thickness beneath a hydrothermal vent at the ultra-slow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (49°39′E): a supplementary study based on passive seismic receiver functions. Mar Geophys Res 38, 39–46 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-016-9298-8

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