Oceanic crustal thickness versus spreading rate

作者：Yongshun John Chen · 发表于：Geophysical Research Letters · 年份：1992 · DOI：10.1029/92gl00161 · 被引用次数：214 · 研究领域：earthquake and tectonic studies、Geological and Geochemical Analysis、High-pressure geophysics and materials

A compilation of oceanic crustal thickness from seismic observations collected over the past two decades shows that the average crustal thickness, away from plateaus, is 6 km; no systematic increase of crustal thickness with spreading rate is observed. Instead, the data show large variations in crustal thickness at slow spreading ridges (3 – 8 km for half rates < 20 mm/yr) and small variations in thickness at fast rates (5 – 7 km for half rates > 30 mm/yr). The large variations at slow ridges and small variations at fast ridges are consistent with the results inferred from recent gravity studies of mid‐ocean ridges. Both data sets support the speculation of a transition from a 3‐D structure of crustal accretion at slow ridges to a 2‐D accretion pattern at fast ridges.