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Using the near-bottom ARGO imaging system, we visually and acoustically surveyed the narrow (< 200 m wide) axial zone of the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) along 83 km of its length (9°09'-54'N), discovered the Venture Hydrothermal Fields, and systematically mapped the distribution of hundreds of hydrothermal features relative to other fine-scale volcanic and tectonic features of the ridge crest. The survey encompasses most of a 2nd order ridge segment and includes at least ten 4th order (5-15 km) segments defined by bends or small lateral offsets of the ridge crest or axis (Devals). 4th order segmentation of the ridge crest is clearly expressed in the high-resolution ARGO data by the fine-scale behavior of the ridge axis and by changes in the characteristics of the axial zone (axial lava age, extent of fissuring, axial morphology and structure, etc.) across segment boundaries. The distribution and along-strike variability of hydrothermal features corresponds closely to the morphotectonic/structural segmentation of the ridge. On the 2nd order scale, we find that high T hydrothermal activity correlates with: (1) shallowing of the axial magma chamber (AMC) reflector to depths < 1.7 km beneath the ridge axis; and, (2) with the presence of a well-developed axial summit caldera (ASC). Previous work refers to this feature as an axial summit graben (ASG); however, the extent of volcanic collapse along the ASG revealed by the ARGO survey adds to evidence that on fast-spreading ridges it is an elongate volcanic caldera rather than a tectonic graben, and supports the introduction of "axial summit caldera" as a more accurate descriptor. All but 1 of the 45 active high T vent features identified with ARGO are located within 20 m of the margins of the ASC. Despite the significant extent of our track coverage outside the ASC, no important signs of venting were seen beyond the axial zone. On the 4th order scale, the abundance and distribution of hydrothermal features changes across 4th order segment boundaries. We find that high T vents are most abundant where: (1) the ASC is very narrow (40-70 m), (2) the AMC reflector is most shallow (< 1.55 km beneath the axial zone), and (3) the axial lavas are youngest and least fissured. To explain the observed distribution of vent activity, a two-layer model of ridge crest hydrothermal flow is proposed in which 3-D circulation at lower T in the volcanic section is superimposed on top of axis-parallel high T circulation through the sheeted dike complex. In the model, circulation parallel to the ridge axis is segmented at the 4th order scale by variations in thermal structure and crustal permeability which are directly associated with the spacing of recent dike intrusions along strike and with cracking down into the sheeted dikes, especially along the margins of the ASC. Based on ratios between numbers of active high T vents and inactive sulfide deposits along particular 4th order segments, and on corresponding volcanic and tectonic characteristics of these segments, we suggest tha...

We have used the Sea Beam multibeam echo-sounding system to survey the East Pacific Rise (EPR) from 8ø20'N to 18ø30'N, obtaining complete coverage of the EPR axial neovolcanic zone and all intervening transform faults. Here we focus on the EPR neovolcanic zone and the definition of overlapping spreading centers (OCS's) between the Orozco and Siqueiros transform faults. The neovolcanic zone is narrow [0.5-2.0 kin) and continuous along strike and occurs within and near a strike-continuous axial summit graben. The neovolcanic zone and summit graben reside along the crest of a volcanic axial high which is 2-10 km wide and which continues uninterrupted along strike for 40-140 kin. Within 20-50 km of an intersection with a transform fault the axial neovolcanic zone narrows and deepens, and within only 3-6 km of the intersection the neovolcanic zone turns sharply into the transform valley. At seven locations between the Siqueiros and Orozco transform faults the axial neovolcanic zone is discontinuous and is laterally offset a short distance (1-15 km). In contrast with a classic ridge/transform/ridge plate boundary, however, offset rise terminations overlap each other by a distance approximately 3 times greater than their offset. They curve toward each other, and often one merges into the other along strike. Separating the OSC's is an elliptical overlap basin up to 600 m deep whose long axis is subparallel to the adjacent spreading centers. The overlap basin is characterized by volcanic constructional edifices. A key difference between these offsets and small transform faults in the Atlantic is that there are no transform fault structures in the overlap basin which link the offset rise axes. A continuous axial depth profile reveals a long-wavelength (9.0-60 km) undulation of the rise axis which may be associated with variations in the magmatic budget along strike. The lowest points in the axial depth profile occur near transform faults and at OSC's, suggesting that these features are associated with along-strike minima in the magmatic budget. We suggest that major phases of volcanic activity propagate episodically along the axis away from centers of magmatie inflation and that OSC's develop where magmatic pulses fail to meet due to misalignment of fracture systems, sinuous bends in the rise axis, or other heterogeneities. Transform faults fail to develop on fast spreading centers where the lateral offsets are small (<15 kin) because the lithosphere is too thin and weak to maintain a classic rigid plate ridge/transform fault pattern. The OSC geometry. is unstable and evolves rapidly, and the overlapping rises may propagate at rates faster than the local spreading rate. One of the two OSC's prevails, while the other is abandoned. While the locations of OSC's may not be fixed relative to the rise axis, they may tend to recur near the same place, creating scars in older lithosphere which resemble fracture zones, but whose fine-scale structure is quite different. There is excellent agreement between the observed structure of ...

Major and minor element analyses of 496 natural volcanic glass samples from 141 locations along the superfast spreading (150 mm/yr) East Pacific Rise (EPR), 13°–23°S, and near‐ridge seamounts comprise 212 chemical groups. We interpret these groups to represent the average composition of individual lava flows or groups of closely related flows. Groups slightly enriched in K2O (T‐MORB) are distributed variably along the axis, in contrast to the Galapagos Spreading Center where T‐MORB are extremely rare. This result is consistent with the interpretation that T‐MORB magmas arise from low‐melting temperature, K‐rich heterogeneities in the subaxial EPR mantle. The Galapagos Spreading Center, which is migrating to the west in an absolute reference frame, is underlain by mantle previously processed and depleted in the T‐MORB component during melting events giving rise to earlier EPR magmas. Excluding T‐MORB, there are nearly monotonic, twofold increases in K/Ti and K/P of axial lavas from 23°S to 13°S. From 22°S to 17°S these gradients correlate with isotopic ratios, but north of 17°S there is a reversal of isotopic gradients, indicating (recent?) decoupling of the isotopic and minor element ratios in the subaxial mantle. A strong, southward increase in degree of differentiation for approximately 200 km north of the large offset at 20.7°S correlates with a gradient in bathymetry, consistent with previous interpretations that this offset is propagating to the south. Samples from recently abandoned ridges associated with this dueling propagator mainly carry the distinctive, evolved fractionation signatures of rift propagation, suggesting that propagating rift tips have been abandoned preferentially to failing rift tips. Glass compositional variations south of this offset are consistent with rift failure on the southern limb within 40 km of the offset, and possibly also south of 22°S; the latter region may be affected by deformation accompanying northward growth of the Easter Microplate. Near‐ridge seamounts on the Pacific Plate between 18°–19°S comprise two distinct populations: those aligned approximately parallel to the spreading direction are extremely variable in major element composition, but consistently enriched in Sr relative to nearby axial lavas; smaller seamounts aligned approximately parallel to the direction of absolute plate motion are uniformly depleted in minor elements and Sr relative to axial lavas. The degree of differentiation of axial lavas between 18°–19°S can be related to the structural development of the rift axis and/or vigor of hydrothermal activity of individual segments. Glass compositional variations indicate that magmatic segmentation occurs on several different scales at the superfast spreading rate of this area. Primary magmatic segmentation mainly reflects mantle source variations, the boundaries of which correlate with the largest physical offsets in the rise axis between the Easter Microplate and Garrett Transform Zone. A secondary magmatic segmentation, defined by the along‐axis continu...