[1] We present swath bathymetric, gravity, and magnetic data from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between the Ascension and the Bode Verde fracture zones, where significant ridge-hot spot interaction has been inferred. The ridge axis in this region may be divided into four segments. The central two segments exhibit rifted axial highs, while the northernmost and southernmost segments have deep rift valleys typical of slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges. Bathymetric and magnetic data indicate that both central segments have experienced ridge jumps since $1 Ma. Mantle Bouguer anomalies (MBAs) derived from shipboard free air gravity and swath bathymetric data show deep subcircular lows centered on the new ridge axes, suggesting that mantle flow has been established beneath the new spreading centers for at least $1 Myr. Inversion of gravity data indicates that crustal thicknesses vary by $4 km along axis, with the thickest crust occurring beneath a large axial volcanic edifice. Once the effects of lithospheric aging have been removed, a model in which gravity variations are attributed entirely to crustal thickness variations is more consistent with data from an axis-parallel seismic line than a model that includes additional along-axis variations in mantle temperature. Both geophysical and geochemical data from the region may be explained by the melting of small (<200 km) mantle chemical heterogeneities rather than elevated temperatures. Therefore, there may be no Ascension/Circe plume.

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[1] The Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 8-9°S is characterized by a transition from axial valley to axial high and recent episodes of ridge jumping and ridge propagation. We present constraints on the structure of 0-4 Ma crust in this region on the basis of the analysis of wide-angle seismic data from a grid of profiles across and parallel to the current and abandoned spreading centers. A 350-800 m thick oceanic layer 2A, interpreted as highporosity extrusive basalts, is underlain by a $2.0-2.5 km layer 2B with velocities which increase with age and decrease in the vicinity of the pseudofaults. Layer 3 velocities are uniform across the area except for a possible localized anomaly at the ridge axis. The crustal thickness varies from 6-7 km near the pseudofaults formed by ridge propagation to 9-10 km at the segment center of the recently ($0.3 Ma) abandoned spreading center. Seismically determined crustal thickness and density variations and age-related lithospheric cooling can plausibly account for all observed variations in gravity across the area, and there is no requirement for the thicker crust at the segment center to be underlain by hot mantle. The transition from axial valley to axial high occurs at a crustal thickness of $8 km.

In order to investigate the velocity structure, and hence shed light on the related tectonics, across the Narmada–Son lineament, traveltimes of wide‐angle seismic data along the 240 km long Hirapur–Mandla profile in central India have been inverted. A blocky, laterally heterogeneous, three‐layer velocity model down to a depth of 10 km has been derived. The first layer shows a maximum thickness of the upper Vindhyans (4.5 km s−1 ) of about 1.35 km and rests on top of normal crystalline basement, represented by the 5.9 km s−1 velocity layer. The anomalous feature of the study is the absence of normal granitic basement in the great Vindhyan Graben, where lower Vindhyan sediments (5.3 km s−1 ) were deposited during the Precambrian on high‐velocity (6.3 km s−1 ) metamorphic rock. The block beneath the Narmada–Son lineament represents a horst feature in which high‐velocity (6.5 km s−1 ) lower crustal material has risen to a depth of less than 2 km. South of the lineament, the Deccan Traps were deposited on normal basement during the upper Cretaceous period and attained a maximum thickness of about 800 m.