The role of oceanic transform faults in seafloor spreading: a global perspective from seismic anisotropy

Abstract

Mantle anisotropy beneath mid-ocean ridges and oceanic transforms is key to our understanding of seafloor spreading and underlying dynamics of divergent plate boundaries. Observations are sparse however, given the remoteness of the oceans and the difficulties of seismic instrumentation. To overcome this we utilise the global distribution of seismicity along transform faults to measure shear wave splitting of over 550 direct S phases recorded at 56 carefully selected seismic stations worldwide. Applying this source-side splitting technique allows for characterisation of the upper mantle seismic anisotropy, and therefore the pattern of mantle flow, directly beneath seismically active transform faults. The majority of the results (60%) return nulls (no splitting), while the non-null measurements display clear azimuthal dependency. This is best simply explained by anisotropy with a near vertical symmetry axis, consistent with mantle upwelling beneath oceanic transforms as suggested by numerical models. It appears therefore that the long-term stability of seafloor spreading may be associated with widespread mantle upwelling beneath the transforms creating warm and weak faults that localise strain to the plate boundary.

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ORCID for Nicholas Harmon: orcid.org/0000-0002-0731-768X

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