Results from axial dredges and a profile inversion of magnetic anomaly data along the axis of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 13-23 degrees S provide an estimate of the average degree of fractionation for the extrusive layer at this ultrafast-spreading (similar to 145 mm/yr full rate) ridge. We find a high correlation (R = 0.81) between dredge mean FeO* (total iron as FeO) and natural remanence for 34 axial dredges with multiple samples having coincident geochemical and magnetic data. We attribute this good correlation to detailed sampling spanning the full range of cooling-related magnetization changes within a flow and to the young age (0-6 ka) of these axial samples, which effectively minimizes time-dependent magnetization changes due to geomagnetic intensity or alteration. A composite axial magnetic anomaly profile shows large amplitude (up to 400 nT) fluctuations with wavelengths of 50-200 km, which theoretical considerations suggest can reliably be related to the magnetization directly beneath the ship. For much of the southern EPR, seismic data provide independent limits on the axial thickness (259 +/- 55 m) and the pattern of off-axis thickening of the extrusive magnetic source layer. These data also provide evidence for an axial magma lens that effectively eliminates anomaly contributions from deeper magnetic sources. Inversion of the axial magnetic anomaly data utilizing these geophysical constraints yields a magnetization solution which, through use of the regression relating FeO* and natural remanence, may be related to the average degree of differentiation of the extrusive source layer. The magnetic data reveal a pattern of magmatic segmentation that closely parallels the tectonic segmentation of the ridge, suggesting that magma supply may be an important control on the average degree of differentiation of the extrusive layer. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
153CQTimes Cited:10Cited References Count:37