The Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 45& deg;N. III. Bald Mountain

Abstract

Metamorphosed and metasomatized basalts, and unmetamorphosed equivalents, were recovered from the steep slopes of Bald Mountain, a north–south elongated seamount lying 60 km west of the Median Rift Valley at 45° N. Block faulting and uplift of the seamount, together with the removal by submarine erosion of extrusive rocks capping the seamount, have resulted in the exposure of the more deep-seated metamorphosed horizons along the fault scarps.The block-faulted nature of Bald Mountain, indicative of brittle fracturing of the upper crustal layers of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, may be a result of the low ocean floor spreading rates implied from age determinations and magnetic anomaly patterns at 45 °N.