MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF THE REYKJANES RIDGE BASALTS FROM IODP EXPEDITION 395C

The Reykjanes Ridge off the coast of southern Iceland exists along the intersection of the Icelandic plume and the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR), and is home to features known as V-shaped ridges (VSRs) and V-shaped troughs (VSTs), whose origin is yet to be determined. Extensive magnetic data analyses of the area may reveal the process or processes contributing to their formations. These studies can supply critical information on the chemical composition of the melt and the nature of Earth’s magnetic field at the time of melt crystallization, and are able to provide details on convective mantle processes, which are poorly understood. Using basalt samples strategically retrieved by the International Ocean Discovery Program’s (IODP) Expedition 395C, we plan to measure and interpret anisotropies of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility, hysteresis properties, and first order remanence curve data (FORC), which will enable us to categorize and gather data on the events leading to the formation of the VSRs and VSTs. We anticipate that the data will correspond to VSRs or VSTs indicating a mantle component to the origin of the VSRs and VSTs, or that there will be no correlation, indicating a structural control of origin. This research will correlate with other studies being conducted on the basalts recovered by IODP Expedition 395C, and will aid in unraveling the time dependent behavior of the Icelandic plume.