A heat flow survey on anomaly M0 south of the Bermuda Rise |
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| Authors: | DA Galson RP Von Herzen |
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| Institution: | Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQU.K.;Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | We have obtained a suite of 42 closely spaced, acoustically navigated, heat flow measurements on well-sedimented crust of anomaly M0 age (109 Ma) in the northwest Atlantic Ocean (25°N, 68°W; 950 km south of Bermuda). The mean and standard deviation of the values obtained are 1.13 HFU (μcal/cm2 s) (47.3 mW/m2) and 0.05 HFU (2.1 mW/m2), respectively. Some of the variability is accounted for by refractive effects of the basement topography. Drill core data and our modelling suggest that the thermal conductivity contrast between sediments and basement rocks in this region is less than a factor of 1.6. The mean heat flow is close to the 1.1 HFU (46 mW/m2) predicted by both the plate and boundary layer cooling models of the oceanic lithosphere. This is the first detailed comparison with theoretical cooling models on old Atlantic Ocean crust. Since the difference in surface heat flow (0.15 HFU) predicted by the two cooling models for the oldest observed oceanic lithosphere (180 Ma) is also not much larger than the range of uncertainty in our observations, discrimination between the two models on the basis of surface heat flow data alone may prove difficult. |
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