Heat Flow on the Incoming Plate Offshore Nicoya, Costa Rica margin: Implications for Hydrothermal Circulation and the Thermal State of the Subducting Plate

The TicoFlux I expedition was intended to determine the nature of hydrothermal activity and its influence on subduction processes offshore of the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica margin, on 20-25 Ma lithosphere. Prior coverage in this region was sparse, but suggested that heat flow from crust created at the East Pacific Rise (EPR) as generally lower (by 50-70%) than expected for seafloor of 20-25 Ma. In contrast, heat flow through similarly-aged seafloor created at the Cocos-Nazca Ridge was at or greater than values predicted by standard lithospheric cooling models. One goal of our expedition was to confirm this overall pattern through collection of modern data at higher resolution along a series of transects coinciding with newly-acquired seismic profiles. A second goal was to determine the cause for the difference in heat flow, through evaluation of the lateral scale of the transition between higher and lower values. If the difference in heat flow is caused by variations in heat input at the base of the plate, the transition should be broad and gradual, with a wavelength that scales with plate thickness. If the difference in seafloor heat flow results from advective mining of heat from EPR-generated lithosphere, the transition should be abrupt, with a wavelength that scales with the depth of hydrothermal cooling. We crossed the transition in three places and in each case, the change from normal to anomalously-low heat flow values occurred over a distance of just a few kilometers, consistent with a shallow, fluid flow explanation. In addition, the survey identified an area of anomalously high heat flow (640 mW/m²) immediately above a deep, low-angle reflection that may be a crust-penetrating fault. High heat flow in this area may result from fluid circulation along the fault, carrying heat from depth. The heat flow survey also demonstrated that a low-heat flow area identified during an earlier survey, and drilled during ODP Leg 170, is surrounded on three sides by much higher values, indicating significant heterogeneity in crustal thermal conditions.