Characterizing Small-Scale Brittle Deformation of the Crust along a Slow Spreading Ridge Segment using the Continuous Wavelet Transform

Brittle deformation of the crust at mid-ocean ridges permits indirect analysis of plate separation mechanics and ridge morphology. This study analyzes small-scale faults in three-dimensions along a segment (14°N) of the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge. High-resolution (1 m) bathymetry data were collected from four regions along the ridge: 1) non-transform offset, 2) magmatic center, 3) transitional zone (magma-rich to magma-poor), and 4) adjacent to an extinct oceanic core complex to evaluate how faulting varies along a ridge axis. Data were collected during two research expeditions (AT33-03 and AT40-02) using the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry. Fault data is extracted via digitization in QGIS and analyzed in MATLAB with the continuous wavelet transform. The continuous wavelet transform is used with a Haar wavelet to estimate the location of the fault center and the fault width. A database of statistics derived from this method reveals patterns within the four regions and allows insight into the style and extent of fault growth with varying magma supply along the ridge axis.