Analysis of a conductive heat flow profile in the Ecuador Fracture Zone

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dc.contributor.authorKolandaivelu, Kannikha Parameswarien
dc.contributor.authorHarris, Robert N.en
dc.contributor.authorLowell, Robert P.en
dc.contributor.authorAlhamad, Ahmeden
dc.contributor.authorGregory, Emma P. M.en
dc.contributor.authorHobbs, Richard W.en
dc.contributor.departmentGeosciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-04T17:40:06Zen
dc.date.available2019-10-04T17:40:06Zen
dc.date.issued2017-06en
dc.description.abstractWe report 18 new conductive heat flow measurements collected from a sediment pond located in the inactive part of the Ecuador Fracture Zone in the Panama Basin. The data were collected along an east-west transect coincident with a multi-channel seismic reflection profile that extends from ODP Hole 504B to west of the sediment pond. Conductive models indicate that heat flow should decrease from approximate to 400 mW m(-2) on the 1.5 Ma western plate to approximate to 200 mW m(-2) on the 6 Ma eastern plate; however the observed heat flow increases nearly linearly toward the east from approximately 140 mW m(-2) to 190 mW m(-2). The mean value of 160 mW m(-2) represents an average heat flow deficit of which we attribute to lateral advective heat transfer between exposed outcrops on the western and eastern margins of the sediment pond. We apply the well-mixed aquifer model to explain this eastwardly flow, and estimate a volumetric flow rate per unit length in the north-south direction of approximate to 400 +/- 250 m(2) yr(-1) through the basement aquifer. Using a Darcy flow model with the mean flow rate, we estimate permeabilities of similar to 10(-11) and 10(-12) m(2) for aquifer thicknesses of 100 and 1000 m, respectively. The estimated permeabilities are similar to other estimates in young oceanic upper crust and suggest that vigorous convection within the basement significantly modifies the thermal regime of fracture zones. Additional heat flow data are needed to determine the prevalence and importance of advective heat transfer in fracture zones on a global scale. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.en
dc.description.notesWe thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. This research was supported in part by NSF Grants OCE 1353114 and 1558797 to RPL and Grants NSF OCE 1353003 and 1558824, to RNH. The NERC OSCAR project grant NE/I027010/1 (Hobbs & Peirce 2015) underpinned this work. The authors would like to thank the officers, crew, technicians and science party on board the RRS James Cook during cruises JC112, JC113 and JC114. Details and data for cruises JC112 and 114 are available through British Oceanographic Data Centre. The MCS data were processed using Globe Claritas by Ahmed Alhamad as his undergraduate dissertation project at Durham. The swath bathymetry was cleaned and processed using QPS Fledermaus and Seafloor Systems CARIS by Gavin Haughton from the National Oceanographic Centre. Yang Li, Durham University, UK, provided the Monte Carlo Matlab code for calculation of uncertainties.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF [OCE 1353114, 1558797, OCE 1353003, 1558824]; NERC OSCAR [NE/I027010/1]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.03.024en
dc.identifier.eissn1385-013Xen
dc.identifier.issn0012-821Xen
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/94355en
dc.identifier.volume467en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectfracture zonesen
dc.subjectheat flowen
dc.subjectPanama Basinen
dc.subjectEcuador Fracture Zoneen
dc.titleAnalysis of a conductive heat flow profile in the Ecuador Fracture Zoneen
dc.title.serialEarth And Planetary Science Lettersen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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