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3D multi-channel seismic imaging crustal accretion mid-ocean ridges East Pacific Rise volcanism Crustal accretion at fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges is believed to be concentrated in a narrow zone up to a few kilometers wide centered beneath the ridge axis. However, there is increasing evidence for off-axis magmatism occurring beyond this narrow zone. Here, we present 3D multichannel seismic (MCS) images from the East Pacific Rise 9 • 37-40 N extending to 11 km on the ridge flanks. In the axial region, two offset axial magma bodies underlie a small ridge-axis discontinuity at ∼9 • 37 N, displaying an overlapping geometry similar to that of the seafloor structures above. On the ridge flanks, a series of off-axis magma lenses (OAML) are imaged: they are located 2-10 km from the ridge axis, at 700 to 1520 ms two-way travel time below seafloor (bsf) (∼1.6 to 4.5 km bsf), with variable areas ranging from 0.5 km 2 to 5.2 km 2. The largest body is centered 4 km east of the ridge axis and is composed of a large, continuous, flat-topped lens and a series of small, discontinuous, westward-dipping bodies along its western edge. The flat crest of the OAML lies at approximately the same depth beneath layer 2A as the axial magma lens and we infer that this OAML has formed by aggregation of ascending melts that accumulate at the base of the sheeted dike section. A cluster of reflections underlying the OAML at 1260-1510 ms bsf are observed that may be deeper lenses feeding melts to the upper lens. This largest OAML is associated with Moho travel time anomalies of 120-260 ms within a zone that extends up to 2 km from the edge of the OAML, suggesting a lower crust that is partially molten with lower crustal velocities reduced by 8-18% and/or thicker than normal by up to 1 km. Local volcanic edifices are found above two of the three OAMLs imaged in our study area and are inferred to be the eruptive products of the OAMLs. From the volume of these edifices and the Moho travel time anomalies we estimate the potential contribution of off-axis magmatism to the total volume of the crust to be ∼0.01-3%. The OAMLs imaged in our study area are present over roughly the same distance range as the zone of formation of near-axis seamounts. We speculate that OAMLs and the volcanic edifices found above them are smallscale manifestations of the off-axis magmatism that gives rise to near-axis seamounts.

We computed crustal thickness (5740 6 270 m) and mapped Moho reflection character using 3-D seismic data covering 658 km 2 of the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) from 9 42 0 N to 9 57 0 N. Moho reflections are imaged within 87% of the study area. Average crustal thickness varies little between large sections of the study area suggesting regionally uniform crustal production in the last 180 Ka. However, individual crustal thickness measurements differ by as much as 1.75 km indicating that the mantle melt delivery has not been uniform. Third-order, but not fourth-order ridge discontinuities are associated with changes in the Moho reflection character and/or near-axis crustal thickness. This suggests that the thirdorder segmentation is governed by melt distribution processes within the uppermost mantle while the fourth-order ridge segmentation arises from midcrustal to upper-crustal processes. In this light, we assign fourth-order ridge discontinuity status to the debated ridge segment boundary at 9 45 0 N and third-order status at 9 51.5 0 N to the ridge segment boundary previously interpreted as a fourth-order discontinuity.Our seismic results also suggest that the mechanism of lower-crustal accretion varies along the investigated section of the EPR but that the volume of melt delivered to the crust is mostly uniform. More efficient mantle melt extraction is inferred within the southern half of our survey area with greater proportion of the lower crust accreted from the axial magma lens than that for the northern half. This south-to-north variation in the crustal accretion style may be caused by interaction between the melt sources for the ridge and the Lamont seamounts.

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We use 3‐D multichannel seismic data to form partial angle P wave stacks and apply amplitude variation with angle (AVA) crossplotting to assess melt content and melt distribution within two large midcrustal off‐axis magma lenses (OAMLs) found along the East Pacific Rise from 9°37.5′N to 9°57′N. The signal envelope of the partial angle stacks suggests that both OAMLs are partially molten with higher average melt content and more uniform melt distribution in the southern OAML than in the northern OAML. For AVA crossplotting, the OAMLs are subdivided into seven ~1 km2 analysis windows. The AVA crossplotting results indicate that the OAMLs contain a smaller amount of melt than the axial magma lens (AML). For both OAMLs, a higher melt fraction is detected within analysis windows located close to the ridge axis than within the most distant windows. The highest average melt concentration is interpreted for the central sections of the OAMLs. The overall low OAML melt content could be indicative of melt lost due to recent off‐axis eruptions, drainage to the AML, or limited mantle melt supply. Based on the results of this and earlier bathymetric, morphological, geochemical, and geophysical investigations, we propose that the melt‐poor OAML state is largely the result of limited melt supply from the underlying mantle source reservoir with smaller contribution attributed to melt leakage to the AML. We hypothesize that the investigated OAMLs have a longer period of melt replenishment, lower eruption recurrence rates, and lower eruption volumes than the AML, though some could be single intrusion events.