Core Complexes of the Gakkel Ridge

Magnetization of rocks of the magnetically active layer of the Earth’s crust was calculated on 30 profiles crossing the western and central segments of the Gakkel Ridge. The aeromagnetic data on anomalies and seismoacoustic data on the relief of the basement were used. Basalts of layer 2A of the oceanic crust with high magnetization compose less than half of the area of the Gakkel Ridge basement and the adjacent parts of the Nansen and Amundsen basins. Most of the basement is composed of gabbro, typical of layer 3 of the oceanic crust, and mantle peridotites with much lower magnetization than basalts. Gentle normal faults are widely developed on the Gakkel Ridge, the movement along which brings these deep rocks of the oceanic crust to the basement surface.