The cooling history and the depth of detachment faulting at the Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex

[1] Oceanic core complexes (OCCs) are domal exposures of oceanic crust and mantle interpreted to be denuded to the seafloor by large slip oceanic detachment faults. We combine previously reported U-Pb zircon crystallization ages with (U-Th)/He zircon thermochronometry and multicomponent magnetic remanence data to determine the cooling history of the footwall to the Atlantis Massif OCC (30°N, MAR) and help establish cooling rates, as well as depths of detachment faulting and gabbro emplacement. We present nine new (U-Th)/He zircon ages for samples from IODP Hole U1309D ranging from 40 to 1415 m below seafloor. These data paired with U-Pb zircon ages and magnetic remanence data constrain cooling rates of gabbroic rocks from the upper 800 m of the central dome at Atlantis Massif as 2895 (+1276/−1162) °C Myr⁻¹ (from ∼780°C to ∼250°C); the lower 600 m of the borehole cooled more slowly at mean rates of ∼500 (+125/−102) °C Myr⁻¹(from ∼780°C to present-day temperatures). Rocks from the uppermost part of the hole also reveal a brief period of slow cooling at rates of ∼300°C Myr⁻¹, possibly due to hydrothermal circulation to ∼4 km depth through the detachment fault zone. Assuming a fault slip rate of 20 mm/yr (from U-Pb zircon ages of surface samples) and a rolling hinge model for the sub-surface fault geometry, we predict that the 780°C isotherm lies at ∼7 km below the axial valley floor, likely corresponding both to the depth at which the semi-brittle detachment fault roots and the probable upper limit of significant gabbro emplacement.