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  • Metamorphosed and metasomatized basalts, and unmetamorphosed equivalents, were recovered from the steep slopes of Bald Mountain, a north-south elongated seamount lying 60 km west of the Median Rift Valley at 45° N. Block faulting and uplift of the seamount, together with the removal by submarine erosion of extrusive rocks capping the seamount, have resulted in the exposure of the more deep-seated metamorphosed horizons along the fault scarps. The block-faulted nature of Bald Mountain, indicative of brittle fracturing of the upper crustal layers of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, may be a result of the low ocean floor spreading rates implied from age determinations and magnetic anomaly patterns at 45° N.