Hydrothermal Circulation System along Spreading Centers of Mid-ocean Ridges and Ophiolites.

Axial Structure of Fast Spreading Mid - Ocean Ridges : Implications for Overlapping Spreading Centers

Studies of the structure of mid-ocean ridges and the processes involved at these accreting plate boundaries have played an important role in the development of plate tectonics models over the last two decades. During this time our concept of the accretion/spreading process has evolved from a two-dimensional, steady-state picture to a three dimensional, time-dependent view of the volcanism and r...

Tectonic, Magmatic, Hydrothermal and Biological Segmentation of Mid-Ocean Ridges

Directional dispersal between mid-ocean ridges: deep-ocean circulation and gene flow in Ridgeia piscesae.

This study examined relationships between bathymetrically induced deep-ocean currents and the dispersal of the hydrothermal vent tubeworm Ridgeia piscesae along the northeast Pacific ridge system. A robust diagnostic model of deep-ocean circulation in this region predicted strong southeasterly currents following contours of the Blanco Transform Fault, a 450-km lateral offset that separates the ...

The Structure of Mid-Ocean Ridges

Mid-ocean ridges provide an important window into the processes of mantle convection and magmatism. The formation, cooling, and eventual subduction of oceanic lithosphere dominate both the large-scale dynamics of the upper mantle and the Earth’s global heat loss. The melt generated during pressure-release melting of the upwelling mantle beneath mid-ocean ridges contributes most of the annual ma...

On origin of near-axis volcanism and faulting at fast spreading mid-ocean ridges

At fast and superfast spreading mid-ocean ridges, such as the East Pacific Rise, a plate boundary is defined by a narrow (tens to hundreds of meters wide) neovolcanic zone within which the bulk of the upper oceanic crust is created. However, detailed near-bottom observations indicate that the volcanic construction may occasionally persist several kilometers off of the ridge axis. It has been pr...