Mid-ocean-ridge basalt genesis

Mid-ocean Ridge Tectonics, Volcanism and Geomorphology

Figure 11 Average depth of magma lens reflections beneath ridges versus spreading rate. The curved line shows the depth to the 12003C isotherm calculated from the ridge thermal model of Phipps Morgan J and Chen YJ (1993) Journal of Geophysical Research 98: 6283}6297. Data from different ridges are labeled Reykjanes Ridge (RR), Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdF), Costa Rica Rift (CRR), Lau Basin (Lau), no...

Magmatic filtering of mantle compositions at mid-ocean-ridge volcanoes

Earth’s dominant form of magmatism occurs at mid-ocean ridges (MORs), producing the igneous crust for two-thirds of the planet’s surface and conveying significant heat and material fluxes from the mantle to the world’s oceans. Mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB) magmas form from upwelling compositionally heterogeneous mantle1 by aggregation of near-fractional melts beneath spreading centres2. Multipl...

A novel microbial habitat in the mid-ocean ridge subseafloor.

The subseafloor at the mid-ocean ridge is predicted to be an excellent microbial habitat, because there is abundant space, fluid flow, and geochemical energy in the porous, hydrothermally influenced oceanic crust. These characteristics also make it a good analog for potential subsurface extraterrestrial habitats. Subseafloor environments created by the mixing of hot hydrothermal fluids and seaw...

Seismotectonics of mid-ocean ridge propagation in Hess Deep.

Hydroacoustic data from the eastern equatorial Pacific reveal low-magnitude seismicity concentrated at the propagating tip of the Galapagos Rise in Hess Deep. The patterns of seismicity and faulting are similar to those observed in the process zone of laboratory-scale propagating tensile cracks. Because the fracture energy required for propagation scales with crack length and process zone size,...

High-Resolution 3D Simulations of Mid-ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Systems