mid-ocean ridge

What’s the role of hotspot and oceanic transform faults at ultraslow spreading ridge?

edited by Yinuo Zhang and edited by Constanza Rodriguez Piceda October 4, 2024

Figure 1. Topographic map of the Mohns Ridge. The white double lines denote the axis of 17 ridge segments. (modified from Zhang et al., 2023)

Mid-ocean ridges (MOR) and hotspots are two types of magmatic activity occurring in the ocean. The MORs are typically associated with another tectonic feature—oceanic transform faults. While numerous studies have focused on the interactions within MORs, hotspots, and transform faults, there has been limited research on cases where a hotspot and a transform fault are located at the same end ...[Read More]

Two phase or not two phase

Shi Joyce Sim and edited by Prachi Kar May 22, 2024

In this week’s blog Shi Joyce Sim from Georgia Institute of Technology shares the underlying science behind two-phase flow dynamics. A talk at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March got me thinking. Basically, the presenter described how boundary layers grow over time, a phenomenon that cannot be captured using one dimensional models and necessitates modeling in higher dimensi ...[Read More]

Linking slab graveyards and ghost-arc geochemical signatures in the South Atlantic and Southwest Indian Mid-Ocean Ridges

Guido Gianni and edited by Constanza Rodriguez Piceda July 12, 2023

Rift linkage and rotating microplates

Derek Neuharth and edited by Anne Glerum January 20, 2021

Image Credit: modified by Anne Glerum after NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens.

2020 left your head spinning? This week Derek Neuharth from GFZ Potsdam introduces us to the spinning microplates that can be found in extensional plate boundaries such as the East African Rift System and the East Pacific Rise. Divergent plate boundaries Microplates are enigmatic features that form in the boundaries between tectonic plates. Generally, plate boundary dynamics are divided into three ...[Read More]