TS
Tectonics and Structural Geology

seafloor spreading

TS Must-Read – Cannat et al. (2006) Modes of seafloor generation at a melt-poor ultraslow-spreading ridge

January 18, 2023
TS Must-Read – Cannat et al. (2006) Modes of seafloor generation at a melt-poor ultraslow-spreading ridge

For the first time in 2006 Cannat and co-workers described a smooth seafloor type in the mid-ocean ridge located in the SW Indian Ocean (SWIR). The 660-km-long off-axis bathymetry, gravity, and magnetic dataset presented in the study lies near the Rodrigues triple junction (RTJ in Fig. 1). The must read paper expanded the previous conceptual models that considered mid ocean ridges as primarily vol ...[Read More]

TS Must-Read – Wilson (1965) A New Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift

September 15, 2020
TS Must-Read – Wilson (1965) A New Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift

In 1965, JT Wilson published “A New Class of Faults and their Bearing on Continental Drift” (https://doi.org/10.1038/207343a0). This is one of the papers that led to a paradigm shift in Earth Sciences and would become one of the bases of plate tectonics. The concept of the transform fault, introduced in this paper in a very smart way, is fundamental in tectonics textbooks nowadays. Indeed many of ...[Read More]

TS Must-Read – Dietz (1961) Continent and ocean basin evolution by spreading of the sea floor

September 2, 2020
TS Must-Read – Dietz (1961) Continent and ocean basin evolution by spreading of the sea floor

Dietz 1961 “Continent and Ocean Basin Evolution by Spreading of the Sea Floor” paper was ground-breaking for plate tectonics. Almost literally, as it discussed the sea-floor spreading theory. Certainly away from the consensus at the time, this article is a classic in divergent tectonic settings and it may be an interesting piece of work for ECS working in tectonics and, more particularly, in conti ...[Read More]

100 years of Marie Tharp – The woman who mapped the ocean floor and laid the foundations of modern geology

July 30, 2020
100 years of Marie Tharp – The woman who mapped the ocean floor and laid the foundations of modern geology
An artists illustration of Marie Tharp (credit: Annique van der Boon)

Marie Tharp (July 30, 1920 – August 23, 2006) would have turned 100 on this very day and she continues to live through her legacy of having mapped the world’s oceans. Similar to famous painters, some of whom only gain appreciation after their death, Marie Tharp is one of the most underappreciated scientists in the history of the earth sciences. Marie was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Due to h ...[Read More]