Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge
Most models of melt generation beneath mid-ocean ridges predict significant reduction of melt production at ultraslow spreading rates (full spreading rates <20 mm yr-1) and consequently they predict thinned oceanic crust. The 1,800-km-long Arctic Gakkel mid-ocean ridge is an ideal location to tes...
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ftlouisianastuir:oai:digitalcommons.lsu.edu:geo_pubs-2000 2023-06-11T04:09:11+02:00 Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge Jokat, W. Ritzmann, O. Schmidt-Aursch, M. C. Drachev, S. Gauger, S. Snow, J. 2003-06-26T07:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1001 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01706 unknown LSU Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1001 doi:10.1038/nature01706 Faculty Publications text 2003 ftlouisianastuir https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01706 2023-05-28T18:17:27Z Most models of melt generation beneath mid-ocean ridges predict significant reduction of melt production at ultraslow spreading rates (full spreading rates <20 mm yr-1) and consequently they predict thinned oceanic crust. The 1,800-km-long Arctic Gakkel mid-ocean ridge is an ideal location to test such models, as it is by far the slowest portion of the global mid-ocean-ridge spreading system, with a full spreading rate ranging from 6 to 13 mm yr-1 (refs 4, 5). Furthermore, in contrast to some other ridge systems, the spreading direction on the Gakkel ridge is not oblique and the rift valley is not offset by major transform faults. Here we present seismic evidence for the presence of exceptionally thin crust along the Gakkel ridge rift valley with crustal thicknesses varying between 1.9 and 3.3 km (compared to the more usual value of 7 km found on medium- to fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges). Almost 8,300 km of closely spaced aeromagnetic profiles across the rift valley show the presence of discrete volcanic centres along the ridge, which we interpret as evidence for strongly focused, three-dimensional magma supply. The traces of these eruptive centres can be followed to crustal ages of ∼25 Myr off-axis, implying that these magma production and transport systems have been stable over this timescale. Text Arctic LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) Arctic Gakkel Ridge ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) Nature 423 6943 962 965 |
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LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) |
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ftlouisianastuir |
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description |
Most models of melt generation beneath mid-ocean ridges predict significant reduction of melt production at ultraslow spreading rates (full spreading rates <20 mm yr-1) and consequently they predict thinned oceanic crust. The 1,800-km-long Arctic Gakkel mid-ocean ridge is an ideal location to test such models, as it is by far the slowest portion of the global mid-ocean-ridge spreading system, with a full spreading rate ranging from 6 to 13 mm yr-1 (refs 4, 5). Furthermore, in contrast to some other ridge systems, the spreading direction on the Gakkel ridge is not oblique and the rift valley is not offset by major transform faults. Here we present seismic evidence for the presence of exceptionally thin crust along the Gakkel ridge rift valley with crustal thicknesses varying between 1.9 and 3.3 km (compared to the more usual value of 7 km found on medium- to fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges). Almost 8,300 km of closely spaced aeromagnetic profiles across the rift valley show the presence of discrete volcanic centres along the ridge, which we interpret as evidence for strongly focused, three-dimensional magma supply. The traces of these eruptive centres can be followed to crustal ages of ∼25 Myr off-axis, implying that these magma production and transport systems have been stable over this timescale. |
format |
Text |
author |
Jokat, W. Ritzmann, O. Schmidt-Aursch, M. C. Drachev, S. Gauger, S. Snow, J. |
spellingShingle |
Jokat, W. Ritzmann, O. Schmidt-Aursch, M. C. Drachev, S. Gauger, S. Snow, J. Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
author_facet |
Jokat, W. Ritzmann, O. Schmidt-Aursch, M. C. Drachev, S. Gauger, S. Snow, J. |
author_sort |
Jokat, W. |
title |
Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
title_short |
Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
title_full |
Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
title_fullStr |
Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
title_full_unstemmed |
Geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the Arctic ultraslow Gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
title_sort |
geophysical evidence for reduced melt production on the arctic ultraslow gakkel mid-ocean ridge |
publisher |
LSU Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1001 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01706 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) |
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Arctic Gakkel Ridge |
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Arctic Gakkel Ridge |
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Arctic |
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Arctic |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1001 doi:10.1038/nature01706 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01706 |
container_title |
Nature |
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423 |
container_issue |
6943 |
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962 |
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965 |
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1768382944514146304 |