Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean
A high-resolution mapping and sampling study of the Gakkel ridge was accomplished during an international ice-breaker expedition to the high Arctic and North Pole in summer 2001. For this slowest-spreading endmember of the global mid-ocean-ridge system, predictions were that magmatism should progres...
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Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1002 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01704 |
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ftlouisianastuir:oai:digitalcommons.lsu.edu:geo_pubs-2001 2023-06-11T04:09:06+02:00 Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean Michael, P. J. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Snow, J. E. Goldstein, S. L. Graham, D. W. Lehnert, K. Kurras, G. Jokat, W. Mühe, R. Edmonds, H. N. 2003-06-26T07:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1002 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01704 unknown LSU Digital Commons https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1002 doi:10.1038/nature01704 Faculty Publications text 2003 ftlouisianastuir https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01704 2023-05-28T18:17:27Z A high-resolution mapping and sampling study of the Gakkel ridge was accomplished during an international ice-breaker expedition to the high Arctic and North Pole in summer 2001. For this slowest-spreading endmember of the global mid-ocean-ridge system, predictions were that magmatism should progressively diminish as the spreading rate decreases along the ridge, and that hydrothermal activity should be rare. Instead, it was found that magmatic variations are irregular, and that hydrothermal activity is abundant. A 300-kilometre-long central amagmatic zone, where mantle peridotites are emplaced directly in the ridge axis, lies between abundant, continuous volcanism in the west, and large, widely spaced volcanic centres in the east. These observations demonstrate that the extent of mantle melting is not a simple function of spreading rate: mantle temperatures at depth or mantle chemistry (or both) must vary significantly along-axis. Highly punctuated volcanism in the absence of ridge offsets suggests that first-order ridge segmentation is controlled by mantle processes of melting and melt segregation. The strong focusing of magmatic activity coupled with faulting may account for the unexpectedly high levels of hydrothermal activity observed. Text Arctic Arctic Ocean North Pole LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) Arctic Arctic Ocean North Pole Gakkel Ridge ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) Breaker ENVELOPE(-67.257,-67.257,-67.874,-67.874) Nature 423 6943 956 961 |
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LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) |
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ftlouisianastuir |
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description |
A high-resolution mapping and sampling study of the Gakkel ridge was accomplished during an international ice-breaker expedition to the high Arctic and North Pole in summer 2001. For this slowest-spreading endmember of the global mid-ocean-ridge system, predictions were that magmatism should progressively diminish as the spreading rate decreases along the ridge, and that hydrothermal activity should be rare. Instead, it was found that magmatic variations are irregular, and that hydrothermal activity is abundant. A 300-kilometre-long central amagmatic zone, where mantle peridotites are emplaced directly in the ridge axis, lies between abundant, continuous volcanism in the west, and large, widely spaced volcanic centres in the east. These observations demonstrate that the extent of mantle melting is not a simple function of spreading rate: mantle temperatures at depth or mantle chemistry (or both) must vary significantly along-axis. Highly punctuated volcanism in the absence of ridge offsets suggests that first-order ridge segmentation is controlled by mantle processes of melting and melt segregation. The strong focusing of magmatic activity coupled with faulting may account for the unexpectedly high levels of hydrothermal activity observed. |
format |
Text |
author |
Michael, P. J. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Snow, J. E. Goldstein, S. L. Graham, D. W. Lehnert, K. Kurras, G. Jokat, W. Mühe, R. Edmonds, H. N. |
spellingShingle |
Michael, P. J. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Snow, J. E. Goldstein, S. L. Graham, D. W. Lehnert, K. Kurras, G. Jokat, W. Mühe, R. Edmonds, H. N. Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean |
author_facet |
Michael, P. J. Langmuir, C. H. Dick, H. J.B. Snow, J. E. Goldstein, S. L. Graham, D. W. Lehnert, K. Kurras, G. Jokat, W. Mühe, R. Edmonds, H. N. |
author_sort |
Michael, P. J. |
title |
Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading Gakkel ridge, Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
magmatic and amagmatic seafloor generation at the ultraslow-spreading gakkel ridge, arctic ocean |
publisher |
LSU Digital Commons |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1002 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01704 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(90.000,90.000,87.000,87.000) ENVELOPE(-67.257,-67.257,-67.874,-67.874) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean North Pole Gakkel Ridge Breaker |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean North Pole Gakkel Ridge Breaker |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean North Pole |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean North Pole |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/1002 doi:10.1038/nature01704 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01704 |
container_title |
Nature |
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423 |
container_issue |
6943 |
container_start_page |
956 |
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961 |
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1768382827447975936 |