The present configuration of the Bouvet triple junction

• Main Authors: Mitchell, N. C., Livermore, R. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Antarctic; Indian; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; Bouvet; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/0cbedbd1-d065-4bf6-aa40-e9b5b20ae219; https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0267:TPCOTB>2.3.CO;2; http://://000072436000019

New Hawaii-MRI sonar data show that the southernmost Mid-Atlantic Ridge joins the South American-Antarctic Ridge by an obliquely opening rift and overlaps Spiess Ridge, the westernmost segment of the Southwest Indian Ridge, with no evidence for a transform fault. The junction is therefore neither ridge-fault-fault nor ridge-ridge-ridge. We speculate that growth of Spiess Ridge adjacent to the triple junction has caused this complexity and discuss more generally the origins of distributed deformation of oceanic triple junctions.