Newly discovered mid-ocean ridge.

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iBase ID

596778

Creator

Oberlander, E. Paul

Title

Newly discovered mid-ocean ridge.

Type

Illustration

Date

01/01/2004

File name

seafloor spreading.jpg

Notes

Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 42, No. 2, Pg. 38:
A NEWLY DISCOVERED TYPE OF MID-OCEAN RIDGE—Volcanic activity at mid ocean ridges creates new seafloor crust that spreads outward to cover 70 percent of Earth’s surface. Recent expeditions have shown that instead of just two classes of ridges—fast-spreading and slowspreading—there is now a third, ultraslow. Ultraslow-spreading ridges, which may make up one-third of the global ocean ridge system, have distinctive characteristics. Like other mid ocean ridges, ultraslow ridges have areas where magma rises from the mantle and erupts at the seafloor to create new ocean crust. But in between, there are also amagmatic zones, where solid slabs of mantle rock rise directly to the seafloor.

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