Publications

At fast-spreading centers, faults develop within the axial summit trough (AST; 0 to 250 m around the axis) primarily by diking-induced deformation originating from the axial magma lens (AML). The formation of the prominent abyssal-hill-bounding faults beyond the axial high (>2,000 m) is typically associated with the unbending of the lithosphere as it cools and spreads away from the AST.

The thermal state of mid-ocean ridges exerts a crucial modulation on seafloor spreading processes that shape ~2/3 of our planet’s surface. Standard thermal models treat the ridge axis as a steady-state boundary layer between the hydrosphere and asthenosphere, whose thermal structure primarily reflects the local spreading rate.

Watch the video introduction for this paper on YouTube or Bilibili. The ocean, as a vast interconnected body of water on Earth, plays an essential role in Earth’s planetary dynamics, climate change, and the evolution of human society and decision-making processes.

Watch the video introduction for this paper on YouTube or Bilibili. The Indomed-Gallieni supersegment (46-52°E) of the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) has been of interest as a melt-rich endmember of ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridges, attributed to enhanced magmatism since 11 Ma.

Oceanic detachment faults play a central role in accommodating the plate divergence at slow-ultraslow spreading mid-ocean ridges. Successive flip-flop detachment faults in a nearly-amagmatic region of the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) at 64°30’E accommodate ~100% of plate divergence, with mostly ultramafic smooth seafloor.

Melt supply at slow-ultraslow spreading ridges is overall reduced and highly variable. Magma cooling and crystallization substantially shape the axial thermal regime by providing heat that is lost to the ocean through conduction and hydrothermal convection.

Watch my PhD defense on YouTube or Bilibili. Melt supply at slow spreading ridges has been shown to vary from enough to produce a fully volcanic seafloor, to nearly amagmatic, leading to the widespread exposure of mantle-derived rocks on the seafloor.

Melt supply at the ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) has been shown to vary from nearly amagmatic, leading to ultramafic seafloor, to magmatically robust, producing fully volcanic seafloor. The center of the SWIR 50°28′E segment represents a magmatically robust endmember.

The ultraslow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) to the east of the Melville fracture zone is characterized by very low melt supply and intensive tectonic activity. Due to its weak thermal budget and extremely slow spreading rate, the easternmost SWIR was considered to be devoid of hydrothermal activity until the discovery of the inactive Mt.