PhD project

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.

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 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.

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.