Systematics of ridge propagation south of 30 deg S

Details Systematics of ridge propagation south of 30 deg S Systematics of ridge propagation south of 30 deg S

Jan 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994e%26psl.121..245m&link_type=abstract

Earth and Planetary Science Letters (ISSN 0012-821X), vol. 121, no. 1-2, p. 245-258

Physics

24

Gravimetry, Gravity Anomalies, Mid-Ocean Ridges, Sea Floor Spreading, Geomorphology, Geosat Satellites, Propagation, Satellite Altimetry

Scientific paper

New high-resolution Geosat altimetry data south of 30 deg S reveal numerous propagating ridge wakes along intermediate- and slow-spreading ridges. These new examples provide a large enough database to establish systematics of ridge propagation. Almost all active propagating ridges propagate down a regional along-axis gravity or bathymetry gradient. The sense of the propagating ridge offset (right lateral vs. left lateral) is related to recent changes in spreading direction. We find there is a significant difference between the propagation of ridges with an axial high morphology which propagate at greater than approximately 50% of their full-spreading rate and ridges with a median valley morphology which usually propagate at approximately 25% of their spreading rate. The axial high propagators leave behind an asymmetric wake; the outer pseudofault appears as a continuous linear trough/step while the sheared zone appears as a chain of small gravity bumps. While we clearly see the propagating ridge wakes from offsets greater than approximately 10 km at slow- and intermediate-spreading ridges, at ridges spreading faster than approximately 75 mm/yr the ampliitude of the wake topography decreases to the point where we no longer see these wakes in Geosat altimetry data. The systematics seen in this new data set support a fracture mechanics model for the dynamics of ridge propagation.

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