Thermal minima along the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

12-1-1979

Abstract

Mid-Atlantic Ridge basalts erupted near fracture zones seem to have lower quenching temperatures than along unfractured ridge segments probably because of enhanced cooling by exposing magmas to colder fault planes and more intense seawater circulation. The cooling effect is most pronounced along segments over hotspots with close ridge displacement fabric and recurrent rift jumping, probably reflecting additional complications, including subaxial magma flow about 'plumes', or the presence of an unusually large magma chamber on the Azores Platform and the southern part of the Iceland Plateau. © 1979 Nature Publishing Group.

Publication Title, e.g., Journal

Nature

Volume

282

Issue

5737

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