Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Segmentation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between 24° N and 30°40' N

Abstract

THE Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) extends for over 12,000 km from Iceland to the Bouvet Triple Junction in the south Atlantic. Most of our knowledge of the geology of this slow-spreading centre comes either from widely spaced low-resolution echo-sounding lines or from detailed studies of small areas using deep-towed instruments or submarines. High-resolution multibeam bathy-metry1,2 has been insufficient to define the variability of accretionary processes along this plate boundary. Here we present the results of a recent investigation of a 800-km-long section of the MAR carried out using the multibeam echo-sounder SeaBeam3. Analysis of these data reveals the scale and nature of the segmentation of the MAR between the Kane Fracture Zone (24° N) and latitude 30°40' N.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kong, L. S. L., Detrick, R. S., Fox, P. J., Mayer, L. A. & Ryan, W. B. F. Mar. Geophys. Res. 10, 59–90 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Phillips, J. D. & Fleming, H. S. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 88, 1–5 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Glenn, M. F. Oceans '76 Conf. Proc. MTS-IEEE 8D, 1–2 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Sempéré, J.-C. & Macdonald, K. C. Rev. Geophys. 25, 1313–1347 (1987).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Crane, K. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 72, 405–414 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Whitehead, J., Dick, H. J. B. & Schouten, H. Nature 312, 146–148 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Schouten, H., Klitgord, K. D. & Whitehead, J. Nature 317, 225–229 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Searle, R. C. J. geol. Soc. Lond. 143, 743–756 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Searle, R. C. & Laughton, A. S. J. geophys. Res. 82, 5313–5328 (1986).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Macdonald, K. C. in Decade of North American Geology Vol. M (ed. Vogt, P. & Tucholke, B. E.) 51–68 (Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Macdonald, K. C., Sempéré, J.-C. & Fox, P. J. J. geophys. Res. 91, 10501–10511 (1986).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Grindlay, N. R., Fox, P. J. & Macdonald, K. C. Eos 69, 1425 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Macdonald, K. C., Sempéré, J.-C. & Fox, P. J. J. geophys. Res. 89, 6049–6069 (1984).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Macdonald, K.C. et al. Nature 335, 217–225 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Zonenshain, L. P. et al. Mar. Geophys. Res. (in the press).

  16. Pockalny, R. A., Detrick, R. S. & Fox, P. J. J. geophys. Res. 93, 3179–3193 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Brown, J. R. & Karson, J. A. Mar. Geophys. Res. 10, 109–138 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Cormier, M. H., Detrick, R. S. & Purdy, G. M. J. geophys. Res. 89, 10249–10266 (1984).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Prince, R. A. & Forsyth, D. W. J. geophys. Res. 93, 8051–8063 (1988).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. White, R. S. in Ophiolites and Oceanic Lithosphere (eds Gass, I. G., Lippard, S. J. & Shelton, A. W.) 101–111 (Geological Society, London, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Purdy, G. M. & Detrick, R. S. J. geophys. Res. 91, 3739–3762 (1986).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Mutter, J. C., Detrick, R. S. & the NAT Study Group Geology 12, 534–537 (1984).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. White, R. S. & Matthews, D. R. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 61, 401–431 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lin, J. et al., Nature (in the press).

  25. Rona, P. A., Harbison, R. N., Bussinger, B. G., Scott, R. B. & Natwalk, A. J. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 87, 661–674 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Rona, P. A. & Gray, D. F. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 91, 485–496 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Tucholke, B. E. & Schouten, H. Mar. Geophys. Res. 10, 1–39 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Schouten, H., Dick, H. J. B. & Klitgord, K. D. Nature 326, 835–839 (1987).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Lonsdale, P. J. geophys. Res. 94, 713–743 (1989).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Schouten, H. & White, R. S. Geology 8, 175–179 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sempéré, JC., Purdy, G. & Schouten, H. Segmentation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between 24° N and 30°40' N. Nature 344, 427–431 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/344427a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/344427a0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing