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Bonatti E, Ligi M, Brunelli D, et al. Mantle thermal pulses below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and temporal variations in the formation of oceanic lithosphere. Nature. 2003;423(6939):499-505doi: 10.1038/nature01594.
Bonatti, E., Ligi, M., Brunelli, D., Cipriani, A., Fabretti, P., Ferrante, V., Gasperini, L., & Ottolini, L. (2003). Mantle thermal pulses below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and temporal variations in the formation of oceanic lithosphere. Nature, 423(6939), 499-505. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01594
Bonatti, Enrico, et al. "Mantle thermal pulses below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and temporal variations in the formation of oceanic lithosphere." Nature vol. 423,6939 (2003): 499-505. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01594
Bonatti E, Ligi M, Brunelli D, Cipriani A, Fabretti P, Ferrante V, Gasperini L, Ottolini L. Mantle thermal pulses below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and temporal variations in the formation of oceanic lithosphere. Nature. 2003 May 29;423(6939):499-505. doi: 10.1038/nature01594. PMID: 12774114.
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Nature. 2003 May 29;423(6939):499-505. doi: 10.1038/nature01594.

Mantle thermal pulses below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and temporal variations in the formation of oceanic lithosphere.

Nature

Enrico Bonatti, Marco Ligi, Daniele Brunelli, Anna Cipriani, Paola Fabretti, Valentina Ferrante, Luca Gasperini, Luisa Ottolini

Affiliations

  1. Istituto Scienze del Mare, Geologia Marina, CNR, Via Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy. [email protected]

PMID: 12774114 DOI: 10.1038/nature01594

Abstract

A 20-Myr record of creation of oceanic lithosphere is exposed along a segment of the central Mid-Atlantic Ridge on an uplifted sliver of lithosphere. The degree of melting of the mantle that is upwelling below the ridge, estimated from the chemistry of the exposed mantle rocks, as well as crustal thickness inferred from gravity measurements, show oscillations of approximately 3-4 Myr superimposed on a longer-term steady increase with time. The time lag between oscillations of mantle melting and crustal thickness indicates that the mantle is upwelling at an average rate of approximately 25 mm x yr(-1), but this appears to vary through time. Slow-spreading lithosphere seems to form through dynamic pulses of mantle upwelling and melting, leading not only to along-axis segmentation but also to across-axis structural variability. Also, the central Mid-Atlantic Ridge appears to have become steadily hotter over the past 20 Myr, possibly owing to north-south mantle flow.

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