Instantaneous velocity of mid-ocean ridges

Abstract

Intuition suggests that all points on the same mid-ocean ridge should rotate around the relative pole of the two-plate system at the same instantaneous angular velocity. Contrary to intuition, the instantaneous angular velocity of a ridge varies from one point to another along the ridge, given the general case in which two plates move around different plate-specific poles of rotation. The variation in the instantaneous angular velocity of a ridge is a function of the motion characteristics of the plates and the position of the ridge relative to the poles of plate motion. The length or orientation of individual ridge segments is predicted to vary over time, leading to local changes in the shape of the ridge. The gradient in instantaneous angular velocity for the fast-spreading East Pacific Ridge, between the Cocos and Pacific plates, is an order of magnitude greater than the gradient along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between the North American and African plates. This great contrast in ridge instantaneous velocity gradients may be reflected in the contrasting ridge geometries of the East Pacific and Mid-Atlantic Ridges.