New Curtin University research has revealed that the Ninetyeast Ridge — the Earth’s longest straight underwater mountain chain — formed through a different process than previously believed.
New Curtin University research has revealed that the Ninetyeast Ridge — the Earth’s longest straight underwater mountain chain — formed through a different process than previously believed.
Stretching 5000km along the Indian Ocean’s 90-degree east longitude and nearly matching the length of North America’s Rocky Mountains, the ridge offers crucial new insights into the movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates.
Co-author Dr Hugo Olierook from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences said high-precision dating of minerals extracted from the ridge shows it formed between 83 and 43 million years ago as a massive volcanic chain, with its oldest sections in the north, near India.
“Unlike most volcanic hotspots that remain stationary in the mantle and create volcanic trails as tectonic plates drift over them, this study found that the hotspot responsible for the Ninetyeast Ridge moved by several hundred kilometres within the mantle over time,” Dr Olierook said.
Read more at Curtin University
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