A statistical correlation between ridge crest offsets and spreading rate
Geophysical Research Letters(February 1986), 13(2):157-160
Index Terms/Descriptors: Atlantic Ocean; bottom features; crust; East Pacific; East Pacific Rise; effects; Juan de Fuca Ridge; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; mid-ocean ridges; North American Pacific; North Pacific; Northeast Pacific; ocean floors; oceanic crust; offsets; Pacific Ocean; plate geometry; rates; relief; sea-floor spreading; statistical analysis
Latitude & LongitudeS57°00'00'' - N60°00'00'' and W62°00'00'' - E3°00'00''
Ridge crest offsets follow the statistical distribution, N = A exp [-B ln (L/L o )], where N is the cumulative number of ridge crest offsets with lengths greater than L, L o is the cutoff length, and A and B are constants. We measured A and B for the slow spreading mid-Atlantic ridge, the intermediate spreading Juan de Fuca Ridge, and the fast spreading east Pacific Rise. The predicted mean distances between offsets greater than 4 km long are 30, 32, and 74 km on the slow, intermediate and fast spreading ridge crests. These distances are in agreement with observations of other workers and calculations of modal ridge lengths.