Gakkel Ridge

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Bathymetric/topographic map of the Arctic Ocean and the surrounds

The Gakkel Ridge (formerly known as the Nansen Cordillera and Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge)[1] is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate.[2] It is located in the Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Siberia with a length of about 1,800 kilometers. Geologically, it connects the northern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the Laptev Sea Rift.

The existance and approximate location of the Gakkel Ridge was predicted by a Soviet polar explorer Yakov Yakovlevich Gakkel and discovered by Soviet Arctic Expeditions in the late forties — early fifties of the 20th century. The Ridge is named after him. The name was approved in April 1987 by the Sub-Committee on Geographical Names and Nomenclature of Ocean Bottom Features (SCGN, now SCUFN).[1]

The Gakkel Ridge is the slowest spreading ridge on earth with a rate of less than one centimeter per year. Until 1999, when scientists operating from a nuclear submarine discovered active volcanos along this ridge, the Gakkel Ridge was believed to be non-volcanic. In 2001 two research icebreakers, the German Polarstern and the US Healy, with several groups of scientists, were sent to the Gakkel Ridge to explore the ridge and to collect petrological samples. Among other discoveries, evidence for hydrothermal vents was found during this expedition. In 2007 the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is mounting an exploratory expedition called the "Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition".[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b IHO-IOC GEBCO Gazetteer. International Hydrographic Organization/Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (September 2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  2. ^ "GPS Measurements Reveal Imprint of North American Plate in Siberia", Earth Institute at Columbia University, 2003

[edit] Further reading

  • Jokat, Wilfried, and Mechita C. Schmidt-Aursch. 2007. "Geophysical Characteristics of the Ultraslow Spreading Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean". Geophysical Journal International. 168, no. 3: 983-998.

[edit] External links

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