Mathilde Cannat on Mid-Ocean Ridges
On a recent episode (August 19, 2021) of Geology Bites, Mathilde Cannat spoke to presenter Oliver Strimpel about Mid-Ocean Ridges.
Mathilde Cannat is a research director at the Institut de Physique du Globe of Paris. Her research on mid-ocean ridges has fundamentally changed our understanding of the geological processes that create new oceanic crust at these ridges. She describes how both volcanism and faulting play a role, their relative importance depending on the spreading speed and supply of melt from the underlying mantle. Especially in slow-spreading ridges, the ridge axis behaves like a factory, underplating a 10-15-km-thick plate with new lithosphere, while faulting acts like a conveyor belt, transporting away the newly formed plate.
It is an excellent review of MORs and is well worth a listen! Visit the Geology Bites website for more details or subscribe to the podcast on all good podcast platforms.
