Mid-Ocean Ridge Exploration: Magmatism, Mineralization and Tectonics at Oceanic Divergent Plate Boundaries

Dear Colleagues,

Mid-ocean ridges represent divergent plate boundaries in oceanic realms and the largest mountain range on Earth that is made entirely of magmatic crustal and ultramafic mantle rocks. Asthenospheric upwelling beneath the nearly 60,000 km-long mid-ocean ridges is responsible for the production of new basaltic ocean floor and oceanic lithosphere, and for one of the two most important plate-driving forces (ridge push). The planet Earth loses a great deal of heat (~30% heat lost from oceanic crust) along mid-ocean ridges through hydrothermal processes as well as rapid differentiation and cooling in the lower oceanic crust. Hydrothermal processes result in widespread mineralization and ore deposit formation on the seafloor and within the upper oceanic crust. Magmatically robust fast-spreading ridges (>80 mm/year) generally have gently sloping, dome-shaped geometry reminiscent of shield volcanoes, whereas slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges, where tectonic processes (i.e., faulting and fracturing) prevail, have rugged bathymetry and laterally variable structural architecture. The compositions of erupted magmas at mid-ocean ridges are also variable, not entirely due to the extent of melting but also to changes in mantle source composition. Plate tectonic operations (i.e., slab recycling via subduction) through time have led to mantle heterogeneities and hence to compositional differences in the mantle on a variety of scales. Our knowledge of mechanisms and rates of crustal accretion and heat loss, the modes and tempos of magmatic differentiation and cooling, and the styles and causes of lateral and vertical variations along and across mid-ocean ridges has advanced significantly during the past 20 years as a result of the active research done by the international marine geology and geophysics community in different oceans and by the global ophiolite community in on-land remnants of fossil oceanic lithosphere.   

In this Special Issue of Minerals (MDPI) we invite contributions on all aspects of the production and evolution of modern and fossil oceanic lithosphere, presenting new data, concepts, and models and/or timely reviews of seafloor spreading processes at mid-ocean ridges and other oceanic spreading environments in convergent margin settings (i.e., backarc and forearc basins. Short concept-driven papers based on submersible diving and deep ocean drilling results are particularly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Yildirim Dilek
Guest Editor

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• plate tectonics
• mid-ocean ridges
• divergent plate boundaries
• seafloor spreading
• oceanic lithosphere
• deep-sea hydrothermal activity