Mohns Ridge

Geographical region in the Atlantic basin
Map showing the location of the Mohns Ridge and other major geological features of the northernmost Atlantic

The Mohns Ridge is an ultraslow-spreading segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge located to the north of Jan Mayen in the Arctic Ocean.[1] It is bounded to the south by the Jan Mayen fracture zone, and transitions to Knipovich Ridge in the north-east.

Geology

The ridge started forming 53 My ago, as the Greenland Plate and Eurasian Plate started separating. Four separate axial volcanic ridges have been discovered along Mohns Ridge.[2]

Notable features

Several active and non-active hydrothermal vent fields have been located along Mohns Ridge. In 2008, a black smoker vent field named Loki's Castle was discovered along one of the axial volcanic ridges in the area.[3]

The Schulz Bank seamount is located on the northern part of the ridge, as Mohns Ridge transitions into the Knipovich Ridge.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Marine Regions · Mohns Ridge (Ridge)". www.marineregions.org. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  2. ^ Reimers, Hauke (2017). The Morphology of the Mohn's Ridge - with Special Focus on Listric and Detachment Faults and their Link to the Formation of Seafloor-massive Sulfides (Master thesis thesis). NTNU.
  3. ^ Pedersen, Rolf B.; Rapp, Hans Tore; Thorseth, Ingunn H.; Lilley, Marvin D.; Barriga, Fernando J. A. S.; Baumberger, Tamara; Flesland, Kristin; Fonseca, Rita; Früh-Green, Gretchen L.; Jorgensen, Steffen L. (2010-11-23). "Discovery of a black smoker vent field and vent fauna at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge". Nature Communications. 1 (1): 126. Bibcode:2010NatCo...1..126P. doi:10.1038/ncomms1124. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 3060606. PMID 21119639.
  4. ^ Meyer, H.K.; Davies, A.J.; Roberts, E.M.; Xavier, J.R.; Ribeiro, P.A.; Glenner, H.; Birkely, S.-R.; Rapp, H.T. (January 2023). "Beyond the tip of the seamount: Distinct megabenthic communities found beyond the charismatic summit sponge ground on an arctic seamount (Schulz Bank, Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge)". Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 191: 103920. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103920. hdl:11250/3049728.

Further reading

  • Dauteuil, O.; Brun, J.-P. (1996-08-01). "Deformation partitioning in a slow spreading ridge undergoing oblique extension: Mohns Ridge, Norwegian Sea". Tectonics. 15 (4): 870–884. doi:10.1029/95TC03682. ISSN 1944-9194.

71°54′50″N 1°12′09″W / 71.91375225°N 1.20254893°W / 71.91375225; -1.20254893

  • v
  • t
  • e