Journal Article

The East Pacific Rise Between 9°N and 10°N

ARELLANO, SHAWN M., FUNDIS, ALLISON, COWEN, JAMES P., LUTHER, GEORGE W., MEANA-PRADO, M. FLORENCIA, PERFIT, MICHAEL R., SEYFRIED, WILLIAM E., SHANK, TIMOTHY M., FORNARI, DANIEL J., GOVENAR, BREEA, TOLSTOY, MAYA, VON DAMM, KAREN L., LILLEY, MARVIN D., MULLINEAUX, LAUREN S., RUBIN, KENNETH H., BRYCE, JULIA G., ADAMS, DIANE K., SOULE, S. ADAM, WHITE, SCOTT M., FERRINI, VICKI

2012

Overview

The East Pacific Rise from ~ 9–10°N is an archetype for a fastspreading mid-ocean ridge. In particular, the segment near 9°50'N has been the focus of multidisciplinary research for over two decades, making it one of the best-studied areas of the global ridge system. It is also one of only two sites along the global ridge where two historical volcanic eruptions have been observed. This volcanically active segment has thus offered unparalleled opportunities to investigate a range of complex interactions among magmatic, volcanic, hydrothermal, and biological processes associated with crustal accretion over a full magmatic cycle. At this 9°50'N site, comprehensive physical oceanographic measurements and modeling have also shed light on linkages between hydrodynamic transport of larvae and other materials and biological dynamics influenced by magmatic processes. Integrated results of highresolution mapping, and both in situ and laboratory-based geophysical, oceanographic, geochemical, and biological observations and sampling, reveal how magmatic events perturb the hydrothermal system and the biological communities it hosts.

• Publisher: The Oceanography Society
• Subject: East Pacific Rise / Integrated Study Sites / Mid ocean ridges / OCEANIC SPREADING CENTER PROCESSES | Ridge 2000 PROGRAM RESEARCH / Oceanography / Ridge 2000 / spreading centers / Volcanic eruptions