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Origin of overlapping spreading centers: A finite element model
Author(s) -
De Bremaecker J. Cl.,
Swenson D. V.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
tectonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.465
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1944-9194
pISSN - 0278-7407
DOI - 10.1029/tc009i003p00505
Subject(s) - ridge , geology , elevation (ballistics) , seismology , finite element method , head (geology) , magma , mid ocean ridge , plane (geometry) , ridge push , magma chamber , stress (linguistics) , geometry , geodesy , paleontology , physics , volcano , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , thermodynamics
Overlapping spreading centers (OSCs) appear to result from two ridges propagating head‐on toward each other. The origin of the most elongated and the largest ones is almost perfectly accounted for by the stresses due to the relative elevation of the tips of the propagating ridges rather than to the elevation of the whole ridges (ridge push); on the other hand, stresses due to the ridge push, or to the forcible injection of magma at stationary centers, produce wider OSCs than those on the East Pacific Rise between 3°N and 13°N. We conclude that cross sections of ridges more than a few kilometers away from spreading centers are essentially in a state of plane stress. Our modelling method uses the finite element method and dynamic fracture propagation; the mesh is modified at every time step to minimize computational errors.