Research shines light on how new seafloor forms
We've provided a 3D view of how seafloor spreading takes place. Our findings confirm that upwelling beneath transform faults plays a vital role in stabilising these divergent plate boundaries. International research led by ANUĀ and the University of Southampton has improved understanding of how ocean basins are created as new seafloor is generated along tectonic plate boundaries called mid-ocean ridges. Lead researcher Dr Caroline Eakin from ANU said the new research provided the first global evidence of how mantle flow beneath oceanic transform faults, which connect the ridge segments, contributed to the seafloor spreading. "We've provided a 3D view of how seafloor spreading takes place. Our findings confirm that upwelling beneath transform faults plays a vital role in stabilising these divergent plate boundaries," said Dr Eakin from the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences. "A fundamental feature of this seafloor spreading is the formation of transform faults.
