Unlike most hydrothermal vents, which crop up along
mid-ocean ridges where tectonic plates spread to form new seafloor, those of the Lost City lie about 15 km west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on ocean crust that's about 1.5 million years old.
It was the first autonomous robot to make detailed maps of
mid-ocean ridges, the 40,000-mile undersea volcanic mountain chain at the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates where new seafloor crust is created.
ne source of information providing insight into the physics of this viscous mass are the four stable forms, or isotopes, of iron that can be found in rocks that have risen to Earth's surface at
mid-ocean ridges where seafloor spreading is occurring.
Some crop up along
mid-ocean ridges, where Earth's tectonic plates spread apart.
At the University of Maryland, College Park, Mitchell earned degrees in geology and geography and spent time studying ocean mapping, particularly of
mid-ocean ridges. In the fall, he will return there to study for his master's degree in geology.
Similar systems may be much more common than scientists have suspected because they've typically confined their search for hydrothermal activity to
mid-ocean ridges and the boundaries of tectonic plates.
He serves as chair of the InterRidge Science Program, which coordinates international cooperation in research and exploration of the deep-sea geology, biology, and hydrothermal venting of
mid-ocean ridges. Lin is also a member of a U.S.
At such sites, called
mid-ocean ridges, two plates pull apart and molten rock wells up from beneath to form new plate material.
Along the Earth's volcanic
mid-ocean ridges, seawater seeped through cracks in the seafloor and were heated by volcanic rocks below.
The group helps coordinate research activities of roughly 2,500 scientists from 25 countries who study
mid-ocean ridges. InterRidge will be based at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the next three years.
Most of the Earth's crust forms when partially molten rock oozes from the planet's interior, emerging at
mid-ocean ridges where the sea floor Is spreading.
In the 28 years since tubeworms and other organisms were discovered living in volcanic areas along
mid-ocean ridges, scientists have been puzzling over how they survive there.