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Axial Volcanic Ridges

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Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Synonyms

Neo-volcanic ridge

Definition

Axial volcanic ridges (AVRs). Composite volcanic edifices, comprising an elongate, typically spreading-normal orientated topographic high, produced within the inner valleys of mid-ocean ridges, usually those that are slow spreading.

Introduction

The surface expression of volcanic activity is extremely variable at different spreading rates (see “Morphology Across Convergent Plate Boundaries”), as a result of the differing eruption styles associated with each. Axial volcanic ridges (AVRs), sometimes called neo-volcanic ridges, have been recognized at many slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) spreading segments (e.g., Ballard and Van Andel, 1977; Karson et al., 1987; Smith and Cann, 1992; Parson et al., 1993; Sempere et al., 1993; Lawson et al., 1996; Bideau et al., 1998; Gracia et al., 1998; Navin et al., 1998; Briais et al., 2000; Peirce and Sinha, 2008; Searle et al., 2010) and some ultraslow-spreading segments elsewhere (Mendel et al., 2003)....

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Correspondence to Isobel Yeo .

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Yeo, I. (2016). Axial Volcanic Ridges. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6238-1_2

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