Sir
In the otherwise excellent article1 “Subtle minds and mid-ocean ridges”, it is erroneously stated that Earth's fastest seafloor spreading occurs in the 15°-18° S East Pacific Rise “MELT” area.
Spreading rates are known to increase further south along this ridge2,3, although exactly where the fastest spreading occurs is complicated by the presence of duelling propagating rifts and microplates, where total plate separation is accommodated on dual active spreading centres. The fastest spreading known today (some 149 mm yr−1) thus occurs near 31° S, south of the large-scale duelling propagators between the Easter and Juan Fernandez microplates4.
References
Cann, J. Nature 393, 625–628 (1998).
DeMets, C. et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 21, 2191–2194 (1994).
Naar, D. F. & Hey, R. N. in Evolution of Mid Ocean Ridges (ed. Sinton, J. M.) (Am. Geophys. Un, Washington DC, 1989).
Hey, R. N. et al. Nature 378, 167–170 (1995).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hey, R. Subtle error on sea floor. Nature 396, 210 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24252
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/24252
