Eastern Lau Spreading Center
E720407
The Eastern Lau Spreading Center is a seafloor spreading zone in the southwest Pacific where tectonic plates diverge, creating new oceanic crust and driving intense submarine volcanic and hydrothermal activity.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Lau Spreading Center | 1 |
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
divergent plate boundary
ⓘ
seafloor spreading center ⓘ |
| associatedWithPlate |
Indo-Australian Plate
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Pacific Plate NERFINISHED ⓘ Tonga microplate NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| crustTypeFormed | oceanic crust ⓘ |
| drivenBy | divergence of tectonic plates ⓘ |
| environment | deep-sea setting ⓘ |
| geologicalProcess |
oceanic crust formation
ⓘ
seafloor spreading ⓘ |
| hasActivity |
hydrothermal venting
ⓘ
submarine volcanism ⓘ |
| hasBiology | chemosynthetic vent communities ⓘ |
| hasFeature |
axial volcanic ridges
ⓘ
hydrothermal vent fields ⓘ rift valleys ⓘ submarine volcanoes ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
mantle wedge processes
ⓘ
slab-derived fluids ⓘ |
| knownFor |
diverse vent ecosystems
ⓘ
high heat flow ⓘ intense hydrothermal activity ⓘ |
| locatedIn |
Lau Basin
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
southwest Pacific Ocean NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| magmaComposition |
MORB-like basalt
ⓘ
arc-influenced basalt ⓘ basaltic magma ⓘ |
| magmaSource | subduction-modified mantle ⓘ |
| orientation | north-northeast to south-southwest trend ⓘ |
| parallelTo | Tonga island arc NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOf |
Lau back-arc basin
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Lau-Tonga back-arc system NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Central Lau Spreading Center
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Tonga Trench NERFINISHED ⓘ Tonga subduction zone NERFINISHED ⓘ Valu Fa Ridge NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| researchField |
hydrothermal geochemistry
ⓘ
marine geology ⓘ plate tectonics ⓘ |
| spreadingRate | fast to intermediate spreading rate ⓘ |
| spreadingType | asymmetric back-arc spreading ⓘ |
| studiedBy | oceanographic expeditions ⓘ |
| studiedUsing |
multibeam bathymetry
ⓘ
submersibles and ROVs ⓘ |
| tectonicSetting | back-arc spreading center ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.