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Nature 393, 625-628 (18 June 1998) | doi:10.1038/31347

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Earth science:  Subtle minds and mid-ocean ridges

Joe Cann1

Two-thirds of the surface of the Earth is covered by ocean crust. Each year 3 km2 of new ocean floor is created at the spreading plate boundaries, the mid-ocean ridges, requiring that about 20 km3 of molten magma rises each year through the Earth's upper mantle to build new ocean crust.

  1. Joe Cann is in the School of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
    e-mail: Email: joe@earth.leeds.ac.ukEmail: