Special: Hydrothermal vents map
SLOW BURNER
Because the Carlsberg Ridge is one of the slowest-spreading, and so supposedly less active oceanic ridges, many had thought it unlikely to be the location of a major volcanic eruption. At ridges such as this, heat is thought to be released more slowly from the underlying magma.
Read more in the Nature special on hydrothermal vents.
Carlsberg Ridge
- Name: Megaplume over the Carlsberg Ridge
- Characteristics: A huge plume of hydrothermal chemicals, drifting up to 1.4 kilometres above the vent site and 70 kilometres along the underwater ridge.
- Importance: It's by far the biggest vent plume ever seen, and confirms that such plumes form following volcanic eruptions at the sea floor, even at slow-spreading oceanic ridges.