Anatomy of a seafloor spreading event captured by in situ seismogeodesy.

Abstract

Over geological time, the growth of the ocean floor involves magmatic and tectonic extension¹ at mid-ocean ridges (MORs). Because seismogeodetic monitoring of these submarine plate boundaries remains challenging^2-7, little is known about how these systems operate on yearly timescales. Here we report the first, to our knowledge, in situ observation of a rifting event at a MOR segment that combines hydroacoustic, direct-path ranging and bottom-pressure measurements, with repeated seafloor mapping. This event started on 26 April 2024 at the axis of the Southeast Indian Ridge (SEIR) near 37° S, two months after instruments had been deployed across the ridge axis and nearby Amsterdam transform fault (TF). The event began as a rapidly migrating swarm of extensional seismicity along the axial valley. It caused 4 m of subsidence of the valley floor and more than a metre of horizontal extension across the valley. We interpret this as the deflation of a sill-like reservoir feeding propagating dykes along the ridge axis. The dykes eventually led to the outpouring of about 160 million m³ of lava at the seafloor in about 16 days, while inducing both seismic and aseismic slip on valley-bounding normal faults and finally triggering seismic activity on the abutting TFs. Large-scale aseismic slip induced by magmatic processes could therefore be the primary mechanism by which MOR normal faults accrue their displacement, which would account for their well-documented seismic deficit^8,9.