The ocean rift zone saw the expansion occur suddenly

One of the central processes of plate tectonics is the formation of new crust along the oceans. One of the spreading processes that divided the continents, undoubtedly was the presence of these ridges that led to the widespread acceptance of plate tectonics as a theory. Thanks to years of research, we now have a better picture of what the crust that forms in the spreading area looks like. But we still have an incomplete idea of ​​how its structure is formed.

In other words, we have a good idea of ​​the results of the process, but not a detailed picture of the process itself.

This is starting to change. In 2024, a team of French scientists was able to remotely monitor a major event on the boundary between the Australian and Antarctic plates, just two months after placing instruments under the sea. Their data shows that large-scale spreading occurred in very short periods of time, and some major events occurred without any detectable earthquakes.

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