Earth and Planetary Science Letters 202 (2002) 275^288
www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl

Preliminary analysis of the Knipovich Ridge segmentation:in£uence of focused magmatism and ridge obliquity on
an ultraslow spreading system
Kyoko Okino a; , Daniel Curewitz a , Miho Asada a , Kensaku Tamaki a ,Peter Vogt b , Kathleen Crane caOcean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japanb
Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA
c
NOAA, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
Received 28 January 2002; received in revised form 7 June 2002; accepted 19 June 2002

Abstract
Bathymetry, gravity and deep-tow sonar image data are used to define the segmentation of a 400 km long portionof the ultraslow-spreading Knipovich Ridge in the Norwegian^Greenland Sea, Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Discrete
volcanic centers marked by large volcanic constructions and accompanying short wavelength mantle Bouguer
anomaly (MBA) lows generally resemble those of the Gakkel Ridge and the easternmost Southwest Indian Ridge.
These magmatically robust segment centers are regularly spaced about 85^100 km apart along the ridge, and arecharacterized by accumulated hummocky terrain, high relief, off-axis seamount chains and significant MBA lows. We
suggest that these eruptive centers correspond to areas of enhanced magma flux, and that their spacing reflects thegeometry of underlying mantle upwelling cells. The large-scale thermal structure of the mantle primarily controls
discrete and focused magmatism, and the relatively wide spacing of these segments may reflect cool mantle beneaththe ridge. Segment centers along the southern Knipovich Ridge are characterized by lower relief and smaller MBA
anomalies than along the northern section of the ridge. This suggests that ridge obliquity is a secondary control onridge construction on the Knipovich Ridge, as the obliquity changes from 35‡ to 49‡ from north to south, respectively,
while spreading rate and axial depth remain approximately constant. The increased obliquity may contribute to
decreased effective spreading rates, lower upwelling magma velocity and melt formation, and limited horizontal dikepropagation near the surface. We also identify small, magmatically weaker segments with low relief, little or no MBA
anomaly, and no off-axis expression. We suggest that these segments are either fed by lateral melt migration fromadjacent magmatically stronger segments or represent smaller, discrete mantle upwelling centers with short-lived melt
supply. ? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: mid-ocean ridges; segmentation; sea-£oor spreading; gravity anomalies; sonar methods; Arctic Region* Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-3-5351-6446; Fax: +81-3-5351-6445.
E-mail address: okino@ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp (K. Okino).
0012-821X / 02 / $ ^ see front matter ? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 1 2 - 8 2 1 X ( 0 2 ) 0 0 7 9 0 - 2

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1. Introduction
What thermo-mechanical processes control theobserved large morphological, geological, andgeophysical variation between ridges? This is afundamental question facing modern investigationof mid-ocean ridge tectonics and geophysics [1].
Although spreading rate appears to be a main
parameter in£uencing these processes, another important factor is the interplay between spreading
rate and magma supply, re£ecting the physicalcharacteristics of the lithosphere and asthenosphere. Fast and slow spreading systems represented by the East-Paci¢c Rise (EPR) and the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), respectively, havebeen extensively studied over the last two decades.
However, the slowest end-members of the world’s
ridge system, ultraslow spreading centers with full
spreading rates less than 20 mm/yr, have recently
been targeted for systematic analysis. Previous
global ridge comparisons and analyses haveshown that crustal thicknesses are almost constant(7 km) from the fast spreading EPR (150 mm/yr)
to the slow spreading MAR (20 mm/yr) [2^4]. In
contrast, anomalously thin crust is observed at
ultraslow spreading centers using seismic refraction [5] and gravity analyses [6]. Therefore ultraslow spreading systems provide unique naturallaboratories to investigate fundamental problemsof oceanic crustal accretion. Two well-known ultraslow spreading systems in the world, the Arctic
Ridges [7^9] and the Southwest Indian Ridge(SWIR) [10^12] have long remained unsurveyed
primarily because of their remote geographical locations.
The Arctic Ridges extend north of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge system, and consist of the Kolbeinsey, Mohns, Knipovich and Gakkel ridges. Recent sub-ice studies on the Gakkel Ridge revealthat the ridge (full spreading rate 6 10 mm/yr in
its eastern half) is not o¡set by transform faults
for over 1000 km [9], the oceanic crust is extremely thin [6], and mantle rocks are exposed
along the ridge axis [13]. The Knipovich Ridge
is located between 73‡45PN and 78‡35PN, between
Greenland and Svalbard (Fig. 1). This is thenorthernmost portion of the Arctic Ridges freefrom the Arctic Ocean ice canopy and readily

accessible to surface vessels. The Knipovich Ridgeis transform-free along its entire length, and ischaracterized by high obliquity (P = 35^50‡, where
P is the angle between the spreading direction andthe normal to the ridge trend) [14] and a heavily
sedimented rift axis due to its location close to theEurasian continental margin [15]. During an interdisciplinary cruise on the Knipovich Ridge in
September 2000 (K2K cruise, [16]) using the R/VProfessor Logachev (VNIIO, St. Petersburg, Russia), we acquired along-axis deep-tow side scansonar images and collected water geochemistrydata for evidence of hydrothermal activity. Detailed analyses of these two datasets are the subject of other papers. In this paper we combine
previously collected datasets (bathymetry and satellite derived gravity), a new along-axis bathymetric pro¢le, and sonar images to de¢ne the segmentation of this ultraslow, oblique spreading system.
Our discussion focuses on the segmentation pattern and its implications for crustal accretion
under ultraslow and variably oblique spreading
conditions. We compare the spacing and amplitude of discrete, focused magma upwelling centerson the Knipovich Ridge to results from other ultraslow spreading systems with varying degrees of
obliquity.

2. Tectonic background
The Arctic Mid-ocean Ridge system extends
northward from the MAR and is the boundary
between the Eurasian and North American Plates.
The pole of relative motion between these plates islocated in Siberia [17], so the full spreading rate
decreases northward from 18 mm/yr on the Kolbeinsey Ridge to less than 10 mm/yr on the eastern Gakkel Ridge. The Arctic Ridge system began
opening at Chron 24 [7], about 53 Ma on theCande and Kent [18] time scale, splitting the Lomonosov Ridge and Greenland from the Eurasiancontinent. Aeromagnetic data show continuous
spreading along the Gakkel Ridge since Chron24, with some variation in spreading rate [7].
The data also reveal the spreading history of theMohns Ridge, where the spreading directionchanged from NNW^SSE to NW^SE at Chron

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277

Present global plate motion models predict 307‡
spreading at 15^17 mm/yr at the Knipovich
Ridge. The general trend of the rift wall is 002‡
north of 75‡50PN and 347‡ south of that point,
resulting in variably oblique spreading along theentire ridge. The obliquity, the angle between thenormal to the axial rift valley and the plate motion vector, is 35‡ in the north and 49‡ in thesouth. The surface structure of the Knipovich
Ridge, therefore, is formed by the combined e¡ectof tectonism and volcanism under oblique spreading conditions [23].

3. Data analyses
3.1. Data sources

Fig. 1. Tectonic setting of the Norwegian^Greenland Sea andlocation of the study area (box) along the Knipovich Ridge.
Thick lines show the present plate boundary and gray arrows
indicate the current plate motion direction [17]. Bathymetriccontour interval is 1000 m.

7 [19,20] (about 25 Ma [18]). The history of the
Knipovich Ridge is rather enigmatic, because neither the aeromagnetic data nor the limited shiptrack data show clear magnetic anomaly patterns.
The Knipovich Ridge has been suggested to haveoriginated as a shear-zone or continental transform that linked the Gakkel and Mohns ridges
during the early history of the Arctic Ridge system (e.g., [20]). This transform became a spreading center either through linkage of en echelon
sub-basins or through ridge propagation from
the Mohns Ridge following the change of platemotion at Chron 7. An asymmetric spreading history [21] and a ridge jump at Eocene time [22]have also been proposed; however, the detailed
history of the Knipovich Ridge is still under discussion.
The Knipovich Ridge is now an V550 km
long, transform-free ridge segment linking the
Molloy transform fault at its northern end andthe Mohns Ridge at its southern end (Fig. 1).

No multibeam bathymetry data have been collected along the Knipovich Ridge, so we compiled
the bathymetry from three di¡erent data sources.
The IBCAO digital database [24], a compilationof ship-track data in the Arctic and Northeast
Atlantic oceans (north of 70‡N), contains 1.5 km
gridded depths over the Knipovich Ridge. The
original track lines are sparse in our study area,
so short wavelength features are not recorded.
The northern half of the Knipovich Ridge wassurveyed using SeaMARCII sonar in 1989 and1990 by Crane et al. [25]. The detailed bathymetry
synthesized from SeaMARCII phase return data
is available within 40^50 km o¡-axis for the regions north of 75‡50PN, where depth values arespaced at 6 100 m intervals along and acrosstrack. Obvious artifacts along the sonar track
are present in the dataset; however, their amplitude is not large enough to cause serious problems
for gravity analysis. The third dataset we used isthe along-axis 3.5 kHz depths collected during theK2K cruise. These data encompass a 400 km longpro¢le of the axial valley, V75% of the length of
the ridge along a single ship’s track. Comparisonof the three datasets along the northern Knipovich Ridge (Fig. 2) shows good agreement between 3.5 kHz and SeaMARCII phase data, andshows that the IBCAO dataset misses short wavelength features. We combined these three datasets
to make a 2.5P by 0.625P (about 1150 m) grid,

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Fig. 2. Axial bathymetry pro¢les for the northern Knipovich
Ridge (76‡20PN-78‡15PN) from the IBCAO-beta dataset [24],SeaMARCII sidescan sonar phase bathymetry [25] and 3.5
Hz pro¢ler data collected during the K2K cruise [16].

using the following order of priority : 3.5 kHz,
SeaMARCII, and IBCAO (Fig. 3a). We also prepared a ¢ner grid for regions north of 76‡N to
examine the detailed on- and o¡-axis bathymetryof the ridge.
We extracted the free-air gravity anomaly(FAA) ¢eld from the 3.75P gridded database calculated from ERS-1 altimetry (Fig. 3b, [26]). The
ERS-1 gravity ¢eld covers the ocean south of81.5‡N and recovers signals down to a wavelengthof V15 km [27].
Sediment thickness data were extracted from an
isopach map compiled in a previous study [28].
The original map is expressed in two-way travel
time contours at intervals of 0.5 s; these contours
were digitized and transformed to thickness assuming a sediment velocity of 2.2 km/s. Sediment
thicknesses are maximum (greater than 1.5 s,
V s 3.3 km) near the Svalbard margin and lessthan 0.5 s ( 6 1.1 km) on the ridge axis. These
data are useful for removing the large-scale in£uence of sedimentary layer on the MBA analysis;
however, their horizontal resolution is not highenough to correct for short wavelength variations
in sediment thickness.
3.2. Data analysis
The FAA (Fig. 3b) contains signals from bathymetry, sediments, and crust and mantle density

anomalies. To reveal the crust and mantle anomalies we subtracted from the FAA the theoreticalgravity e¡ects of the water^sediment, sediment^
crust, and crust^mantle interfaces assuming a
constant density 6 km thick model crust. The
densities for water, sediment, crust, and mantle
were assumed to be 1030, 2300, 2800 and 3300
kg/m3 , respectively. We also calculated the e¡ectsof di¡erent sediment density values ; di¡erencesamong these models are negligible in considering
the characteristics of the along-axis anomaly relief. Our modeling indicates that higher-resolution
sediment isopach data would enhance vMBA calculations; however, the di¡erences are estimatedat about 5 mGal. Additionally, since increased
sediment thickness in the deeper along-axis sections will act to increase vMBA, our calculationsre£ect minimum values. The resulting MBA map
is shown in Fig. 3c. We did not calculate thethermal e¡ect on gravity anomalies [29,30] because of poor o¡-axis age determination.

4. Results
4.1. Overview of bathymetry and gravity
The trend of the Knipovich Ridge changes at75‡50PN, from 343^350‡ to the south to 000^007‡
to the north (Fig. 3a). The trend of the rift valley
is oblique to the direction predicted from theglobal plate motion model (307‡ at 76‡N, [17])and the obliquity is larger in the southern partof the ridge. Bathymetric lineaments and volcanic
ridges within the rift valley trend roughly
010‡V035‡, nearly perpendicular to the current
plate motion direction (Fig. 3a). The average
depth and width of the rift valley are 3500 m
and 14 km. A large seamount (relief V1500 m),
Logachev Seamount, is located within the rift at
76‡35PN, and consists of volcanic edi¢ces and
NNE^SSW trending ridges. The second largest
bathymetric high at 77‡29PN also exhibits 035‡
trending volcanic mounds and structural lineaments. Both axial volcanic peaks anchor symmetric o¡-axis seamount chains that are aligned
parallel to the relative plate motion direction.
Bathymetric highs in the southern part of the

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279

Fig. 3. (a) Color-¢ll bathymetric map of the Knipovich Ridge based on data from [16,24,25]. Contour interval is 100 m. Whiteline shows the along-axis line used for bathymetry and gravity pro¢les in Fig. 4, which links the sonar track (solid line) and theshallowest and deepest points where the sonar track is absent (dashed line). Arrows indicate the locations of the o¡-axis seamount chains extending parallel to the plate motion direction. Solid black circles indicate the locations of sonar images shown in
Fig. 4. Inset map shows the data sources used for compilation and red lines indicate all sonar tracks. The ship tracks used forthe IBCAO program are shown in http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/arctic/IBCAOTechnicalReference.PDF. (b) Color¢ll FAA map based on satellite derived gravity [26]. Contour interval is 10 mGal. (c) Calculated MBA with 10 mGal contours.

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ridge are smaller than the northern two peaks.
O¡-axis traces of these axial highs are also recognized in the southern part of the ridge in spite oflower depth resolution (arrows in Fig. 3a). It is
likely that unmapped topographic highs exist
within the southern rift valley ; however, basedon previous sidescan-derived phase bathymetry
data (¢gures 12 and 13 in [25]), these highs (ifpresent) are likely not at the same scale as theones associated with o¡-axis seamount traces.
The largest negative FAA value occurs at thenorthern end of the ridge where the Molloy
Transform Fault intersects the rift wall (Fig. 3b).
Although a negative FAA trough extends along
the rift, the FAA pattern is asymmetric aroundthe rift, indicating the e¡ect of thicker sediment
to the east. After correction for sediment/crust/
mantle density contrasts, the MBA (Fig. 3c) has
a signi¢cant gradient on the Svalbard margin, re£ecting the ocean^continent transition. The MBAmap shows a few near-circular lows corresponding to on-axis bathymetric highs in the northern
Knipovich Ridge and o¡-axis seamounts. In thesouthern part of the ridge, the MBA lows are
centered beneath the western rift wall. This is
likely due to misregistration of bathymetry inthe southern area where IBCAO depths are basedon a sparse and poorly navigated dataset.
4.2. Along-axis bathymetry and gravity variations
The segmentation pattern of mid-ocean ridges
re£ects magmatism, crustal and lithospheric structure, and mantle thermal structure. Both long andshort wavelength along-axis variations in axial
depth (mean = 3500 m) and MBA provide important information about ridge segmentation.
Along-axis bathymetry, de¢ned by linking centersof apparent recent volcanism with the deepest
portions of the rift valley in Fig. 3a, and theMBA pro¢le in the surveyed area display no signi¢cant long wavelength variations (Fig. 4). Thissuggests no large-scale variations of density and/or thermal structure along the Knipovich Ridge.
Short wavelength axial depth variations permit
de¢nition of 14 segments numbered from north tosouth (Fig. 4). We de¢ned the segmentation pattern in a provisional sense, recognizing the spatial

and resolution limitations of our dataset. First we
use the along-axis pro¢le, and a positive depth
variation of 100 m over 20 km along strike isused as our criterion to number the centers of
the axial segments. Then we investigated our
deep-towed sonar images, published sonar image
and bathymetry maps [25] and gravity anomalies
in identifying the segmentation. A plan view of
the ridge shows segments 1^8 and the intervening
deep, narrow basins corresponding to obliquenon-transform discontinuities (Fig. 5). These areanalogous to non-transform discontinuities along
the SWIR [10] or transfer zones along the Mohns
Ridge [31,32]. Volcanic constructions and fault
scarps within the rift are aligned approximately
perpendicular to the relative plate motion anddeep sub-basins tend to elongate NW^SE. Because of data limitations and low resolution, we
may have missed a segment near the boundary of
the Molloy Transform Fault, and small segment
centers south of 75‡30PN.
The bathymetric pro¢le is characterized by few
highs and dominated by relatively long £at, deep,
heavily sedimented troughs. High relief segments(vR = 963 m and 957 m at segments 7 and 3)
are only found along the northern ridge, andare associated with relatively large MBA lows
(vMBA = 20 mGal and 19 mGal, respectively).
Other segments with vR = V500 m correspondto weak MBA lows (vMBA 6 10 mGal) or subtle
perturbations of the MBA pro¢le, except for segment 1 (vR = 612 m, vMBA = 10 mGal). The relief is lower south of 75‡50PN, where the trend of
the rift valley changes. The maximum relief isonly 500 m, and deep, smooth sea£oor dominates
the southern section of the ridge. It should be
noted that the track line for the along-axis pro¢lein the southern section of the ridge was chosenusing the available (low-resolution) IBCAO bathymetry data and the single track from the1989^1990 SeaMARCII survey. The survey as it
was carried out may have bypassed the summitsof axial highs in the southern region for that reason. However, both our 2.5 km swath sonar image and the previous single SeaMARCII [25]swath show neither signi¢cant bathymetric peaks
nor vigorous volcanic construction along long
stretches of the southern axial region. The along-

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281

Fig. 4. Bathymetry and MBA pro¢les along the axis of the Knipovich Ridge between 74‡25PN and 78‡10PN. Dotted bathymetry
segments are not covered by deep-tow sonar images. Each ridge segment center is numbered from north to south. Arrows indicate where o¡-axis seamount chains meet the rift valley. Gray and dark gray blocks below the pro¢les indicate smooth lava £ows
and hummocky terrain, respectively. The height of the gray blocks corresponds to the brightness of the sonar image (tall blockindicates highly re£ective lava £ows, probably with thin or no sediment). The blank area indicates low re£ectivity sea£oor. Two
examples of sea£oor images obtained by deep-tow sonar and their geological interpretations are shown at the bottom. (a) Hummocky terrain a at 76‡38PN; (b) smooth lava £ow at 76‡48PN (see Figs. 3a and 5 for location).

axis pro¢le (Fig. 4) is plotted along the generaltrend of the rift valley, rather than perpendicular
to relative plate motion as in along-axis studies ofthe Mid-Atlantic Ridge [30,33] or SWIR [34,35].
This along-axis plot links the shallowest anddeepest portions of the rift valley; therefore, thetotal relief of each segment does not vary fromthat obtained in other studies. However, segment
lengths and the gradient of short wavelength variations may change, and require careful treatment
when comparing these parameters to other ridges.
Discrepancies may also arise from the lack ofhigh-resolution bathymetric data along the Knipovich Ridge.
4.3. Sea£oor characterization using sonar images
Side-scan sonar images were collected during
the K2K cruise in 2000 [16] using a deep-tow
ORETEC 30 kHz sonar towed 150 m above thesea£oor. Our data cover the axial zone of the
Knipovich Ridge from 74‡25PN to 77‡50PN withsingle 2.5 km swath (Fig. 3a). The ¢nal horizontal
resolution of the data ranges from 5 to 15 m. The

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images were interpreted by delineating the boundaries between terrains with di¡erent acoustic textures and then investigating the distribution of
volcanic and tectonic features. This information
about volcanic and tectonic processes complements the bathymetry and MBA pro¢les. Detailed
geological interpretations are the subject of aseparate paper. In the present study, only the major classes of volcanic construction, hummocky
mounds and smooth sheets, are considered, andwe compare their distribution to along-axis bathymetry and gravity data (Fig. 4).
Hummocky mounds, amalgamations of ovoid,
rough-textured lava pillows and volcanic extrusive
products, are found along the entire ridge axis,
but are unevenly distributed. Near the Logachev
Seamount (segment 7), a large number of hummocks coalesce and form a large volcanic construction (Fig. 4a). These highly re£ective hummocks are concentrated atop most bathymetrichighs (segments 1^3, 7, 9^13), indicating recent
focused volcanic activity, probably in the formof dike-fed eruptions [36]. Hummocks tend toalign in chains that trend perpendicular to relative
plate motion, possibly re£ecting dike intrusion
controlled by extension between the two plates.
We also recognize low-re£ectance hummocky textures, interpreted as older volcanic products now
covered by sediment. Since the Knipovich Ridge
is a sedimented ridge close to a continental margin, the hummocks and other volcanic constructions may be buried relatively soon after formation.
Smooth sheets comprise regions of high re£ectivity with £at and monotonic texture. They arelobate or amorphous, and subtle wrinkles are
sometimes observed on their surfaces. We interpret these as sheet-like lava £ows, and, althoughpotential source vents cannot always be identi¢ed,
they are commonly found surrounding hummocky
mounds and/or crater-topped cones. Additionally,
these features commonly abut and cover steep
scarps, indicating £ow into pre-existing faultbounded depressions (Fig. 4b). These features
are most commonly observed at the base of small
bathymetric highs; however, they are also foundon the relatively £at area between bathymetrichighs in the southern part of the ridge.

5. Discussion
5.1. Segmentation characteristics of the Knipovich
Ridge
Sonar image analysis shows that segment centers either are covered by or consist of accumulated hummocks, and that most smooth lava
£ows are found at the base of seamounts. Theseobservations support the interpretation that segment centers de¢ned by the along-axis pro¢le are
the loci of recent volcanic activity. Previous investigations using long-range side-scan sonar images[25] proposed segmentation of the Knipovich
Ridge into long extensional basins bounded bynarrow volcanically active highs, and that the
deep basins were segment centers. In this paper,
we use MBA patterns and bathymetry data topropose a segmentation scheme according tomodels used in other slow and ultraslow spreading ridges [33,34] where elevated and magmatically active segment centers mark loci of mantle
upwelling. Mid-ocean ridge segmentation patterns
have been interpreted based on a variety of bathymetric, volcano-magmatic, and structural criteria[25,30,37^39] and the growing consensus is thatthe fundamental control on ridge segmentationis the geometry and dynamics of mantle upwelling
beneath the ridge axis [40].
Although the amplitude of MBA variation is
not large, the centers of segments 1, 3 and 7 correspond to prominent MBA lows (Fig. 4), indicating thicker crust and/or hotter/less dense mantle(i.e. upwelling) beneath these segment centers.
Segments 3 and 7 are characterized by high relief
MBA lows and o¡-axis seamount traces, indicating these two segments are both magmatically robust and persistent over time. Two o¡-axis seamount chains also intersect the axial rift nearsegments 9 and 10, and 12 and 13, respectively.
These adjacent segments are closely spaced andthey may be fed by the same mantle upwellingcell at the base of the crust. Therefore we consider
each pair (segment 9/10 and segment 12/13) to bemagmatically stronger and long-lived, resembling
segments 3 and 7. These segments are considered
to be loci of temporally stable enhanced magma£uxes, although the MBA shows little variation in

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283

the southern Knipovich Ridge. A mis¢t between
the location of the sea£oor extrusion at segment
12/13 and the negative peak of MBA south of75‡N (Fig. 4) may indicate three-dimensional
melt transport within crust, though we cannot
completely exclude the e¡ect of misregistrationof bathymetry. Other segments are characterized
by low relief accompanied by hummocks or lava
£ows indicating recent volcanism and slight or no
gravity signature. We suggest that such segments
are magmatically weaker : volcanism is sporadic
and short-lived.
5.2. Nature of magmatically stronger segments
The Knipovich Ridge has an unusual segmentation pattern comprised of a few very high relief
segments separated by long stretches of deep low
relief axial valley, similar to the SWIR east of
the Melville fracture zone [10]. The formation oflarge volcanic edi¢ces in an axial rift requires
some combination of isostatic and dynamic
support of these volcanic peaks. In the previous
analysis and modeling [34,39,41] a predominationof direct, rapid transport of magma from the
mantle to the surface rather than storage in
mid-crustal magma chambers is required to construct these edi¢ces. Rapid magma transport tothe surface through dikes is also required, withlittle en route crystallization and low melt supply[34]. Magmatically stronger segments of the Knipovich Ridge may correspond to mantle upwelling cells within relatively cold mantle beneath thisultraslow spreading system, where magma transport through dikes directly from mantle source tosurface plays an important role in constructing
large volcanic mountains within the rift valley.
Magmatically weaker segments may re£ect melt
migration from adjacent stronger segments [42,43] or vertical melt transportation from weaker,
smaller mantle upwelling cells [44].
The spacing of magmatically stronger segmentson the Knipovich Ridge is 85^100 km, similar tosegment spacing reported from the SWIR west of
the Atlantis II FZ [45] where the mean axial depth
is 4200 m. Along the Knipovich Ridge, the axial
depth of the basement is deeper than the observedsea£oor depth (mean = 3500 m) due to V500 m

Fig. 5. Plan view of ridge segmentation pattern along thenorthern Knipovich Ridge. Bathymetry contour interval is
100 m and the basin deeper than 3500 m and the bathymetric highs greater than 2000 m are shown in dark and lightgray, respectively. The rift wall (thick line) shows a zigzag
pattern. Thick gray lines show the numbered ridge segments
and solid black circles indicate the locations of sonar images
shown in Fig. 4.

thick sediment [22,28]. Wider segment spacing isobserved in the coldest portion of the SWIR eastof Melville FZ where the mean depth is greaterthan 4500 m. The spacing between two large volcanic areas in the eastern Gakkel Ridge (fullspreading rate is 10 mm/yr, mean axial depth is4100 m) is also 110 km [8]. In the shallower slow
spreading Mohns Ridge, the spacing of large
MBA anomalies is 40^50 km [46]. Sauter et al.
[45] suggested that the spacing of spreading cells
is controlled by the viscosity and thickness of theconvective layer in the SWIR, re£ecting the largescale thermal structure of the ridge system. Along
the Arctic Ridges, wider segment spacing may
also indicate cooler mantle beneath the ultraslow

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spreading axes. The mean axial depth re£ects thelarge-scale density structure, and the positive correlation between mean depth and segment spacing
may indicate di¡erences in mantle temperature
among these ridges. Our comparison of ultraslow
spreading systems is preliminary, because the resolution of our dataset is di¡erent from that of the
SWIR. On- and o¡-axis high-resolution swath
mapping and denser shipboard gravity measurement are required for more detailed consideration.
5.3. E¡ect of ridge obliquity
Three-dimensional modeling of the SWIR [47]indicates that the oblique portion of the ridge
has a reduced e¡ective spreading rate, slower
mantle upwelling velocity, and lower temperature.
However, the less oblique portion of the easternmost SWIR exhibits a deeper axis and lower volcanic production, suggesting cooler mantle in thisarea. Therefore, the e¡ect of surface geometry,such as obliquity, seems to be a second-order factor compared to the large-scale thermal structureof the underlying mantle [44]. Along the Knipovich Ridge, the mean axial depth does not changeover the ridge and the regional e¡ect of the Iceland hotspot is negligible [48]. No transform
faults or large o¡sets impose major along-axischanges in lithospheric thickness. These observations suggest that the large-scale thermal structure
does not di¡er between the southern and northern
sections of the ridge. In contrast, the obliquity
changes abruptly from 35‡ north of 75‡50PN to

Fig. 6. Comparison of bathymetry and MBA pro¢les among
the north and south Knipovich Ridge and Southwest Indian
Ridge [34]. Segment numbers identi¢ed in this study (KR)and that of Cannat et al. [34] are shown. Key parameters
are shown in Table 1.

49‡ south of that point. Therefore, comparing
the northern and southern Knipovich Ridge is areasonable test of the e¡ect of obliquity on crustal
accretion. A comparison of along-axis depths,
MBA anomalies and other fundamental parameters of ultraslow spreading ridges (Fig. 6, Table 1)
based on previous studies [8,34,46,49] shows thatthe scale of volcanic edi¢ces tends to decrease as
obliquity increases. High relief and large vMBA
characterize the non-oblique segment of the
SWIR, while low relief and small vMBA characterize the southern Knipovich Ridge (obliquity

Table 1Comparison of segment characteristics among ultraslow spreading systems

Full spreading rate (mm/yr)
Relative plate motion direction (‡)
General ridge trend (‡)
Obliquity (‡)
Bathymetric relief (m)MBA minima (mGal)

Ridge name
Knipovich
south
north

Mohnsa

15
306
347
49
300
6 10

16
300
058
28
V1000
6 15

14
307
002
35
1000
20V25

SWIR
Seg 14b

Seg 16c

Seg 17c

14
0
066
23
2350
40

14
0
055
35
1300
16

14
1
090
0
2400
38

a

Geli et al. [46].
Sauter et al. [49].
cCannat et al. [34].
b

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K. Okino et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 202 (2002) 275^288

285

povich Ridge is characterized by low relief segment centers ; these form due to high obliquity,
low e¡ective spreading rates, less adiabatic melting, and a resulting low melt supply. The dikes
feeding the surface volcanoes intrude the oceanic
crust perpendicular to plate motion; therefore,
the horizontal extent of dikes is also limited inthis highly oblique rift, resulting in smaller-scale
bathymetric highs (Fig. 7). The estimated e¡ectsof ridge obliquity on upwelling velocity and on
melt column thickness are a few percent, but thesee¡ects may be enhanced under colder mantle conditions [34]. Along the Knipovich Ridge, thee¡ects of obliquity are enhanced by the slow
spreading rates and the relatively colder mantle.
Fig. 7. Schematic illustrations for the contrast between thenorth and south Knipovich Ridge. Plane A is a plan view of
the ridge and the along-axis section is projected to plane B.
The axial valley is oblique to the spreading direction and theobliquity is much higher in the south. Large volcanic constructions that trend perpendicular to the spreading direction
are located at the centers of the magmatically stronger segments, and the o¡-axis seamounts extend from these on-axis
volcanic highs parallel to the spreading direction. The segment centers are lower and the deep non-transform discontinuities are more dominant along the southern Knipovich
Ridge.

49‡) and the oblique segment of the SWIR (obliquity 45‡). This tendency is signi¢cant even if thesediment thickness on the Knipovich axial rift istaken into account. Sauter et al. [49] compared
the normal and oblique segments in the SWIR
and reported that the oblique section is associatedwith low vMBA and the areas of recent volcanism are distributed throughout low amplitude,
elongated negative MBA areas, suggesting less focused accretion processes. Though the horizontal
resolution of our analysis is lower and the coverage of the sonar image did not cover the entire rift
width, the low relief with slight or no vMBA segments and the lava £ows in the £at basins in thesouthern Knipovich Ridge indicate common characteristics between these highly oblique systems.
Discrete, focused magmatism is primarily controlled by the large-scale thermal structure of the
mantle ; however, rift geometry and kinematics
also in£uence these processes. The southern Kni-

6. Summary
The results of our analysis and its implications
for oblique, ultraslow spreading systems are summarized as follows and in Fig. 7.
1. The segmentation pattern of the Knipovich
ridge is characterized by a few large volcanic
constructions and deep, oblique non-transform
discontinuities. This pattern is similar to thatof the SWIR, another ultraslow, obliquespreading ridge with focused magma supply
and localized volcanic activity at the ridge axis.
2. Two types of segments are de¢ned. Magmatically stronger segments are more persistent andare spaced at intervals of 85^100 km, which
may correspond to the spacing of mantle upwelling cells. These segments are accompanied
by distinct MBA lows (northern part) or MBA
perturbations (southern part), and o¡-axis
traces of bathymetric highs.
3. Magmatically weaker segments have 300^500 m
relief, slight or no MBA lows, and ambiguous o¡-axis traces. Most of them are locatedadjacent to magmatically stronger segments,
sometimes separated by short non-transform
discontinuities. The identi¢cation of these provisional segments may change when higher resolution data are collected ; however, they are
considered to be fed by lateral melt migrationfrom adjacent segments or represent smaller,
short-lived, discrete mantle upwelling centers.

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286

K. Okino et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 202 (2002) 275^288

4. Axial morphology changes clearly at 75‡50PN,
where the general trend of the axial valley
changes from 000‡ in the north to 347‡ in thesouth. In the northern Knipovich Ridge, thevolcanic constructions indicating focused magma supply exhibit higher relief ( s 1000 m), in
contrast to V500 m relief in the southern area.
Deep, £at basins are dominant in the south
and the MBA varies only slightly.
5. Discrete, focused magmatism is primarily controlled by the large-scale thermal structure of
the mantle; however, these processes are alsoin£uenced by shallower geometric and kinematic factors such as rift obliquity and plate
separation rate. The contrast between thenorthern and southern Knipovich Ridge may
indicate the e¡ects of ridge obliquity on crustal
accretion. Low-relief segment centers in thesouthern Knipovich Ridge may re£ect high obliquity, low e¡ective spreading rates, suppressed adiabatic melting, and resulting low
melt supply.
Though the Knipovich Ridge is a good target
area to understand the ultraslow spreading systemand the e¡ect of ridge obliquity, our analysis andthe interpretation is limited, and preliminary because of poor data resolution especially in thesouthern part of the ridge. We would like to emphasize the necessity of a comprehensive ¢eld survey including the state-of-art multibeam bathymetry in the area.

Acknowledgements
We thank the o⁄cers and crew of the R/V Prof.
Logachev for their assistance during the K2K
cruise. We also thank G. Cherkasov, B. Baranov,E. Gusev and the Knipovich-2000 Scienti¢c Party
for their support and valuable discussion. Y. Nogi
gave us kind advice about the satellite gravity
in the arctic region. M. Co⁄n provided careful
reviews. Critical comments from Y.J. Chen,
D. Scheirer and two anonymous reviewers werevery useful. Marine gravity data were suppliedby S. Laxon, University College London and D.
McAdoo, NOAA [26]. Figures were created using
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