Gakkel Ridge

The Gakkel Ridge is a long underwater mountain chain in the Arctic Ocean. It used to be called the Nansen Cordillera and the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. It is part of a special place where pieces of Earth's surface, called tectonic plates, move apart. The Gakkel Ridge is found in the Eurasian Basin, between Greenland and Siberia.

This ridge connects the northern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with another underwater feature called the Laptev Sea Rift. Studying the Gakkel Ridge helps scientists learn about how Earth's surface changes over time and how the ocean floor is formed.

History

The Gakkel Ridge was first predicted by a Soviet explorer named Yakov Yakovlevich Gakkel. Its existence was confirmed in the 1950s during Soviet Arctic expeditions, and it was later named after him in 1987.

In 1999, scientists found active volcanoes along the ridge using a nuclear submarine. In 2001, researchers from Germany and the United States visited the ridge and discovered areas where hot water comes out of the ocean floor. In 2007, a special expedition found unusual volcanic materials covering a large area. In 2014, another discovery was made of a special area where water has high levels of a gas called methane and very high temperatures.

Geology

The Gakkel Ridge is about 1,800 kilometers long and is the slowest spreading ridge on Earth, moving at less than one centimeter each year. It connects to the south with the Knipovich Ridge.

The Gakkel Ridge has different sections with varying amounts of volcanic activity. Some parts have more magma, while others have very little, suggesting very cold crust and mantle beneath the ridge. Some unusual earthquakes have been detected deep below the crust, which is rare for mid-ocean ridges.

Hydrothermal Activity

The Gakkel Ridge has several areas where hot water comes out of the sea floor, including one called Aurora, which was seen in 2014, and another called Lucky B, found in 2001. More sites are suspected but not yet confirmed because of the difficult ice conditions in that area.