title: A sea-floor spreading event captured by seismometers.
abstract: Two-thirds of Earth's surface is formed at mid-ocean ridges, yet sea-floor spreading events are poorly understood because they occur far beneath the ocean surface. At 9 degrees 50'N on the East Pacific Rise, ocean-bottom seismometers recently recorded the microearthquake character of a mid-ocean ridge eruption, including precursory activity. A gradual ramp-up in activity rates since seismic monitoring began at this site in October 2003 suggests that eruptions may be forecast in the fast-spreading environment. The pattern culminates in an intense but brief (approximately 6-hour) inferred diking event on 22 January 2006, followed by rapid tapering to markedly decreased levels of seismicity.
authors.affiliation: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA. tolstoy@ldeo.columbia.edu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tolstoy
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cowen
authors.forename: E T
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authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Fornari
authors.forename: K H
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authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Shank
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authors.lastname: Waldhauser
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Bohnenstiehl
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Forsyth
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Love
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Perfit
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Weekly
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Soule
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glazer