Mid-ocean ridge unfaulting revealed by magmatic intrusions

Mid-ocean ridges (MORs) are quintessential sites of tectonic extension 1 – 4 , at which divergence between lithospheric plates shapes abyssal hills that cover about two-thirds of the Earth’s surface 5 , 6 . Here we show that tectonic extension at the ridge axis can be partially undone by tectonic shortening across the ridge flanks. This process is evidenced by recent sequences of reverse-faulting earthquakes about 15 km off-axis at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Carlsberg Ridge. Using mechanical models, we show that shallow compression of the ridge flanks up to the brittle failure point is a natural consequence of lithosphere unbending away from the axial relief. Intrusion of magma-filled fractures, which manifests as migrating swarms of extensional seismicity along the ridge axis, can provide the small increment of compressive stress that triggers reverse-faulting earthquakes. Through bathymetric analyses, we further find that reverse reactivation of MOR normal faults is a widely occurring process that can reduce the amplitude of abyssal hills by as much as 50%, shortly after they form at the ridge axis. This ‘unfaulting’ mechanism exerts a first-order influence on the fabric of the global ocean floor and provides a physical explanation for reverse-faulting earthquakes in an extensional environment. Recent sequences of reverse-faulting earthquakes at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Carlsberg Ridge show that tectonic extension at mid-ocean ridge axes can be partially undone by tectonic shortening across the ridge flanks.