Studying Rapid Mid Ocean Ridges
An international team is setting off to the East Pacific Ocean for a drilling campaign off the coast of Costa Rica. The team is to drill next to a fast spreading mid-ocean ridge in attempts to reach the gabbro. This will further enable scientist to understand the structure of the crust, in addition to the role of seawaters effect on the evolution of the ocean crust. The reason for drilling in this area is because it is more uniform and homogeneous then the crust formed at slower speeds, giving insight to understand geochemical cycles on a planetary scale. The specific dig will take place into the crust of the Cocos plate that formed nearly 15 million years ago that was faster then any existing active ridge. The total outcome will allow scientist to to characterize cooling processes as wall as hydrothermial circulations. This knowledge is a key process in the dynamics of our planet.
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