Central Indian Ridge

[1] With a spreading rate of 30 mm/yr near the Equator and 49 mm/yr near the Rodrigues triple junction (RTJ) at its southern end, the CIR is an intermediately fast spreading ridge characterised by moderate obliquity and few large offsets, the obvious exception being the almost 300 km-long Mary Celeste Fracture Zone at 18°S.

[1] Otherwise, the southern section (RTJ-Argo Fracture Zone, 25°S-13°S) of the CIR is near-orthogonal relative to the spreading direction.

North of the Argo FZ it is highly oblique and dominated by numerous small ridge segments.

The northern section of the CIR, including the Carlsberg Ridge, trends NNW and lacks fracture zones.

This diffuse boundary was probably initiated in the Late Miocene and is probably related to opening of Gulf of Aden and the uplift of the Himalayas.