Galápagos spreading centre

[clarification needed] The eastern province runs from 93.2° W to 91.0° W, showing small right-stepping offsets, a further rotation to N100°E and a fully developed central ridge.

[3] The eastern section runs for about 600 km from the southern end of the GT to the Inca Transform with a constant trend of N097°E.

[5] The westward propagation of the GSC has apparently stalled, getting no closer to the East Pacific Rise during the last few million years, due to interactions with the microplate.

[6] The Galápagos hotspot has been sited close to the GSC since the break-up of the Farallon plate as demonstrated by the Cocos and Carnegie aseismic ridges.

However, the eastern section of the GSC shows evidence of repeated ridge jumps, with the active spreading location moving episodically to the south, towards the hotspot, creating the Galápagos transform.

[8] The ridges are interpreted to represent the surface expression of channels along which magma is moving from the hotspot to the GSC.

Map of the Cocos–Nazca spreading centre. Abbreviations used: GMP Galápagos microplate, GSC Galápagos spreading centre, GT Galápagos transform, IT Inca transform, EFZ Ecuador fracture zone, PFZ Panama fracture zone, MAT Middle America Trench
Bathymetric map of area around the Galápagos microplate with main tectonic features marked
Bathymetric map of the Northern Galápagos Volcanic Province