InterRidge is a non-profit organisation that promotes interdisciplinary, international studies in the research of oceanic spreading centres, including mid-ocean ridge and back-arc basin systems.
It does so by creating a global research community, planning and coordinating new science programmes that no single nation can achieve alone, exchanging scientific information, and sharing new technologies and facilities.
InterRidge is dedicated to reaching out to the public, scientists and governments, and to providing a unified voice for ocean ridge researchers worldwide.
As stated on the InterRidge website, the first decade (1992-2003) of the organisation "produced a coordinated, international ridge community of member countries that had previously been working alone, and left a string of success stories in its wake.
Working groups in 2011 are Hydrothermal Energy and Ocean Carbon Cycles, Long-Range Exploration, Mantle Imaging, Seafloor Mineralisation, and Vent Ecology.
[8] As economic growth puts pressure on resources, new sources of minerals and materials are needed, and licences are being sought for the exploration of seafloor massive sulphides.