Where we're diving now, we're approximately 150 kilometers
west of Horta in the Azores islands. For the last few
weeks, we've been diving on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Right now
we're getting towards a really unique area which is an area
where three of these mid-ocean ridges intersect in what we
call a ridge-ridge-ridge triple junction and this separates the
North American Plate from the Eurasian Plate but also the
African Plate. We can estimate the age of the crust that we're
on right now, this oceanic crust that's exposed in these
normal faults by looking at the spreading rate of the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge, which is about two to four centimeters per year, and
the distance from the ridge and so we're on a crust that's
maybe one to two million years old. Spreading on the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge started about 200 million years ago and we've
had the opportunity to explore some of its youngest features,
including these heavily exposed pillow basalts that you see
in this normal fall.
We've had the unique opportunity to explore the
processes that shape our planet and impact the lives of those
living in geologically active areas, including the people of
the Azores.