Morphotectonics and Tectonic Processes of the Southwest Indian Ocean

The Southwest Indian mid-ocean ridge (SWIR) is an ultraslow spreading ridge. Based on the submarine bathymetric data, we develop a new division principle on submarine morphotectonics and subdivide the SWIR into the seven-order tectonic geomorphologic units. Taking its submarine morphotectonics in the middle segment and adjacent seafloors of the mid-ocean ridge between Discovery II and Gallieni transform faults as a sample, this paper systematically analyzes its tectonic evolution, segmentation, segmentation and propagation mechanism, the formation of the central rift valley, the ridge-plume interactions, and the ocean ridge jumping. The results showed that the mid-ocean ridges can be divided into four three-order morphotectonics units (i.e., one-order segments of mid-ocean ridge), from west to east, which are separated by the Andrew Bain, the Prince Edwards, the Discovery II, and the Gallieni transform faults, respectively, corresponding to ridge landforms associated with a strongly hotspot-affected ridge, a weakly hotspot-affected ridge, and a normal ultraslow spreading ridge. Each segment can be further subdivided into three or four secondary segments. This paper focuses only on the segmentation and division from fourth-order to seventh-order morphotectonics units between the Discovery II and the Gallieni transform faults (i.e., the fourth-order morphotectonics unit of mid-ocean ridges can be subdivided into other three secondary units). Here the seventh-order morphotectonics unit consists of segments of laterally-aligned rifts (shear zone), en echelon rifts, and other transverse-faulting structures. The mid-ocean ridge segment experienced three oceanic ridge jumping at about 80 Ma, 60 Ma and 40 Ma, respectively, which were affected by the Marion and Crozet hotspots, or the Madagascar Plateau, etc. The oceanic processes of the SWIR are related to the Gondwana breakup, and its tectonic processes has been analyzed in detail as the periodic pull-apart extension, domino-style half-graben, graben subsidence, oceanic core complex, etc. in axial mid-oceanic ridge since 20 Ma.