Study Reveals Moving Hotspot Formed Earth's Longest Underwater Mountain Chain

Curtin University researchers find the Ninetyeast Ridge was created by a shifting mantle hotspot, challenging previous geological models.

The Ninetyeast Ridge, a 5,000 km underwater mountain chain in the Indian Ocean, formed between 83 and 43 million years ago as a volcanic chain.
Unlike most stationary hotspots, the Kerguelen hotspot responsible for the ridge moved several hundred kilometers within the Earth's mantle over time.
This is the first documented case of a moving hotspot in the Indian Ocean, previously only observed in a few Pacific Ocean hotspots.
High-precision mineral dating techniques allowed researchers to refine models of tectonic plate movements over millions of years.
The findings improve understanding of Earth's geological processes and could aid predictions of natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.