RISE project in 1979, and have since been extensively studied. These vents are forming volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits on the ocean floor. Many unique deep-water creatures have been found with vents, that subsist in a chemosynthetic ecosystem rather than one using photosynthesis. The southern stretch of the East Pacific Rise is one of the fastest-spreading divergent boundaries on Earth. See also Lamont seamount chain Mid-Atlantic Ridge Overlapping spreading centers Propagating rift Ring of Fire References External links East Pacific Rise 2004 – Scripps Institution of Oceanography Columbia University Researchers Find Key to the Formation of New Seafloor Spreading Centers – Columbia University Plate tectonics Underwater ridges of the Pacific Ocean Geology of California Salton Trough