D'Entrecasteaux Ridge

DER
The d'Entrecasteaux Ridge connects the New Caledonia Ridge to the Vanuatu Trench
Map
Approximate surface projection on Pacific Ocean of D'Entrecasteaux Ridge (DER) shaded in brown. Both the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge and the South d'Entrecasteaux Chain are shown.

The d'Entrecasteaux (French pronunciation: [dɑ̃tʁəkasto]) Ridge (DER) is a double oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean, north of New Caledonia and west of Vanuatu Islands. It forms the northern extension of the New Caledonia–Loyalty Islands arc, and is now actively subducting in the Vanuatu subduction zone under the Vanuatu/New Hebrides arc.[1] The subduction of the DER is responsible for the anomalous morphology of the central part of New Hebrides arc whose movement more closely matches the north-east direction of the subducting Australian Plate (the rest of the New Hebrides arc rotate west in front of the southward expanding North Fiji Basin).[2]

The name honours French naval officer Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, explorer of the south-west Pacific in the late 18th century.

  1. ^ Collot, Daniel & Burne 1985, The d'Entrecasteaux Zone, pp. 5–7
  2. ^ Pelletier, Calmant & Pillet 1998, The central North Fiji basin and New Hebrides arc, and the D'Entrecasteaux ridge and West Torres plateau, pp. 272–273