oceanic ridge,
continuous submarine mountain chain extending approximately 80,000
km (50,000 miles) through all the world's oceans. Individually, ocean ridges are the largest features in ocean basins
How are ocean ridges formed?
It formed and evolves as
a result of spreading in Earth's lithosphere—the crust and upper mantle—at the divergent boundaries between tectonic plates
. The vast majority of volcanic activity on the planet occurs along the mid-ocean ridge, and it is the place where the crust of the Earth is born.
What are ocean ridges called?
A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics.
What does mid-ocean ridges mean in science?
:
an elevated region with a central valley on an ocean floor at the boundary between two diverging tectonic plates where new crust forms from upwelling magma
.
What are the 4 types of ridges?
- Axial
Ridge
. - Magnetics & Polarity.
- Fast/Slow Spreading.
What are some examples of mid-ocean ridges?
Mid-ocean ridges are typically half a mile to six miles wide and over a mile underwater. Two of the most well-known mid-ocean ridges are
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise
. As you might guess, most of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is in the Atlantic, and most of the East Pacific Rise is in the Pacific.
Where are the mid-ocean ridges?
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, submarine ridge
lying along the north-south axis of the Atlantic Ocean
; it occupies the central part of the basin between a series of flat abyssal plains that continue to the margins of the continental coasts.
What are the characteristics of mid-ocean ridges?
The massive mid-ocean ridge system is
a continuous range of underwater volcanoes that wraps around the globe like seams on a baseball
, stretching nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles). The majority of the system is underwater, with an average water depth to the top of the ridge of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet).
Which ocean is the most shallow?
Arctic Ocean
.
The Arctic Ocean
is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans.
Why are mid-ocean ridges important?
Mid-ocean ridges are geologically important
because they occur along the kind of plate boundary where new ocean floor is created as the plates spread apart
. Thus the mid-ocean ridge is also known as a “spreading center” or a “divergent plate boundary.” The plates spread apart at rates of 1 cm to 20 cm per year.
What is another name for a mid-ocean ridge?
A mid-ocean ridge (
MOR
) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics.
How do you use mid-ocean ridge in a sentence?
The mid-ocean ridge is two chains of mountains separated by a large depression that form at a spreading center.
Sitting astride the mid-ocean ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean, Iceland is volcanically one of the most dynamic parts of the Earth's surface
.
What is a mid-ocean ridge for kids?
The mid-ocean ridge is
formed where two tectonic plates meet under the ocean
. This divergent boundary creates mountains, valleys like the famous rift valley, volcanoes, and sometimes earthquakes.
What is the two ways represented by ridges?
Description. Ridges can be represented in two ways: On surface weather maps, the pressure isobars form contours where the maximum pressure is found along the axis of the ridge. In upper-air maps,
geopotential height isohypses form similar contours where the maximum defines the ridge.
Where are ridges found?
Principal characteristics. Oceanic ridges are found
in every ocean basin
and appear to girdle Earth. The ridges rise from depths near 5 km (3 miles) to an essentially uniform depth of about 2.6 km (1.6 miles) and are roughly symmetrical in cross section. They can be thousands of kilometres wide.
What is the difference between fast and slow spreading ridges?
Fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges have an axial high (the “rise crest”) whereas slow
-spreading ridges have deep axial rift valleys
. This difference in morphology is reflected in the ruggedness of the flanks of ridges.
