What is mid-ocean ridge in science definition?
: 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.
Is the mid-ocean ridge a volcano?
The mid-ocean ridge is a continuous range of undersea volcanic mountains that encircles the globe almost entirely underwater. 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 is the function of the Mid Oceanic Ridge?
Mid-ocean ridges represent one of the most important geologic processes shaping the Earth: Over the last 200 million years, two-thirds of the Earth has been resurfaced through this process of seafloor spreading, either at conventional mid-ocean ridge spreading centers or at spreading centers in back-arc basins behind …
Are mid-ocean ridges divergent or convergent?
Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
What is a sentence for Mid Ocean Ridge?
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 are the characteristics of mid ocean ridges?
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.
Do mid ocean ridges move?
Scientists determined that the same process formed the perfectly symmetrical stripes on both side of a mid-ocean ridge. The continual process of seafloor spreading separated the stripes in an orderly pattern. Oceanic crust slowly moves away from mid-ocean ridges and sites of seafloor spreading.
Which mid ocean ridge is spreading the slowest?
The Ridge is named after him, and the name was recognized in April 1987 by SCUFN (under that body’s old name, the Sub-Committee on Geographical Names and Nomenclature of Ocean Bottom Features). The ridge is the slowest known spreading ridge on earth, with a rate of less than one centimeter per year.
What is a spreading ridge?
An oceanic spreading ridge is the fracture zone along the ocean bottom where molten mantle material comes to the surface, thus creating new crust. This fracture can be seen beneath the ocean as a line of ridges that form as molten rock reaches the ocean bottom and solidifies.
What is a ridge in the ocean?
A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.
How many types of Ridge are there?
An arête is a thin ridge of rock that is formed by glacial erosion. Volcanic subglacial ridges: Many subglacial volcanoes create ridge-like formations when lava erupts through a thick glacier or ice sheet. Shutter ridges: A shutter ridge is a ridge that has moved along a fault line, blocking or diverting drainage.
What causes deep ocean trenches?
Trenches are formed by subduction, a geophysical process in which two or more of Earth’s tectonic plates converge and the older, denser plate is pushed beneath the lighter plate and deep into the mantle, causing the seafloor and outermost crust (the lithosphere) to bend and form a steep, V-shaped depression.
Where are deep ocean trenches found?
Pacific
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