What is unique about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is located at the juncture of crustal plates that form the floor of the Atlantic Ocean; it is considered a “slow-spreading” ridge by earth scientists. Apart from seafloor spreading, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is also the site of volcanic activity and earthquakes along some portions of its length.
What is so unusual about the mid-ocean ridge that runs through Iceland?
This makes Iceland very special and a popular place for geologists and scientists. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is geologically significant because it marks the boundary where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and separate.
What is true about mid-ocean ridges?
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.
Which is characteristic of mid oceanic 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.
What causes the formation of mid-ocean ridges?
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.
Where can you find a mid-ocean ridge?
South Pacific Ocean
Would you expect to see a folded mountain range at a mid-ocean ridge?
A reverse fault because both reverse faults and folding occur in areas where compression takes place. Would you expect to see a folded mountain range at a mid-ocean ridge? Explain. No, you are more likely to see volcanic mountains where magma is rising along the mid-ocean ridge spreading center.
Are the Himalayas fold mountains?
The rugged, soaring heights of the Himalayas, Andes, and Alps are all active fold mountains. The Himalayas stretch through the borders of China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Pakistan.
Which geologic feature is most likely to form at a mid ocean ridge?
Answer: The answer is: volcano. Explanation: The mid-ocean ridges are underwater elevations located in the middle part of the Earth’s oceans.
What is the role of the mid-ocean ridge in the movement of lithospheric plates?
The lithospheric plates move relative to each other. They are created at mid-oceanic ridges and destroyed at subduction zones. A mid-ocean ridge demarcates the boundary between two tectonic plates, and consequently is termed a divergent plate boundary.