South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system

E64617

The South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system is a major underwater mountain chain where tectonic plates diverge in the South Atlantic Ocean, creating new oceanic crust and hosting features such as the Bouvet Triple Junction.

Aliases (1)

Statements (44)
Predicate Object
instanceOf mid-ocean ridge
undersea mountain range
agePattern progressively older crust away from axis
youngest crust at ridge axis
associatedWith mid-ocean ridge basalt
normal faulting
shallow-focus earthquakes
bathymetry shallower than adjacent abyssal plains
connectedTo American-Antarctic Ridge
surface form: "American–Antarctic Ridge"

Southwest Indian Ridge
controls magnetic anomaly patterns in South Atlantic seafloor
creates new oceanic crust
crustalThickness typical oceanic crust thickness
crustTypeProduced oceanic crust
extendsFrom equatorial Atlantic region
extendsTo Southern Ocean
formedBy rifting between South America and Africa
geologicalProcess seafloor spreading
hasFeature Bouvet Triple Junction region
surface form: "Bouvet Triple Junction"

axial rift valley
fracture zones
hydrothermal vent fields
transform faults
heatFlow elevated relative to surrounding seafloor
hosts chemosynthetic biological communities at vents
influences South Atlantic basin morphology
patterns of South Atlantic magnetic lineations
isBoundaryBetween South American Plate and African Plate
locatedIn South Atlantic
surface form: "South Atlantic Ocean"
magmatism basaltic magmatism
orientation roughly north–south
partOf Mid-Atlantic Ridge
global mid-ocean ridge system
sedimentCover thin near ridge axis
separates African Plate
South American Plate
spreadingRate slow-spreading ridge
studiedIn marine geophysics
plate tectonics research
tectonicSetting divergent plate boundary
terminatesNear Bouvet Triple Junction region
surface form: "Bouvet Triple Junction"
timeOfInitiation Mesozoic era
topographicExpression bathymetric high
volcanismType submarine volcanism

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

African Plate includesRegion South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system
this entity surface form: "South Atlantic Ocean floor"
Bouvet Triple Junction region isPartOf South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system

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