Mid-Atlantic Ridge

E692

divergent plate boundary mid-ocean ridge underwater mountain range

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a vast underwater mountain range and divergent tectonic plate boundary running down the center of the Atlantic Ocean, where new oceanic crust is formed.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (6)

Surface form	Occurrences
Iceland hotspot via Mid-Atlantic Ridge	1
Mid-Atlantic Ridge system	1
Mid-Atlantic Ridge volcanic system	1
Mid-Atlantic Ridge–Gloria Fault transition zone	1
North Atlantic tectonic boundary	1
Reykjanes Ridge	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	divergent plate boundary ⓘ mid-ocean ridge ⓘ underwater mountain range ⓘ
associatedWith	Iceland ⓘ mid-ocean ridge basalt ⓘ
averageSpreadingRate	about 2.5 cm per year ⓘ
biologicalSignificance	supports chemosynthetic ecosystems ⓘ
crustTypeFormed	basaltic oceanic crust ⓘ
discoveredBy	Marie Tharp ⓘ
discoveryPeriod	mid-20th century detailed mapping ⓘ
earthquakeActivity	frequent shallow earthquakes ⓘ
evidenceFor	continental drift ⓘ plate tectonics ⓘ
extendsFrom	Arctic Ocean ⓘ
extendsTo	Southern Ocean ⓘ
geologicalProcess	seafloor spreading ⓘ
governedBy	Mid-Atlantic Ridge ecosystem management bodies ⓘ
hasFeature	black smokers ⓘ fracture zones ⓘ hydrothermal vents ⓘ rift valley ⓘ transform faults ⓘ
highestPoint	Icelandic segment ⓘ
length	over 16,000 km ⓘ
locatedIn	Atlantic Ocean ⓘ
magneticAnomaliesShow	symmetrical magnetic striping ⓘ
mappedBy	Bruce C. Heezen ⓘ
meets	Gakkel Ridge ⓘ Scotia Ridge ⓘ Southwest Indian Ridge ⓘ
nearbyFeature	Ascension Island ⓘ Azores ⓘ Tristan da Cunha ⓘ
orientation	roughly north–south ⓘ
partOf	global mid-ocean ridge system ⓘ
passesThrough	Iceland ⓘ
produces	new oceanic crust ⓘ
segmentIncludes	Bouvet Triple Junction region ⓘ Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone ⓘ Mid-Atlantic Ridge self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Reykjanes Ridge Romanche Fracture Zone ⓘ
separates	African Plate ⓘ Eurasian Plate ⓘ North American Plate ⓘ South American Plate ⓘ
spreadingRateType	slow-spreading ridge ⓘ
tectonicSetting	divergent boundary ⓘ
volcanismType	submarine volcanism ⓘ
waterDepth	typically 2,000–3,000 meters below sea level ⓘ

Referenced by (32)

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

African Plate → associatedWith → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

this entity surface form: Iceland hotspot via Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Azores Triple Junction → associatedWith → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

South American Plate → associatedWith → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

North American Plate → boundaryFeature → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

African Plate → boundedBy → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Southwest Indian Ridge → connectsTo → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Atlantic Ocean → containsFeature → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Romanche Trench → crosses → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone → disruptsContinuityOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Eurasian Plate → formsFeature → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Hvannadalshnúkur → geologicalSetting → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

South American Plate → hasBoundaryFeature → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Þingvellir National Park → hasGeologicalFeature → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Bouvet Triple Junction region → hasNearbyFeature → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

American-Antarctic Ridge → isConnectedTo → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

American-Antarctic Ridge → isLocatedSouthOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Romanche Trench → isMajorOffsetOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Mount Pico → isPartOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Queen Mary’s Peak → isPartOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

this entity surface form: Mid-Atlantic Ridge volcanic system

Jan Mayen → locatedOn → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Marie Tharp → mapped → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Azores Triple Junction → near → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

this entity surface form: Mid-Atlantic Ridge–Gloria Fault transition zone

Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone → offsets → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Romanche Fracture Zone → offsets → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Romanche Trench → offsets → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone → partOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

this entity surface form: Mid-Atlantic Ridge system

RRS Charles Darwin and USNS Gibbs (commemorative naming origin) → partOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

subject surface form: Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone

Jan Mayen Ridge → partOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

this entity surface form: North Atlantic tectonic boundary

South Atlantic mid-ocean ridge system → partOf → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Mount Pico → range → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Jan Mayen Ridge → relatedTo → Mid-Atlantic Ridge ⓘ

Mid-Atlantic Ridge → segmentIncludes → Mid-Atlantic Ridge self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Reykjanes Ridge