Romanche Fracture Zone

E9699

The Romanche Fracture Zone is a major transform fault and deep-sea fracture zone in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean that offsets the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and hosts one of the deepest points in the Atlantic basin.

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Statements (29)

Predicate Object
instanceOf oceanic fracture zone
transform fault
bathymetryCharacteristic very deep axial valley
crosses equatorial Atlantic
displacementType strike-slip
featureClass fracture zone
submarine valley
geologicalAge Mesozoic-Cenozoic oceanic crust
geologicalProcess transform motion between ridge segments
hasPart Romanche Trench
importance significant control on Atlantic deep circulation pathways
isMajor true
isOneOf deepest points in the Atlantic Ocean
locatedIn Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
surface form: equatorial Atlantic Ocean
maximumDepth over 7600 m
namedAfter French ship Romanche
ocean Atlantic Ocean
oceanBasin Atlantic Ocean
surface form: Atlantic basin
offsets Mid-Atlantic Ridge
partOf global mid-ocean ridge transform fault system
playsRoleIn accommodation of seafloor spreading in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
relativeLocation near the equator
seafloorFeatureType deep-sea fracture zone
separates northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge segments
southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge segments
tectonicPlate African Plate
South American Plate
tectonicSetting divergent plate boundary transform system

Referenced by (4)

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

Romanche Trench formedBy Romanche Fracture Zone
Romanche Trench namedAfter Romanche Fracture Zone
Romanche Trench partOf Romanche Fracture Zone
Mid-Atlantic Ridge segmentIncludes Romanche Fracture Zone