oceanic ridge
Underwater mountain chain
An oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range formed where tectonic plates spread apart and magma rises to create new seafloor.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the most prominent example, running the length of the Atlantic Ocean.
These ridges are sites of volcanic activity and form the longest continuous mountain systems on Earth.
- magma chamberSubsurface pocket holding liquefied rock
- volcanic activityGeological heat release
- hydrothermal ventOcean floor hot spring
- plate boundaryWhere Earth's sections meet
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
seamount · bathymetry · extremophiles · deep-sea vents · volcanic gases · tectonic plates · escarpment · ring of fire · hotspot · deep-sea drilling · trench · black smokers · sonar imaging · underwater exploration · chemosynthesis · continental shelf · asthenosphere · plankton blooms
oceanic ridgeoceanic trench
Deepest seafloor depression
deep-sea trench · ocean trench · submarine canyon · ocean basin
oceanic ridgesubduction zone
Where one plate slides under another
oceanic trench · collision zone · Mariana Trench · volcanic arc · accretionary wedge
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