mid-ocean ridge

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mid-o·cean ridge

(mĭd′ō′shən)

1. Any of various underwater mountain ranges forming a chain that extends almost continuously for about 66,000 kilometers (41,000 miles) through the North and South Atlantic Oceans, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean at the boundaries between divergent tectonic plates. Magma escapes from rifts along the tops of these ranges, adding new material to the earth's crust.

2. The system of these mountain ranges considered as a single geologic feature.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mid-o·cean ridge

(mĭd′ō′shən)

A long mountain range on the ocean floor, extending almost continuously through the North and South Atlantic Oceans, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean. A deep rift valley is located at its center, from which magma flows and forms new oceanic crust. As the magma cools and hardens it becomes part of the mountain range. See more at tectonic boundary.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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References in periodicals archive ?

According to Ellon's calculations, the narrow strip underneath the mid-ocean ridge where hot rock wells up to generate the Juan de Fuca Plate, has attenuation levels that are as high as researchers have seen anywhere on the planet.

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Ridge push: Hot buoyant mantle lifts and pushes the plates apart at mid-ocean ridges where magma solidifies to form new oceanic lithosphere.

An evidence-based approach to teaching plate tectonics in high school

Oceanic plates are continuously forged at mid-ocean ridges, undersea mountain chains created where the edges of two plates are separating.

How Is the Seafloor Made? SCIENTISTS USE SOUND WAVES TO PROBE THE FABRIC OF TECTONIC PLATES

The compositions of mid-ocean ridge basalt and seawater used in the numerical model are listed in Table 1.

Fluid Chemistry of Mid-Ocean Ridge Hydrothermal Vents: A Comparison between Numerical Modeling and Vent Geochemical Data

The range of Fe isotope compositions ([delta][sup.56]Fe) of hydrothermal fluids along modern seafloor mid-ocean ridge is from -1.26[per thousand] to -0.14[per thousand] with an average value of - 0.52 [+ or -] 0.28[per thousand] (n = 69) (Figure 1).

Fe Isotopic Compositions of Modern Seafloor Hydrothermal Systems and Their Influence Factors

These topographic alignments are approximately parallel to the ridge segments and to the pseudofaults, showing that their origin took place at the axis of the mid-ocean ridge (Fig.

Origen del Alineamiento Submarino de Pascua: morfologia y lineamientos estructurales

The seafloor of the northeastern Pacific Ocean is typical of most oceanic regions in that it features three different kinds of volcanic edifices that produce primarily basaltic volcanic rocks and their intrusive equivalents: mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is produced; near-ridge seamounts, which form adjacent to mid-ocean ridges but are not part of the mid-ocean ridge system itself; and intraplate seamounts that form well away from plate boundaries, such as the Hawaii-Emperor seamount chain (Fig.

Igneous Rock Associations 11. The geology and petrology of seafloor volcanic rocks of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, Offshore Canada

By diving beneath they can navigate 3D sea floor terrain including the Mid-Ocean Ridge, the world's longest underwater mountain range which stretches 50,000 km around the globe.

Introducing Ocean in Google Earth

Most hydrothermal vents sit on top of the mid-ocean ridge, the longest continuous mountain range on the planet.

Deep seas, dark worlds: deep-sea vents create cozy homes for some of Earth's weirdest life forms

Hydrothermal circulation through mid-ocean ridge flanks: fluxes of heat and magnesium.

Geomicrobiology of the ocean crust: a role for Chemoautotrophic Fe-Bacteria

The majority of the planet's hydrothermal systems lies undersea along the mid-ocean ridge system.

Developing the Ocean Opportunities and Responsibilities: A new era of ocean exploration will feature intelligent vehicles that track fish populations and "drifters" that constantly monitor ocean temperature and current

The global mid-ocean ridge is an immense submarine mountain chain which virtually encircles the Earth.