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The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is located at the juncture of crustal plates that form the floor of the Atlantic Ocean; it is considered a "slow-spreading" ridge by earth scientists. Running along the crest of the ridge is a long valley that is about 50 to 75 miles (80 to 120 km) wide.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Near the equator, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is divided into the North Atlantic Ridge and the South Atlantic Ridge by the Romanche Trench, a narrow submarine trench with a maximum depth of 7,758 m (25,453 ft), one of the deepest locations of the Atlantic Ocean.
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The North American and Eurasian Plates are moving away from each other along the line of the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The Ridge extends into the South Atlantic Ocean between the South American and African Plates.
- Description
- Notable Features
- History of Exploration
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is known as a mid-ocean ridge, an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It is the result of a divergent plate boundary that runs from 87° N – about 333 km (207 mi) south of the North Pole – to 54 °S, just north of the coast of Antarctica. Like other ocean ridge systems, the MAR developed as a consequence...
As noted, the ridge (while mainly underwater) does have islands and island groups that were created by volcanic activity. In the Northern Hemisphere, these include Jan Mayen Island and Iceland (Norway), and the Azores (Portugal). In the Southern Hemisphere, MAR features include Ascension Island, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island (all UK te...
The ridge was initially discovered in 1872 during the expedition of the HMS Challenger. In the course of investigating the Atlantic for the sake of laying the transatlantic telegraph cable, the crew discovered a large rise in the middle of the ocean floor. By 1925, its existence was confirmed thanks to the invention of sonar. By the 1960s, scientis...
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs down the center of the Atlantic Ocean, slowly spreading at a rate of 2 to 5 centimeters (0.8 to 2 inches) per year and forming a rift valley that is about the depth and width of the Grand Canyon.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates separate, goes directly across Iceland and can be visited at Thingvellir National Park or the Reykjanes peninsula. Visit the stunning location on your trip to Iceland by taking a Golden Circle day tour with a stop at Thingvellir National Park , where you can even book ...
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which stretches for thousands of miles in the Atlantic Ocean, is the longest mountain chain on Earth. Understanding the geologic processes at the ridge, mapped here using satellite data, was crucial as scientists developed the theory of plate tectonics.
