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Relief map with the East Pacific Rise (shown in light blue), extending south from the Gulf of California. The East Pacific Rise (EPR) is a mid-ocean rise (usually termed an oceanic rise and not a mid-ocean ridge due to its higher rate of spreading that results in less elevation increase and more regular terrain), at a divergent tectonic plate boundary, located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific is also home to one of the world's most active spreading centers (the East Pacific Rise) with spreading rates of up to 145 ± 4 mm/yr between the Pacific and Nazca plates. [20] The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a slow-spreading center, while the East Pacific Rise is an example of fast spreading.
The East Pacific Rise near Easter Island is the fastest spreading mid-ocean ridge, with a spreading rate of over 15 cm/yr. [2] The Pacific plate moves generally towards the northwest at between 7 and 11 cm/yr while the Juan De Fuca plate has an east-northeasterly movement of some 4 cm/yr. [3]
The spreading rate of the North Atlantic Ocean is ~ 25 mm/yr, while in the Pacific region, it is 80–145 mm/yr. [11] The highest known rate is over 200 mm/yr in the Miocene on the East Pacific Rise. [12] Ridges that spread at rates <20 mm/yr are referred to as ultraslow spreading ridges [3] [13] (e.g., the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean and ...
Divergent boundaries are typified in the oceanic lithosphere by the rifts of the oceanic ridge system, including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise, and in the continental lithosphere by rift valleys such as the famous East African Great Rift Valley. Divergent boundaries can create massive fault zones in the oceanic ridge system.
It occurs when sea surface temperatures in the equatorial eastern Pacific rise to above-average levels for an extended period of time. Its cooler counterpart, La Niña, is declared when water ...
[6] [7] They occur on all fast-spreading rate centers (>90 mm/yr) including the East Pacific Rise, and on most intermediate-rate spreading centers (50–90 mm/yr), such as the Galapagos Spreading Center, the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. [8] [9]
The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a mid-ocean spreading center and divergent plate boundary located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest region of North America, named after Juan de Fuca. The ridge separates the Pacific Plate to the west and the Juan de Fuca Plate to the east. It runs generally northward, with a length of approximately 500 kilometres ...