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Mid-ocean ridge cross-section (cut-away view) A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics.It typically has a depth of about 2,600 meters (8,500 ft) and rises about 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) above the deepest portion of an ocean basin.
A sheeted dyke complex, or sheeted dike complex, is a series of sub-parallel intrusions of igneous rock, forming a layer within the oceanic crust. [1] At mid-ocean ridges, dykes are formed when magma beneath areas of tectonic plate divergence travels through a fracture in the earlier formed oceanic crust, feeding the lavas above and cooling ...
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North American from the Eurasian plate and the African plate , north and south of the Azores triple junction .
Age of oceanic lithosphere; youngest (light colour) is along spreading centers. Seafloor spreading, or seafloor spread, is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.
In contrast, if formed by past above-water volcanism, they are known as a seamount chain. The largest and best known undersea mountain range is a mid-ocean ridge, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge . [ 1 ] It has been observed that, "similar to those on land, the undersea mountain ranges are the loci of frequent volcanic and earthquake activity".
Oceanic crust age differences and ridge-ridge transform faulting associated with offset mid-ocean ridge segments lead to the formation of fracture zones. A fracture zone is a linear feature on the ocean floor—often hundreds, even thousands of kilometers long—resulting from the action of offset mid-ocean ridge axis segments.
At nearly 60,000 km long, the mid-ocean ridge is an extensive chain of underwater volcanic mountains that spans the globe. [30] Centralized in the oceans, this unique geological formation houses a collection of ridges , rifts, fault zones , and other geological features.
Figure 3-A, older than 101 to 95 Ma the mid-ocean ridge is spreading and the oceanic lithosphere subducted under both continental lithosphere. The Samail Ophiolite initial place is marked on the right oceanic lithosphere. Figure 3-B, from 95 to 87 Ma the mid-ocean ridge stopped spreading and the intra-oceanic thrusting started.