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Are mid-ocean ridges divergent or convergent?
The mid-ocean ridge system is an example of a divergent (rather than a convergent or transform) plate boundary. The mid-ocean ridge system has been understood only since the development and acceptance of plate tectonic theory in the 1960s.
What type of plate boundary is a mid-ocean ridge like this quizlet?
A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.
What type of plate boundary creates Mid Continent ridges?
Divergent plate boundaries
Divergent plate boundaries in the ocean create mid-ocean ridges. This is where new seafloor is created by upwelling magma. Divergent plate boundaries rift a continent apart. Eventually a new ocean will form between the two continents.
What are the characteristics of mid-ocean ridges?
A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of ~ 2,600 meters (8,500 ft) and rises about two kilometers above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a divergent plate boundary.
What type of melting occurs at mid-ocean ridges?
Decompression melting occurs at mid-ocean ridges. When two plates move apart, they create a space that can be filled by hot rock that rises buoyantly from below.
What are the two processes that occur at mid-ocean ridges?
There are two processes, ridge-push and slab-pull, thought to be responsible for the spreading seen at mid-ocean ridges, and there is some uncertainty as to which is dominant. Ridge-push occurs when the weight of the ridge pushes the rest of the tectonic plate away from the ridge, often towards a subduction zone.
What causes the formation of mid-ocean ridges?
The mid-ocean ridge is a continuous range of undersea volcanic mountains that encircles the globe almost entirely underwater. It formed and evolves as a result of spreading in Earth’s lithosphere—the crust and upper mantle—at the divergent boundaries between tectonic plates.
How do mid-ocean ridges are formed?
What are the characteristics of mid ocean ridges?
Which is the best example of a divergent plate boundary?
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which splits nearly the entire Atlantic Ocean north to south, is probably the best-known and most-studied example of a divergent-plate boundary. At the mid-ocean ridges, two oceanic plates move apart.
Where does the mid ocean ridge take place?
Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
What causes two oceanic plates to move apart?
At the mid-ocean ridges, two oceanic plates move apart. As a consequence – or as the cause ( this in an ongoing discussion),- hot mantle material from the asthenosphere wells upward underneath.
How is the East Pacific Rise different from the Mid Atlantic Ridge?
Rapidly spreading ridges have a much more gentle slopes. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, for instance, is a slow spreading center. It spreads 2-5 centimeters (.8-2 inches) every year and forms an ocean trench about the size of the Grand Canyon. The East Pacific Rise, on the other hand, is a fast spreading center.