mid-ocean ridge

[ mid-oh-shuhn rij ]

noun

, Geology, Oceanography.

1. any of several seismically active submarine mountain ranges that extend through the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans: each is hypothesized to be the locus of seafloor spreading.

mid-ocean ridge

/ mĭd′ō′shən /

1. 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. The mid-ocean ridge is approximately 1,500 km (930 mi) wide, 1 to 3 km (0.62 to 1.86 mi) high, and over 84,000 km (52, 080 mi) long.
2. See more at sea-floor spreading

Word History and Origins

Origin of mid-ocean ridge¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

As the continents spread apart, they studied the changing length of the mid-ocean ridge — a chain of underwater volcanoes — predicted by the model.

From New York Times

The North American and Eurasian plates are pulling away from each other at a rate of one to two inches per year, gradually unzipping the floor of the Atlantic Ocean to form a mid-ocean ridge.

From Scientific American

These openings occur because the area is located along a kink in the mid-ocean ridge, and the cracks form as a result of the two plates moving apart at an odd angle.

From Scientific American

As the mid-ocean ridge spreads, Reykjanes cycles through quiet periods, typically lasting 800 to 1,000 years, followed by two or three centuries of spectacular eruptions, which scientists studying Iceland suspect could be starting now.

From Scientific American

The cruises involved relatively large vessels travelling across the North Atlantic, in the Nordic seas and across the Arctic mid-ocean ridge.

From Nature