Back Mid-Atlantiese Rug AF حيد وسط المحيط الأطلسي Arabic Dorsal mesoatlántica AST Orta Atlantika silsiləsi AZ Сярэдзінна-Атлантычны хрыбет BE Средноатлантически хребет Bulgarian মধ্য-আটলান্টিক শৈলশিরা Bengali/Bangla Dorsal mesoatlàntica Catalan Йуккъера-Атлантикин дукъ CE Středoatlantský hřbet Czech
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is where seafloor spreading takes place in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of a world-wide system of mid-ocean ridges. These ridges make up the longest mountain ranges in the world, all underwater except for short stretches like Iceland. On Iceland, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge reaches the surface.
The ridge separates oceanic tectonic plates, and moves the plates apart at about 2.5 cm per year.[1]
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge includes a deep rift valley which runs along the middle of the ridge along almost its entire length. At the rift, the boundary between tectonic plates, magma from the mantle reaches the seafloor. New magma emerges onto the ocean floor near the ridge axis. The crystallized magma forms new crust of basalt and gabbro.
- ↑ USGS (1999). "Understanding plate motions". Retrieved 13 March 2011.