![]() When scientists have investigated soon after, fresh-looking basalt, plumes of hot chemical-laden water, and recently-killed marine organisms have been observed, indicating that an eruption almost certainly had occurred. We have never witnessed an eruption along a mid-ocean ridge, although a few times earthquake swarms have been detected along them (mainly by secret US Navy listening devices). Mid-ocean ridges are also the locations of many earthquakes, however, they are shallow and generally of small magnitude. A mid-ocean ridge (or mid-oceanic ridge) is an underwater mountain range, typically having a valley known as a rift running along its axis, formed by plate. But a new study shows that there might be more activity going on beneath the equatorial. We know that spreading occurs along mid-ocean ridges by two main lines of evidence: 1) the MORB right at the ridge crest is very young, and it gets older on either side of the ridge as you move away and 2) sediments are very thin (or non-existent) right near the ridge crest, and they thicken on either side of the ridge as you move away. Geologists have long thought that mid-ocean ridges are relatively passive participants in plate tectonics. The modern Mid-Oceanic Ridge is typically 10004000 km (6002500 mi) wide, depending on the rate of plate separation and other factors. Faster spreading ridges like the northern and southern East Pacific Rise are hotter, meaning more magma is present beneath the ridge axis and more volcanic eruptions occur. MORB is by far the most common rock type on the Earth's surface, as the entire ocean floor consists of it. Hot steam rising from the geothermal power plant Bjarnaflag near the vulcano Krafla in the snowy highlands of wintery Iceland. Black smoker at a mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal vent. The lava produced at the spreading centers is basalt, and is usually abbreviated MORB (for Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt). Browse 251 mid ocean ridge stock photos and images available, or search for iceland mid ocean ridge to find more great stock photos and pictures. Either way, this is how the oceanic plates are created. Or, more likely, it is a combination of these two processes. Typically it produces oceanic crust and typically occurs in oceanic crust settings. This tectonic boundary is a Divergent Boundary. The magma is produced by decompression melting, which occurs when two plates move away from each other. Or, the lava intrudes to the surface and pushes the plates apart. Mid ocean Ridges are the most prominent producers of magma globally. Here, the plates are pulled apart by convection in the upper mantle, and lava intrudes to the surface to fill in the space. This is sometimes considered to be one ~70,000 km-long volcano. There, the oceanic lithosphere breaks apart under the influence of. This is a map of the major oceanic spreading centers. Mid-ocean ridges are some of the regions on Earth where the crust is the thinnest.
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