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Geology & Earth Sciences vocabulary · Plate Tectonics & Structures

Mid-ocean ridge

Meaning in geology & earth sciences, with examples

nounCommon term

In geology & earth sciences, mid-ocean ridge means: A long underwater mountain chain where two plates move apart and new oceanic crust forms from rising magma, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

In Turkish: okyanus ortası sırtı, okyanus ortası sırt

How it is used

Linked to seafloor spreading: the ocean floor gets older with distance from the ridge. Mid-ocean ridges form a connected system more than 60,000 km long around the globe. Common phrases: form at the ridge, ridge axis, spreading rate.

Example sentences

  1. New oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges.

  2. Iceland is one of the few places where a mid-ocean ridge rises above sea level.

Common collocations

  • the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
  • seafloor spreading
  • ridge axis
  • spreading rate
  • plate boundaryThe zone where two tectonic plates meet. Plates move apart at divergent boundaries, towards each other at convergent boundaries and past each other at transform boundaries.
  • basaltA dark, fine-grained igneous rock formed when lava cools quickly at or near the surface. It is the most common volcanic rock and makes up the ocean floor.
  • rift valleyA long valley formed where the crust is stretched and pulled apart, so that a block of land drops down between faults. The East African Rift is a well-known example.
  • continental driftThe idea, proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912, that the continents have slowly moved across the Earth's surface and were once joined in a supercontinent called Pangaea.

More terms: Plate Tectonics & Structures

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