Q. What ridge runs through the Atlantic Ocean?
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Q. What type of landform is the Mid Atlantic Ridge?
volcanic mountain range
Table of Contents
- Q. What ridge runs through the Atlantic Ocean?
- Q. What type of landform is the Mid Atlantic Ridge?
- Q. Where is Mid Atlantic Ridge?
- Q. What happens in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
- Q. What will happen as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge continue to spread?
- Q. How does the Mid-Atlantic Ridge support the theory of plate tectonics?
- Q. Which premise best supports the theory of plate tectonics?
- Q. What is the main cause of plate tectonics?
- Q. What are two differences between tectonic plates?
Q. Where is Mid Atlantic Ridge?
Atlantic Ocean
Q. What happens in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
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.
Q. What will happen as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge continue to spread?
Where it is still submerged, it produces “pillow lava”. As the plates move further apart, new ocean lithosphere is formed at the ridge and the ocean basin gets wider. This process, known as “sea floor spreading”, is happening at an average rate of about 2.5 cm per year (1 inch).
Q. How does the Mid-Atlantic Ridge support the theory of plate tectonics?
Mantle convection drives plate tectonics. Hot material rises at mid-ocean ridges and sinks at deep sea trenches, which keeps the plates moving along the Earth’s surface. Hot mantle from the two adjacent cells rises at the ridge axis, creating new ocean crust.
Q. Which premise best supports the theory of plate tectonics?
Which premise best supports or explains the theory of plate tectonics? Large convection cells circulate molten rock in different directions in the earth’s mantle. Near the crust, the movement of the cells drags tectonic plates along.
Q. What is the main cause of plate tectonics?
The force that causes most of the plate movement is thermal convection, where heat from the Earth’s interior causes currents of hot rising magma and cooler sinking magma to flow, moving the plates of the crust along with them. These processes pull the whole plate along.
Q. What are two differences between tectonic plates?
The two types of crust also differ in thickness, with continental crust being considerably thicker than oceanic (35 km vs. 6 km). The location where two plates meet is called a plate boundary. As explained above, tectonic plates may include continental crust or oceanic crust, and most plates contain both.
