Describe the characteristics and features of the oceanic ridge system, including the difference between oceanic ridges and oceanic rises

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The global mid-ocean ridge is a continuous, fractured-looking mountain ridge that extends through all the ocean basins. The mid-ocean ridge results from sea floor spreading along divergent plate boundaries. The enormous mid-ocean ridge forms Earth's longest mountain chain, extending across some 75,000 kilometers (46,600 miles) of the deep-ocean basin. The width of the mid-ocean ridge averages about 1000 kilometers (620 miles). The mid-ocean ridge is a topographically high feature, extending an average of 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) above the surrounding sea floor. The mid-ocean ridge contains only a few scattered islands, such as Iceland and the Azores, where it peeks above sea level. Remarkably, the mid-ocean ridge covers 23% of Earth's surface. Segments of the mid-ocean ridge called oceanic ridges have a prominent rift valley and steep, rugged slopes, and oceanic rises have slopes that are gentler and less rugged. As explained in Chapter 2, the differences in overall shape are caused by the fact that oceanic ridges (such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge) spread more slowly than oceanic rises (such as the East Pacific Rise).