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Mid-ocean ridge

A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Mid-ocean ridge", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

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A New View on Plate Tectonics

Mar. 17, 2021 — Along submarine mountain ranges, the mid-ocean ridges, forces from the Earth's interior push tectonic plates apart, forming new ocean floor and thus moving continents about. However, many ...

Geological Phenomenon Widening the Atlantic Ocean

Jan. 27, 2021 — An upsurge of matter from deep beneath the Earth's crust could be pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa, new research has ...

Petit-Spot Volcanoes Involve the Deepest Known Submarine Hydrothermal Activity, Possibly Release CO2 and Methane

June 1, 2023 — Underwater volcanism and its hydrothermal activity play an important role in marine biogeochemical cycles, especially the carbon cycle. But the nature of hydrothermal activity at ...

Study Combines Climatic, Tectonic Models to Explain Andean Conundrum

Dec. 14, 2021 — The Andes Mountains are much taller than plate tectonic theories predict they should be, a fact that has puzzled geologists for decades. Mountain-building models tend to focus on the deep-seated ...

Seafloor Spreading Has Been Slowing Down

Apr. 14, 2022 — A new global analysis of the last 19 million years of seafloor spreading rates found they have been slowing down. Geologists want to know why the seafloor is getting ...

Off-Axis High-Temperature Hydrothermal Field Discovered at the East Pacific Rise 9°54'N

July 18, 2022 — Scientists discover off-axis, high-temperature deep-sea hydrothermal vents along a portion of the northern East Pacific Rise that are hotter and cover more area than any other hydrothermal vents ...

Weird Earthquake Reveals Hidden Mechanism

Mar. 24, 2021 — The wrong type of earthquake in an area where there should not have been an earthquake led researchers to uncover the cause for this unexpected strike-slip earthquake -- where two pieces of crust ...

New Approach Opens Window Into Life Below the Seafloor

Aug. 3, 2021 — Scientists studied microorganisms from an underwater mountain in the Atlantic Ocean, pioneering a method that could open new windows into our understanding of how life survives deep under the sea -- ...

New Research Uncovers Continental Crust Emerged 500 Million Years Earlier Than Thought

Apr. 26, 2021 — Researchers using a new method involving the mineral barite have dated the first emergence of continental crust to 500 million years earlier than previously ...

New Basalt Type Discovered Beneath the Ocean

Mar. 22, 2021 — A new type of rock created during large and exceptionally hot volcanic eruptions has been discovered beneath the Pacific ...

Earth & Climate News

September 27, 2023

Earth's Stability and Ability to Support Civilization at Risk: Six of Nine Planetary Boundaries Exceeded

Sep. 13, 2023 — A new study updates the planetary boundary framework and shows human activities are increasingly impacting the planet and, thereby, increasing the risk of triggering dramatic changes in overall Earth ...

Using Evidence from Last Ice Age, Scientists Predict Effects of Rising Seas on Coastal Habitats

Aug. 31, 2023 — The rapid sea level rise and resulting retreat of coastal habitat seen at the end of the last Ice Age could repeat itself if global average temperatures rise beyond certain levels, according to an ...

Loss of Antarctic Sea Ice Causes Catastrophic Breeding Failure for Emperor Penguins

Aug. 24, 2023 — Emperor penguin colonies experienced unprecedented breeding failure in a region of Antarctica where there was total sea ice loss in 2022. The discovery supports predictions that over 90% of emperor ...

Barnacles May Help Reveal Location of Lost Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

Aug. 23, 2023 — Geoscientists have created a new method that can reconstruct the drift path and origin of debris from flight MH370, an aircraft that went missing over the Indian Ocean in 2014 with 239 passengers and ...

Latest Headlines

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Exploring the Effect of Water on Seismic Wave Attenuation in the Upper Mantle

Sep. 27, 2023 — The mechanism facilitating the smooth movement of the oceanic lithosphere over the underlying asthenosphere (upper mantle) remains poorly understood. ...

Investigating the Role of Greener Plastics for Japan's Carbon Neutral Goals

Sep. 27, 2023 — Researchers have investigated the potential in Japan for more sustainable plastic recycling and the market for ...

How to Save Plants from Climate Change? Just Ask Them

Sep. 27, 2023 — Climate change and a range of human-caused factors have disrupted the habitats of many California native trees and other plant species. Efforts to protect or relocate plant species would be bolstered ...

Naming and Shaming Can Be Effective to Get Countries to Act on Climate

Sep. 25, 2023 — Enforcement is one of the biggest challenges to international cooperation on mitigating climate change in the Paris Agreement. The agreement has no formal enforcement mechanism; instead, it is ...

By Air, Rain and Land: How Microbes Return After a Wildfire

Sep. 25, 2023 — Ecological disturbances like wildfires disrupt microbial communities. Researchers found that dispersal played a pivotal role in re-establishing surface-level ...

Scientists Reveal What Fuels Wildfires in Sierra Nevada Mountains

Sep. 25, 2023 — Wildfires in California, exacerbated by human-driven climate change, are getting more severe. To better manage them, there's a growing need to know exactly what fuels the blazes after they ignite. ...

Glaciers Becoming Smaller and Disappearing

Sep. 25, 2023 — Researchers show that some glaciers have disappeared entirely, some no longer show movement, some are too small to meet the 0.01 square kilometer minimum and some are actually rock glaciers -- rocky ...

Theories About the Natural World May Need to Change to Reflect Human Impact

Sep. 25, 2023 — New research has validated at scale, one of the theories that has underpinned ecology for over half a century. In doing so, the findings raise further questions about whether models should be revised ...

Copper-Based Catalysts Efficiently Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Methane

Sep. 25, 2023 — Copper-based catalysts developed by materials scientists help speed up the rate of carbon dioxide-to-methane ...

Rivers Contain Hidden Sinks and Sources of Microplastics

Sep. 25, 2023 — New research represents the first combined analysis of microplastics in water, sediment and air around a major river system. It found significant quantities of microplastics trapped in riverbed ...