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The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North American from the Eurasian plate and the African plate , north and south of the Azores triple junction .
The transform fault of the southern fracture zone displaces the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, coming from the Azores triple junction, to the west over a distance of 120 km (75 mi). At longitude 31.75W a south to north seismically active rift valley with a length of 40 km (25 mi) connects the western end of the southern transform to the eastern end of the ...
In this model, pre-existing faults that were formed during ancient geological episodes persist in the intraplate crust, and earthquakes occur when the present-day stress is released along these zones of weakness. The stress that causes the earthquakes is generally considered to be derived from present-day rifting at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Continental-continental divergent/constructive boundary Oceanic divergent boundary: mid-ocean ridge (cross-section/cut-away view). In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary (also known as a constructive boundary or an extensional boundary) is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.
Plate tectonics on Earth is hypothesized to be driven by “slab pull,” where the sinking of the more dense subducting plate provides the spreading force for mid-ocean ridges. [112] “Ridge push” is comparatively weak in Earth's plate tectonics. [112] Extensional features are abundant on icy moons, but compressional features are sparse. [112]
The rest of the southerly margin which extends east to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and marks the boundary between the North American plate and the South American plate is vague but located near the Fifteen-Twenty fracture zone around 16°N. On the northerly boundary is a continuation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge called the Gakkel Ridge.
Plate tectonics map. The East African Rift (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa; The Mid-Atlantic Ridge system separates the North American plate and the South American plate in the west from the African plate and the Eurasian plate in the east; The Gakkel Ridge is a slow spreading ridge located in the Arctic Ocean
In the Atlantic Ocean most fracture zones originate from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs from north to south, and are therefore west to east oriented in general. There are about 300 fracture zones, with an average north–south separation of 55 kilometres (34 mi): [ 7 ] two for each degree of latitude.