Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Specialty Definition: MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

DomainDefinition

Mining

A mountain range that extends parallel to the continental margins in mid-ocean in both the North and South Atlantic Oceans. It rises 6,000 ft above the ocean floor and surfaces as the Azores, Ascension Island, SaintHelena, and Tristan da Cunha islands. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Specialty Definition: Mid-Atlantic Ridge

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Courtesy USGS

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an underwater mountain range of the Atlantic Ocean, which runs from Iceland to Antarctica; this is the longest mountain range on Earth. The ridge was discovered, by Bruce Heezen, in the 1950s. The discovery, of this ridge, led to the theory of seafloor spreading and general acceptance of Wegener's theory of continental drift. According to plate tectonics, this ridge runs along a divergent boundary.

This ridge is an oceanic rift that separates the North American Plate from the Eurasian Plate in the North Atlantic and the South American Plate from the African Plate in the South Atlantic. The ridge actually sits on top of the mid-Atlantic rise which is a progressive bulge that also runs the length of the Atlantic Ocean with the ridge resting on the highest point of this linear bulge. This bulge is thought to be caused by upward convective forces in the asthenosphere pushing the oceanic crust and lithosphere.

This divergent boundary first formed in the Triassic period when a series of three-armed grabens coalesced on the supercontinent Pangaea to form the Ridge. Usually only two of any given three-armed graben becomes part of a divergent plate boundary. The failed arms are called aulacogens and the aulacogens of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge eventually became many of the large river valleys seen along the Americas, and Africa (including the Mississippi River, Amazon River and Niger River).

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Mid-Atlantic Ridge."

Top     

Crosswords: MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Specialty definitions using "MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE": Spreading Center. (references)

Top     

Commercial Usage: MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

DomainTitle

Books

  • Famous : atlas photographique de la dorsale médio-atlantique : rift et faille transformante par 3000 mètres de fond = Famous : photographic atlas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. rift and transform fault at 3000 meters depth (reference)

  • Photographic Atlas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Rift Valley (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Photo Album: MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

North Atlantic Ocean showing clear delineation of Mid-Atlantic Ridge Detail of Sir John Murray map. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Temperature contours showing continuity of Mid-Atlantic Ridge From Atlas of the METEOR Expedition Combining sparse depth readings and temperature to infer bathymetry. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Woods Hole Angus camera sled being deployed from RESEARCHER During studies of deepsea hydrothermal vents on Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Black smoker chimney and shrimp on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP).

The first map demonstrating the continuity of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge median rift valley as published in: "The Floors of the Oceans. I. The North Atlantic," by Bruce C. Heezen, Marie Tharp, and Maurice Ewing. 1959. Plate 20. NOAA Central Library Call No. G83. H43 1959. Vol. 1. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

"A New Map of Earthquake Distribution", by Captain Nicholas Heck, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. In: The Geographical Review, Vol. XXV, 1935. Pp. 125-130. Heck noted for the first time that earthquakes were associated with the Mid- Atlantic Ridge in his accompanying paper. Heck first produced a world seismicity map showing the activity on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 1932. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

In: "The Meteor Expedition," by F. Spiess, German Atlantic Expedition 1925-1927. Results of the METEOR expedition. This simple diagram, showing a cold pool on the west side of the Atlantic with different salinity, established the continuity of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a step on the road to formulating the theory of seafloor spreading. Library Call Number C/La S755. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

A bottom temperature map published in "Three Cruises of the Blake", Alexander Agassiz, 1888. p. 218. The majority of these temperatures were obtained by the CHALLENGER Expedition. The cold pool in the southwest Atlantic Ocean is indicative of no communication between the southwest and southeast Atlantic basins as the result of an obstruction - the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

"Distribution of Earthquakes" as published in the "Transactions of the American Geophysical Union, p. 93, May, 1936. Captain Nicholas Heck of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey noted that earthquakes were associated with the Mid- Atlantic Ridge in his accompanying paper. Heck first produced a world seismicity map showing the activity on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 1932. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

Possibly the earliest 3-D image of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This model was made from observations on board the German research vessel METEOR between 1925 and 1927. The model resided in the German Museum of the Sea in Berlin prior to the Second World War. In: Bessmertny, Alexander, 1932. "Das Atlantis Ratsel," plate 7, p. 72. Leipzig, R. Voightlander, Publisher. 572.4 B559a. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Top     

Modern Translation: MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Language Translations for "MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Dutch

  

Mid-Atlantische rug. (various references)

   

French

  

dorsale médio-atlantique. (various references)

   

German

  

Mittelatlantischer Ruecken. (various references)

   

Italian

  

Dorsale Medio-Atlantica, dorsale medioatlantica. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

id-atlanticmay idgeray

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top     

Anagrams: MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-a-c-d-d-e-g-i-i-i-l-m-n-r-t-t"

-5 letters: altercating, demarcating, diamagnetic, diametrical, enigmatical, eradicating, ingratiated, intimidated, maledicting, maltreating, nematicidal, readdicting, readmitting, retaliating.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

Top     



INDEX

1. Crosswords
2. Usage: Commercial
3. Images: Photo Album
4. Translations: Modern
5. Anagrams
6. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.