Definition For Rift Ocean Floor

A long narrow valley lying between two normal geologic faults.

Definition for rift ocean floor.

In the south atlantic it separates the. Rift valleys usually form where the earth s lithosphere has become thin through extension associated with plate tectonic processes. Earth s most extensive rift valley occurs as a result of seafloor spreading and is situated along the mid ocean ridge system s crest. Fracture zone definition a long narrow rift on the ocean floor separating areas of differing depth.

The center of these mid ocean ridges are rift valleys that separate lie between the two separating plates. Mid ocean ridge definition is an elevated region with a central valley on an ocean floor at the boundary between two diverging tectonic plates where new crust forms from upwelling magma. This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level. A mid ocean ridge mor is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics it typically has a depth of 2 600 meters 8 500 ft and rises about two kilometers above the deepest portion of an ocean basin this feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a divergent plate boundary the rate of seafloor spreading determines the morphology of the crest of the mid ocean ridge and its.

The most popular mechanism for this outward movement is sliding along the volcano ocean floor interface which consists of easily deformable sediments e g. Where such a zone crosses a mid ocean ridge it displaces the ridge by faulting. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur. The global mid ocean ridges are found in all the oceans on earth.

Rift valley definition graben. As the plates move apart magma from the upper mantle flows out onto the ocean floor in the valleys creating the newest crust on the planet. On the continents rift valleys form in divergence zones of tectonic plates. Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet.

Stress orientation of its huge neighbor and has adopted the same rift zone orientation from fiske jackson 1972.