some rift valleys formed along the oceanic ridge system at the mid - ocean ridge.
some rift valleys formed along the oceanic ridge system at the mid - ocean ridge.
where do some rift valleys form along the oceanic ridge system?
the mid - ocean ridge
divergent boundaries are typified in the oceanic lithosphere by the rifts of the oceanic ridge system, including the mid-atlantic ridge and the east pacific rise, and in the continental lithosphere by rift valleys such as the famous east african great rift valley. divergent boundaries can create massive fault zones in the oceanic ridge system. spreading is generally not uniform, so where spreading rates of adjacent ridge blocks are different, massive transform faults occur. these are the fracture zones, many bearing names, that are a major source of submarine earthquakes. a sea floor map will show a rather strange pattern of blocky structures that are separated by perpendicular to the ridge axis. if one views the sea floor between the fracture zones as conveyor belts carrying the ridge on each side of the rift away from the spreading center the action becomes clear. crest depths of the old ridges, parallel to the current spreading center, will be older and deeper... (from thermal contraction and subsidence).
divergent boundary
section::::global system.









































the mid-ocean ridges of the world are connected and form "the" ocean ridge, a single global mid-oceanic ridge system that is part of every ocean, making it the longest mountain range in the world. the continuous mountain range is long (several times longer than the andes, the longest continental mountain range), and the total length of the oceanic ridge system is long.









































increased rates of sea-floor spreading (i.e. the expansion of the mid-ocean ridge) has caused global (eustatic) sea-level to rise over very long timescales (millions of years).
mid-ocean ridge