Are long chains of mountains on the ocean floor?

Are long chains of mountains on the ocean floor?

The longest mountain range on Earth is called the mid-ocean ridge. Spanning 40,389 miles around the globe, it’s truly a global landmark. About 90 percent of the mid-ocean ridge system is under the ocean. This system of mountains and valleys criss-crosses the globe, resembling the stitches in a baseball.

What are chains of undersea mountains?

What is a chain of undersea mountains called Answers com? Undersea mountain ranges are mountain ranges that are mostly or entirely underwater, and specifically under the surface of an ocean. If originated from current tectonic forces, they are often referred to as a mid-ocean ridge.

What are long mountain chains that wind through the ocean floor?

A mid-ocean ridge or mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary.

What are cracks on the ocean floor called?

The Sea Floor Spread Running along the top of this chain of mountains is a deep crack, called a rift valley. It is here that new ocean floor is continuously created.

Which is the longest and the most extensive chain of underwater mountains on Earth?

The mid-ocean ridge
The mid-ocean ridge is the most extensive chain of mountains on Earth, stretching nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles) and with more than 90 percent of the mountain range lying in the deep ocean.

Why is that mountain are like chains?

The tendency, especially of fold mountains (e. g. the Cordilleras) to produce roughly parallel chains is due to their rock structure and the propulsive forces of plate tectonics. The overthrust folds of a nappe belt (e.g. the Central Alps) are formed in a similar way.

What is a long chain of mountains that is found underwater?

Undersea mountain ranges are mountain ranges that are mostly or entirely underwater, and specifically under the surface of an ocean. If originated from current tectonic forces, they are often referred to as a mid-ocean ridge. In contrast, if formed by past above-water volcanism, they are known as a seamount chain.

What is the bottom of the sea called?

seabed
The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as ‘seabeds’.

What is a long narrow chain of underwater hills or mountains called?

What is the name for the system of deep depressions in the sea floor?

Ocean trenches are long, narrow depressions on the seafloor. These chasms are the deepest parts of the ocean—and some of the deepest natural spots on Earth.

What are ocean floor vents?

An ocean vent sits over a deep fissure in the ocean floor. Ocean vents eject hot, often toxic, fluids and gases into the surrounding seawater. They often mark sites of tectonic activity, and create some of the most hostile habitats on Earth. Other types of hydrothermal vents include hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles.

What is the A long narrow chain of underwater hills or mountains?

ridge
A ridge is a long, narrow chain of hills or mountains. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is now known to be part of an underwater mountain chain that winds 65,000 kilometers around the earth. The underwater ridges throughout the world vary greatly in size and shape.

What is the most extensive chain of mountains on Earth?

The mid-ocean ridge is the most extensive chain of mountains on Earth, stretching nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles) and with more than 90 percent of the mountain range lying in the deep ocean. The nearly continuous, global mid-ocean ridge system snakes across the Earth’s surface like the seams on a baseball.

What is the chain of mountains that runs through Africa?

The chain runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (surfacing at Iceland), around Africa, through the Indian Ocean, between Australia and Antarctica, and north through the Pacific Ocean. Running along the top of this chain of mountains is a deep crack, called a rift valley. It is here that new ocean floor is continuously created.

How is the ocean floor formed on a mountain?

As the two sides of the mountain move away from each other, magma wells up from the Earth’s interior. It then solidifies into rock as it is cooled by the sea, creating new ocean floor. The speed at which new ocean floor is created varies from one location on the ocean ridge to another.

What are mid-ocean ridges and how do they form?

Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt. The speed of spreading affects the shape of a ridge – slower spreading rates result in steep,