New Ridges in the World

What are ocean ridges? why do they form?

What are Ridges? and why do they form?

Well in this blogpost, I am going to be talking about that and more.

Most often when we think of mountain ranges, we think of those on the surface of continents, but the broadest mountain ranges on the planet are found in the oceans, and are called ocean ridges.

New ridges? Where? And when?

              The ocean ridges are in the middle part of Earth's oceans. They reach a height of about 2,000-3,000 meters, above the abyssal plain and have a central depression, called a mid-oceanic rift, where magma is continually emitted from the mantle, which emerges through cracks in the ocean floor forming new volcanoes and oceanic lithosphere. Due to this phenomenon, the rocks are younger in the center of the dorsal than in the limits. Over millions of years, this causes the bottom of the ocean to grow and expand, so the continents on both sides of that ocean will move away from each other. For example, the Meso-Atlantic ridge is progressively separating Europe and America.

                At present, there are oceanic ridges in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. In addition, some dorsal ridges protrude from the sea forming volcanic islands, such as Iceland and Saint Helena (located between Africa and South America).

             This theoretical definition of ridges is important to know, at present, the birth of new ocean ridges in the world is being followed closely. These cause great volcanic activity and at the same time the faults that are transversal to these, an abundant seismic activity. Therefore, there are certain places throughout the globe, which leads to the exploration and research of scientists in the field, such as the depression or Afar Triangle, in Ethiopia, to see how new geographical features are formed in the planet.

             In this place, the plates of Arabia and Africa are separating, and an opening is being formed, which although currently only 8 meters wide in surface, could create the dorsal in a few million years. Why does this phenomenon happen? Because there is a triple overlap of the rifts present in the Great Rift Valley, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which make this a famous depression triangular. There have been several invasions of the Red Sea in this depression and in case it happens again, the geophysicists believe that a new sea will be formed.

           Another area where the future formation of an ocean is prone, and at the same time of an oceanic ridge, is the zone that surrounds the Lake Baikal, in the center of the Russian Siberia. Right now, there are tectonic movements that push the banks about 2mm per year.  The surrounding mountains rise to 6mm in the same period of time and the depressions in this area are 4mm per year deeper. These phenomena will cause that Eurasia is fragmented in two to the height of this enormous and deep lake in 20 million years, according to has published the Academy of Sciences of Russia.

             Although, there are some other places, such as regions of Mexico and Australia where the existence of rifts is being studied, these two examples are the clearest to understand the formation of a new ocean and an ocean ridge. The continuous movement of the tectonic plates will form new oceans and new ridges in the future throughout the globe.

 Lake Baikal