Mid-ocean ridge

This animation illustrates in a  very simplified manner, the rising of magma at the mid-oceanic ridge level and the creation of oceanic crust. A ridge is a zone of divergence where two plates separate from each other.

Geologists distinguish two types of divergence:

• Fast ridges which separate more than 10 cm per year (between 12 and 17 cm per year for the Pacific Ocean ridges).
• Slow ridges which separate less than 5 cm per year (about 2.5 cm per year for the Atlantic ridge).

The topography of the ridge strongly depends on this speed.

Note: The rolling carpet model presented in this animation can lead you to believe that the rising of magma in the centre is the cause of the separation of plates. This is not the case. Geological models actually show that the deep convection currents, situated in the mantle would be the cause of a drifting movement of plates on a large scale. The ridge, like subduction, would therefore be a consequence of continental drift.

Note that the plate tectonic theory is a young theory, announced in 1967, and is always evolving.