Question #db41a
1 Answer
Jan 22, 2018
A: At mid-ocean ridges, the seafloor is spreading as the plates move away from each other.
Explanation:
The mid-oceanic ridges are represented by chains of active volcanoes and formation of new seafloor.
The typical morphology (shape) of a mid-oceanic ridge is of two parallel chains of volcanoes and basalt ridges divided by a deep trench.
New lava is emitted by volcanoes and by fractures in the seafloor and, once cooled by the surrounding cold (around 4 Celsius) seawater, forms rock that is the youngest of the ocean bed.
Several geothermal vents can be found around the mid-oceanic ridges being fed by volcanic fluids and super-heated (up to 400 Celsius) seawater that percolates inside the oceanic crust and it is the heated by the high geothermal gradient.
