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What Kind of Plate Boundary Does the Mid-Atlantic Ridge Have?

When you think of mountain ranges your first thoughts are not of under water. But the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is part of the longest mountain range in the world and runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean from Greenland to the South Atlantic near Bouvet Island. The ridge is constructed by plate tectonic activity. When the plates that make up the earth's crust move against each other they cause formations and other tectonic activity such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Oceanic Divergent Plate Boundary
- The plates are moving apart in a divergent plate boundary. This is caused by rising convection currents pushing up on the base of the lithosphere (the outermost layer of the Earth), lifting it up and then flowing laterally beneath it. This lateral movement causes the plate material above to be dragged in the direction of the flow. At the crest of the uplift the overlying plate is stretched thin and pulled apart. Magma flows up and builds in the fissure. The process is then repeated over time and forms mountain ranges such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Land Formations
- As well as the underwater mountain range formed by the divergent plate boundary, the ridge system also includes volcanic islands around the Atlantic Ocean. These islands include Jan Mayen (Norway), Iceland, the Azores (Portugal), St. Paul's rock (Brazil), Ascension Island (UK), St. Helena (UK), Tristan da Cunha (UK), Gough Island (UK) and Bouvet Island (Norway).
Plates
- The plates separated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are the North American Plate from the Eurasian Plate in the North Atlantic and the South American Plate from the African Plate in the South Atlantic.
Movement
- The plates on either side of the Mid-Atlantic ridge are still moving apart, meaning that the Atlantic is growing at the ridge in an east to west direction at a rate of about 2.5 cm per year.