Mid-Atlantic Ridge

American  

[mid-at-lan-tik, mid-at-lan-] / ˈmɪd ætˈlæn tɪk, ˌmɪd ætˈlæn- /

noun

1. a north-south suboceanic ridge in the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Antarctica on whose crest are several groups of islands; shown by plate tectonics to be the axis along which North America has split away from Eurasia, and along which South America has split away from Africa.

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Example Sentences

Iceland is very used to volcanic activity - successfully building a tourist industry on it - because it sits over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2023

It sits atop the continually spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American plate to the west and the Eurasian plate to the east are gradually pulling apart.

From National Geographic • Jul. 24, 2023

Situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the sparsely populated island nation, home to 370,000 people, has a large quantity of volcanic features.

From New York Times • Jul. 10, 2023

Separately, one of the largest private research vessels set out last week on its inaugural expedition, to explore microbes in seafloor hydrothermal vents at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 8, 2023

The islands sit atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where tectonic plates from North America, Eurasia and Africa diverge, allowing magma to rise.

From Washington Post • Sep. 9, 2022