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Why does the East Pacific Rise spread fast?

Why does the East Pacific Rise spread fast?

Faster spreading ridges like the northern and southern East Pacific Rise are “hotter,” meaning more magma is present beneath the ridge axis and more volcanic eruptions occur. Because the plate under the ridge crest is hotter scientists think that the plate responds to the divergent spreading process more fluidly.

Which side of the East Pacific Rise is spreading faster?

The East Pacific Rise is spreading faster than the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The wide swath of red and orange parallel to the East Pacific Rise illustrates that a large area of oceanic rocks are very young.

Does the East Pacific Rise have earthquakes?

Moderate-sized earthquakes are common in this region of the East Pacific Rise, though events of this size have been rare over the past century.

Does the East Pacific Rise just end at the continent?

It is one of the largest physical structures on earth. It runs in a sickle-shaped curve from near New Zealand 8,000 miles to the coast of Mexico. There its crest disappears from the maps, unless, as some scientists now think, it underlies the western part of the North American continent.

What is the fastest spreading center in the world?

East Pacific Rise
Some of our recent research involves hydrothermal and structural investigations along Earth’s fastest seafloor spreading center, the 28°S–32°S East Pacific Rise. The fastest present-day seafloor spreading, ~150 km/Myr, occurs along the Pacific-Nazca boundary between the Easter and Juan Fernandez microplates.

What is happening at the East Pacific Rise?

The resulting underwater volcanoes spread lava across large areas of seafloor and form the core of the East Pacific Rise. Water percolating down into these lava flows is heated, then rises back toward the seafloor, forming hydrothermal (hot water) vents in the seafloor.

What direction is the spreading occurring along the East Pacific Rise?

From its southernmost point, near 55° S latitude and 130° W longitude, it continues in a west-southwesterly direction as the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge to approach Antarctica south of New Zealand. The surface of the East Pacific Rise is basically smooth and flattish, and it drops sharply away at the sides.

Where does the seafloor spread the fastest?

Which mid-ocean ridge is spreading the slowest?

The Ridge is named after him, and the name was recognized in April 1987 by SCUFN (under that body’s old name, the Sub-Committee on Geographical Names and Nomenclature of Ocean Bottom Features). The ridge is the slowest known spreading ridge on earth, with a rate of less than one centimeter per year.

Is the East Pacific Rise a subduction zone?

The mid-ocean ridges are tectonic plate boundaries where new ocean crust forms. The islands are a manifestation of intersecting plate boundaries—the spreading center of the East Pacific Rise, which traces south from the Gulf of California, and the subduction zone that consumes the Cocos plate beneath southern Mexico.

What ocean spreads the fastest?

Pacific
The fastest present-day seafloor spreading, ~150 km/Myr, occurs along the Pacific-Nazca boundary between the Easter and Juan Fernandez microplates.

Which ocean is growing the fastest?

The southern stretch of the East Pacific Rise is one of the fastest-spreading sections of the Earth’s mid-ocean ridge system.

Where does the East Pacific Rise come from?

The East Pacific Rise is representative of a divergent boundary where the Pacific Plate and the Nazca Plate (west of South America) are moving apart—a process known as rifting.…. oceanic ridge: Pacific Ocean. …to where it joins the East Pacific Rise off the margin of South America.

Is the East Pacific Rise on a divergent boundary?

The East Pacific Rise is located on the divergent boundary of the Pacific Plate and the Cocos Plate (west of Central America), the Nazca Plate (west of South America), and the Antarctic Plate. In addition to volcanic activity, the rise also has a number of hydrothermal vents.

Which is the fastest moving plate in the Pacific Plate?

However, the Pacific Plate, Cocos Plate, Nazca Plate, and Antarctic Plate move more than 10 centimeters which is the fastest movement rate of all plate tectonics. Pacific Plate Tectonic Boundary Types The Pacific Plate contains all the plate tectonic boundary types along its boundary.

How are the plates moving in the Pacific Northwest?

This is a map of the main tectonic plates that comprise the Earth’s surface: In the Pacific Northwest, movement of three tectonic plates drive our earthquake hazard. The Pacific Plate is moving to the northwest at a speed of between 7 and 11 centimeters (cm) or ~3-4 inches a year.