Mighty mountain ranges can be found on every continent , yet the longest uninterrupted chain of peaks is not located on any of these seven landmasses . Instead , the populace ’s most across-the-board range lie at the bottom of the sea , according to theNOAA .
Known as themid - ocean ridge system , it consists of a continuous range of underwater volcanoes stretching nearly 65,000 kilometers ( 40,390 miles ) , enwrap around the globe in a shape likened to the furrow on a baseball .
On average , the crown of these various grinder ridges consist some 2,500 metre ( 8,200 substructure ) beneath the aerofoil of the ocean .
The near-continuous, global mid-ocean ridge system snakes across the Earth’s surface like the seams on a baseball.Image credit: Mr. Elliot Lim, CIRES and NOAA/NCEI
The mid - ocean compass laughs at the runty defect of the world ’s longsighted continental kitchen stove , which happens to be the Andes and its 7,600 - kilometer ( 4,700 - statute mile ) span . Pathetic !
In verity , though , the mid - ocean range has an unjust vantage as it is actually made up of several disjoined submerged rooftree organization that live on the edge of the various tectonic plates . It ’s at these frontiers that the platespush apart , allowing magma to surge up and satiate the gap .
The result is a line of mint and valleys that scars the seafloor . Because the humankind ’s plate tectonics are in contact with one another , the ridgepole that word form between them are all connected , forming an unbroken series of submersed kitchen stove that collectively make up the mid - ocean reach .
Among the most celebrated of these is theMid - Atlantic Ridge , which runs right down the center of attention of the Atlantic Ocean , accomplish from the Arctic to the Antarctic .
While most of the mid - ocean ridgepole lies beneath the sea , there ’s a chance you ’ve visit part of it . Iceland sit directly atop the Mid - Atlantic Ridge , where the Eurasiatic and North American tectonic shell meet , making ithighly volcanic and geothermally active . It also means it ’s one of the few post where this mid - ocean ridgepole emerges above sea level .
So if you ’ve ever visited Þingvellir National Park or the Reykjanes Peninsula , you’re able to technically say you ’ve fix foot on part of the farseeing wad range on Earth .
Anearlier edition of this storywas release in March 2024 .
