Why is the ocean floor different in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans?
It isn’t really that different, except near the ridges. At ridges in the Pacific, the supply of lava to the seafloor is relatively large compared to the rate at which the seafloor is opening up. So the ridges tend to pile up in smooth mounds. In the Atlantic, the spreading rate is relatively slow, so mounds that forms during a big eruption end up being torn apart. The result is a broad mound with a big valley in the middle. (Scott Veirs) What is the depth below sea level of the deepest known point in the rift of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR)? How wide is the widest place in the MAR rift valley? Your questions are difficult to answer because of the variable nature of the MAR topography. It is easy to specify “typical” depth ranges and average width within the rift valley (2500-3500 meters and 10 km, respectively), but “deepest” and “widest” values depend on how you define the extent of the rift valley. Here’s the problem. If you were to walk along the entire MAR, trying to stay on the sp
