World map of Mid-Ocean Ridge
System
(Divergent Boundaries)
![World Divergent Boundaries](color_etopo1_ice_lowDiv.jpg)
This is a world physiographic map*,
on which I've marked the divergent boundaries in red. Some
of them may overlap with Transform Boundaries (which will be
discussed shortly) and there are gaps which represent Transform
Boundaries as well. To see it, right-click on it and "View
Image". It is a very large image.
If you want to see some of the mid-ocean ridges and rises, as
well as some convergent boundaries, labeled with their names, click
here.
* The data was assembled from Seasat
data, which measured (among other things) altitude above the
ocean surface. An unexpected
use of this data was to show that the ocean's surface
topography was a reflection of underlying bathymetry.
Where undersea mountains were, their gravity attracted water,
making hills in the ocean's surface. Where undersea
hollows were, gravity was lower and there were "dents" in the
sea surface. This allowed geophysicists to create maps
that had previously undiscovered features on the sea floor, and
allowed a more precise map of seafloor features than had ever
been seen.
Click the "back button" to go back to the Divergent Boundaries
web page.