Juan de Fuca Ridge

The Juan de Fuca Ridge is an underwater divergent plate boundary off the Pacific Northwest where the Juan de Fuca Plate forms as magma rises and solidifies.

Seafloor spreading: The process by which magma rises at divergent plate boundaries and creates new oceanic crust. This ridge is a site where seafloor spreading creates the Juan de Fuca Plate.
Juan de Fuca Plate: A small oceanic tectonic plate off the Pacific Northwest, bounded by spreading ridges and subduction zones. The ridge forms its western boundary and generates its oceanic crust.
Cleft Segment: A volcanic segment in the northern part of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Its eruptions and lava flows document how new crust forms along the ridge.
Ocean Networks Canada: A Canadian research organization that operates cabled ocean observatories, including systems on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Its instruments deliver real-time data from the ridge and Axial Seamount.
East Pacific Rise: A fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its faster spreading contrasts with the Juan de Fuca Ridge's intermediate rate.
Axial Seamount: An active submarine volcano on the Juan de Fuca Ridge with a central caldera. It is a prominent volcanic center built directly on the ridge.
Pacific Plate: Earth's largest tectonic plate, underlying much of the Pacific Ocean basin. The ridge separates this plate from the Juan de Fuca Plate.
Endeavour Segment: A segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge known for vigorous hydrothermal venting. Its vent fields are a major example of ridge-driven hydrothermal activity.
Ocean-bottom seismometer: A seismometer designed to record earthquakes from the seafloor. Seismic records help locate magma movement and tectonic activity beneath the ridge.
Gorda Ridge: A spreading ridge south of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, between the Gorda and Pacific plates. It is a neighboring ridge system with a separate plate boundary and segment structure.

Linked from 6 pages