Submarine Ridge

an elongated steep-sided elevation of ocean and sea floors.

Submarine ridges extend hundreds and thousands of kilometers in length and reach widths of several hundred km. Some peaks often rise above sea level to form islands. In the submarine continental margins, submarine ridges are relatively rare, and their structure is analogous to the structure of mountains on the adjacent parts of the continents. In the transition zone, submarine ridges appear chiefly as island arcs; they are also found at the bottom of deep-sea troughs of such marginal seas as the Yamato in the Sea of Japan or the Bowers in the Bering Sea. On the ocean floor, submarine ridges may be block, block-folding, or volcanic ridges. Volcanic ridges usually result from the concretion of volcanic cones. The largest submarine ridges are mid-ocean ridges. These differ from the submarine ridges on the ocean floor and in transition zones with respect to the morphology and structure of the earth’s crust.