Gakkel Ridge facts for kids
The Gakkel Ridge is a huge underwater mountain range found in the Arctic Ocean. It's like a long seam on the ocean floor, stretching about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) between Greenland and Siberia. This ridge is a special place where the Earth's giant plates are slowly pulling apart. It connects to the northern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, another famous underwater mountain range.
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What is the Gakkel Ridge?
The Gakkel Ridge is a type of underwater mountain range called a mid-oceanic ridge. These ridges are found all over the world's oceans. They are places where new ocean floor is created.
Plates pulling apart
The Earth's surface is made of huge pieces called tectonic plates. These plates are always moving, very slowly. The Gakkel Ridge is a "divergent plate boundary." This means it's where two plates, the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate, are moving away from each other. As they pull apart, hot melted rock (magma) from deep inside the Earth rises up. This magma cools and forms new ocean floor, adding to the ridge.
How was it discovered?
The idea of the Gakkel Ridge first came from a Soviet explorer named Yakov Yakovlevich Gakkel. He predicted that such a ridge existed in the Arctic Ocean. Around 1950, Soviet expeditions explored the Arctic. They confirmed that the ridge was really there, just as Gakkel had thought. The ridge was later named after him to honor his discovery. Its name was officially recognized in April 1987.
Images for kids
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Pillow lava from the Gakkel Ridge. This rock forms when hot lava cools quickly underwater.
See also
In Spanish: Dorsal de Gakkel para niños
