Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean extends from north to south for almost 15 thousand km, its smallest width is about 2830 km in the equatorial part, the largest - 6700 km (in parallel 30 ° S).

The average depth is 3597 m, the greatest is 8742 m (Puerto Rico trench).

Origin

Main article: The history of the Earth before the appearance of hominids

In the Triassic - early Jurassic, the spreading of the oceanic bottom was preceded by continental riftogenesis, traces of which are recorded in the form of semi-grabens filled with clastic deposits on the American and North-African margins of the ocean.

The discovery of the Atlantic began in the Early Jurassic (about 200 million years ago) with the Central Segment.

In the late Jurassic - early Cretaceous, the Antarctic segment began to open. In early Cretaceous, spreading experienced the Southern segment in the South Atlantic and the Newfoundland-Iberian segment in the North Atlantic.

The discovery of the Labrador-British segment began at the end of the early Cretaceous. At the end of the Late Cretaceous, a basin of the Labrador Sea arose here as a result of spreading on the side axis, which continued until the Late Eocene.

The North and South Atlantic merged in the middle of the Cretaceous - Eocene when the Equatorial segment was formed.

Atlantic Volcanic Belt

In the Mid-Atlantic Range, the bottom is expanded (spreading) and the formation of oceanic crust at a speed of up to 2 cm per year. High seismic and volcanic activity is characteristic.

In the axial part of the ridge, a rift valley is clearly expressed, which is absent in the extreme south.

As of 2022, the Atlantic Volcanic Belt combines about 70 volcanoes. 40 of them are located on the islands, the rest are hidden under water. The belt is elongated in the meridional direction and is confined to the mid-ocean ridge in the Atlantic Ocean. The volcanoes of the Canary Islands with the volcano Cumbre Vieja on the island of La Palma, which erupted in late 2021, are part of this belt.

In the Atlantic Ocean there are the so-called intra-plate uplifts, represented by underwater plateaus, aseismic ridges and islands. They have an ocean crust of increased power and are mainly of volcanic origin. Many of them were formed as a result of the action of mantle plumes; some originated at the intersection of a spreading ridge by large transform faults. Volcanic uplifts include:

• Iceland Island,
• Bouvet Island,
• Madeira Island,
• Canary Islands,
• Cape Verde Islands,
• Azores,
• the paired uplifts of Sierra and Sierra Leone,
• Rio Grande and Whale Range,
• Bermuda uplift,
• Cameroon Group of Volcanoes, et al.

Currents and winds

Warm and cold currents in the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2023

Islands

• Great Britain
• Canary Islands
• Cape Verde
• Cuba

See also

• Pacific Ocean
• Arctic Ocean