The Mid-Atlantic Ridge marks the divergent boundary that runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Here new portions of the earth’s crust are being formed and are pushing the continents further apart. The extent of the forces operating here is indicated by the amount of fracturing along the ridge. Cracks perpendicular to the ridge are transform faults, planes along which portions of the plates slide horizontally past each other.

The horizontal scale of these features is so extensive that if their height were shown at the same scale, the fracturing and faulting would not be apparent. When operating the movie showing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge you may adjust the vertical scale by moving the mouse up and down and can change your position by moving left or right.