Pacific-Kula Ridge
Encyclopedia
The Pacific–Kula Ridge is a former mid-ocean ridge
that existed between the Pacific
and Kula
plates in the Pacific Ocean
during the early Tertiary
period. Its appearance was in an east-west direction and the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain
had its attribution with the ridge. The Kula-Farallon Ridge lay south of the Hawaii hotspot
around 80 million years ago, moving northward relative to the hotspot
.
Mid-ocean ridge
A mid-ocean ridge is a general term for an underwater mountain system that consists of various mountain ranges , typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine, formed by plate tectonics. This type of oceanic ridge is characteristic of what is known as an oceanic spreading...
that existed between the Pacific
Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....
and Kula
Kula Plate
The Kula Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate under the northern Pacific Ocean south of the Near Islands segment of the Aleutian Islands. It is subducting under the North American Plate at the Aleutian Trench and is surrounded by the Pacific Plate...
plates in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
during the early Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
period. Its appearance was in an east-west direction and the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain
Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain
The Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain is composed of the Hawaiian ridge, consisting of the islands of the Hawaiian chain northwest to Kure Atoll, and the Emperor Seamounts, a vast underwater mountain region of islands and intervening seamounts, atolls, shallows, banks and reefs along a line trending...
had its attribution with the ridge. The Kula-Farallon Ridge lay south of the Hawaii hotspot
Hawaii hotspot
The Hawaii hotspot is the volcanic hotspot that created the Hawaiian Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, and is one of Earth's best-known and most heavily-studied hotspots....
around 80 million years ago, moving northward relative to the hotspot
Hotspot (geology)
The places known as hotspots or hot spots in geology are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the mantle elsewhere. They may be on, near to, or far from tectonic plate boundaries. There are two hypotheses to explain them...
.