An upwelling of rock beneath the Atlantic may drive continents apart
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge may play a more active role in plate tectonics than thought
![false-color map of Mid-Atlantic Ridge](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/012821_MT_mid-atlantic-ridge_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
An upsurge of material deep below the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a seafloor rift seen in the middle of this false-color map, may be actively widening the Atlantic Ocean by a few centimeters every year.
NOAA