Concepts
Ridge Push
Geophysics
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Ridge push is a proposed driving force behind plate motion that arises at mid-ocean ridges, where the rigid oceanic lithosphere slides down and away from the hot, raised asthenosphere beneath the ridge. Despite its name, ridge push is better understood as a body force acting throughout the whole plate rather than a push delivered only at the ridge itself, and it results from gravity acting on the sloped lithosphere rather than, as earlier models proposed, from upwelling magma at the ridge physically wedging the plates apart.
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1. Ridge Push (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationEarly ideas (1912-1962) section, sentence on the term being coinedQuote, Early ideas (1912-1962) section, sentence on the term being coined
The term "ridge push force" was coined by Forsyth and Uyeda in 1975.
1. Ridge Push (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Slab Pull, Application section, paragraph comparing slab pull and ridge push strengthQuote, Associated With: Slab Pull, Application section, paragraph comparing slab pull and ridge push strength
in the 1990s, calculations indicated that slab pull, the force that a subducted section of plate exerts on the attached crust on the surface, was an order of magnitude stronger than ridge push.
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