Portugal - Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is a volcanic mountain range that rises from the Atlantic abyssal plain, extending from the Arctic (Gakkel Ridge) to the Antarctic (Bouvet Triple Junction) across the two hemispheres, ranging more than 16,000 km. Ocean ridges such as MAR are highly complex and dynamic geological systems, which develop at the juncture of different tectonic plates. In this case, MAR is the longest mountain range in the world, with more than 90% of its length submerged. Its depth averages 2,500 meters (m), but occasionally the axial zone of this system emerges above sea level, as in Iceland. MAR was discovered in the mid-nineteenth century, when the first submarine cable was extended between North America and Europe. Over time, this underwater mountain range has been described, but only in the 1960s it was possible to start mapping it in all its extension. However, the detailed description of some sections of the MAR has just recently been possible, due to an increase on technological capacities to map the sea bottoms. For this reason, and because of its vastness and depth, a large part of MAR is still to be comprehensively mapped and studied. The section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that is included in this proposal is enclosed by the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, under the ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and their submission to the Continental Shelf Limits Commission (CLCS) to the United Nations, delivered on May 11, 2009 by Portugal. The selection of this area stems from the geological consistency demonstrated during the proposal application for the extension of the continental platform around the Azores (map 1), responsibility of the Task Group for the Continental Shelf Extension (EMEPC), causing the conformation of this area to result from the presence of MAR. The zone includes the 9 inhabited islands of the archipelago and its 596 islets, the territorial waters, the subarea of the Azores of the Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ-Azores) and the contiguous extended platform.