A mid-ocean ridge running up the eastern Pacific. It spreads 6 to 16 cm a year, several times faster than the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, so instead of a deep rift valley it has a broad, smooth volcanic crest.
In April 1979, scientists in the submersible Alvin saw "black smokers" here for the first time: chimneys gushing mineral-rich water at about 350 °C.
Pull the plug and watch the sea level fall, explore the seafloor as real terrain, find what lies off your own coast, and follow guided stories, from the Ice Age land bridge between England and France to the wreck of the Titanic. Everything is built from GEBCO's grid of the world's ocean floor and land.
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