Maud Rise () is an
oceanic plateau, which rises, at its shallowest, to depths of about a 1,000 meters.
It is located in the
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha ...
in the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
. Its name was approved by the
Advisory Committee for Undersea Features
The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...
in June 1987.
Geology
Maud Rise formed part of the south-eastern African
large igneous province
A large igneous province (LIP) is an extremely large accumulation of igneous rocks, including intrusive (sills, dikes) and extrusive (lava flows, tephra deposits), arising when magma travels through the crust towards the surface. The formation ...
(LIP) which developed south of Africa (Ma). This LIP first formed 140-122 Ma east of South Africa where the
Mozambique Ridge is now located. There it reached a maximum extent around 120 Ma when the
African-Antarctic spreading zone was located below its eastern flank.
Astrid Ridge was possibly part of this LIP as well.
The LIP formation then continued intermittently until it finally reached its maximum extent south of South Africa 100 Ma. This volcanism ended 94 Ma after which sea-floor spreading divided the LIP into the
Agulhas Plateau (south of South Africa),
Northeast Georgia Rise (near
South Georgia Island
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east†...
off South America), and Maud Rise.
See also
*
Weddell Polynya The Weddell Polynya, or Weddell Sea Polynya, is a polynya or irregular area of open water surrounded by sea ice in the Weddell Sea of the Southern Ocean off Antarctica and near the Maud Rise. The formation of the polynya exposes relatively warmer o ...
References
Notes
Sources
*
Underwater ridges of the Southern Ocean
Large igneous provinces
{{Large igneous provinces