The Alpha Ridge is a major volcanic ridge under the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

between the Canada Basin (off

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island (; ) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total ...

) and the Lomonosov Ridge. It was active during the formation of the Amerasian Basin. It was discovered in 1963. The highest elevation is about 2,700 m over the

ocean floor The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

. It is 200 to 450 km wide. The Alpha Ridge, Lomonosov Ridge, and Nansen-Gakkel Ridge are the three major ranges that divide the Arctic Ocean floor,"CESAR" - Canadian expedition to study the Alpha Ridge complex: results of the seismic refraction survey
/ref> running generally parallel to each other. The 1983 Canadian Expedition to Study the Alpha Ridge (CESAR) seemed to establish that the Alpha Ridge is an extension of the continent from Ellesmere Island and hence there is a possibility that Canada may lay claim to the resource rights for the region, in particular for

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

, according to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Law of the Sea Law of the sea (or ocean law) is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of State (polity), states in Ocean, maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters juris ...

. There is no final conclusion to the issue so far, and part of the research planned for the European Drilling Research Icebreaker (''

Aurora Borealis An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

'') was drilling of the Alpha Ridge to collect more data. Other research suggests that the ridge is probably a result of the oceanic mode of development.D.A. Forsyth, I. Asudeh, A. G. Green and H. R. Jackson, Crustal structure of the northern Alpha Ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean, ''Nature'' 322, 349 - 352 (24 July 1986); The Strand Fiord Formation on northwestern and west-central

Axel Heiberg Island Axel Heiberg Island (, ) is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 32nd largest island in the world and Canada's seventh largest island. According to Statistics Canada, it ha ...

is interpreted to represent the cratonward extension of the Alpha Ridge.Volcanic style in the Strand Fiord Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Retrieved on 2007-08-15 The Alpha Ridge is part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province.

References

J.R. Weber, Maps of the Arctic Basin Sea FloorPart II: Bathymetry and Gravity of the Alpha Ridge: The 1983 CESAR Expedition

External links

* {{coord, 84, N, 97, W, dim:1000000, display=title Underwater ridges of the Arctic Ocean Volcanism of the Arctic Ocean Volcanism of Nunavut

See also

References

External links