The Indian Ocean is one of the largest oceanic divisions in the world which has approximately 20% of the water on the Earth. This ocean has majority of active spreading ridges of the worldwide system of mid-ocean ridges. This makes it the hotspot for the geological community.
What is Ninety East Ridge?
The Ninety East Ridge is a one-dimensional structure situated on the floor of Indian Ocean. This ridge is 5000 km long and 200 m wide which is stretches from the Bay of Bengal to the Southeast Indian Ridge.
This landform is named as the 'Ninety East Ridge' because it is located near the spot where parallel strike along the 90th meridian at the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere. This is one of the important relief features of the Indian Ocean because it divides the Indian ocean into West and East Indian Ocean.
What is the composition of the Ninety East Ridge?
The relief features of the Ocean are linear, age-progressive ocean island–Seamount chains and volcanic aseismic ridges across the ocean floor. According to the Geologists, this ridge is composed of sub-alkaline basalt rock. Recently, Geologist has stated that the ridge contains 984 foot thick layer of sediment and the rocks of the ridge is categorised as pelagic (relating to or occurring or living in or frequenting the open ocean).
How does the Ninety East Ridge formed?
There are several theories regarding the formation of the Ninety East Ridge. But widely accepted theory of the formation was that, it was created by the northward movement of Indo-Australian Plate around 43.2 million years ago. This postulate was also accepted by the Geologists who analyse the Rajmahal Traps and the Kerguelen Plateau.
Some Geologist states that it was formed from magmatism associated with the deep-seated Kerguelen mantle plume as the Indian plate drifted rapidly northward during the Late Cretaceous. Some Geologist believes that it was formed by the volcanism which was erupted below the Indian plate during the Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic. However, the Ninety East Ridge is still topic of debate in the geologic community.
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