The mid-ocean ridges on the ocean floor form a 60,000 km long volcano

Lo' ihi, the youngest Hawaiian volcano is presently about 1 km below sea level, but it is already 3-4 km high from the ocean floor.

About 2.4 cubic miles of new oceanic crust is created each year

100 times the volume of lava erupted by Kilauea each year is created at mid-ocean ridges.

Mid-ocean ridges are divided into these groups based on their spreading rates:

Slow: 1-5 cm/yr total opening rate

Medium: 5-10 cm/yr total opening rate

Fast: 10-20 cm/yr total opening rate

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