EXPLORING MAR

My quest to explore part of the longest mountain chain in the world, “MAR”, the Mid Atlantic Ridge, can officially go down in the history books!  Now there is still over 25,000 miles to explore across the ocean floor but this amazing experience will suffice for now.

After a full day of exploring several amazing natural features that the country has to offer, I could not wait to get out of the car and explore when we arrived at this breathtaking location! I found myself surrounded by black sand as we explored the rift between the North American and Eurasian Plates.  Yes, plate tectonics!  While this place was breathtaking, it is still actively drifting apart (diverging) at a rate of about three millimeters each year. 

There is a bridge that you can walk across representing the connection between Europe and North America. 

The MAR’s deep rift valley crest marks the location where the two plates are moving apart.

There are so many neat things to see that tangibly connect what you read in books to reality.  Just go outside and explore.

Places like this should remind us all just how special and precious our planet is.  As inhabitants of this planet, we have to responsibly care for it.