The Ninety East Ridge (90° East Ridge) is located in which of the following oceans?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, Indian Ocean. The Ninety East Ridge is one of the longest and straightest submarine ridges on Earth, running roughly north-south along the 90°E meridian across the floor of the Indian Ocean, from the Bay of Bengal southward past Sri Lanka toward the Kerguelen Plateau area. It formed as the Indian Plate drifted northward over the Kerguelen hotspot.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The Arctic Ocean's notable submarine feature is the Lomonosov Ridge, not the Ninety East Ridge.  (b) The Atlantic's defining submarine feature is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent plate boundary — a different ridge system.  (c) The Pacific's major submarine rise is the East Pacific Rise; the Ninety East Ridge is specific to the Indian Ocean floor.

Concept: The Ninety East Ridge is a hotspot-trail submarine ridge on the Indian Ocean floor, formed as the Indian Plate moved north over the stationary Kerguelen hotspot — the same hotspot volcanism linked to the Kerguelen Plateau. It runs for thousands of kilometres roughly along the 90°E meridian.

State PCS 2022 Q58 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2022 Q58 — Geography PYQ with Answer