▁Lam ont - D oh ert y ▁Earth ▁Observ atory ▁of ▁Columbia ▁University , ▁travers ed ▁the ▁Atlantic ▁Ocean , ▁recording ▁echo ▁sound er ▁data ▁on ▁the ▁depth ▁of ▁the ▁ocean ▁floor . ▁A ▁team ▁led ▁by ▁Marie ▁Th arp ▁and ▁Bruce ▁He e zen ▁concluded ▁that ▁there ▁was ▁an ▁enorm ous ▁mountain ▁chain ▁with ▁a ▁r ift ▁valley ▁at ▁its ▁cr est , ▁running ▁up ▁the ▁middle ▁of ▁the ▁Atlantic ▁Ocean . ▁Scient ists ▁named ▁it ▁the ▁' M id - At l antic ▁R idge '. ▁Other ▁research ▁showed ▁that ▁the ▁r idge ▁cr est ▁was ▁se ism ically ▁active ▁and ▁fresh ▁la vas ▁were ▁found ▁in ▁the ▁r ift ▁valley . ▁In ▁addition , ▁cr ust al ▁heat ▁flow ▁was ▁higher ▁here ▁than ▁elsewhere ▁in ▁the ▁Atlantic ▁Ocean ▁bas in . ▁ ▁At ▁first , ▁the ▁r idge ▁was ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁feature ▁specific ▁to ▁the ▁Atlantic ▁Ocean . ▁However , ▁as ▁surve ys ▁of ▁the ▁ocean ▁floor ▁continued ▁around ▁the ▁world , ▁it ▁was ▁discovered ▁that ▁every ▁ocean ▁contains ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁mid - o cean ▁r idge ▁system . ▁The ▁German ▁Meteor ▁expedition ▁trac ed ▁the ▁mid - o cean ▁r idge ▁from ▁the ▁South ▁Atlantic ▁into ▁the ▁Indian ▁Ocean ▁early ▁in ▁the ▁tw enti eth ▁century . ▁Although ▁the ▁first - dis cover ed ▁section ▁of ▁the ▁r idge ▁system ▁runs ▁down ▁the ▁middle ▁of ▁the ▁Atlantic ▁Ocean , ▁it ▁was ▁found ▁that ▁most ▁mid - o cean ▁rid ges ▁are ▁located ▁away ▁from ▁the ▁center