Final answer:
The claim that mid-ocean ridges occupy only 10% of the deep ocean basin is false; they occupy about 23% of Earth's surface. They are a major feature created by seafloor spreading at divergent plate boundaries. The total area of new ocean floor created in the Atlantic each century is 25 square kilometers, calculated by the movement rates of tectonic plates.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement about mid-ocean ridges occupying a small portion of the deep ocean basin, only around 10%, is false. Mid-ocean ridges actually occupy about 23% of the Earth's surface, making them the largest single volcanic feature on the planet. They are formed by the process of seafloor spreading at divergent plate boundaries, where plates move apart from each other, and molten rock rises to create new oceanic crust.
To calculate the total area of new ocean floor created in the Atlantic each century, we can use the information provided: Europe and North America are moving apart at a rate of about 5 meters per century along the 5000 km long mid-Atlantic Rift. Therefore, the area of new ocean floor would be the width of the rift (5 meters) times its length (5000 km). First, we must convert the length from kilometers to meters by multiplying by 1000 (as 1 km = 1000 m), giving us 5,000,000 meters. Multiplying the width by the length (5 m × 5,000,000 m), we find that 25,000,000 square meters, or 25 square kilometers, of new ocean floor is created each century along the mid-Atlantic Rift.