East Pacific Rise

Approximate surface projection on Pacific Ocean of East Pacific Rise (purple). In some usage this continues as the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (violet). Features associated with fracture zones (orange) are also shown (lighter orange). Click to expand map to obtain interactive fracture zone details.^[1]

The East Pacific Rise (EPR) is a mid-ocean rise (usually termed an oceanic rise and not a mid-ocean ridge due to its higher rate of spreading that results in less elevation increase and more regular terrain), at a divergent tectonic plate boundary, located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific plate to the west from (north to south) the North American plate, the Rivera plate, the Cocos plate, the Nazca plate, and the Antarctic plate. It runs south from the Gulf of California in the Salton Sea basin in Southern California to a point near 55°S 130°W / 55°S 130°W / -55; -130, where it joins the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (PAR) trending west-south-west towards Antarctica, near New Zealand (though in some uses the PAR is regarded as the southern section of the EPR). Much of the rise lies about 3,200 km (2,000 mi) off the South American coast and reaches a height about 1,800–2,700 m (5,900–8,900 ft) above the surrounding seafloor.