The AVR widens and narrows along its length, but is typically a few kilometers wide and about 150 m high. Seamounts are scattered along it. The volcanic morphology of the AVR is relatively unfaulted, suggesting that eruptions here keep pace with tectonic deformation caused by seafloor spreading. The central topographic low that runs along the center of the segment is highly fissured and faulted. In some places volcanic features mask the faults and fissures, suggesting recent construction.
Illumination is from the right.
The along-axis orientation of the ridge mimics neighboring faults and fissures, and it is inferred to have erupted from similar fissures. The smooth, unfaulted flows surrounding the ridge are interpreted to be part of the eruption that built the ridge. These flows cover pre-existing faults and fissures. This implies that other variables play a major role in controlling the small-scale morphology of these segments. Where the dike breaches the surface, a fissure eruption occurs.