Ridge push is a driving force for plate motion in plate tectonics that occurs at mid-ocean ridges as a result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges. It is also known as gravitational sliding or sliding plate force. The following are key points about ridge push:

• Ridge push is the result of gravitational forces acting on the young, raised oceanic lithosphere around mid-ocean ridges, causing it to slide down the similarly raised but weaker asthenosphere and push on lithospheric material farther from the ridges.

• Ridge push is caused by the excess height of the mid-ocean ridge, which exerts pressure on the lithosphere.

• Research indicates that the driving stresses caused by ridge push would be dissipated by faulting and earthquakes in plate material containing large quantities of unbound water, but they conclude that ridge push is still a significant driving force in existing plates because of the rarity of intraplate earthquakes in the ocean.

• In plates with particularly small or young subducting slabs, ridge push may be the predominant driving force in the plates motion.

• Ridge push is one of the driving forces behind plate movement in the theory of plate tectonics.

• Ridge push is just another source of buoyancy acting over the entire surface area of oceanic plates. It arises from the cooling and thickening of the oceanic lithosphere.

In summary, ridge push is a driving force for plate motion in plate tectonics that occurs at mid-ocean ridges as a result of the rigid lithosphere sliding down the hot, raised asthenosphere below mid-ocean ridges. It is caused by the excess height of the mid-ocean ridge, which exerts pressure on the lithosphere. Ridge push is one of the driving forces behind plate movement in the theory of plate tectonics.