It is located about 130 miles (110 nmi; 210 km) west of Portugal, between the Azores and the Strait of Gibraltar along the Azores–Gibraltar fault zone.

This produced extensive maps of the more shallow areas, but deep-ocean work was hampered by lack of robust equipment.

In 1872, English scientist Sir William Thomson invented a wire-based depth-sounding mechanism which was a significant improvement over rope-type equipment used previously.

This Thomson Sounding Machine made its first discovery in 1874, of several seamounts in the Pacific Ocean west of the Hawaiian Islands.

In June 2005, the Oceana Organization mounted an extensive exploration of the biota on Gorringe Ridge's two largest peaks.

[8] Modern seismologists who studied the cause of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the resulting tsunami initially suspected a displacement in the Gorringe Ridge, but later concluded that there was a simultaneous event involving two separate faults along the African Plate boundary, both faults displacing by around 20 m (66 ft).

[9] The Gorringe Ridge is a particular and unique site for having an enormous diversity of habitats and species - namely corals, such as gorgonians and deep-sea sponges.