It extends from the eastern end of the Clipperton fracture zone northeastward toward Mexico into Chiapas and El Chichón[3] until it is subducted into the Middle America Trench.
Current research indicates that the ridge was formed as a fracture zone and transform fault along the East Pacific Rise.
As a result of a change in the motion of the Pacific plate about 13 million years ago, there was also a change in the orientation of the East Pacific Rise, which in turn reoriented the fracture zone, creating the current alignment that is today's Clipperton Fracture Zone.
Some researchers have hypothesized that the subducted portion of the Tehuantepec Ridge under Mexico is responsible for the existence of El Chichón volcano as well as the other volcanoes of what is called the Chiapanecan Volcanic Arc.
The anomaly is thought to result from the distinctive composition of the rocks which comprise the Tehuantepec Ridge.