Sea Floor Spreading E

Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid ocean ridges where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.

Sea floor spreading e.

The mid atlantic ridge for instance separates the north american plate from the eurasian plate and the south american plate from the african plate the east pacific rise is a mid ocean ridge that runs through the eastern pacific ocean and separates the pacific plate from the north american. Further he claimed that continents would be pushed aside by the same forces that cause the ocean to grow. World war ii gave scientists the tools to find the mechanism for continental drift that had eluded wegener. The concept of sea floor spreading.

The process of sea floor spreading. Once the basalt cools completely into solid rock the. Seafloor spreading definition a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth s mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out. The formation of the new crust is due to the rising of the molten material magma from the mantle by convection current.

These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined and they show that rates. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them. The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created. Earlier theories by alfred wegener and alexander du toit of continental drift postulated that.

Maps and other data gathered during the war allowed scientists to develop the seafloor spreading hypothesis this hypothesis traces oceanic crust from its origin at a mid ocean ridge to its destruction at a deep sea trench and is the mechanism for continental drift. He suggested that new sea floor forms at the oceanic ridges and spread outwards from the line of origin. Their crystals are pulled into alignment by the earth s magnetic field just like a compass needle is pulled towards magnetic north. The oceanic crust is composed of rocks that move away from the ridge as new crust is being formed.

As magma starts to harden into rock iron rich minerals solidify first. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. The concept of seafloor spreading was put forward by h harry hess an american geologist.