National geographic society jeanna sullivan national.
Sea floor spreading national geographic.
April 21 2011 scientists use cameras and sonar near the u s.
Britannica national geographic photo by.
As buoyant molten rock rises up from deep within earth it emerges from the space between spreading tectonic plates and hardens creating a ridge.
The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur.
This graphic shows several ocean floor features on a scale from 0 35 000 feet below sea level.
Continental shelf 300 feet continental slope 300 10 000 feet abyssal plain 10 000 feet abyssal hill 3 000 feet up from the abyssal plain seamount 6 000 feet.
Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.
Keeping earth in shape seafloor spreading is just one part of plate.
Supporters of continental drift originally theorized that the continents moved drifted through unmoving oceans.
Virgin islands to see the seafloor and find out how fish and other sea life use the underwa.
Seafloor spreading proves that the ocean itself is a site of tectonic activity.
Seafloor spreading disproves an early part of the theory of continental drift.
Plate tectonics also explains the stripes of rock on the seafloor with alternating magnetic properties.