Sea Floor Spreading On The Earth

Sea floor spreading is driven by crust formation along the mid ocean ridges meandering undersea mountain ranges that span earth like the seams of a baseball.

Sea floor spreading on the earth.

Samples collected from the ocean floor show that the age of oceanic crust increases with distance from the spreading centre important evidence in favour of this process. Subduction causes continents to move apart. The seafloor spreading hypothesis as oceanic crust forms and spreads moving away from the ridge crest it pushes the continent away from the ridge axis. To keep the earth s surface area constant the amount of seafloor spreading must equal the amount of subduction.

Seafloor spreading is a geologic process in which tectonic plate s large slabs of earth s lithosphere split apart from each other. Oceanic crust is continually produced by magma welling up along the centerlines of the mid ocean ridges. How does earth s magnetic field provide evidence for seafloor spreading. If the oceanic crust reaches a deep sea trench it sinks into the trench and is lost into the mantle.

Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection. Radiometric age dating. Hess s discovery on the warmer temperature near the mid atlantic ridge when he began the ocean. Seafloor spreading as upwelling of magma continues the plates continue to diverge a process known as seafloor spreading.

Let s explore another idea called seafloor spreading. Mantle convection is the slow churn ing motion of earth s mantle. Evidence of sea floor spreading 1. In this section we are going to take alfred wegener s thoughts a little further.

Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them. Ocean basins get narrower as a result of seafloor spreading. The seafloor drilling system led to the evidence that supports the seafloor spreading hypothesis. It creates a pattern of alternating rock stripes on both sides of a mid ocean ridge.

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. Click here if you are a student at snowflake heber or holbrook to access the susd5 student version of seafloor spreading assignment. Seafloor spreading brings them together. Ocean floor is created by the process of subduction.