Sea Floor Spreading National Geographic

Seafloor spreading proves that the ocean itself is a site of tectonic activity.

Sea floor spreading national geographic. This records that there is a constant movement and spreading of rocks on the ocean floor. Supporters of continental drift originally theorized that the continents moved drifted through unmoving oceans. Britannica national geographic photo by. 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.

It was concluded that the sea floor is composed of different rocks according to ages and that they are positioned equally in opposite directions. As buoyant molten rock rises up from deep within earth it emerges from the space between spreading tectonic plates and hardens creating a ridge. April 21 2011 scientists use cameras and sonar near the u s. 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 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. Virgin islands to see the seafloor and find out how fish and other sea life use the underwa. The following features are shown at example depths to scale though each feature has a considerable range at which it may occur.

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.