Sea Floor Spreading On The Earth

The oldest crust is coldest and lies deepest.

Sea floor spreading on the earth. Seafloor spreading is a geologic process in which tectonic plate s large slabs of earth s lithosphere split apart from each other. In this section we are going to take alfred wegener s thoughts a little further. Hess s discovery on the warmer temperature near the mid atlantic ridge when he began the ocean. 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.

Click here if you are a student at snowflake heber or holbrook to access the susd5 student version of seafloor spreading assignment. 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. Let s explore another idea called seafloor spreading. 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.

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. Purchase this seafloor spreading activity at teachers pay teachers for 1 50 cents. To keep the earth s surface area constant the amount of seafloor spreading must equal the amount of subduction. It creates a pattern of alternating rock stripes on both sides of a mid ocean ridge.

Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them. Oceanic crust is continually produced by magma welling up along the centerlines of the mid ocean ridges. Ocean basins get narrower as a result of seafloor spreading. Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection.

Radiometric age dating. If the oceanic crust reaches a deep sea trench it sinks into the trench and is lost into the mantle. Seafloor spreading as upwelling of magma continues the plates continue to diverge a process known as seafloor spreading. The seafloor drilling system led to the evidence that supports the seafloor spreading hypothesis.

Evidence of sea floor spreading 1. Seafloor spreading brings them together. Mantle convection is the slow churn ing motion of earth s mantle. How does earth s magnetic field provide evidence for seafloor spreading.