Sea Floor Spreading Science Project

Seafloor spreading is the mechanism for wegener s drifting continents.

Sea floor spreading science project. In the places where the plates are moving apart magma liquid rock moves up into the cracks and solidifies making a new ocean floor just like cake batter would ooze up through. These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined and they show that rates. Click here if you are a student at snowflake heber or holbrook to access the susd5 student version of seafloor spreading assignment. In this section we are going to take alfred wegener s thoughts a little further.

Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. Click here to view all details of this science project cached view 3rd party site description. Purchase this seafloor spreading activity at teachers pay teachers for 1 50 cents. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them.

Let s explore another idea called seafloor spreading. In this experiment you ll make a seafloor spreading model to learn more about how plate tectonics work and create mid ocean ridges. Illustrate sea floor spreading and subduction by building a model. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics which revolutionized geologic thought during the last quarter of the 20th century.

Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading. The magnetism of mid ocean ridges helped scientists first identify the process of seafloor spreading in the early 20th century. Convection currents within the mantle take the continents on a conveyor belt ride of oceanic crust that over millions of years takes them around the planet s surface. Sea floor spreading happens at places where plates are moving away from each other and where the liquid rock from the asthenosphere can come up to the lithosphere.