Sea Floor Spreading Made Easy

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Sea floor spreading made easy.

Sea floor spreading made easy geological society of america. For this activity you will need to work with a partner or in a group of 3. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. The seafloor moves and carries continents with it.

It includes background material explaining the layers of earth. 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. Follow the instructions on the student worksheet to help get you started with this activity. Sea floor spreading made easy.

This activity which can be performed by the teacher and an assistant or by students working in pairs shows the mechanism of seafloor spreading. The formation of the new crust is due to the rising of the molten material magma from the mantle by convection current. Two pieces of paper are pulled apart from between two desks or tables while one student marks the pages with bands of color to represent areas of reversed and normal magnetic polarity. Sea floor spreading made easy.

The process of sea floor spreading. Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading. The oceanic crust is composed of rocks that move away from the ridge as new crust is being formed. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them.

The motivating force for seafloor spreading ridges is tectonic plate pull rather than magma pressure although there is typically significant magma activity at spreading ridges. Show more documents. The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created. 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.

During this activity you will investigate sea floor spreading and magnetic reversals. At ridges in the middle of oceans new oceanic crust is created. Once you have read through the directions and are ready to. In 1912 when alfred wegener proposed that the continents had once been joined together and had split apart the biggest weakness in his hypothesis was the.

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. This activity which can be performed by the teacher and an assistant or by students working in pairs shows the mechanism of seafloor spreading. Seafloor spreading happens at the bottom of an ocean as tectonic plates move apart. Sea floor spreading made easy geological society of america.