Sea Floor Spreading Prosses

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

Sea floor spreading prosses.

The formation of the new crust is due to the rising of the molten material magma from the mantle by convection current. The process of seafloor spreading leads to the formation of numerous geographical features which can be terrestrial sub terrestrial or marine features. The differences in spreading rates affect not only the geometries of the ridges but also the geochemistry of the basalts that are produced. As upwelling of magma continues the plates continue to diverge a process known as seafloor spreading 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.

Seafloor spreading is credited for the formation of the red sea as a result of the movement of the arabian and african tectonic plates away from each other. See also continental drift a veritable legion of evidence supports the seafloor spreading hypothesis. Since the new oceanic basins are shallower than the old oceanic basins the total capacity of the world s ocean basins decreases during times of active sea floor spreading. The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created.

Wherever continents are bordered by deep sea trench systems as in the pacific ocean the ocean floor is plunged downward underthrusting the continents and ultimately reentering and dissolving in earth s mantle from which it had originated. The oceanic crust is composed of rocks that move away from the ridge as new crust is being formed.