Sea Floor Spreading Separating Tectonic Plates

As upwelling of magma continues the plates continue to diverge a process known as seafloor spreading.

Sea floor spreading separating tectonic plates.

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 helps to explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. 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 is massive with an estimated area of 63 8 million square miles and an average depth of 13 000 feet.

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 slab pull at subduction zones rather than magma pressure although there is typically. Morgan later outlined the theory in 1968. Plate tectonics it was from the continental drift theory convection current theory and the theory of seafloor spreading the theory of plate tectonics was formulated.

One important way in which dietz s theory of sea floor spreading differed from hess was that dietz correctly surmised that the lithosphere was moving on top of the plastic asthenosphere with the convection currents where as hess suggested the the base of the crust was moving with currents. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. Enjoy the videos and music you love upload original content and share it all with friends family and the world on youtube. In 1967 mckenzie and parker suggested the theory of plate tectonics.

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. The pacific ocean is the world s largest ocean. To a first approximation the surface of the earth can be regarded as being composed of a number of rigid crustal. Image of sea floor spreading 1.

The theory may be stated simply as follows. Plate tectonics plate tectonics seafloor spreading. It makes up 28 of the earth s surface and is home to the world s deepest oceanic trench the mariana trench. But the pacific ocean is slowly shrinking at a rate of 0 5 square kilometers 0 19 square miles per year due to plate tectonics.

Isacks et al 1968. Le pichon 1968 have led to a fundamental new approach to many geologic problems. When oceanic plates diverge tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. The hypotheses of sea floor spreading hess 1968.