Seafloor Spreading Explained

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 explained.

The seafloor moves and carries continents with it. This video goes over the process of sea floor spreading and the evidence that supports this theory. The process of sea floor spreading. Seafloor spreading helps to explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics.

Free background music no copyright music brvtvs dead times freebackgroundmusic webs. The oceanic crust is composed of rocks that move away from the ridge as new crust is being formed. Seafloor spreading happens at the bottom of an ocean as tectonic plates move apart. 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 formation of the new crust is due to the rising of the molten material magma from the mantle by convection current. At ridges in the middle of oceans new oceanic crust is created. Mantle convection is the slow churning motion of earth s mantle. Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection.

The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created. These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined and they show that rates. The process begins when the crust is heated from beneath by upwelling in the mantle sometimes called a mantle plume. Its discovery provided a mechanism for continental drift that alfred wegener could not explain.

When oceanic plates diverge tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. Seafloor spreading is a part of plate tectonics. Convection currents also recycle lithospheric materials back to the mantle. 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.

This creates a three armed rift called a triple junction usually with each rift at a. Seafloor spreading is a constant geologic phenomenon and a primary driver of continental drift. Convection currents carry heat from the lower mantle and core to the lithosphere.