Seafloor Spreading Theory By Harry Hess

Harry hammond hess may 24 1906 august 25 1969 was an american geologist and a united states navy officer in world war ii who is considered one of the founding fathers of the unifying theory of plate tectonics he is best known for his theories on sea floor spreading specifically work on relationships between island arcs seafloor gravity anomalies and serpentinized peridotite.

Seafloor spreading theory by harry hess.

Harry hess 1906 1969 in his navy uniform as captain of the assault transport cape johnson during world war ii. And alfred wegener was. With the discovery of plate tectonics and the mapping of the earth. Harry hess was right.

The seafloor spreading hypothesis was proposed by the american geophysicist harry h. Harry hess published the history of ocean basins in 1962 outlining a theory of how tectonic plates can move which was later called sea floor spreading. If spreading continues past the incipient stage described above two of the rift arms will open while the third arm stops opening and becomes a failed rift or aulacogen. Harry hess argues that the continents had once been one and have drifted apart.

Seafloor spreading was proposed by an american geophysicist harry h. Hess theory was that new seafloor is formed when magma is forced upward toward the surface at a mid ocean ridge. After the war he remained active in the naval reserve reaching the rank of rear admiral. It was determined that the seafloor basalt is youngest at mid ocean ridges and oldest adjacent to continents.

On the basis of tharp s efforts and other new discoveries about the deep ocean floor hess postulated that molten material from earth s mantle continuously wells up along the crests of the mid ocean ridges that wind for nearly 80 000 km. Seafloor spreading had been proved.