Locations Of Sea Floor Spreading

Part a identifying locations of seafloor spreading please determine whether or not.

Locations of sea floor spreading. The depth age relation can be modeled by the cooling of a lithosphere plate or mantle half. 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 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. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.

On the ridge flanks the depth of the seafloor or the height of a location on a mid ocean ridge above a base level is correlated with its age age of the lithosphere where depth is measured. Seafloor spreading helps to explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. At the spreading center on a mid ocean ridge the depth of the seafloor is approximately 2 600 meters 8 500 ft. The formation of the new crust is due to the rising of the molten material magma from the mantle by convection current.

Lab activity 2 6 recognizing seafloor spreading there are several locations on the earth where seafloor spreading takes place. The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created. When oceanic plates diverge tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. You will differentiate between locations where seafloor spreading occurs and where it does not occur then relate the rate of plate movements to the rate of lithosphere creation.

The process of sea floor spreading. Plate tectonics theory dealing with the dynamics of earth s outer shell that revolutionized earth sciences by providing a uniform context for understanding mountain building processes volcanoes and earthquakes as well as the evolution of earth s surface and reconstructing its past continents and oceans.