Define Sea Floor Spreading

Seafloor definition the solid surface underlying a sea or an ocean.

Define sea floor spreading. 2020 for phase one of the underwater data center experimentation. 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. The formation of the new crust is due to the rising of the molten material magma from the mantle by convection current. Seafloor spreading definition is the divergence at mid ocean ridges of the tectonic plates underlying the oceans that is due to upwelling from the earth s interior of magma which solidifies and adds to the spreading plates.

The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created. Recent examples on the web floating near the shipping lanes of the santa barbara channel the buoy is attached to an underwater microphone known as a hydrophone positioned 200 meters deep on the seafloor. Seafloor spreading definition a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth s mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out. 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.

The seafloor moves and carries continents with it. In the theory of plate tectonics the process by which new oceanic crust is formed by the convective upwelling of magma at mid ocean ridges resulting in. Matt simon wired want to save the whales eavesdrop on their calls 17 sep. Seafloor spreading happens at the bottom of an ocean as tectonic plates move apart.

The oceanic crust is composed of rocks that move away from the ridge as new crust is being formed. The process of sea floor spreading. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them. Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid ocean ridges where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.

Sea floor spreading synonyms sea floor spreading pronunciation sea floor spreading translation english dictionary definition of sea floor spreading. Earlier theories by alfred wegener and alexander du toit of continental drift postulated that. 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.