Define Seafloor Spreading And Ocean Ridge

N a series of processes in which new oceanic lithosphere is created at oceanic ridges spreads away from the ridges and returns to the earth s interior.

Define seafloor spreading and ocean ridge. First proposed in the early 1960s by the american geologist harry h. 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. Seafloor spreading synonyms seafloor spreading pronunciation seafloor spreading translation english dictionary definition of seafloor spreading. The oceanic crust is composed of rocks that move away from the ridge as new crust is being formed.

Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. Seafloor spreading ridge synonyms seafloor spreading ridge pronunciation seafloor spreading ridge translation english dictionary definition of seafloor spreading ridge.

The mid ocean ridge is the region where new oceanic crust is created. A mid ocean ridge mor is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics it typically has a depth of 2 600 meters 8 500 ft and rises about two kilometers above the deepest portion of an ocean basin this feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a divergent plate boundary the rate of seafloor spreading determines the morphology of the crest of the mid ocean ridge and its. The process of sea floor spreading. 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.

Define seafloor spreading ridge. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones known collectively as the mid ocean ridge system and spreads out laterally away from them. Seafloor spreading theory of lithospheric evolution that holds that the ocean floors are spreading outward from vast underwater ridges. Hess its major tenets gave great support to the theory of continental drift continental drift geological theory that the relative positions of the continents on the earth s surface have.

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. 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.