Sea Floor Spreading Diagram

Schematic diagram showing the mechanism of seafloor spreading.

Sea floor spreading diagram.

Learn vocabulary terms and more with flashcards games and other study tools. History of study earlier theories by alfred wegener and alexander du toit of continental drift postulated that continents in motion plowed through the fixed and immovable seafloor. Select the letter that is true about the mid ocean ridge. The rising convectional currents continuously bang thick but strong oceanic sima crust and the hammering effect leads to the development of cracks joints fractures and disintegration of oceanic ridges.

Sea floor spreading in the early 1960s princeton geologist harry hess proposed the hypothesis of sea floor spreading in which basaltic magma from the mantle rises to create new ocean floor at mid ocean ridges. Read the definitions below then label the seafloor spreading plate divergence diagram. Start studying sea floor spreading 3 2. Lithosphere the crust plus the rigid upper mantle.

Start studying section 4. This diagram provides evidence of seafloor spreading by showing the ages of ocean floor in the atlantic and eastern pacific oceans. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor 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 rifting processes coinciding with the onset of a new spreading centre typically start with an upwelling of hot mantle rocks under continental lithosphere the heat leading to uplift and associated erosion.

Magma molten rock withing the earth s mantle. Ocean floor diagram worksheet. Figure showing sea floor spreading the intense heat generated by radioactive substances in the mantle beneath the lithosphere seeks a path to escape and forms convection currents. The size of an ocean is determined by how fast is created at a mid ocean ridge.

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. The mid ocean ridge was mapped by sonar b. Lower mantle semi rigid the deepest parts of the mantle just above the core.