Seafloor Spreading
Seafloor spreading, a fundamental geophysical process, shapes the Earth's crust and underlies the dynamic nature of our planet's surface. Occurring along mid-ocean ridges, this phenomenon involves the divergence of tectonic plates, leading to the creation of new oceanic crust. As magma rises from the mantle, it solidifies upon reaching the seafloor, continuously pushing the existing plates apart. First proposed by geophysicists Harry Hess and Robert Dietz in the early 1960s, seafloor spreading provides a key insight into plate tectonics, offering a comprehensive understanding of the Earth's ever-changing geological landscape.
Questions
- How is lava produced at a mid-ocean ridge?
- What is a mid-ocean ridge?
- How does seafloor spreading cause continents to drift?
- How do differences in density and temperature cause sea-floor spreading and subduction?
- How are plate tectonics and seafloor spreading related?
- How are the reversals of the earth's magnetic field recorded on the seafloor?
- Where does seafloor spreading occur?
- What is the basic cause of the physical events that characterize the Ring of Fire?
- How are plate tectonics and seafloor spreading related?
- How can seafloor spreading be detected?
- Where are the oldest parts of the oceanic crust found?
- Why is the seafloor crust younger than the continental crust?
- How is the Earth's crust changing and how do we know?
- Which seismic wave travels fastest?
- What are some of the main mid-ocean ridges on earth?
- What are the features of the North Pacific Ocean basin described in terms of seafloor spreading?
- Suppose you are studying the motion of one of Earth's plates. What units would you probabiy use to describe its speed?
- Why is old oceanic crust more dense than new oceanic crust?
- What happens along a transform plate boundary?
- What does a subducting oceanic plate do?