Sea Floor Spreading Definition Short

Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them.

Sea floor spreading definition short.

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. The rate at which new oceanic lithosphere is added to each tectonic plate on either side of a mid ocean ridge is the spreading half rate and is equal to half of the spreading rate. 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. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow.

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 seafloor moves and carries continents with it. 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. Sea floor spreading synonyms sea floor spreading pronunciation sea floor spreading translation english dictionary definition of sea floor spreading.

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. Because of these processes the ocean floor is renewed about every 200 million years. The process of subduction and sea floor spreading can change the size and shape of the oceans. 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.

Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading. 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. That means the rock in the center is the youngest. At ridges in the middle of oceans new oceanic crust is created.

That is the time it takes for new rock to form at the mid ocean ridge move atoss the ocean and sink into a trench. Seafloor spreading happens at the bottom of an ocean as tectonic plates move apart.