Diagram Of The Sea Floor Spreading

In seafloor spreading.

Diagram of the sea floor spreading.

The mid ocean ridge curves like the seams of a baseball along the sea floor extending into all of earth s oceans. Seafloor spreading is the continuous process of forming new igneous rock at midocean ridges by injection of magma that forms new seafloor. Thus for fast spreading centers the ridge stands at higher elevations than for slow spreading centers. Sea floor topography is controlled by the age of the oceanic lithosphere and the rate of spreading.

Magma molten rock withing the earth s mantle. Lower mantle semi rigid the deepest parts of the mantle just above the core. 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. Learn vocabulary terms and more with flashcards games and other study tools.

The process is continuous because forces cause opposite sides of the midocean ridge to constantly move apart making new room for the process to repeat. Start studying sea floor spreading 3 2. If the spreading rate relative velocity is high magma must be rising rapidly and the lithosphere is relatively hot beneath the ridge. 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. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them. Sea floor spreading powerpoint 1. This diagram provides evidence of seafloor spreading by showing the ages of ocean floor in the atlantic and eastern pacific oceans.

Lithosphere the crust plus the rigid upper mantle. The red colors are the youngest parts of the seafloor where fresh new crust is formed as lava seeps up from the deep interior of the earth at spreading ridges as new crust forms at these spreading ridges older crust colored green in the diagram moves away from. 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 rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow.

Read the definitions below then label the seafloor spreading plate divergence diagram. Enjoy the videos and music you love upload original content and share it all with friends family and the world on youtube. Most of the mountains in the mid ocean ridge lie hidden under hundreds of meters of.