What are the 4 steps of seafloor spreading?
Terms in this set (7)
- Magma comes out of the rift valley.
- Magma cools to rock and hardens.
- Rock is pushed away as new rock is formed at MOR.
- Oceanic crust and continental crust meet at the trench.
- Oceanic crust bends down under the continental crust.
- Gravity pulls rock towards mantle.
- Rock melts to mantle.
What is the sea floor spreading theory?
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.
What are the three types of sea floor spreading?
There are three types of plate-plate interactions based upon relative motion: convergent, where plates collide, divergent, where plates separate, and transform motion, where plates simply slide past each other.
Does seafloor spreading and subduction work together to move the plates?
Sea-floor spreading and subduction work together. They move the ocean floor as if it were on a giant conveyor belt. The process of subduction and sea-floor spreading can change the size and shape of the oceans. Because of these processes, the ocean floor is renewed about every 200 million years.
Which is the first step in the sea floor spreading process?
1. A long crack in the oceanic crust forms at a mid ocean ridge. 2. Molten material rises and erupts along the ridge.
What is sea floor spreading and why is it a key to understanding the theory of plate tectonics?
Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. At a spreading center, basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new seabed.
Why is sea floor spreading important?
Significance. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. Older rocks will be found farther away from the spreading zone while younger rocks will be found nearer to the spreading zone.
What happens during sea-floor spreading?
Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries. As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the mantle’s convection currents makes the crust more plastic and less dense. The less-dense material rises, often forming a mountain or elevated area of the seafloor. Eventually, the crust cracks.
What happens when seafloor spreading becomes faster than subduction?
What happens when subduction becomes faster than seafloor spreading? At subduction zones, the edge of the denser plate subducts, or slides, beneath the less-dense one. The denser lithospheric material then melts back into the Earth’s mantle. Seafloor spreading creates new crust.
What happens during sea floor spreading?
Seafloor spreading is a constant geologic phenomenon and a primary driver of continental drift. The process begins when the crust is heated from beneath by upwelling in the mantle, sometimes called a mantle plume. This creates a three-armed rift called a triple junction, usually with each rift at a 120° angle to the rest.
What is sea floor spreading and why is it important?
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. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of plate tectonics, a theory that revolutionized geologic thought during the last quarter of the 20th century.
What are facts about seafloor spreading?
What Happens During the Process of Seafloor Spreading? History. Scientists originally believed that drifting was an occurrence exclusive to continents through continental drifts. Geographic Features. The process of seafloor spreading leads to the formation of numerous geographical features which can be terrestrial, sub-terrestrial, or marine features. Mid-Ocean Ridges.
Which is a result of seafloor spreading?
Seafloor spreading is credited for the formation of the Red Sea as a result of the movement of the Arabian and African tectonic plates away from each other. Seafloor spreading is a geological process which involves the splitting of tectonic plates and their movement away from each other.