The Sea Floor Spreading Hypothesis Is Supported By

Harry hess proposed the seafloor spreading hypothesis in 1960 published in 1962.

The sea floor spreading hypothesis is supported by. Sea floor spreading caused the break up of pangea which prompted wegener to add this in support of his continental drift theory. Seafloor spreading theory of lithospheric evolution that holds that the ocean floors are spreading outward from vast underwater ridges. Sea floor spreading is the phenomena of new sea floor being created through mid ocean ridges. Ocean floor is created by the process of subduction.

Hess its major tenets gave great support to the theory of continental drift continental drift geological theory that the relative positions of the continents on the earth s surface have. 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. It is the tectonic plates that move. 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.

Geophysicist frederick john vine and the canadian. According to hess seafloor was created at mid oceanic ridges by the convection of the earth s mantle pushing and spreading the older crust away from the ridge. First proposed in the early 1960s by the american geologist harry h. Ocean basins get narrower as a result of seafloor spreading.

Seafloor spreading helps to explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. Wegener proposed that the continents themselves move which is untrue. Harry hess s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. To keep the earth s surface area constant the amount of seafloor spreading must equal the amount of subduction.

Subduction causes continents to move apart. The term spreading of the seafloor was introduced by geophysicist robert s. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. Seafloor spreading brings them together.

These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined and they show that rates. Evidence of sea floor spreading. As upwelling of magma continues the plates continue to diverge a process known as seafloor spreading samples collected from the ocean floor show that the age of oceanic crust increases with distance from the spreading centre important evidence in favour of this process. The motivating force for seafloor spreading ridges is tectonic plate slab pull at subduction zones rather than magma pressure although there is typically.