The Theory Of Ocean Floor Spreading Was Developed By

Ocean basins get narrower as a result of seafloor spreading.

The theory of ocean floor spreading was developed by. The magnetism of mid ocean ridges helped scientists first identify the process of seafloor spreading in the early 20th century. The features mapped on the ocean floor disproved continental drift. Seafloor spreading brings them together. Basalt the once molten rock that makes up most new oceanic crust is a fairly magnetic substance and scientists began using magnetometers to measure the magnetism of the ocean floor in the 1950s what they discovered was that the magnetism of the ocean floor around.

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. With seafloor spreading the continents did not have to push through the ocean floor but were carried along as the ocean floor spread from the ridges. Who proposed the theory of seafloor spreading based on maps of the ocean floor. 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.

Ocean floor is created by the process of subduction. Why was the mapping of the ocean floor such an important step in the development of plate tectonic theory. But tharp s discovery of the 10 000 mile long mid atlantic ridge a find that showed that the sea floor was spreading was initially dismissed as girl talk. These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be determined and they show that rates.

Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. But his theory was. Subduction causes continents to move apart. To keep the earth s surface area constant the amount of seafloor spreading must equal the amount of subduction.

His book the origin of continents and oceans was originally published in germany in 1929 and was instrumental in the development of the theory of seafloor spreading. Alfred wegener was born in berlin germany on november 1 1880. In 1962 hess was well aware that solid evidence was still lacking to test his hypothesis and to convince a more receptive but still skeptical scientific community. He spent a great deal of time in greenland as part of several exploration and research expeditions.

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.