The discovery of such magnetic stripes provided powerful evidence that sea-floor spreading occurs. The age of the sea-floor also supports sea-floor spreading. If sea-floor spreading operates, the youngest oceanic crust should be found at the ridges and progressively older crust should be found in moving away from the ridges towards the continents.
How did Harry Hess’s hypothesis about seafloor spreading support his theory?
Harry Hess’s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material, seafloor drilling, radiometric age dating and fossil ages, and the magnetic stripes. This evidence however was also used to support the Theory of Continental drift. 1.
What is seafloor spreading and why is it important?
Seafloor spreading leads to the renewal of the ocean floor in every 200 million years, a period of time for building a mid-ocean ridge, moving away across the ocean and subduction into a trench. The highly dense oceanic crust that is formed after a progressive spreading is destined to two possible occurrences.
What evidence was used to support the theory of continental drift?
This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material, seafloor drilling, radiometric age dating and fossil ages, and the magnetic stripes. This evidence however was also used to support the Theory of Continental drift. 1. Molten material
Why is the Atlantic Ocean expanding?
For instance, the Atlantic Ocean is believed to be expanding because of its few trenches. Due to this, continuous Seafloor spreading occurs and makes Atlantic Ocean floor to be connected to other continental crust making the ocean gets wider over the time.
What support the theory of seafloor spreading?
Seafloor drill The seafloor drilling system led to the evidence that supports the seafloor-spreading hypothesis. The samples obtained from the seafloor drill reveals that the rocks away from the mid-oceanic ridge were relatively older than the rocks near to it.
What older theory does seafloor spreading theory support explain why they are related?
Seafloor spreading disproves an early part of the theory of continental drift. Supporters of continental drift originally theorized that the continents moved (drifted) through unmoving oceans. Seafloor spreading proves that the ocean itself is a site of tectonic activity.
How seafloor spreads and the evidences supporting this theory?
The theory of seafloor spreading states that new ocean crust is continually being formed, and that this crust is slowly carried away from its point of origin over a period of time. The study of the repeated reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles over time has provided convincing evidence of seafloor spreading.
How does the pattern of the ages of rocks of the seafloor support the theory of plate tectonics?
The patterns of the ages of the rocks on the seafloor can tell us if the tectonic plates at the seafloor are spreading apart in a divergent boundary. The ages themselves tell us how long the spreading has occurred as well as how quickly the plates are moving apart.
How does the theory of plate tectonics support the theory of seafloor spreading quizlet?
Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics.
Who proposed the theory of seafloor spreading in 1960?
The idea that the seafloor itself moves and also carries the continents with it as it spreads from a central rift axis was proposed by Harold Hammond Hess from Princeton University and Robert Dietz of the U.S. Naval Electronics Laboratory in San Diego in the 1960s. The phenomenon is known today as plate tectonics.
What are 3 types of evidence for seafloor spreading?
The pieces of evidence gathered for sea-floor spreading include the evidence from molten material, magnetic stripes, and drilling samples.
In what way does seafloor spreading support continental drift quizlet?
Why do seafloor spreading and continental drift occur? Seafloor spreading partially causes continental drift: heat from inside the earth rises and causes molten rock to be emitted from mid-ocean ridges, causing new rock to form and pushing old rock away from the ride, thus spreading the sea floor.
The Process of Sea Floor Spreading
The Subduction Process
- The highly dense oceanic crust that is formed after a progressive spreading is destined to two possible occurrences. It can either be subducted into the ocean deep trench or continue to spread across the ocean until it reaches a coast. Subduction is the slanting and downward movement of the edge of a crustal plate into the mantle beneath another plate. It occurs when an incredibly de…
Evidence of Sea Floor Spreading
- Harry Hess’s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material, seafloor drilling, radiometric age dating and fossil ages, and the magnetic stripes. This evidence however was also used to support the Theory of Continental drift.