Seafloor Speading

SEAFLOOR
SPEADING

Q1 W8
The Seafloor Spreading

Process by which new
ocean floor is formed
near the mid –ocean
ridge and moves
outward.

 In the early 1960’s
 Harry Hess together with Robert Dietz
 According to this Seafloor Spreading theory, hot, less
dense material from below the earth’s crust rises
towards the surface at the mid-ocean ridge .. This
material flows sideways carrying the seafloor away
from the ridge, and creates a crack in the crust. The
magma flows out of the crack, cools down and becomes
the new seafloor.


 Overtime, the new oceanic crust pushed the old oceanic
crust far from the ridge. The process of seafloor spreading
allowed the creation of new bodiesof water.
 For example, the Red Sea was created as the African plate
and the Arabian plate moved away from each other.
Seafloor spreading is also pulling the continents of
Australia, South America, and Antarctica away from each
other in the East Pacific Rise.
 The East Pacific Rise is one of the most active sites of
seafloor spreading, with more than 14 centimeters every
year.
Some evidences that support
Seafloor Spreading Theory are:

 1.Younger rocks are found at the mid –ocean ridge
 2. Older rocks are far from the mid-ocean ridge
 3. Thinner sediments at the ridge
 4. Rocks found at the ocean floor are younger

compared to those rocks at the continents.
Magnetic Reversal

 Magnetic reversal is also called “magnetic flip” where the North
Pole is transformed into South Pole and the South Pole becomes
North Pole.
 This happens because of the change in the direction of flow in the
outer core. Magnetic patterns found in magnetic rocks located on
the ocean floor also support magnetic reversal.
 Crystallized minerals containing iron behave like tiny compasses
and align with the Earth’s magnetic field thus changing the polarity
of rocks. There is an average of 4 to 5 reversals per million years for
the past 10 million years. During this process, new rocks are added
to the ocean floor at the ridge with approximately equal amounts
on both sides of the oceanic ridge. The stripes on both sides are of
equal size and the polarities appeared to be mirror images.


Convection Current

 As a substance like water is heated, the less dense
particles rise while denser particles sink. Once the
hot less dense particles cool down, they sink, and the
other less dense particles rise. This continuous
process is called convection current.
Convection Current

 The hot, less dense rising material
spreads out as it reaches the upper
mantle causing upward and
sideward forces. These forces lift
and split the lithosphere at
divergent plate boundaries. The hot
magma flows out of the mantle and
cools down to form the new ocean
crust. The downward movement of
the convection current occurs along
a convergent boundary where the
sinking force pulls the tectonic plate
down.

 As an oceanic crust moves away from a divergent
boundary, it becomes denser than the newer oceanic crust.
As the older seafloor sinks, the weight of the uplifted ridge
pushes the oceanic crust toward the trench at the
subduction zone. This process is called ridge push.
Slab pull is the other possible process involved in the
tectonic plate movement. The weight of the subducting
plate pulls the trailing slab into the subduction zone just
like a tablecloth slipping off the table and pulling items
with it.
Main Evidences of
Seafloor Spreading

Convection Current
Magnetic Evidence in
Rock (magnetic reversal)
Quiz
 1. Wegener's theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth's surface.
 2. Any trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rocks
 3. The planet where we live
 4. German meteorologist who proposed a theory that continents where once one large

landmass
 5.Greek word which means "All Earth"
 6. Evidence that showed that rock layers in different continents line up together with layers that
exactly matched
 7. A Triassic land reptile approximately 3m long where fossil remains were found in South
America and Africa
 8. An extinct plant where fossils were found in all the southern continents
 9. Formed from the compaction and decomposition of swamp plants that lived million years
ago; showed that Antarctica once experienced a tropical climate
 10. Evidence showing that the edge of one continent matches the edge of another continent
 11. The third largest continent, extends from the tiny Aleutian Islands in the northwest to the
Isthmus of Panama in the south
 12. The second-largest continent, covers an area more than three times that of the United States
 13. The largest continent, stretches from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the western Pacific
Ocean
 14. The smallest continent and the flattest and the second driest after Antarctica
 15. The windiest, driest, and iciest place on
 Earth, larger than Europe or Australia and has no permanent human population
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

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SEAFLOOR

 2. Older rocks are far from the mid-ocean ridge

 3. Thinner sediments at the ridge

 4. Rocks found at the ocean floor are younger

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