Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow.
Sea floor spreading definition quizlet.
Seafloor spreading definition a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth s mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out.
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.
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As a result the ocean floors move like conveyor belts carrying the continents along with them.
Magma from the asthenosphere fills cracks in the ocean crust along mid ocean ridges.
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.
In sea floor spreading the sea floor spreads apart along both sides of a mid ocean ridge as new crust is added.
The process of subduction and sea floor spreading can change the size and shape of the oceans.
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That is the time it takes for new rock to form at the mid ocean ridge move atoss the ocean and sink into a trench.
The sequence of sea floor spreading is 1.
Magma cools to form new ocean floor.
For instance the atlantic ocean is believed to be expanding because of its few trenches.
Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.
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.
3 ocean floor moves away from the ridge 4.
Because of these processes the ocean floor is renewed about every 200 million years.
Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading.
Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them.
