Sea Floor Spreading Definition

What does seafloor spreading mean.

Sea floor spreading definition.

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. That means the rock in the center is the youngest. Basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new sea floor. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow.

N a series of processes in which new oceanic lithosphere is created at oceanic ridges spreads away from the ridges and returns to the earth s interior. Older rocks will be found further away from the spreading zone while younger rocks will be found nearer to the. Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading. 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.

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. In the theory of plate tectonics the process by which new oceanic crust is formed by the convective upwelling of magma at mid ocean ridges resulting in. 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. Meaning of seafloor spreading.

Wherever the sea floor is spreading the edges move apart while the magma in the middle hardens. Seafloor spreading synonyms seafloor spreading pronunciation seafloor spreading translation english dictionary definition of seafloor spreading.