need help with class work. Doing in class. Help please.
2006-10-05 05:22:46 · 3 answers · asked by BALLER 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
Continental drift theory is a good search word for this as well.. here is the best i can do on this subject for you.. and since i am currently studying to be a seismologist... it should help :)
The seafloor spreading is closely related to the continental drift theory .. in the late 50's - to early 1960's seismologists conducted studies ont he ocean floor, mapping it, if you will. They discovered what are called "Ocean ridges".. which are basically landmarks, mountain ranges, etc.. under the sea on the sea floor. From this discovery they also noticed rifts (fault scarps) and fault lines, much like on dry land. From this they deduced that the same thing that happens on dry land, also happens under water. Earthquakes causing the earth to shift must be a worldwide thing, not just a dry land thing. The same with volcanoes. They also found that they were correct in the years to come, studying the faults under water and realized centralized earthquakes ocurred on the faults, just as they occur on dry land faults.
The sea floor spreading is easily defined as the theory that the sea floor is spreading outward from the mid-oceanic ridges and under water mountain ranges. It is a theory of lithospheric evolution. The lithosphere, as i am sure you have studied, is upper shell of the earth's crust and is broken down into the tectonic plates, thus is the key to the continental drift and sea floor spreading theories. However, i personally agree with these theories ;)
good search terms you should use:
plate tectonics
continetal drift theory
lithospheric theories
sea floor drift
mid-ocean ridges
paleomagnetism
hope that helps.. if you need any more info , message me on yahoo messenger - madame_vita thanks!!
2006-10-05 05:26:38 · answer #1 · answered by Vita 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seafloor speading - area where two tectonic plates are moving apart (diverging), opening the seafloor and allowing magma to rise and form new oceanic crust.
2006-10-06 06:29:15 · answer #2 · answered by cucumis_sativus 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
hahaha we're learning this right now!
Sea-floor spreading is when at the mid-ocean ridge, hot rock from the mantle is pushed out so that it forms oceanic crust. this has happened for a long time. The oceanic crust is denser than continental crust so when the old crust slides so far from the mid-ocean ridge, it gets subducted* into deep-ocean trenches. then, it gets to become new oceanic crust from the mantle again!
*The process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at the convergent plate boundry.
2006-10-06 16:20:13 · answer #3 · answered by chaos causer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋