Sea Floor Spreading Definition For Kids

The divergence at mid ocean ridges of the tectonic plates underlying the oceans that is due to upwelling from the earth s interior of magma which solidifies and adds to the spreading plates examples of seafloor spreading in a sentence.

Sea floor spreading definition for kids. 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. Sea floor spreading is the process by which continental drift occurs. Definition of sea floor spreading in a kids own words. At ridges in the middle of oceans new oceanic crust is created.

Asked by wiki user. Definition of seafloor spreading. American heritage dictionary of the english language fifth edition. Mantle convection is the slow churn ing motion of earth s mantle.

Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones known collectively as the mid ocean ridge system and spreads out laterally away from them. 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. Wherever the sea floor is spreading the edges move apart while the magma in the middle hardens. The seafloor moves and carries continents with it.

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. That means the rock in the center is the youngest. Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection. This mechanism which is a more accurate version of alfred wegener s original drift of continents that plow through the sea was proposed by harry hess from princeton university in the 1960s this phenomenon is known to be caused by convection currents in the.

Seafloor spreading is a geologic process in which tectonic plate s large slabs of earth s lithosphere split apart from each other. How are we to know the difference between kids definition and definition. Seafloor spreading happens at the bottom of an ocean as tectonic plates move apart.