Sea Floor Spreading Activit

Mantle convection is the slow churning motion of earth s mantle.

Sea floor spreading activit.

This interactive activity is simple to prepare and to execute and allows the students to understand seafloor spreading and the position of newer rock and older rock in relation to. The mid ocean ridge is where the seafloor spreading occurs in which tectonic plates large slabs of earth s lithosphere split apart. Seafloor spreading is a geologic process where there is a gradual addition of new oceanic crust in the ocean floor through a volcanic activity while moving the older rocks away from the mid oceanic ridge. Seafloor spreading is the movement of magma through a crack in a mid oceanic ridge.

Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them. This choice is left up to the teacher depending on the reasoning skills of the students. Their crystals are pulled into alignment by the earth s magnetic field just like a compass needle is pulled towards magnetic north. As magma starts to harden into rock iron rich minerals solidify first.

Alternatively this lesson can be taught after the concept of seafloor spreading so the evidence can be put into context. When taught in series the lessons proceed in much the same way that scientists discovered seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. When a divergent boundary occurs in the ocean seafloor spreading is the result. 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.

Most basalt magmas contain abundant molten iron. Some of the worksheets for this concept are sea floor spreading work sea floor spreading a model of seafloor spreading inside earth work magnetic reversals activity name date sea floor spreading l 1 2 3 5 4 ovr l lesson 3 seafloor profiling seafloor spreading and subduction. Once the basalt cools completely into solid rock the. Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection.

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. Convection currents also recycle lithospheric materials back to the mantle. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow.