Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow.
Sea floor spreading science definition.
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.
Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection.
Mantle convection is the slow churning motion of earth s mantle.
Convection currents also recycle lithospheric materials back to the mantle.
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.
Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading.
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.
Seafloor spreading definition is 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.