Download Sea floor spreading and the effects it has on the world In partnership

Sea floor spreading and the effects it has on the world
In partnership with Mr. Seth Danielson
Lynn selby
Mrs. Worssam
December 18, 2014
Sea floor spreading has a major effect on the world. In partnership with Seth Danielson. The
process of sea floor spreading of divergent tectonic plates causes the separation of continents on
either side of a spreading zone. The both the largest and highest largest mountainous ridge on the
planet is the mid-Atlantic ridge. A spreading zone that separates the Americas from Europe and
Africa. New rock (earth’s crust) is constantly formed at divergent plate boundaries and destroyed
at convergent plate boundaries (subduction zones) by sea floor spreading.
The Red sea and the Great Rift Valley in Africa are natural
occurrences because of sea floor spreading. Where three plates meet
each other, there are commonly three “arms” that create rift valleys
or new seas. New seas, such as the Red Sea, are formed when one of these
The Red Sea.
“arms” fail and oceanic water floods the rift valley. Rift valleys are commonly formed when all
“arms” succeed in forming. Scientists theorize that in many years to come the Red Sea will grow
and eventually Africa will be cut off from the rest of the Middle East.
Did you know that the largest mountainous ridge on the planet is not the Himalayan Mountains
but the Mid-Atlantic ridge? The Mid- Atlantic ridge runs along the entire
Atlantic ocean and is very visible in maps of seafloor bathymetry. This
mountainous ridge is also a major divergent plate and one of the main
sources for the world’s new oceanic crust. This ridge isn’t the only ridge
in the world but it is the largest. In conclusion the making of the soil is
the complex part.
The Mid-Atlantic
ridge.
New seafloor rock is formed by the ridges under the sea because as the plates spread molten
material from the earth’s interior (mantle) rises to the surface and the cool sea water hardens this
material into rock. The divergent plates constantly produces new rock from Earth’s mantle. The
seafloor closer to the divergent plate is much newer than seafloor farther away. As the molten
rock hardens from a liquid state, it gains a magnetic signature. Because of the earth’s magnetic
field, every layer is either negatively charged or positively charge. To believe all these
occurrences are because of Divergent plates.
Divergent plates affect continental drift and other geological phenomena, including rift valleys,
new sea and undersea mountainous ridges. Did you know that people thought the continental
drift was caused by the earth quakes until
scientists discovered mid ocean ridges.
Spreading distance from
divergent plate.
The earth needs sea floor spreading because
the earth needs new rock to replace that lost
to subduction. If there weren’t any motion of
earth’s plates the continents would still be
one single super continent. Sea floor
spreading is the source of new rock, recycling old rock to make new rock. New rock is required
for new land to grow and new life to spring. In conclusion thank you Seth Danielson for all the
help and extra tips on sea floor spreading
Bibliography:
PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do62se.html>
"Seafloor Spreading." - National Geographic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.
“Seafloor Spreading." Seafloor Spreading Animation. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
"Sea Floor Spreading in the Pacific (Plate Boundaries Shown)." Sea Floor Spreading in the
Pacific (Plate Boundaries Shown). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
<https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/GeolColBk/PacificSFS-PB.HTM>.
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis (Earth Science)."
Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/530828/seafloor-spreading-hypothesis>.