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Seafloor Spreading Investigation 1
State Science Standards MA 6MS-ESS2-3 Analyze and interpret maps showing the distribution of fossils and rocks,
continental shapes and seafloor structures to provide evidence that Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and
spread apart.
Focus
Question
How can seafloor structures provide evidence that Earth is
constantly in motion?
Prediction
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Inquiry
Observe the map on page 24. Write down 5 observations about the
map, the information on it and its key.
1. ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Build
Background
Knowledge
Fill in the two column notes below.
Mid Ocean
Ridges
Page 24
1. Mid Ocean Ridges ___wind___ beneath Earth’s
oceans.
2. Most of the ____mountains____ in the _MidOcean
Ridge__ system lie hidden under hundreds of meters of
____water________.
3. Where does the mid ocean ridge rise above the
surface of the water?
In the North Atlantic Ocean (Iceland)
Sea-floor
Spreading
Page 25
1. What scientist believed Wegner after studying maps
of mid ocean ridges?
Harry Hess
2. Sea-floor Spreading sea
continually adds new material to the ocean floor
3. Sea-floor spreading begins at the Mid Ocean Ridge.
Subduction
at the
Trenches
Page 28
1. Ocean floor plunges into deep underwater
__canyons______ called ________deep ocean
trenches________.
2. In a process taking __tens of millions of
years________________ part of the ocean floor sinks
back into the ___mantle____ at ____deep ocean
trenches_________.
3. Define subduction:
_____________________________________________
process by which ocean floor sinks beneath a deepocean trench and back into the mantle.
Diagram
and
Model
Apply
4. Sea-floor spreading and subduction work together.
They move the ___ocean floor_____ as if it were on a
giant conveyer belt.
1. On the following page turn your paper sideways and draw
2. Create a human model of seafloor spreading
Number the steps below from 1-5 to show the sequential order of seafloor
spreading. Start with number one for what would happen first. Number 2
has been done for you.
___3____ Old ocean floor meets continental crust at the deep ocean trench
___1____ Magma erupts from the mid ocean ridge and cools to form new
ocean floor
___2___ Oceanic crust gets pushed towards the trench and away from the
Mid Ocean Ridge
____4___ Oceanic crust gets subducted into the deep ocean trench
____5___ Old ocean crust gets “recycled” as it turns back into molten
material in the asthenosphere