Is there evidence for seafloor spreading?
Abundant evidence supports the major contentions of the seafloor-spreading theory. Magnetic surveys conducted near the mid-ocean ridge showed elongated patterns of normal and reversed polarity of the ocean floor in bands paralleling the rift and symmetrically distributed as mirror images on either side of it.
Which is the best evidence supporting the concept of ocean floor spreading?
Several types of evidence supported Hess’s theory of sea-floor spreading: eruptions of molten material, magnetic stripes in the rock of the ocean floor, and the ages of the rocks themselves.
Is it true that continental drift theory paves way for the study of seafloor spreading theory?
Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. At a spreading center, basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new seabed.
What evidence helped give strong support for the hypothesis of seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges?
This hypothesis was supported by several lines of evidence: (1) at or near the crest of the ridge, the rocks are very young, and they become progressively older away from the ridge crest; (2) the youngest rocks at the ridge crest always have present-day (normal) polarity; and (3) stripes of rock parallel to the ridge …
What is the major evidence that sea floor spreading creates new lithosphere?
The record of magnetic reversals is carried away from each side of the spreading center of a mid-ocean ridge, showing that the molten rock is creating new lithosphere.
What are 3 types of evidence provides support for the theory of seafloor spreading?
What three types of evidence provided support for the theory of sea floor spreading? eruptions of molten material, magnetic stripes in the rock of the ocean floor, and the ages of the rocks themselves.
What evidence causes most scientists to believe that sea floor spreading occurs at the Mid Atlantic Ridge?
Which evidence causes most scientists to believe that seafloor spreading occurs at the midAtlantic Ridge? Oceanic crust on both sides of the ridge shows matching patterns of reversed and normal magnetic polarity. Scientists have found fossils of tropical plants in Antarctica.
What is the major evidence that sea floor spreading creates new lithosphere explain your answer?
How do evidence of continental drift and seafloor spreading prove that the plates move?
The seafloor’s permanent magnetic signatures showed that new ocean crust was created at the ridge crests and then spread outward in both directions. Tuzo Wilson, combined the continental drift and seafloor spreading hypotheses to propose the theory of plate tectonics.
What evidence supported the theory of continental drift?
The evidence for continental drift included the fit of the continents; the distribution of ancient fossils, rocks, and mountain ranges; and the locations of ancient climatic zones.
Can we prove the Earth’s crust is in motion by studying the ocean floor?
Scientists who study the Earth tell us the continents and ocean floors are always moving. Scientists found that the surface of our planet is always in motion. Continents move about the Earth like huge ships at sea, floating on pieces of the Earth’s outer skin, or crust.
How does Earth’s magnetic field provide evidence for seafloor spreading?
As it cools it becomes permanently magnetized in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field. This creates a symmetrical pattern of magnetic stripes of opposite polarity on either side of mid-ocean ridges. These patterns of stripes provide the history of seafloor spreading.