Table of Contents
- 1 What theory did mapping the ocean floor support?
- 2 How do rocks support the theory of continental drift?
- 3 How sea floor spreading could have helped Alfred’s Wegener’s continental drift theory?
- 4 What was the evidence for the seafloor spreading theory?
- 5 How are continental drift and sea floor spreading related?
- 6 How are paleomagnetic rocks related to sea floor spreading?
What theory did mapping the ocean floor support?
continental drift
The maps she produced in the 1950s would spark a debate and later the discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, one of the key clues supporting the theory of continental drift.
How do rocks support the theory of continental drift?
Wegener found rocks of the same type and age on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He thought that the rocks formed side by side. These rocks then drifted apart on separate continents. Wegener also matched up mountain ranges across the Atlantic Ocean.
How sea floor spreading could have helped Alfred’s Wegener’s continental drift theory?
Sea floor spreading is the phenomena of new sea floor being created through mid-ocean ridges. Wegener proposed that the continents themselves move, which is untrue. Sea floor spreading caused the break up of Pangea, which prompted Wegener to add this in support of his continental drift theory.
Why is sea floor spreading important to continental drift?
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. Older rocks will be found farther away from the spreading zone while younger rocks will be found nearer to the spreading zone.
How does the age of the rock affect the ocean floor?
Age of the rock is younger near the mid-ocean ridge. It is older near the trenches. Older sesfloor is denser and sinks below the ocean crust so the water level is deeper by the trenches and is less deep by the mid ocean ridge. How does the ocean floor as shown by part of the strip close to the center slit differ from the ocean floor by a side slit?
What was the evidence for the seafloor spreading theory?
Harry Hess’s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material, seafloor drilling, radiometric age dating and fossil ages, and the magnetic stripes. This evidence however was also used to support the Theory of Continental drift. 1.
By the 1960s, the theories of continental drift and sea floor spreading were supported by reliable scientific data and combined to develop modern‐day plate tectonic theory. The theory maintains that the crust and uppermost mantle, or lithosphere, is segmented into a number of solid, rigid slabs called lithospheric plates.
Hence, paleomagnetic rocks (paleo: denoting rocks) on either side of the mid-ocean or submarine ridges provide the most important evidence to the concept of Sea Floor Spreading. Magnetic field records also provide information on the past location of tectonic plates.