Theory Of Seafloor Spreading Is Supported By

This evidence however was also used to support the theory of continental drift.

Theory of seafloor spreading is supported by.

Seafloor spreading theory of lithospheric evolution that holds that the ocean floors are spreading outward from vast underwater ridges. Harry hess s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. Theory of plate tectonics when the concept of seafloor spreading came along scientists recognized that it was the mechanism to explain how continents could move around earth s surface. Seafloor spreading disproves an early part of the theory of continental drift.

First proposed in the early 1960s by the american geologist harry h. Seafloor spreading proves that the ocean itself is a site of tectonic activity. This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material seafloor drilling radiometric age dating and fossil ages and the magnetic stripes. Keeping earth in shape.

The driver for seafloor spreading in plates with active margins is the weight of the cool dense subducting slabs that pull them along or slab pull. Seafloor spreading is a part of plate tectonics. Studies conducted with thermal probes for example indicate that the heat flow through bottom sediments is generally comparable to that through the continents except over the mid ocean ridges where at some sites the heat flow measures three to four times the normal value. Supporters of continental drift originally theorize d that the continents moved drifted through unmoving oceans.

Like the scientists before us we will now merge the ideas of continental drift and seafloor spreading into the theory of plate tectonics. A veritable legion of evidence supports the seafloor spreading hypothesis. In this lesson you will learn about this important.