Samples of sea floor basalt reveals that they do not exceed 200 million years of age. With the oldest continental rocks being in the neighborhood of 4 billion years of age, there's obviously some crust creation and destruction going on. Samples also indicate changing magnetic orientation in the magnetic minerals present in the basalt, with a matching orientation on the opposite side of the divergent boundary. This indicates that crust is being formed simultaneously on both sides of the mid-ocean ridge, over time, with the magnetic orientation matching the existing orientation at the time of its formation.
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Magnetic Stripes, Drilling Samples, and Molten Material.
molten material and drilling samples
The three are different. The first is Molten Material,which is indeed erupting along mid-ocean ridges. The scientists dived to the ocean floor in Alvin, a small sumbarine. Alvin was built to withstand the crushing pressures four kilometers down in the ocean. A ridge's central valley, Alvin's crew found strange rocks shaped like pillows. Other rocks looked like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. Such rocks form only when molten material hardens quickly under again and again along the mid-ocean ridges.The second is Magnetic Stripes, which are patterns of the ocean floor that provided more support for sea-floor spreading. Earth's magnetic poles have reversed themselves many times during Earth's history. The last reversal happened 780,000 years ago.The third and final one is Drilling Samples, which came from rock samples obtained by drilling into the ocean floor. The Glomar Challenger, a drilling ship built in 1968, gathered the samples. The Glomar Challenger sent drilling pipes through water six kilometers deep to drill holes in the ocean floor. This feat has been compared to digging a hole into the sidewalk from the top of the Empire State Building.Information from: California Earth Science Textbook, pages 152-153.Hope this helps! ☺-SmallvilleGrl
Scientists discovered that the rocks that were found farther away from the ridge the sample was taken from, the older the rocks were. The most recent rocks were always in the center of the ridges. This showed that sea-floor spreading really has taken place.
Pieces of evidence for sea floor spreading include the presence of mid-ocean ridges where new crust is formed, symmetric magnetic striping on either side of mid-ocean ridges, age dating of oceanic crust that shows it gets older as it moves away from ridges, and the discovery of pillow basalts and other volcanic rocks on the ocean floor.
Magnetic stripes on the ocean floor recorded by magnetometers demonstrate alternating patterns of normal and reversed magnetic polarity, supporting the concept of seafloor spreading. The presence of mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity, provides direct evidence for seafloor spreading. Analysis of rock samples collected from the ocean floor that show progressively younger ages of rocks as distance from the mid-ocean ridge increases supports the theory of seafloor spreading.
Rock samples of the ocean floor can be acquired through various methods such as deep-sea drilling or collecting samples using submersibles or remotely operated vehicles. Scientists also study samples brought up during underwater volcanic eruptions or through natural processes like landslides and fault movements. These samples provide valuable insights into the composition and history of the oceanic crust.
improvements in technology like drilling for rock samples and instruments that measure magnetism of the iron in the sea floor rock
Samples of sea floor basalt reveals that they do not exceed 200 million years of age. With the oldest continental rocks being in the neighborhood of 4 billion years of age, there's obviously some crust creation and destruction going on. Samples also indicate changing magnetic orientation in the magnetic minerals present in the basalt, with a matching orientation on the opposite side of the divergent boundary. This indicates that crust is being formed simultaneously on both sides of the mid-ocean ridge, over time, with the magnetic orientation matching the existing orientation at the time of its formation.
Convergence supports the theory of seafloor spreading. Samples of the deep ocean floor are evidence of seafloor spreading because the basaltic oceanic crust and overlapping sediment become younger as the mid-ocean ridge is approached. Also, the rock that makes up the floor of the ocean is younger than the continents.
By determining the age of rock samples obtained by drilling on the sea floor.