0
What else can I help you with?
How would the age of the oldest rock on the continents compare with the age of the oldest rock on the seafloor?
The sea floor is young (the rocks are made at the mid oceanic ridges and spread out form there) while most of the continental rocks are older. This is because the continental crust floats on top of the oceanic crust and is therefore not recycled.
The oldest rocks on the seafloor are much younger than the oldest rocks on the continents?
The rocks on the seafloor are generally less than 200 million years old due to the process of seafloor spreading and subduction, which recycles old rocks. In contrast, some rocks on the continents can be over 4 billion years old, dating back to the formation of Earth's crust. This difference in age is attributed to the dynamic nature of plate tectonics.
What is the approximate age of the Atlantic Ocean seafloor rocks in million of years?
The seafloor rocks of the Atlantic Ocean are generally around 200 million years old, with the youngest rocks found near the mid-Atlantic ridge, formed by seafloor spreading. As you move away from the ridge, the age of the rocks increases, with some older sections dating back to the Jurassic period. The oldest seafloor rocks are typically found near the continental margins, where they can be over 200 million years old.
What is the age of the oldest seafloor?
The sea floor is older than 200 million years. It has been recycled by plate tectonics. Very old rocks have survived.
How does the age of rocks in the seafloor provide evidence of seafloor spreading?
The age of rocks gets progressively younger as you move away from the mid-ocean ridges, where seafloor spreading occurs. This supports the theory of seafloor spreading, as new crust is being formed at the ridges and then moves away from them over time. This process leaves a record of older rocks further from the ridges and younger rocks closer to them.
How would the age of the oldest rocks on the continents compare with the age of the oldest rocks on the seafloor if the rock on the continents is continually formed but not removed?
The oldest rocks on the continents would be much older than the rocks on the sea floor because the rocks on the continents are not being removed unlike the rocks on the sea floor that are made by the mid-ocean ridge are being removed by deep ocean trenches. this prossess that is occuring on the sea floor is called sea floor spreading. evidence of this is the Pacific ocean shrinking and the Atlantic ocean growing.
How does the age of rock support seafloor spreading?
The age of rocks on the ocean floor provides strong evidence for seafloor spreading by showing a pattern of increasing age as one moves away from mid-ocean ridges. Youngest rocks are found closest to the ridges, where new crust is formed by volcanic activity, while older rocks are located further away, indicating that they have been pushed outward over time. This age distribution supports the idea that new oceanic crust is continuously generated at the ridges and that the seafloor is expanding. Thus, the age of the rocks aligns with the process of seafloor spreading, confirming the theory.
Are rocks on the seafloor are much older than many continental rocks?
Yes, rocks on the seafloor are generally younger than many continental rocks. Seafloor rocks are primarily formed at mid-ocean ridges through volcanic activity and are continuously created and recycled through tectonic processes. In contrast, continental rocks can be much older, with some dating back billions of years, as they have remained largely stable and unaltered over geological time. Thus, while some individual seafloor rocks may be old, the majority are younger than the oldest continental rocks.
Which are younger old seafloor rocks or old continental rocks?
Old sea floor rocks are much younger than old continental rocks! This is because the oceanic lithospheric plate forming the seafloor tends to be recycled at places known as subduction zones where it is forced below less dense (commonly continental) lithosphere. As such the oldest continental rocks tend to be 2-3 billion years old whereas oceanic crust neve tends to be more than a few hundred million years old.
What three pieces of evidence did Harry Hess gather to prove that seafloor spreading was taking place?
Magnetic stripes on the seafloor showed alternating patterns of normal and reversed polarity, matching Earth's magnetic field reversals. Age dating of seafloor rocks revealed that rocks were youngest along mid-ocean ridges and oldest near continental margins. Sediment thickness on the seafloor was thinnest at mid-ocean ridges and thickest near the continents, supporting the idea of seafloor spreading.
What happens to the age of the rocks of the sea floor as you travel from a spreading center towards a coast line?
As you travel from a spreading center towards a coastline, the age of the sea floor rocks increases. Newly formed rocks at the spreading center are younger, while older rocks are found further away from the center, as they have been pushed away over time by the continuous process of seafloor spreading. This results in a pattern where the youngest rocks are closest to the ridge, and the oldest are nearer to the continental margins.
What do you notice about the age pattern on the seafloor in the Atlantic ocean?
In the Atlantic Ocean, the age pattern of the seafloor demonstrates that the youngest rocks are located at the mid-Atlantic ridge, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity. As one moves away from the ridge, the age of the seafloor increases, with older rocks found closer to the continental margins. This pattern reflects the process of seafloor spreading, where tectonic plates move apart, allowing magma to rise and create new oceanic crust. Consequently, the age distribution clearly illustrates the dynamic nature of oceanic geology.
