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What discovery did scientist make when comparing the age of the sea floor to that of the continents?
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
The scientists realized that the continents were much older, leading them onto the theory of Sea Floor Spreading!
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
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What do scientist think caused Continental drift?
Sea-floor spreading
How does sea floor spreading make the continents move?
Under the oceanic crust is the layer of the earth called the mantle. This layer is moving rock that is very, very hot! As the hot material in the mantle pushes up through the crust in the sea floor, it cools and becomes new crust as it pushes out (spreads) the sea floor. This movement in the plates causes other plates (continental and oceanic) to move as well. This is how sea floor spreading causes continents to move.
Which theory suggested that the earth was once a single supercontinent that gradually broke up into the continents that we know today?
Sea floor spreading Subduction Plate tectonics Continental sift theory
Why is continental drift a wrong statement?
The continents do not "drift" in the usual sense of the word. They are held tightly together on the numerous plates, and move because they are being pushed, squeezed, and/or lifted. At no time are they free to move about with no other plates packed around them. Continental Drift is a theory developed in the 1900s by a German scientist named Alfred Wegner. He believed that the continents all fitted together at one point and published a book explaining it in 1915. He believed that the Earth 200 million years ago had one large landmass, aka Pangaea. His theory stated that the Earth's continents split up over time to create the continents we know today. He believed that this could be proven, and found a 250 million seed fern whose seeds could not travel long distances (not over oceans). Wegner died in a blizzard in Antarctica looking for the fern after he found it on other continents. Not until the 1960's did scientists find the fossil evidence to be good enough to prove that all land was joined at one point in time. Sea-floor spreading is another phenomena that science finds to be proof of Pangaea.
Why do continents drift?
The theory is called the Continental Drift Theory. That means that over a long period of time the continents shifted away from each other and formed the earth that we see today. The continents are able to shift and move because they lie on tectonic plates, which are sub-layers that move and float. Tectonic plates cause earthquakes and volcanoes.
How do scientist know that the continents are moving?
the ocean sea floor is spreading
What is composed of the continents and the oceans floor?
Earth's crust is composed of the continents and the ocean floor.
Is the age of the sea floor the same age of the continents?
No. The sea floor is much younger than the continents. The oldest sea floor is about 200 million years old. The continents are billions of years old.
Why was Harry Hess important?
Harry Hess's discovery was important because it helped explain the theory of continental drift. His discovery, that on the sea floor magma pushes up which causes the plate tectonics to move which carries the continents with it, explains better reasoning to the theory. It also helped the scienctist to explain how the sea floor spreading is happening.
The topography of the ocean floor?
Is a diverse as that of the continents
Can plated carry continents or parts of the ocean floor but not both?
Tectonic Plates can't carry both ocean floor and continents on the same plate.
What are sonars used for?
Scientist use Sonar to map the ocean floor. Scientist use Sonar to map the ocean floor.
What was the importance of the discovery that molten rock was coming out of the cracks along the mid ocean ridge?
It's helps to show that the crust of the Earth is moving. That helped to prove the theory that the continents split apart.
What is things rest upon crustal plates?
The continents and the ocean floor rest upon the plates.
In which layer of the Earth is the ocean floor?
The crust contains the ocean floor and also the continents on Earth.
What makes the continent and the ocean floor unstable?
The continents and ocean floor are unstable because the plates of the lithosphere move. When the plate move, they cause the continents and ocean floor to move.
What is the surface of the planet that forms the continents and ocean floor?
The crust.
