What does the seafloor spreading theory states?

Answer 1

The theory of seafloor spreading was proposed by Harry H. Hess, an American geophysicist, in 1960. According to Hess, seafloor spreading is where two tectonic plates move apart and the ocean floor spreads out. When two tectonic plates spread apart they break. Magma then forces its way up through the cracks in an underwater volcano. When the magma hits the water, it cools and forms ridges along the plates that are pulling apart. In a normal volcano, the magma would pour down the sides and build up, but the since the plates are pulling apart underwater, the magma is more like forming a bridge. However, this bridge has valleys and mountains and is known as an oceanic ridge. The material being formed is known as constructive because a new ocean floor is actually being formed as a result of the process.

Answer 2

The theory of seafloor spreading was proposed by Harry H. Hess, an American geophysicist, in 1960. According to Hess, seafloor spreading is where two tectonic plates move apart and the ocean floor spreads out. When two tectonic plates spread apart they break. Magma then forces its way up through the cracks in an underwater volcano. When the magma hits the water, it cools and forms ridges along the plates that are pulling apart. In a normal volcano, the magma would pour down the sides and build up, but the since the plates are pulling apart underwater, the magma is more like forming a bridge. However, this bridge has valleys and mountains and is known as an oceanic ridge. The material being formed is known as constructive because a new ocean floor is actually being formed as a result of the process.

Answer 3

Seafloor spreading is the process by which new oceanic crust is created, while simultaneously causing continental drift by pushing tectonic plates outward from the mid-ocean ridges where the new crust is being created. The mid-ocean ridges where seafloor spreading takes place is the longest mountain range in the world.

Answer 4

Seafloor spreading is the process in which the ocean floor is extended when two plates move apart. As the plates move apart, the rocks break and form a crack between the plates. Earthquakes occur along the plate boundary. Magma rises through the cracks and seeps out onto the ocean floor like a long, thin, undersea volcanoes. As magma meets the water, it cools and solidifies, adding to the edges of the sideways-moving plates. As magma piles up along the crack, a long chain of mountains forms gradually on the ocean floor. This chain is called an oceanic ridge. The boundaries where the plates move apart are 'constructive' because new crust is being formed and added to the ocean floor. The ocean floor gradually extends and thus the size of these plates increases.

Answer 5

The ocean spreading theory explained that there were mountains (called oceanic ridges) even under the sea. Harry Hess said that the sea floor could spread away from these oceanic ridges (creating a zebra stripe pattern due to the lava that was given out during the spreading) and he called this discovery: sea floor spreading. He believed that the spreading was the cause for continents to move and this theory was a great base for the theory of tectonic plates and supported the continental drifting theory as well.

Answer 6

the theory of seafloor spreading explains that Earth's continents move because they ride atop ocean crust as it moves way from ocean ridges.

Answer 7

it started off from alfred wegner's theory of continental drift . basically seafloor spreading cause it . new seafloor was pushed upward through crevices .