What Is The Sea Floor Spreading Hypothesis

Hess its major tenets gave great support to the theory of continental drift continental drift geological theory that the relative positions of the continents on the earth s surface have.

What is the sea floor spreading hypothesis. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. World war ii gave scientists the tools to find the mechanism for continental drift that had eluded wegener. Harry hess s hypothesis about seafloor spreading had collected several pieces of evidence to support the theory. This evidence was from the investigations of the molten material seafloor drilling radiometric age dating and fossil ages and the magnetic stripes.

On the basis of tharp s efforts and other new discoveries about the deep ocean floor hess postulated that molten material from earth s mantle continuously wells up along the crests of the mid ocean ridges that wind for nearly 80 000 km. Maps and other data gathered during the war allowed scientists to develop the seafloor spreading hypothesis this hypothesis traces oceanic crust from its origin at a mid ocean ridge to its destruction at a deep sea trench and is the mechanism for continental drift. Evidence of sea floor spreading. Seafloor spreading hypothesis synonyms seafloor spreading hypothesis pronunciation seafloor spreading hypothesis translation english dictionary definition of seafloor spreading hypothesis.

N a series of processes in which new oceanic lithosphere is created at oceanic ridges spreads away from the ridges and returns to the earth s interior. The seafloor spreading hypothesis was proposed by the american geophysicist harry h. The rate at which new oceanic lithosphere is added to each tectonic plate on either side of a mid ocean ridge is the spreading half rate and is equal to half of the spreading rate.