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Harry Hess proposed the seafloor spreading hypothesis in 1960 (published in 1962 [1]); the term "spreading of the seafloor" was introduced by geophysicist Robert S. Dietz in 1961. [2] According to Hess, seafloor was created at mid-oceanic ridges by the convection of the Earth's mantle, pushing and spreading the older crust away from the ridge. [3]
Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading. (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). Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast, intermediate, or slow.
Correlation of the anomalies to the history of Earth's magnetic field reversals allowed the age of the seafloor to be estimated. [22] This connection was interpreted as the spreading of the seafloor from the ridge crests. [23] [22] Linking spreading centers and transform faults to a common cause helped to develop the concept of plate tectonics ...
This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a divergent plate boundary. The rate of seafloor spreading determines the morphology of the crest of the mid-ocean ridge and its width in an ocean basin. The production of new seafloor and oceanic lithosphere results from mantle upwelling in response to plate separation.
The seafloor spreading center jumps three times, at 25.5 Ma, at 24.7 Ma and at 20.5 Ma. [7] These jumps are regarded as the boundaries of the three sea floor spreading episodes that moved the extension to the south out of its original position in the Xisha Trough. Figure 4 shows the trajectory of the seafloor spreading center. 37 Ma to 25.5 Ma.
A propagating rift is a seafloor feature associated with spreading centers at mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins. [1] They are more commonly observed on faster rate spreading centers (50 mm/year or more). [2] These features are formed by the lengthening of one spreading segment at the expense of an offset neighboring spreading segment. [3]
The Wilson cycle theory is based upon the idea of an ongoing cycle of ocean closure, continental collision, and a formation of new ocean on the former suture zone.The Wilson Cycle can be described in six phases of tectonic plate motion: the separation of a continent (continental rift), formation of a young ocean at the seafloor, formation of ocean basins during continental drift, initiation of ...
Robert Sinclair Dietz (September 14, 1914 – May 19, 1995) was an American scientist with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.Dietz, born in Westfield, New Jersey, [1] was a marine geologist, geophysicist and oceanographer who conducted pioneering research along with Harry Hammond Hess concerning seafloor spreading, published as early as 1960–1961.