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Plates that are not subducting are driven by gravity sliding off the elevated mid-ocean ridges a process called ridge push. [4] At a spreading center, basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new seabed. Hydrothermal vents are common at spreading centers. Older rocks will be found farther away from the ...
Magnetic anomalies off west coast of North America. Dashed lines are spreading centers on mid-ocean ridges. The Vine–Matthews-Morley hypothesis correlates the symmetric magnetic patterns seen on the seafloor with geomagnetic field reversals. At mid-ocean ridges, new crust is created by the injection, extrusion, and solidification of magma.
In 1953, the cartographer Marie Tharp generated the first three-dimensional relief map of the ocean floor which proved there was an underwater mountain range in the middle of the Atlantic, along with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. [7] The survey data was large step towards many more discoveries about the geology of the sea. [6]
Scientists believe they’ve discovered an ancient ocean floor comprising a new layer between Earth’s mantle and core.
Frederick John Vine FRS (17 June 1939 – 21 June 2024) was an English marine geologist and geophysicist.He made key contributions to the theory of plate tectonics, helping to show that the seafloor spreads from mid-ocean ridges with a symmetrical pattern of magnetic reversals in the basalt rocks on either side.
Oceanographers explored an area around the Pacific Ocean’s Nazca Ridge and found a massive underwater mountain. Using a sonar system, the researchers digitally mapped the seafloor of the area ...
Arthur Holmes proposed the more plausible mechanism of mantle convection, [16] which, together with evidence provided by the mapping of the ocean floor following the Second World War, led to the development and acceptance of the theory of plate tectonics. This theory provides the widely-accepted explanation for the existence and breakup of Pangaea.
Harry Hammond Hess (May 24, 1906 – August 25, 1969) was an American geologist and a United States Navy officer in World War II who is considered one of the "founding fathers" of the unifying theory of plate tectonics.