Atlantic Ocean Floor And Plate Tectonics

Because of this the youngest sea floor can be found along divergent boundaries such as the mid atlantic ocean ridge.

Atlantic ocean floor and plate tectonics. The mid atlantic ridge for instance separates the north american plate from the eurasian plate and the south american plate from the african plate the east pacific rise is a mid ocean ridge that runs through the eastern pacific ocean and separates the pacific plate from the north american. The mid atlantic ridge mar is a mid ocean ridge a divergent or constructive plate boundary located along the floor of the atlantic ocean and part of the longest mountain range in the world in the north atlantic it separates the north american from the eurasian plate and the african plate north and south of the azores triple junction respectively. All this evidence both from the ocean floor and from the continental margins made it clear around 1965 that continental drift was feasible and the theory of plate tectonics which was defined in a series of papers between 1965 and 1967 was born with all its extraordinary explanatory and predictive power. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.

Samples collected from the ocean floor show that the age of oceanic crust increases with distance from the spreading centre important evidence in favour of this process. 2 confirmation of repeated reversals of the earth magnetic field in the geologic past. Continental shelf a broad relatively shallow submarine terrace of continental crust forming the edge of a continental landmass. Plate tectonics and the ocean floor.

Bathymetry the shape of the ocean floor is largely a result of a process called plate tectonics the outer rocky layer of the earth includes about a dozen large sections called tectonic plates that are arranged like a spherical jig saw puzzle floating on top of the earth s hot flowing mantle. Her work also revealed the presence of a continuous rift valley along the axis. The spreading however is generally not uniform causing linear features perpendicular to the divergent boundaries. In particular four major scientific developments spurred the formulation of the plate tectonics theory.

1 demonstration of the ruggedness and youth of the ocean floor. These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to be. As upwelling of magma continues the plates continue to diverge a process known as seafloor spreading. Plate tectonics plate tectonics seafloor spreading.

Marie tharp july 30 1920 august 23 2006 was an american geologist and oceanographic cartographer who in partnership with bruce heezen created the first scientific map of the atlantic ocean floor tharp s work revealed the detailed topography and multi dimensional geographical landscape of the ocean bottom. The ocean ridge rises to between 2 to 3 km above the ocean floor and has a rift valley at its crest marking the location at which the two plates are moving apart. This dataset shows the age of the ocean floor along with the labeled tectonic plates and boundaries. The geology of continental shelves is often similar to that of the adjacent exposed portion of the continent and most shelves have a gently rolling topography called.