Define The Term Sea Floor Spreading

In the theory of plate tectonics the process by which new oceanic crust is formed by the convective upwelling of magma at mid ocean ridges resulting in.

Define the term sea floor spreading.

Seafloor spreading synonyms seafloor spreading pronunciation seafloor spreading translation english dictionary definition of seafloor spreading. 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 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. Sea floor spreading synonyms sea floor spreading pronunciation sea floor spreading translation english dictionary definition of sea floor spreading.

Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. 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. Spreading rate is the rate at which an ocean basin widens due to seafloor spreading.