Sea Floor Spreading Model Activity

Model of seafloor spreading templates one with three straight lines and another with striped bands or striped bands with arrows colored pencils or crayons.

Sea floor spreading model activity. 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. This idea played a pivotal role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics which revolutionized geologic thought during the last quarter of the 20th century. Sea floor spreading happens at places where plates are moving away from each other and where the liquid rock from the asthenosphere can come up to the lithosphere.

Convection currents carry heat from the lower mantle and core to the lithosphere. This interactive activity is simple to prepare and to execute and allows the students to understand seafloor spreading and the position of newer rock and older rock in relation to. Spreading rates determine if the ridge is fast intermediate or slow. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them.

When a divergent boundary occurs in the ocean seafloor spreading is the result. As magma starts to harden into rock iron rich minerals solidify first. In the places where the plates are moving apart magma liquid rock moves up into the cracks and solidifies making a new ocean floor just like cake batter would ooze up through. Displaying top 8 worksheets found for activity seafloor spreading.

Once the basalt cools completely into solid rock the. Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection. The purpose of this activity is to make a simple model that shows the evolution of oceanic crust through sea floor spreading and subduction. Their crystals are pulled into alignment by the earth s magnetic field just like a compass needle is pulled towards magnetic north.

A model of seafloor spreading purpose. Convection currents also recycle lithospheric materials back to the mantle. Mantle convection is the slow churning motion of earth s mantle. Some of the worksheets for this concept are sea floor spreading work sea floor spreading a model of seafloor spreading inside earth work magnetic reversals activity name date sea floor spreading l 1 2 3 5 4 ovr l lesson 3 seafloor profiling seafloor spreading and subduction.

Most basalt magmas contain abundant molten iron. The creation of new sea floor at mid ocean spreading centers and its destruction in subduction zones is one of the many cycles that causes the earth to experience constant change.