What forces the seafloor is spreading?
Seafloor spreading is a geologic process in which tectonic plates—large slabs of Earth's lithosphere—split apart from each other. Seafloor spreading and other tectonic activity processes are the result of mantle convection. Mantle convection is the slow, churning motion of Earth's mantle.
Does seafloor spreading cause continents to drift?
Depending on the boundary type, the two plates will move (one subducted below the other or the two crash along side each other), but the seafloor spreading does't really cause the continental plate to drift in either case.
What causes continental drift?
The causes of continental drift are perfectly explained by the plate tectonic theory. The earth's outer shell is composed of plates that move a little bit every year. Heat coming from the interior of the earth triggers this movement to occur through convection currents inside the mantle.
What causes seafloor spreading quizlet?
The older rock moves outward on both sides of the ridge as new rock forms in the center of the ridge from cooling of molten material. This process is sea floor spreading.
How do continents move?
Today, we know that the continents rest on massive slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The plates are always moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics. The continents are still moving today. Some of the most dynamic sites of tectonic activity are seafloor spreading zones and giant rift valleys.
How does seafloor spreading move the continents?
The Mechanism for Continental Drift Seafloor spreading is the mechanism that Wegener was looking for! Convection currents within the mantle drive the continents. The continents are pushed by oceanic crust, like they are on a conveyor belt. Over millions of years the continents move around the planet's surface.
How does seafloor spreading occur quizlet?
What is seafloor spreading? The process of molten material from the mantle being pushed upward to the surface of the earth and spreading apart creating new earth. Where does seafloor spreading occur? This process occurs along divergent plate boundaries at areas called mid-ocean ridges.
What causes continental drift quizlet?
a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid. The earth's crust and upper mantle are made of huge plates slowly drifting because of convection currents in the mantle.
What is the force that moves the continents?
The movement of these tectonic plates is likely caused by convection currents in the molten rock in Earth's mantle below the crust. Earthquakes and volcanoes are the short-term results of this tectonic movement. The long-term result of plate tectonics is the movement of entire continents over millions of years (Fig.
What is the theory of seafloor spreading quizlet?
What is the process of sea-floor spreading? In sea-floor spreading, the sea floor spreads apart along both sides of a mid-ocean ridge as new crust is added. As a result, the ocean floors move like conveyor belts, carrying the continents along with them.
What causes the seafloor to spread apart at mid-ocean ridges quizlet?
What causes the sea floor to spread apart at mid-ocean ranges? Hot magma rises through the boundaries at the mid-ocean ranges, creating new rock as it cools and pushing the plates apart.
What causes the plates to move?
The heat from radioactive processes within the planet's interior causes the plates to move, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other. This movement is called plate motion, or tectonic shift.
What is the first step in the seafloor spreading process?
Which is the first step in the seafloor spreading process? A crack forms in oceanic crust.
What is the continental drift quizlet?
continental drift. The hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations.
What is continental drift theory quizlet?
Theory of Continental Drift. In 1915, the German geologist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener first proposed the theory of continental drift, which states that parts of the Earth's crust slowly drift atop a liquid core. The fossil record supports and gives credence to the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics …
What force causes plate tectonics?
The force that causes most of the plate movement is thermal convection, where heat from the Earth's interior causes currents of hot rising magma and cooler sinking magma to flow, moving the plates of the crust along with them.
What causes the plates to move quizlet?
convection currents are a process in which the materials inside the mantle heat up and rise to the surface whilst the cooler liquid sinks; as it sinks it then heats up and rises again. This continuous cycle is established: hot liquid rising, cold liquid descending. These currents cause the tectonic plates to move.
How does gravity cause plates to move?
In the current understanding of plate motion the movement is driven by the weight of cold, older, dense plate material sinking into the mantle at deep ocean trenches and pulling the rest of the plate slab with them as gravity causes them to slide downwards.
What is seafloor spreading quizlet?
sea-floor spreading. the process by which molten material adds new oceanic crust to the ocean floor.
Which of the following best describes seafloor spreading?
New oceanic crust is formed at mid ocean ridges, pushed away from the ridge, and destroyed at deep-sea trenches is the correct statement (Option B) Explanation: Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at the mid ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away …
What caused continental drift quizlet?
a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid. The earth's crust and upper mantle are made of huge plates slowly drifting because of convection currents in the mantle.
What causes the continental drift quizlet?
a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid. The earth's crust and upper mantle are made of huge plates slowly drifting because of convection currents in the mantle.
Who was responsible for the theory of continental drift?
The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist Alfred Wegener. In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other.
What force moves the continents?
1 Answer. The theory of plate tectonics suggests that it is convection currents in the mantle of the earth that causes the movement of the continental plates.
What is the main force that causes tectonic plate movement quizlet?
According to the geologists, the movement of the Earth's plates is caused by the convection currents produced by the mantle. There is a presence of the differences in the temperature, changes in the density, and the presence of gravity in the mantle, particularly in the asthenosphere.
What is the force that moves continents and tectonic plates quizlet?
Convection occurs in the mantle underneath Earth's tectonic plates. Three forces act on the plates to make them move: basal drag from convection currents, ridge push at mid-ocean ridges, and slab pull from subducting plates. Convection currents in the mantle produce a force that causes motion called basal drag.
What is the 3 cause of plate movement?
Scientists have theorized three mechanisms that cause plate movement on Earth. These three mechanisms are thermal convection, ridge push, and slab pull.
What is the force that moves continents and tectonic plates?
Convection currents drive the movement of Earth's rigid tectonic plates in the planet's fluid molten mantle.
Which is the first step in the seafloor spreading process?
Which is the first step in the seafloor spreading process? A crack forms in oceanic crust.
Does continental drift theory and seafloor spreading theory support plate movement?
Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere.