Sea-floor Spreading

Harry Hess

Split and

Separate!

ACTIVITY 5

Q22. What do the stripes in the paper represent?

The stripes represent the rocks with normal and reverse polarities.

Q23. What does the middle slit represent? What occurs in this region?

The middle split represents the mid-ocean ridge. In this region, the seafloor spreading occurs.

Q24. What is the role of the mid-ocean ridge in the movement of lithospheric plates?

The role of the mid-ocean ridge in the movement of lithospheric plates is that it is where the forces that pushes the lithosphere came from.

Q25. How does the new seafloor form at the mid-ocean ridge?

The hot and less dense material below the Earth’s crust rises towards the mid-ocean ridge. This materials flows sideways carrying the seafloor away from the ridge, and creates a crack in the crust. The magma flows out of the crack, cools down and create a new seafloor.

Q26. What process/es happen at the side slits?The side slits is where subduction occurs.

Q27. Is the Earth getting larger and wider when plates drift away from each other? Explain briefly.`

The Earth is not getting larger and wider when plates drift away from each other because if a new seafloor was created, the old one was destructed.