The Sea Floor Is Constantly Shrinking

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The sea floor is constantly shrinking.

Updated 3 30 2017 1 59 42 am. 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. In the mid 1900s scientists mapped the mid ocean ridges using sonar. Explain the following statement.

But the pacific ocean is slowly shrinking at a rate of 0 5 square kilometers 0 19 square miles per year due to plate tectonics. Trenches located near south america alaska and eastern asia are continually removing sea floor as new seafloor is being added along the pacific s mid ocean ridges. It is massive with an estimated area of 63 8 million square miles and an average depth of 13 000 feet. When the weight of an area of earth s crust increases the lithosphere.

The pacific ocean is the world s largest ocean. The reason the pacific ocean is shrinking is because of the deep water trenches there while the atlantic ocean is getting bigger. It is also shrinking because of plate tectonics. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.

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 longest chain of mountains in the world is the system of mid ocean ridges. In about 500 million years the pacific will not be there and the. The seafloor is constantly shrinking.

The pacific is slowly shrinking because it is folding the sea floor in towards the center of the earth this is called subduction. Seafloor spreading is the continuous process of forming new igneous rock at mid ocean ridges by injection of magma that forms new seafloor. Ii hat is the process of sea floor spreading. Seafloor spreading theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones and spreads out laterally away from them.

The pacific is neither growing nor shrinking. The atlantic is growing as a result of seafloor being added along the mid ocean ridge that runs its length. It makes up 28 of the earth s surface and is home to the world s deepest oceanic trench the mariana trench. Search for an answer or ask weegy.

Rising magma cools and solidifies to form new rock that replaces the ocean floor. Vl hat happens at deep ocean trenches. The seafloor is constantly shrinking. Vi hat is the evidence for sea floor spreading.