South Atlantic Sea Floor Spreading

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid ocean ridges large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor.
South atlantic sea floor spreading. 138 million years years show formulas for calculations with units 525 568 000 cm 3 8 cm yr 10. Geologists can get a rough estimate of the spreading rate i e. As the south atlantic basin by seafloor spreading africa and south america are moving. The rate at which south america and africa are moving apart by measuring the distance between the 2 continents in a direction parallel to oceanic fracture zones.
You might also like. The central atlantic ocean opened in the early mesozoic separating europe africa from north america wilson 1997 whereas the south atlantic ocean opened later in the early cretaceous and propagated northwards. Jurassic rocks represented by basalt dikes and lava flows. Alfred wegener developed the theory of plate tectonics.
The south atlantic ocean formed by seafloor spreading at the mid atlantic ridge. The joining of these two independent spreading centres in the early mid cretaceous resulted in a major shear zone developing between. A 2 feet per year b 0 1 inches per year c 20 feet per year d 2 centimeters per year. As the south atlantic basin widens by seafloor spreading africa and south america are moving closer together.
Islands of precambrian rocks along the mid atlantic ridge. Calculate the average rate of seafloor spreading for the south atlantic ocean over its entire existence. As you did above use the rate of sea floor spreading for the south atlantic basin to calculate the age of the south atlantic basin. T f as the south atlantic basin widens by seafloor spreading africa and south america are moving closer together.
For the north atlantic ocean using the map in the lab measure the distance between the center of the spreading center red and the border between dark yellow and light green 65 ma point i measured 2 cm. Much of the difficulty in determining the early opening history of the south atlantic is the absence of seafloor spreading anomalies. 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. Soft rocks that flow easily.
Express your answer in kilometers per million years myr and millimeters per year. False t f iceland is a good example of an island arc formed from an oceanic oceanic plate collision. The asthenosphere is the second layer of earth characterized by. Age of the south atlantic ocean basin.
Since the scale on the map is 1 cm 475 km calculate the real distance that the plate has moved over the past 65 ma. The oldest rocks in the south atlantic ocean immediately adjacent to the african and south american continental shelves are 120 000 000 years old.