How are seafloor spreading and continental drift similar?
Supporters of continental drift originally theorized that the continents moved (drifted) through unmoving oceans. Seafloor spreading proves that the ocean itself is a site of tectonic activity. Seafloor spreading is just one part of plate tectonics. Subduction is another.
Which statement describes the relationship between seafloor spreading and continental drift as the seafloor spreads the continents do not move as the continents move they pull the seafloor with them as the continents move they create new seafloor at the coast as the seafloor spreads the continents move in the same?
Seafloor spreading helps to explain the continental drift hypothesis because when the seafloor moves, the continent(s) on top of it move as well. Seafloor spreading is powerful enough to move continents, and that helps explain the continental drift hypothesis because is explains how continents move.
How do evidences of continental drift and sea floor spreading prove that the plates move?
The seafloor’s permanent magnetic signatures showed that new ocean crust was created at the ridge crests and then spread outward in both directions. Tuzo Wilson, combined the continental drift and seafloor spreading hypotheses to propose the theory of plate tectonics.
Are the continents still drifting today?
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. The two continents are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) per year.
What is the fastest tectonic plate?
These average rates of plate separations can range widely. The Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate (less than 2.5 cm/yr), and the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island, in the South Pacific about 3,400 km west of Chile, has the fastest rate (more than 15 cm/yr).
What will Earth be like in 100 million years?
As this scenario continues, by 100 million years from the present, the continental spreading will have reached its maximum extent and the continents will then begin to coalesce. In 250 million years, North America will collide with Africa. South America will wrap around the southern tip of Africa.