seafloor spreading

noun

1. a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth's mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out.

Word History and Origins

Origin of seafloor spreading¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Arwen Deuss, a geophysicist at Utrecht University, feels a sense of anticipation that may resemble the mood in the 1960s, when researchers were observing seafloor spreading and on the cusp of discovering plate tectonics, the theory that makes sense of Earth’s surface.

From Science Magazine

“A speculative but intriguing scheme for disposing of man-made solid wastes has been put forward by two investigators at the University of Washington. The plan would take advantage of regions called subduction sinks, where sedimentary material is being drawn downward into the earth’s mantle as a consequence of seafloor spreading. A hypothetical disposal system would consist of three stages: collection, compaction of waste into blocks and its sea transportation to tectonic sinks. The one-way system would take care of quantities larger than we can produce.”

From Scientific American

Seafloor spreading centers often contain magma reservoirs at such relatively shallow depths, but Devey says it was surprising to find magma at this depth under an abyssal plain.

From Science Magazine

The vast majority of these form at the boundaries of tectonic plates: either seafloor spreading centers, where freshly erupted lava drives plates apart, or at subduction zones, where plates dive beneath one another, leading to melting of the mantle beneath that can fuel eruptions.

From Science Magazine

Seafloor spreading is captured in magnetic zones on the ocean floor.

From Science Magazine