Seafloor spreading — Science definition
The process by which new ocean floor forms at mid-ocean ridges and spreads outward in both directions, providing the mechanism for continental drift.
Where it is taught
- Evidence for Continental Drift — Earth’s Interior & Plate Tectonics, Earth & Space Science, Grade 9
In use
The mechanism finally turned up in the 1960s with the discovery of seafloor spreading — the process by which fresh ocean crust is born at mid-ocean ridges and spreads outward in both directions, like a slow conveyor belt carrying the continents along rather than dragging them through solid rock.
Evidence for Continental Drift