The Continents And Ocean Floor Are On Lithospheric Plates

American pacific african eurasian australian indian and antarctic.

The continents and ocean floor are on lithospheric plates. Hypothesis that earth s continents move on the earth s surface. Long chain of mountains with a central rift valley that is located along a divergent boundary on the ocean floor. The outer rocky layer of the earth includes about a dozen large sections called tectonic plates that are arranged like a spherical jig saw puzzle floating on top of the earth s hot flowing mantle. The north american and eurasian tectonic plates for example are separated by the mid atlantic ridge.

The two continents are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2 5 centimeters 1 inch per year. Plates that are not subducting are driven by gravity sliding off the elevated mid ocean ridges a process called ridge push. Briefly describe the view most geologists had about ocean basins and continents prior to the 1960s. These plates move relative to each other typically at rates of 5 to 10 cm 2 to 4 inches per year and interact along their boundaries where they converge diverge or slip past one another.

What analogy did wegener use to describe how continents move through the ocean floor. Plate tectonics and the ocean floor bathymetry the shape of the ocean floor is largely a result of a process called plate tectonics. Theory that lithospheric plates move and interact.