Tag Archives: Seafloor Spreading

World maps depicting the ages of seafloor crust. Red indicates the youngest regions, including the currently forming crust, while blue represents the oldest oceanic crust still in existence, formed approximately 150 to 180 million years ago.
1973: Seafloor Spreading – Tanya Atwater’s Contributions to Plate Tectonics

Tanya Atwater’s groundbreaking research in the 1970s provided key insights into seafloor spreading, contributing significantly to the understanding of plate tectonics and the geological history of Earth

As new seafloor is formed by volcanic activity at mid-ocean ridges, the magnetic field polarity of Earth at that time gets preserved in magnetic minerals within the volcanic rocks. As the seafloor moves away from the ridges, it serves as a geological "tape recorder," showing variations in magnetic polarity over time.
1963: Unraveling Earth’s Magnetic Mysteries – The Study of Reversing Polarity

Researchers in geophysics and paleomagnetism, like Motonori Matuyama and Lawrence Morley, have discovered Earth's magnetic field reversals, revealing crucial insights into seafloor spreading and plate tectonics