Seafloor Spreading
What is seafloor spreading?
Seafloor spreading happens at mid-ocean extends, where new oceanic crust is organized through volcanic action and then gradually moves away from the ridge. The theory is well-accepted now, and the phenomenon is known to be caused by convection currents in the solid, very weak upper mantle, or asthenosphere. The crust along the length of the rift is heated by the underlying mantle, getting more plastic and less dense. The crust rises, producing a liberal dome and widening the rift.
This process runs it’s naturally every 250-500 million years. The last time there was a supercontinent, Pangaea, was about 200 million years ago. Within the next 200 million years, the world’s continents are guessed to agglomerate again, in a new supercontinent called Pangaea Ultima. When a new rift starts to cover on land, water will rush in, creating a sea. They see such an example in the Red Sea, which separates Eurasia (Saudi Arabia) from Africa (Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia). Over millions of years, this rift will continue to spread, creating a new ocean.
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