Question

Describe the general relationships that exist among distance from the spreading centers, heat flow, age of the crustal rock, and ocean depth.

Answer 1

Seafloor spreading creates a relationship where the youngest rocks and highest heat flow are at spreading centers. As distance from these centers increases, rock age increases, heat flow decreases, and ocean depth deepens. The spreading rate is inferred from the distance and age of the oceanic crust.

Step-by-step explanation:

The general relationships among distance from the spreading centers, heat flow, age of the crustal rock, and ocean depth are interconnected through the process of seafloor spreading. As the oceanic plates move apart at the mid-ocean ridges, molten material rises from beneath the Earth's crust and solidifies to form new crust. The youngest rocks are therefore located at the spreading centers, where heat flow is highest due to the upwelling of hot material.

As you move away from the mid-ocean ridges, the rocks become progressively older and the heat flow decreases. This cooling of the oceanic crust leads to an increase in density, causing the seafloor to sink and thus increasing the ocean depth. Therefore, the farther away from the spreading center, the older the crust, the lower the heat flow, and the deeper the ocean. Seafloor spreading rates can be determined by the age of the rocks along with the distance from the spreading center, with faster spreading rates resulting in wider bands of age-specific rock.

Answer 2

The spreading center is found at top the mid-oceanic ridges, and it is where two plates diverge from one another. The bottom of these ridges is the oceanic depth. The heat flow is the region where hot molten material travels upwards out of a subduction zone and causes seafloor spreading. The greater the size of the spreading center, the more the heat flow that will occur. Moreover, heat flow increases the thickness of the rock at the crust.