Sea Floor Spreading Lab

Regents Earth Science Name:
Unit 3: Dynamic Crust Section:
Lab #
SEA FLOOR SPREADING IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Background
Sea floor spreading is one component of the theory of plate tectonics. According to this
concept, new sea floor rock (basalt) is added to the edges of the North American, South
American, Eurasian, and African plates. The result of the addition of new sea floor rock
at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is that the Atlantic Ocean between these sets of
continents is widening. North and South America move farther away from Eurasia and
Africa each year.
The youngest sea floor rocks are found in the middle of the ocean because that is
where new sea floor is added. As you move away from the MAR, the sea floor
rocks become increasingly older. The oldest sea floor (the first Atlantic sea floor
formed that is still preserved) is found closest to the continents. One way that geologists
can recognize the strips of sea floor basalt created at, and subsequently moved away
from, the MAR is by collecting and determining the magnetic properties and ages of
rocks from the ocean floor.
Materials: (per student)
• Ruler with mm subdivisions

• Calculator
• Copies of map, worksheets, and geologic time scale (ESRT p. 8 & 9)
Objective: Using ocean depth data you will construct an ocean bottom profile. Using
the profile, maps of the ocean floor and of Earth’s tectonic plates you will identify
features of the ocean bottom in regions of diverging plate boundaries.
F:\Documents\Earth Science\Dynamic Crust\Sea Floor Spreading Lab.doc 1

Procedure A:
Construct an ocean bottom profile on the graph titled “North Atlantic Ocean Bottom
Profile: using the ocean depth data provided. The horizontal distance scale is: one
block = 150 km. The vertical depth scale is: one block = 0.5 km. Label the following
ocean floor features: Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Rift Valley, continental shelf, deep ocean
floor, and seamounts. Referring to the ESRT (page 5), draw arrows representing the
directions in which the sea floor is moving.
Depth (km) Distance (km) Depth (km) Distance (km)

0 0 - 3.5 3500
- 0.2 120 - 3.7 3600
- 2.7 200 - 3.7 3650
- 3.7 400 - 4.0 4025
- 3.7 490 - 2.7 4050
- 4.6 620 + 0.5 4100
- 1.8 680 - 2.2 4125
- 4.6 720 - 4.6 4500
- 4.6 2000 - 5.0 5000
- 4.0 2500 - 4.4 5300
- 2.7 2900 - 3.7 5800
- 1.8 3000 - 2.7 6000
- 4.0 3090 - 0.2 6075
- 2.4 3100 0 6100
- 2.9 3200
Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 2

North Atlantic Ocean Bottom Profile
Sea Floor Spreading Lab

11/27/2011
3
A B
U.S. East Coast Distance from U.S. East Coast (km) Portuguese West Coast
Procedure B: Complete the following procedures on the “Age of the Atlantic Sea Floor”
map provided.
Age of the Atlantic Sea Floor
1. Study area: North Atlantic Ocean
Using the “84” line to the left of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, record its age below and
carefully measure the distance it has moved from the mid-ocean ridge where it formed.
2. Sea floor age: _______84_______million years (My)
3. Distance to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
____833__________kilometers (km)
Using the age of the rock and its distance from the MAR, calculate the half-rate
of sea floor spreading, the velocity at which one strip of this rock has spread
away from the MAR.

4. Calculated half-rate (velocity) of sea floor spreading
(distance / time = velocity): ____________________km per My
5. Calculated total rate (velocity) of sea floor spreading
(2 X half-rate = total spreading rate): ____________________km/My
6. Total present day distance between North America and Africa
(measured between points A and B): km
7. Calculated age of the North Atlantic Ocean
(total distance / total velocity = time) : _____________________My
8. Geologic Period during which the North Atlantic began to open (use page 9 of ESRT):
9. Convert the total sea floor spreading rate from step #5 above to units that are easier
to "imagine". This can be done simply by filling in the spaces below and performing the
multiplication. Check this calculation by making sure that units "cancel out" to correctly
yield the units desired (this procedure is known as dimensional analysis).
(____km/My) X (____mi/km) X (____ft/mi) X (____in/ft ) X (____My/yr) = _____in/yr
10. How much has the distance (in inches) between North America and Africa
increased since you were born?
11. How much does the distance (in feet) increase during the average lifetime of an
American (~82 years)?

Regents Questions: Use your knowledge of Earth Science and your ESRT if necessary to answer the following
multiple choice questions.
The diagram represents a partial cross section of a model of the Earth. The arrows show inferred motions within the
Earth.
1. Which property of the oceanic crust in regions F and G is a result of these inferred motions?
a. The crystal size of the rock decreases constantly as distance form the mid-ocean ridge increases.
b. The temperature of the basaltic rock increases as distance from the mid-ocean ridge increases.
c. Heat-flow measurements steadily increase as distance from the mid-ocean ridge increases.
d. The age of the igneous rock increases as distance from the mid-ocean ridge increases.
2. The diagram shows one side of an oceanic

ridge and a portion of the ocean floor.
Which graph below best illustrates the age of the

basalt as the distance from an oceanic ridge
increases?
a. c.
b. d.

3. The diagram represents a cross section of a portion of the Earth’s crust and mantle. Letters A, B, C, D,
and X identify locations within the crust.
The age of oceanic crust increases along a line between location X and location
a) A
b) B
c) C
d) D
4. Which statement best supports the theory of continental drift?
a) Basaltic rock is found to be progressively younger at increasing distances from a mid-ocean ridge.
b) Marine fossils are often found in deep-well drill cores.
c) The present continents appear to fit together as pieces of a larger land mass.
d) Areas of shallow-water seas tend to accumulate sediment, which gradually sinks.
5. Which evidence supports the theory of seafloor spreading?
a) The rocks of the ocean floor and the continents have similar origins.
b) In the ocean floor, rocks near the mid-ocean ridge are cooler than rocks near the continents.
c) The pattern of magnetic orientation of rocks is similar on both sides of the mid-ocean ridge.
d) The density of oceanic crust is greater than the density of continental crust.

The diagram shows the magnetic orientation of igneous rocks on the seafloor on the east side of a mid-ocean ridge.
The pattern on the west side of the ridge has been omitted. The age of the igneous rock and its distance from the
ridge center are shown.
6. According to the diagram, what is the approximate rate of seafloor spreading?
a) 1 km/million years
b) 2 km/million years
c) 40 km/million years
d) 50 km/million years
7. Which inference can best be made from the diagram?
a) The orientation of Earth’s magnetic field has reversed with time.

b) The size of the continents has changed with time.
c) The elevation of sea level has changed with time.
d) The amount of fossil material preserved in the igneous rock has changed with time.
8. The crustal material on both sides of the ridge indicates that the crustal plates are
1. diverging
2. converging
3. not moving
4. moving parallel to the ridge
9. As the distance from the center of the ridge increases, the age of the rocks
1. decreases
2. increases
3. remains the same

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Regents Earth Science Name:

Unit 3: Dynamic Crust Section:

SEA FLOOR SPREADING IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Materials: (per student)

• Ruler with mm subdivisions

F:\Documents\Earth Science\Dynamic Crust\Sea Floor Spreading Lab.doc 1

Depth (km) Distance (km) Depth (km) Distance (km)

Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 2

Sea Floor Spreading Lab

Age of the Atlantic Sea Floor

1. Study area: North Atlantic Ocean

2. Sea floor age: _______84_______million years (My)

3. Distance to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 4

(distance / time = velocity): ____________________km per My

5. Calculated total rate (velocity) of sea floor spreading

(2 X half-rate = total spreading rate): ____________________km/My

6. Total present day distance between North America and Africa

(measured between points A and B): km

7. Calculated age of the North Atlantic Ocean

(total distance / total velocity = time) : _____________________My

(____km/My) X (____mi/km) X (____ft/mi) X (____in/ft ) X (____My/yr) = _____in/yr

Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 5

2. The diagram shows one side of an oceanic

Which graph below best illustrates the age of the

Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 6

4. Which statement best supports the theory of continental drift?

5. Which evidence supports the theory of seafloor spreading?

Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 7

6. According to the diagram, what is the approximate rate of seafloor spreading?

7. Which inference can best be made from the diagram?

a) The orientation of Earth’s magnetic field has reversed with time.

Sea Floor Spreading Lab 11/27/2011 8

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2. Sea floor age: _84_million years (My)

(km/My) X (mi/km) X (ft/mi) X (in/ft ) X (My/yr) = _in/yr