Question

PLZ PLZ PLZ HELP WILL MARK BRAINLIST In a short paragraph (2-4 sentences), EXPLAIN how seafloor spreading occurs and how it relates to plate tectonics / boundaries.
Consider these questions in your answer:
What happens during seafloor spreading (interior and exterior)?
Explain what boundary seafloor spreading represents and why.

Answer 1

Answer:

Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. At a spreading center, basaltic magma rises up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new seabed.

Explanation:

Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries. As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the mantle's convection currents makes the crust more plastic and less dense. The less-dense material rises, often forming a mountain or elevated area of the seafloor. Eventually, the crust cracks.