seafloor spreading

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Definition von seafloor spreading im Englisch Englisch wörterbuch

The outward movement of the seafloor from central underwater ridges as a result of plate tectonics; the major cause of continental drift

Theory that oceanic crust forms along submarine mountain zones, known collectively as the oceanic ridge system, and spreads out laterally away from them. This idea, proposed by U.S. geophysicist Harry H. Hess (1906-1969) in 1960, was pivotal in the development of the theory of plate tectonics