Discovery of magnetic striping on ocean floor.
Magnetic striping of ocean floor.
In the early 1960s scientists such as heezen hess and dietz had begun to theorise that mid ocean ridges mark structurally weak zones where the ocean floor was being ripped in two lengthwise along the ridge crest see the previous paragraph.
The discovery of magnetic striping called for an explanation.
The discovery adds a key element to the theory of plate tectonics.
Magnetic striping of the sea floor after mid ocean ridges and trenches were discovered more evidence was discovered that helped to support the theory that the continents had moved around.
These patterns were unlike any seen for continental rocks.
These two things were the magnetic striping on the ocean floor and the age of seafloor rocks.
Among the new findings was the discovery of zebra stripe like magnetic patterns for the rocks of the ocean floor.
Navy and the scripps institution of oceanography tows the first marine magnetometer and finds magnetic striping on the seafloor off the west coast.
When magma flows out of a mid ocean ridge small magnetic minerals in the magma align themselves to point in the direction of the earth s current magnetic north.
Magnetic stripes and isotopic clocks oceanographic exploration in the 1950s led to a much better understanding of the ocean floor.
Plate tectonics and reversals of the earth s magnetic field are responsible for the magnetic stripes found on the ocean floor.
It is as if the sea floor was a giant tape recorder with twin tapes emerging from the mid atlantic ridge recording the earth s magnetism at the time they emerge and then traveling in opposite directions.
The magnetism of mid ocean ridges helped scientists first identify the process of seafloor spreading in the early 20th century.
Coast and geodetic survey ship pioneer in a joint project with the u s.
This finding though unexpected.
Magnetic evidence for seafloor spreading explains how magnetic polarity frozen into seafloor basalts reveals evidence for the creation of new seafloor at mid ocean ridges.
Magnetic striping and polar reversals beginning in the 1950s scientists using magnetic instruments magnetometers adapted from airborne devices developed during world war ii to detect submarines began recognizing odd magnetic variations across the ocean floor.
