The Rocks On The Ocean Floor Are Magnetic In Stripes

As rocks crystallize from lava at the ridges they literally record the magnetic field of the earth at the time.

The rocks on the ocean floor are magnetic in stripes.

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. The rock of the ocean floor contains iron. Among the new findings was the discovery of zebra stripe like magnetic patterns for the rocks of the ocean floor. Magnetic direction of rock changes as earth s magnetic poles drift.

These two things were the magnetic striping on the ocean floor and the age of seafloor rocks. As the african crust stretched thin streams of magma intruded the continental crust and hardened. The patterns of the magnetic field will then be compared to the rocks to determine its approximate ages. Magma acquires the magnetic direction present on earth when it hardens into rock 3.

Eruptions of molten material magnetic stripes in the rock of the ocean floor and the ages of the rocks themselves. Identify the factors that cause magnetic stripes to form along the ocean floor. Plates move as new rock forms which causes magnetic direction to skew away. The rock began as molten material that cooled and hardened.

When the earth s magnetic field reverses a new stripe with the new polarity begins. These magnetic patterns are parallel to the mid ocean ridges and symmetrical on both sides. Plate tectonics and reversals of the earth s magnetic field are responsible for the magnetic stripes found on the ocean floor. The figure below includes two images of the ocean floor.

This evidence made scientists take a second look at wegener s hypothesis of continental drift. And unlike magnetic stripes on the ocean floor tendaho s formed through diking. The investigation of the mid ocean ridge using the magnetic stripes resulted in the three discoveries. The minerals contained in the rocks are oriented opposite to the magnetic field.

Different types of evidence supported hess s theory of sea floor spreading. When scientists studied the magnetic properties of the seafloor they discovered normal and reversed magnetic stripes with different widths. Scientists discovered that the rock that makes up the ocean floor lies in a pattern of magnetized stripes these stripes hold a record of reversals in earth s magnetic field. Magnetic stripes and isotopic clocks oceanographic exploration in the 1950s led to a much better understanding of the ocean floor.

Select the two correct answers. Magnetic striping magnetic minerals are found in rocks.