Henry H. hess
Harry hess' hypothesis was hot/less dense material rises up the Earth's crust toward the mid-ocean ridges. When the seafloor breaks apart, magma is forced upward and through the cracks. It cools, and becomes a new seafloor. When it moves away from the mid-ocean ridge, it becomes denser and sinks. This helps form ridges.
Granitic strips in the ocean floor ... Novanet
While two people proposed continental drift (Alfred Wegener and Alexander du Toit), it was just ONE scientist Harry Hess that proposed the mechanism of sea floor spreading to explain how the continents actually moved.
Magnetic stripes on the seafloor showed alternating patterns of normal and reversed polarity, matching Earth's magnetic field reversals. Age dating of seafloor rocks revealed that rocks were youngest along mid-ocean ridges and oldest near continental margins. Sediment thickness on the seafloor was thinnest at mid-ocean ridges and thickest near the continents, supporting the idea of seafloor spreading.
Henry H. hess
The Seafloor Spreading Theory
The theory of seafloor spreading was proposed by Harry Hess, a geologist and Navy officer, in the early 1960s. He proposed that new oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges and then spreads outward. This theory helped to explain the mechanism behind continental drift and plate tectonics.
seafloor spreading by Harry Hess
It was proposed in the 1960s by Harry H. Hess.
200 BC
Harry Hess hypothesized that the sea floor was spreading. He explained it through the phenomena of the youngest rocks that are found only at the mid-ocean ridges. These rocks then, get progressively older when moving away from the ridge.
Harry Hess came up with the theory of seafloor spreading . Alfred Wegener came up with the idea of continental drift NOT sea-floor spreading.
Harry Hess came up with the theory of seafloor spreading . Alfred Wegener came up with the idea of continental drift NOT sea-floor spreading.
Seafloor Spreading created by harry hess
Seafloor Spreading created by harry hess
Harry hess' hypothesis was hot/less dense material rises up the Earth's crust toward the mid-ocean ridges. When the seafloor breaks apart, magma is forced upward and through the cracks. It cools, and becomes a new seafloor. When it moves away from the mid-ocean ridge, it becomes denser and sinks. This helps form ridges.