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.
Magnetic striping of 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.
Magnetic striping magnetic minerals are found in rocks.
The discovery adds a key element to the theory of plate tectonics.
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.
Among the new findings was the discovery of zebra stripe like magnetic patterns for the rocks 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.
These two things were the magnetic striping on the ocean floor and the age of seafloor rocks.
These patterns were unlike any seen for continental rocks.
The discovery of magnetic striping called for an explanation.
Each strip therefore represents an epoch of one or the other magnetic polarity and the symmetry is also explained.
This finding though unexpected.
The magnetism of mid ocean ridges helped scientists first identify the process of seafloor spreading in the early 20th century.
Discovery of magnetic striping on ocean floor.
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 evidence for seafloor spreading explains how magnetic polarity frozen into seafloor basalts reveals evidence for the creation of new seafloor at mid ocean ridges.
Coast and geodetic survey ship pioneer in a joint project with the u s.
Magnetic stripes and isotopic clocks oceanographic exploration in the 1950s led to a much better understanding of the ocean floor.
