Oceanic crust

From GeoClasses

Jump to: navigation, search

Pillow Basalts

Pillow basalt. From NOAA Ocean Explorer
Enlarge
Pillow basalt. From NOAA Ocean Explorer

Pictures and drilled cores from the floor of the ocean basins indicate that oceanic crust is made, primarily of basalt, specifically pillow basalts, which are rocks formed from the eruption of volcanos under water.


Mid-Ocean ridges

The Atlantic Ocean floor Source: National Geophysical Data Center
The Atlantic Ocean floor Source: National Geophysical Data Center

When we looked at the shape of the continents, you must have noticed the ridge of mountains that run down the center of the Atlantic ocean.

This mountain range is a line of volcanoes called the Mid ocean ridge, and you can find a similar range anywhere continents are moving apart.

These rifts are where the new oceanic crust is created. They are sometimes called spreading centers.

Opening of the North Atlantic Ocean
Enlarge
Opening of the North Atlantic Ocean




Navigate

< Back to: Up to: /\ Forward to: >
< Continental Jigsaw /\ Plate Tectonics > Continental rifts
Personal tools