Magnetic Stripes Ocean Floor

These two things were the magnetic striping on the ocean floor and the age of seafloor rocks.

Magnetic stripes ocean floor. These patterns were unlike any seen for continental rocks. This results in broadly evident stripes from which the past magnetic field polarity can be inferred from data gathered with a magnetometer towed on the sea surface or from an aircraft. The specific magnetism of basalt rock is determined by the earth s magnetic field when the magma is cooling.

Among the new findings was the discovery of zebra stripe like magnetic patterns for the rocks of the ocean floor. The patterns reflect the creation and spreading of oceanic crust along the mid oceanic ridges. This pattern of stripes could represent what scientists see on the seafloor.

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. What they discovered was that the magnetism of the ocean floor around mid ocean ridges was divided into matching stripes on either side of the ridge. 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.

In the oceans magnetic stripes are symmetrical about a mid ocean ridge axis. Note that the stripes are symmetrical about the central dusky purple stripe. 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.

These surveys revealed a series of invisible magnetic stripes of normal and reversed polarity in the sea floor like that shown in the figure below. The rock began as molten material that cooled and hardened. Magnetic stripes and isotopic clocks oceanographic exploration in the 1950s led to a much better understanding of the ocean floor.

By using the magnetometer the magnetic polarity will be shown through a timescale that contains the normal and a reverse polarity. Plate tectonics and reversals of the earth s magnetic field are responsible for the magnetic stripes found on the ocean floor. Magnetic stripes in the 20th century the magnetic survey was conducted in the mid ocean ridge in order to investigate evidence of sea floor spreading.