EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -At subduction zones, the edge of the denser plate subducts, or slides, beneath the less-dense one. The denser lithospheric material then melts back into the Earth’s mantle. Seafloor spreading creates new crust.

Detailed explanation-2: -As the molten material cools, it forms a strip of solid rock in the center of the ridge. Then more molten material splits apart the strip of solid rock that formed before, pushing it aside. This process, called sea-floor spreading, continually adds new material to the ocean floor.

Detailed explanation-3: -Seafloor spreading is a geologic process where there is a gradual addition of new oceanic crust in the ocean floor through a volcanic activity while moving the older rocks away from the mid-oceanic ridge.

Detailed explanation-4: -New crust is continually being pushed away from divergent boundaries (where sea-floor spreading occurs), increasing Earth’s surface. But the Earth isn’t getting any bigger.