Seafloor Spreading Worksheet
Explore the process of seafloor spreading, a fundamental concept in plate tectonics, with this engaging worksheet for 6th graders.
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Seafloor Spreading: Exploring Our Dynamic Earth
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Use complete sentences where required.
1. What is the main idea behind seafloor spreading?
The ocean floor is shrinking.
New ocean floor is formed at mid-ocean ridges and spreads outward.
Continents are moving closer together.
Volcanoes cause the ocean floor to sink.
2. Where does new ocean crust form?
Deep-ocean trenches
Continental shelves
Mid-ocean ridges
Volcanic islands
3. The process of seafloor spreading is driven by the movement of Earth's .
4. As new crust is formed, older crust is pushed away from the mid-ocean ridge towards , where it sinks back into the mantle.
5. Describe what happens at a mid-ocean ridge during seafloor spreading.
6. Seafloor spreading causes the Earth to grow larger.
True
False
7. The youngest rocks on the ocean floor are found closest to the mid-ocean ridges.
True
False
8. Observe the diagram below showing seafloor spreading. Label the mid-ocean ridge, new crust, and old crust.
