seafloor spreading

noun

: the divergence at mid-ocean ridges of the tectonic plates underlying the oceans that is due to upwelling from the earth's interior of magma which solidifies and adds to the spreading plates

Examples of seafloor spreading in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This shows that seafloor spreading is not a continuous event but occurs in giant lurches. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 9 July 2026

Now, in one of the clearest observations ever made, scientists have watched one of those moments unfold in real time and with unprecedented detail in an active seafloor spreading event in the Indian Ocean. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 8 July 2026

As the land splits apart, the Afar Depression will sink deeper and deeper, a process known as seafloor spreading. — Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 21 June 2023

Dalton and her colleagues added to the picture by assembling a complementary high-resolution record for the Pacific Ocean, where seafloor spreading is faster and more complex. — Paul Voosen, Science | AAAS, 22 Dec. 2020

Instead, they are forged through what Sager refers to as an augmented type of seafloor spreading. — Robin George Andrews, National Geographic, 15 July 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1969, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for seafloor spreading

• bedding
• dreading
• heading
• shedding
• shredding
• sledding
• threading
• treading
• wedding
• beheading
• embedding
• homesteading