Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 16 December 1966:
Vol. 154. no. 3755, pp. 1405 - 1415
DOI: 10.1126/science.154.3755.1405
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Spreading of the Ocean Floor: New Evidence

F. J. Vine 1

1 Department of geology, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 08540.

It is suggested that the entire history of the ocean basins, in terms of oceanfloor spreading,is contained frozen in the oceanic crust. Variations in the intensity and polarity of Earth's magnetic field are considered to be recorded in the remanent magnetism of the igneous rocks as they solidified and cooled through the Curie temperature at the crest of an oceanic ridge, and subsequently spread away from it at a steady rate. The hypothesis is supported by the extreme linearity and continuity of oceanic magnetic anomalies and their symmetry about the axes of ridges.

If the proposed reversal time scale for the last 4 million years is combined with the model, computed anomaly profiles show remarkably good agreement with those observed, and one can deduce rates of spreading for all active parts of the midoceanic ridge system for which magnetic profilesor surveys are available. The rates obtained are in exact agreement with those needed to account for continental drift.

An exceptionally high rate of spreading (approximately 4.5 cm/year) in the South Pacific enables one to deduce by extrapolation considerable details of the reversal time scale back to 11.5 million years ago. Again, this scale can be applied to other parts of the ridge system. Thus one isled to the suggestion that the crest of the East Pacific Rise in the northeast Pacific has been overridden and modified by the westward drift of North America, with the production of the anomalous width and unique features of the American cordillera in the western United States. The oceanicmagnetic anomalies also indicate that there was a change in derection of crustal spreading in this region during Pliocene time from eastwest to southeast-northwest.

A profile from the crest to the boundary of the East Pacific Rise, and the difference between axial-zone and flank anomalies over ridges, suggest increase in the frequency of reversal of Earth's magnetic field, together, possibly, with decrease in its intensity, approximately 25 million years ago.

Within the framework of ocean-floor spreading, it is suggested that magnetic anomaliesmay indicate the nature of oceanic fracture zones and distinguish the parts of the ridge system that are actively spreading. Thus data derived during the past year lend remarkable support to thehypothesis that magnetic anomalies may reveal the history of the ocean basins.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: Tectonic implications of Mars crustal magnetism.
J. E. P. Connerney, M. H. Acuna, N. F. Ness, G. Kletetschka, D. L. Mitchell, R. P. Lin, and H. Reme (2005)
PNAS 102, 14970-14975
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
"Canons" revisited and reviewed: Lester King's views of landscape evolution considered 50 years later.
C.R. Twidale (2003)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 115, 1155-1172
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Magnetic polarity timescales: a new test.
A. E. Mussett and A. G. McCormack (1993)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 70, 27-37
   Abstract »    PDF »
Global Tectonics and Space Geodesy.
R. G. Gordon, R. G. Gordon, and S. Stein (1992)
Science 256, 333-342
   Abstract »    PDF »
Deep crustal structure and magmatic processes: the inception of seafloor spreading in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea.
J. C. Mutter and C. M. Zehnder (1988)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 39, 35-48
   Abstract »    PDF »
The role of fracture zones during early Red Sea rifting: structural analysis using Space Shuttle radar and LANDSAT imagery.
K. CRANE and E. BONATTI (1987)
Journal of the Geological Society 144, 407-420
   Abstract »    PDF »
References.
(1986)
Geological Society, London, Memoirs 11, 167-178
   PDF »
The April 29, 1965, Puget Sound earthquake and the crustal and upper mantle structure of western Washington.
C. A. LANGSTON and D. E. BLUM (1977)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 67, 693-711
   Abstract »    PDF »
Seismic-wave transmission across the Caribbean plate: High attenuation on concave side of Lesser Antilles Island Arc.
J. A. RIAL (1976)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 66, 1905-1920
   Abstract »    PDF »
Geomagnetic reconnaissance on the continental margin of the British Isles between 54{degrees} and 57{degrees}N.
R. J. BAILEY, J. S. BUCKLEY, and M. M. KIELMAS (1975)
Journal of the Geological Society 131, 275-282
   Abstract »    PDF »
Global Increase in Quaternary Explosive Volcanism.
J. P. Kennett, J. P. Kennett, and R. C. Thunell (1975)
Science 187, 497-502
   Abstract »    PDF »
Seismicity, earthquake mechanisms, and tectonics along the western coast of North America, from 42{degrees}N to 61{degrees}N.
U. CHANDRA (1974)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 64, 1529-1549
   Abstract »    PDF »
Seismic reflection profiles of the continental margin bordering the Rockall Trough.
R. J. BAILEY, J. M. GRZYWACZ, and J. S. BUCKLEY (1974)
Journal of the Geological Society 130, 55-69
   Abstract »    PDF »
Volcanic islands of the Red Sea.
I. G. GASS, D. I. J. MALLICK, and K. G. COX (1973)
Journal of the Geological Society 129, 275-309
   Abstract »    PDF »
Crustal Spreading in Southern California: The Imperial Valley and the Gulf of California formed by the rifting apart of a continental plate.
W. A. Elders, W. A. Elders, R. W. Rex, P. T. Robinson, S. Biehler, and T. Meidav (1972)
Science 178, 15-24
   Abstract »    PDF »
Small earthquakes, structure, and tectonics of the Puget Sound region.
R. S. CROSSON (1972)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 62, 1133-1171
   Abstract »    PDF »
Uplifted Trench Sediments: Southwestern Alaska-Bering Shelf Edge.
J. C. Moore and J. C. Moore (1972)
Science 175, 1103-1105
   Abstract »    PDF »
Plate Tectonics in Geologic History.
W. R. Dickinson and W. R. Dickinson (1971)
Science 174, 107-113
   PDF »
Geological evolution of the New Hebrides island arc.
A. H. G. MITCHELL and A. J. WARDEN (1971)
Journal of the Geological Society 127, 501-529
   Abstract »    PDF »
Seismo-tectonics of the Persian plateau, eastern Turkey, Caucasus, and Hindu-Kush regions.
A. A. NOWROOZI (1971)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 61, 317-341
   Abstract »    PDF »
Layered Basic Complex in Oceanic Crust, Romanche Fracture, Equatorial Atlantic Ocean.
W. G. Melson, W. G. Melson, and G. Thompson (1970)
Science 168, 817-820
   Abstract »    PDF »
Molasse Facies: Records of Worldwide Crustal Stresses.
F. B. Van Houten and F. B. Van Houten (1969)
Science 166, 1506-1507
   Abstract »    PDF »
Late Cenozoic Underthrusting of the Continental Margin off Northernmost California.
E. A. Silver and E. A. Silver (1969)
Science 166, 1265-1266
   Abstract »    PDF »
Ocean Floor Spreading: Olduvai and Gilsa Events in the Matuyama Epoch.
D. A. Emilia, D. A. Emilia, and D. F. Heinrichs (1969)
Science 166, 1267-1269
   Abstract »    PDF »
Lherzolite, Anorthosite, Gabbro, and Basalt Dredged from the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge.
C. G. Engel, C. G. Engel, and R. L. Fisher (1969)
Science 166, 1136-1141
   Abstract »    PDF »
Fissure Basalts and Ocean-Floor Spreading on the East Pacific Rise.
R. P. Von Herzen, R. P. Von Herzen, and E. Bonatti (1969)
Science 166, 1181-1183
   PDF »
Circum-Pacific Late Cenozoic Structural Rejuvenation: Implications for Sea Floor Spreading.
R. H. Dott and R. H. Dott Jr. (1969)
Science 166, 874-876
   Abstract »    PDF »
Red Sea Floor Origin: Rare-Earth Evidence.
J. G. Schilling and J.-G. Schilling (1969)
Science 165, 1357-1360
   Abstract »    PDF »
Crustal Plates in the Central Atlantic: Evidence for at Least Two Poles of Rotation.
P. J. Fox, P. J. Fox, W. C. Pitman III, and F. Shephard (1969)
Science 165, 487-489
   Abstract »    PDF »
Pre-Drift Continental Nuclei.
P. M. Hurley, P. M. Hurley, and J. R. Rand (1969)
Science 164, 1229-1242
   PDF »
The Upper Mantle of the Earth.
L. Knopoff and L. Knopoff (1969)
Science 163, 1277-1287
   PDF »
Geomagnetic Reversals.
A. Cox and A. Cox (1969)
Science 163, 237-245
   PDF »
Seismological evidence on the tectonics of central and northern California and the Mendocino escarpment.
B. A. BOLT, C. LOMNITZ, and T. V. MCEVILLY (1968)
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 58, 1725-1767
   Abstract »    PDF »
Magnetic Anomalies over Iceland.
P. H. Serson, P. H. Serson, W. Hannaford, and G. V. Haines (1968)
Science 162, 355-357
   Abstract »    PDF »
Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Age and Spreading Rates.
R. L. Fleischer, R. L. Fleischer, J. R. M. Viertl, P. B. Price, and F. Aumento (1968)
Science 161, 1339-1342
   Abstract »    PDF »
Transform Faulting and Growth of the Gulf of California Since the Late Pliocene.
D. G. Moore, D. G. Moore, and E. C. Buffington (1968)
Science 161, 1238-1241
   Abstract »    PDF »
Argon-40: Excess in Submarine Pillow Basalts from Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii.
G. B. Dalrymple, G. B. Dalrymple, and J. G. Moore (1968)
Science 161, 1132-1135
   Abstract »    PDF »
Fissure Basalts and Ocean-Floor Spreading on the East Pacific Rise.
E. Bonatti and E. Bonatti (1968)
Science 161, 886-888
   Abstract »    PDF »
Gulf of California: A Result of Ocean-Floor Spreading and Transform Faulting.
R. L. Larson, R. L. Larson, H. W. Menard, and S. M. Smith (1968)
Science 161, 781-784
   Abstract »    PDF »
Deep-Sea Drilling for Scientific Purposes: A Decade of Dreams: Marine drilling technology in the deep oceans will provide data on the history of oceans and continents.
T. H. van Andel (1968)
Science 160, 1419-1424
   PDF »
Palinspastic Restoration Suggesting Late Paleozoic North Atlantic Rifting.
G. W. Webb and G. W. Webb (1968)
Science 159, 875-878
   Abstract »    PDF »
Block Faulting on the Gorda Rise.
T. M. Atwater, T. M. Atwater, and J. D. Mudie (1968)
Science 159, 729-731
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sea-Floor Spreading near the Galapagos.
E. M. Herron, E. M. Herron, and J. R. Heirtzler (1967)
Science 158, 775-780
   Abstract »    PDF »
Magnetic Anomalies over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 27{degrees}N.
J. D. Phillips and J. D. Phillips (1967)
Science 157, 920-923
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sea Floor Spreading, Topography, and the Second Layer.
H. W. Menard and H. W. Menard (1967)
Science 157, 923-924
   Abstract »    PDF »
Tertiary Sediment from the East Pacific Rise.
L. H. Burckle, L. H. Burckle, J. Ewing, T. Saito, and R. Leyden (1967)
Science 157, 537-540
   Abstract »    PDF »
Radiolarian Evidence Consistent with Spreading of the Pacific Floor.
W. R. Riedel and W. R. Riedel (1967)
Science 157, 540-542
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sediment Distribution on the Mid-Ocean Ridges with Respect to Spreading of the Sea Floor.
J. Ewing, J. Ewing, and M. Ewing (1967)
Science 156, 1590-1592
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)