GERMAN RESEARCH TEAM

AGES OF ROCKS NEAR MID-OCEAN RIDGES

Your team has measured the ages of rocks on either side of the mid-atlantic ridge. You collected these rocks and determined their ages using radiometric dating.

You found a pattern that is expressed by the diagram on the reverse side of this sheet.

Describe the pattern you found:

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What caused this pattern to form?

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The scale on this diagram is 1 mm = 100 km. Based on this scale, determine the rate at which the seafloor may be moving.

Rate of ocean floor movement = distance on map ÷ time between locations on map.

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Take your measurement in kilometers and multiply it times 100,000 to determine the rate of movement per year in centimeters.

Go to the websites listed below and read the information that is there.

The Law of Radioactive Decay

Clocks in Rocks                                     

Magnetic Stripes and Isotopic Clocks

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