(5) What is the mean spreading rate of the oceanic crust, S? This is the amount
ID: 285742 • Letter: #
Question
(5) What is the mean spreading rate of the oceanic crust, S? This is the amount of spreading per year required to generate oceanic crust at the rate determined 40.19 Km^3/yr. The total length of Earth's mid-ocean ridges, L, is about 60,000 km (1.5 times the circumference of the planet). The rate of production of oceanic crust is equal to the product of ridge length, crustal thickness, and spreading rate: Foc = L ´TOC ´ S . Rearrange this equation to solve for the spreading rate, S. Report your answer in units of cm/year. There are 105 cm in 1 km. [Hint: the answer is about the same rate at which your fingernails grow, on the order of a few cm/year, so if you get a number that is wildly off from this, check your calculations.]
Foc = 40.19 Km^3/yr , L = 60,000 Km , Toc = 6.8 Km , What is S? Show all work.
Explanation / Answer
Given,
Volume of crust formed, Foc = 40.19 km^3/year
Length of global mid oceanic ridges, L = 60000 km
Thickness of oceanic crust, Toc = 6.8 km
Spreading rate = S = ?
Now,
Foc = L × Toc × S
S = 40.19/(60000×6.8) km/year
= 9.85 cm/ year.
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