Oceanic Crust Age: Understanding Plate Tectonics and Seafloor Spreading

What can be concluded from a map showing the ages of the Atlantic's oceanic crust?

Please help, I don't understand.

a) New crust forms at mid-ocean ridges

b) Older crust moves away

Answer:

A map of the Atlantic's oceanic crust allows conclusions related to the theory of plate tectonics and seafloor spreading, suggesting that new crust forms at mid-ocean ridges and older crust moves away.

Based on a map showing the ages of the Atlantic's oceanic crust, you can draw conclusions about the theory of plate tectonics and the age gradation of the ocean floor. Firstly, the map likely shows that the crust along the mid-Atlantic ridge is younger than the crust farther away. This supports the theory of plate tectonics, which suggests that new crust forms at these ridges and older crust moves away.

Secondly, observing variations in the age of the crust can help you understand the process of seafloor spreading, a phenomenon where new oceanic crust forms through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.