Seafloor spreading creates oceanic crust at a spreading ridge and carries it away with the adjoining plates. With symmetric steady spreading, an age interval maps to distance by the half-spreading rate, not the full relative opening speed. A time sequence of field polarities can therefore become paired marine magnetic stripes.
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Seafloor spreading is a geological process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where tectonic plates diverge or move apart. As these plates separate, magma from the mantle rises to fill the gap, solidifying to form new oceanic crust. This process is a key mechanism of plate tectonics and contributes to the expansion of ocean basins.