EarthRef.org Reference Database (ERR) -- Wilson 1963

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Wilson 1963

Wilson, J.T. (1963). Evidence from islands on the spreading of ocean floors. Nature 197(4867): 536-538.

The pattern of distribution of oceanic islands relative to mid-ocean ridges, considered in conjunction with available evidence on the ages of the islands, provides support for the theory of spreading of ocean floors. It is postulated that convection currents in the mantle, rising under oceanic ridges and sinking under continental mountain ranges, are responsible for a horizontal component of motion tending to move volcanoes away from their sources on the ridges, thus producing chains of extinct volcanoes progressively older with increasing distance from the ridge. The distribution of aseismic branching ridges and associated chains of islands and seamounts may reflect lines of horizontal convective flow. The convection pattern suggests the existence of a single long, irregular, cylindrical convection cell twisted around the earth.

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Keywords
crust; Evidence for spreading of ocean floors; evidence from, islands; mantle convection; marine geology; Mid-ocean islands;, ocean floors; spreading; tectonics, 07 Oceanography; 16 Structural geology

Journal
Nature
http://www.nature.com/nature/

Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
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