How old is the oldest seafloor rock

He was so excited he had to walk up and down the plane till they landed. Granot suggests the area of ancient crust may be part of the ancient Tethys Ocean, which would mean that body of water formed 50 million years earlier than previously thought. He also tells Mosher it may be from an unrelated ocean ridge.

Uri ten Brink of the U. Geological Survey tells Benson that the heavy layer of sediment may make magnetic signals difficult to interpret correctly. So there are rock layers on the continents that are much older than any existing ocean layers. The question is how did the ocean layers on the continents get there with no evidence of deformation.

Shallow seas on the continents with underlaying granite plates, does not seem to explain the very thick sedimentary layers on the continents. How would the age of the oldest rocks on the continents compare with the age of oldest rocks on the seafloor? David Drayer. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products.

List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Brooks Mitchell. Science Expert. Brooks Mitchell is an earth science educator and geologist who is currently the Education Coordinator for the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Updated March 04, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Mitchell, Brooks. The Age of the Ocean Floor.

Measuring Plate Motion in Plate Tectonics. Map of Tectonic Plates and Their Boundaries. We therefore still have some very old continental rocks at the surface of the Earth. Skip to main content. Climate Sea Levels Why will sea level rise not be the same everywhere? How can we date corals? Geology and Tectonics Geology How do we know the age of the seafloor? Why is the seafloor so recent and the continental crust so old?

Where do we find the oldest continental rocks and the oldest seafloor? What are the different types of rocks? What is a fossil and what are they used for? What are hydrothermal vents, and why do we find them along mid-ocean ridges? Seismology What is a seismic wave? What is the difference between body waves and surface waves, and between P-waves and S-waves? Why can't S-waves travel through liquids? How far can seismic waves reach? Why do P-waves travel faster than S-waves?