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Home/Biophysics, Fluids & Geoscience/Mid-Ocean Ridge: Magnetic Stripes

Mid-Ocean Ridge: Magnetic Stripes

At a constructive plate boundary, new oceanic crust forms symmetrically about the ridge axis. When basalt cools through the Curie temperature, it records the ambient geomagnetic polarity as remanent magnetization. As plates move apart, older crust carries a frozen polarity; field reversals create mirrored normal/reversed bands — the conceptual basis of marine magnetic anomalies and seafloor-spreading tests (Vine–Matthews–Morley). This page animates a 1D stripe stack with tunable spreading rate and reversal statistics; colors are schematic, not measured anomaly amplitudes.

Who it's for: Introductory plate tectonics, marine geophysics, or Earth history modules.

Key terms

  • Mid-ocean ridge
  • Magnetic anomaly
  • Geomagnetic reversal
  • Seafloor spreading
  • Vine–Matthews

Real marine surveys show stacked normal/reversed blocks mirrored across a ridge; this toy compresses millions of years into seconds so the pattern–spreading link is visible.

Live graphs

Spreading & reversals

12
26
0.04 My

New basalt at the ridge locks in the current geomagnetic polarity. As plates move apart, older stripes record past reversals — symmetric about the axis (Vine–Matthews–Morley cartoon). Colors are schematic, not measured anomaly amplitudes.

Measured values

Field reversals recorded0
New bands added (each side)0
Model half-width age0.00 My

How it works

Symmetric colored stripes grow away from a mid-ocean ridge as new crust forms and the geodynamo flips — a 2D cartoon of marine magnetic anomalies and seafloor spreading.

Frequently asked questions

Does this map real spreading rates or chron ages?
No. Band spacing is a cartoon clock; “My per new band” is a toy age axis for intuition, not a calibrated geological timescale.
Why two colors instead of positive/negative anomaly profiles?
The goal is the symmetry and stripe accretion pattern. Real profiles depend on sensor altitude, diurnal variation, and remanence direction, which are omitted.