Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis
Alright kiddo, let me explain the vine-matthews-morley hypothesis. Have you ever seen the map of the world? You know how it looks like all the continents fit like pieces of a puzzle? Well, a long time ago, people didn't know that. They thought the continents were always in the same place and didn't move.
But then, a man named Alfred Wegener looked at the map and saw that the coastlines of Africa and South America looked like they could fit together. He also saw that some of the rocks and animals in South America were the same as those in Africa. So he thought that maybe the continents had moved.
Fast forward a bit to the vine-matthews-morley hypothesis. Three scientists, Vine, Matthews, and Morley, looked at a different kind of puzzle - the ocean floor. They noticed that there were lines on the ocean floor where the rocks were different. They also noticed that the rocks on one side of the line were much younger than the rocks on the other side.
They thought that maybe the ocean floor was spreading apart, kinda like how dough can stretch and get thinner. And as that happens, new rocks form on the sides where the floor is spreading apart. That's why the rocks are newer on one side of the line and older on the other side.
So, the vine-matthews-morley hypothesis is the idea that the ocean floor is spreading apart and creating new rocks. And, as it turns out, this is why the continents look like they fit together like a puzzle. They do fit together because they used to be one big landmass a long time ago, but have since moved around due to the spreading of the ocean floor. Cool, huh?
But then, a man named Alfred Wegener looked at the map and saw that the coastlines of Africa and South America looked like they could fit together. He also saw that some of the rocks and animals in South America were the same as those in Africa. So he thought that maybe the continents had moved.
Fast forward a bit to the vine-matthews-morley hypothesis. Three scientists, Vine, Matthews, and Morley, looked at a different kind of puzzle - the ocean floor. They noticed that there were lines on the ocean floor where the rocks were different. They also noticed that the rocks on one side of the line were much younger than the rocks on the other side.
They thought that maybe the ocean floor was spreading apart, kinda like how dough can stretch and get thinner. And as that happens, new rocks form on the sides where the floor is spreading apart. That's why the rocks are newer on one side of the line and older on the other side.
So, the vine-matthews-morley hypothesis is the idea that the ocean floor is spreading apart and creating new rocks. And, as it turns out, this is why the continents look like they fit together like a puzzle. They do fit together because they used to be one big landmass a long time ago, but have since moved around due to the spreading of the ocean floor. Cool, huh?