Question

What is one reason we have stripes of alternating magnetism on the ocean floor?(1 point)
Responses

Magnetic direction of rock changes as Earth’s magnetic poles drift and reverse.
Magnetic direction of rock changes as Earth’s magnetic poles drift and reverse.

Plates move as new rock forms, which causes magnetic direction to skew away from normal.
Plates move as new rock forms, which causes magnetic direction to skew away from normal.

Rock is constantly being destroyed at the mid-ocean ridge on the ocean floor
Rock is constantly being destroyed at the mid-ocean ridge on the ocean floor

Minerals in magma match the magnetic direction present on Earth when it hardens into rock
Minerals in magma match the magnetic direction present on Earth when it hardens into rock

Answer 1

The correct response is:

**Magnetic direction of rock changes as Earth’s magnetic poles drift and reverse.**

This phenomenon occurs due to the process of seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges, where new magma rises to the surface, solidifies, and captures the magnetic orientation present at that time. As Earth's magnetic field has reversed over geological time, this creates distinctive stripes of alternating magnetism on the ocean floor.