Editing Seafloor spreading (section)

== Spreading centers ==
Seafloor spreading occurs at spreading centers, distributed along the crests of mid-ocean ridges. Spreading centers end in [[transform fault]]s or in [[Overlapping spreading centers|overlapping spreading center]] offsets. A spreading center includes a seismically active plate boundary zone a few kilometers to tens of kilometers wide, a crustal accretion zone within the boundary zone where the ocean crust is youngest, and an instantaneous plate boundary – a line within the crustal accretion zone demarcating the two separating plates.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Luyendyk|first1=Bruce P.|last2=Macdonald|first2=Ken C.|date=1976-06-01|title=Spreading center terms and concepts|journal=Geology|language=en|volume=4|issue=6|pages=369|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1976)4<369:sctac>2.0.co;2|issn=0091-7613|bibcode=1976Geo.....4..369L}}</ref> Within the crustal accretion zone is a 1–2&nbsp;km-wide neovolcanic zone where active volcanism occurs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Daignieres|first1=Marc|last2=Courtillot|first2=Vincent|last3=Bayer|first3=Roger|last4=Tapponnier|first4=Paul|year=1975|title=A model for the evolution of the axial zone of mid-ocean ridges as suggested by icelandic tectonics|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|volume=26|issue=2|pages=222–232|doi=10.1016/0012-821x(75)90089-8|bibcode=1975E&PSL..26..222D}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=McClinton|first1=J. Timothy|last2=White|first2=Scott M.|date=2015-03-01|title=Emplacement of submarine lava flow fields: A geomorphological model from the Niños eruption at the Galápagos Spreading Center|journal=Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems|language=en|volume=16|issue=3|pages=899–911|doi=10.1002/2014gc005632|issn=1525-2027|bibcode=2015GGG....16..899M|doi-access=free}}</ref>