Marine geological studies were of extreme importance in providing the critical evidence for sea floor spreading and plate tectonics in the years following World War II . The deep ocean floor is the last essentially unexplored frontier and detailed mapping in support of both military ( submarine ) objectives and economic ( petroleum and metal mining ) objectives drives the research.
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By studying measurements of sea floor spreading, the scientists determined that the Nubian and Somalian plates are rotating slightly with respect to each other, so that the same force that is causing the plates to separate in the rift zone at a rate of about one-quarter of an inch a year is making them come together, at a slightly slower rate, at the southern end.
