What is a divergent boundary example?
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth’s mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of divergent plate boundaries.
What happens at a divergent boundary?
Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centers where plates are moving apart and new crust is created by magma pushing up from the mantle. Picture two giant conveyor belts, facing each other but slowly moving in opposite directions as they transport newly formed oceanic crust away from the ridge crest.
What is divergent boundary answer?
A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the Earth’s surface between the two plates. The middle of the Red Sea and the mid-ocean ridge (running the length of the Atlantic Ocean) are divergent plate boundaries.
Is the Grand Canyon a divergent boundary?
Hot molten material rises to the surface along the plate boundary forming new ocean crust. A new divergent plate boundary may someday form west of Grand Canyon in the Basin and Range Province (Fig. 1.1).
Which of the following best describes divergent boundaries?
Which of the following best describes what happens at a divergent plate boundary? The plates separate from each other creating new crust in the process. Why are mountain ranges created where two continental plates converge? Neither plate is subducted; instead, both are lifted up forming a mountain range.
Is San Andreas Fault divergent?
The San Andreas Fault marks the junction between the North American and Pacific Plates. The Pacific Plate is being moved north west due to sea floor spreading from the East Pacific Rise (divergent margin) in the Gulf of California. …
How many divergent boundaries are there?
There are two types of divergent boundaries, categorized by where they occur: continental rift zones and mid-ocean ridges. Continental rift zones occur in weak spots in the continental lithospheric plate.
How are divergent boundaries different from convergent boundaries?
Divergent boundaries exist where tectonic plates move apart from each other. Unlike convergent boundaries, divergence occurs between only oceanic or only continental plates, not one of each.
How is the Mid Atlantic Ridge a divergent boundary?
The mid-Atlantic ridge lies beneath the Atlantic Ocean and separates the North and South American plates from the European and African plates. This divergent plate boundary moves apart at a rate of ~2.5 cm per year, relatively slow for a divergent plate boundary, and rises ~2-3 km above the ocean floor.
Where are the most divergent plate boundaries located?
Most divergent boundaries are located along mid-ocean oceanic ridges (although some are on land).
What happens at a divergent boundary in the mantle?
A divergent boundary is a place where the convection currents in the mantle move upwards. This upwelling of magma splits and push the earth’s crust apart. Divergent boundaries occur at the mid ocean ridges.