Plates are diverging away from each other.

Divergent plate boundaries
 

Keywords: divergent boundaries, rift valley, oceanic basin

Divergent plate boundaries are found on the sea floor were they form ocean ridges. The actual plate boundary is found on rift, which forms along the axis of a ridge it is the center were seafloor spreading begins. The formation of new ocean crust is through high amounts of heat that are produced volcanism and earthquakes associated with these boundaries. The concept of divergent plate boundaries is to make the ocean basin grow wider. Although some form ridges on the ocean floor, some divergent boundaries form on continents. When continental crust begins to separate it forms a long narrow depression called a rift valley. The rifting may cause the formation of a new ocean basin.


References:


Scelsi Hess F., Kunze G., LeslieS. A., Letro S., Millage C., Shrap L., Snow T. (2002). Earth Science: Geology, the Enviroment, and the Universe. New York: NY Glencoe
Ebboney Wilson. (2011). 
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