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Visit the Interactive Plate Boundary Map to explore satellite images of divergent boundaries between continental plates. Two locations are marked within the rift valley of East Africa, and another location is marked within the Red Sea.
At divergent boundaries, sometimes called constructive boundaries, lithospheric plates move away from each other. There are two types of divergent boundaries, categorized by where they occur: continental rift zones and mid-ocean ridges.
In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary (also known as a constructive boundary or an extensional boundary) is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.
Divergent Plate Boundaries. A divergent plate boundary is when two plates move away from each other under tensional stress. The oceanic crust becomes thin, and cracks open up fissures. Magma moves up to the surface through these fissures and solidifies, creating new oceanic crust.
Divergent boundaries are where plates are moving away from each other, or spreading apart. The stress type at these locations is extension (stress is a force acting over an area) – the “pulling apart” stress. The terms spreading centers and rift zones refer to divergent boundaries.
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.
Compare and contrast divergent boundaries with convergent boundaries in terms of geological activity and landforms created. Divergent boundaries are characterized by tectonic plates moving apart, leading to the creation of new crust and features like mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys.
Apr 8, 2021 · Surface mobility in mantle convection models is enabled by implementing stress-determined deformation to obtain focussed convergent and divergent boundaries; manifested on Earth by subduction...
There are four types of plate boundaries: Divergent boundaries -- where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. Convergent boundaries -- where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another. Transform boundaries -- where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other.
How is a divergent plate boundary on land different from one in the ocean? What is happening to the Baja California peninsula? How did continental rifting play into the breakup of Pangaea?
