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Continental-continental divergent/constructive boundary Oceanic divergent boundary: mid-ocean ridge (cross-section/cut-away view). 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.
Rifting may lead to continental breakup and formation of oceanic basins. Successful rifting leads to seafloor spreading along a mid-oceanic ridge and a set of conjugate margins separated by an oceanic basin. [14] Rifting may be active, and controlled by mantle convection. It may also be passive, and driven by far-field tectonic forces that ...
The Baikal Rift Zone in eastern Russia; The Red Sea Rift; The Aden Ridge along the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula; The Carlsberg Ridge in the eastern Indian Ocean; The Woodlark Basin undergoing transition from continental rifting to sea floor spreading to the east of New Guinea; The Gorda Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
The Wilson cycle theory is based upon the idea of an ongoing cycle of ocean closure, continental collision, and a formation of new ocean on the former suture zone.The Wilson Cycle can be described in six phases of tectonic plate motion: the separation of a continent (continental rift), formation of a young ocean at the seafloor, formation of ocean basins during continental drift, initiation of ...
The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) or Keweenawan Rift is a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long geological rift in the center of the North American continent and south-central part of the North American plate. It formed when the continent's core, the North American craton , began to split apart during the Mesoproterozoic era of the Precambrian , about 1.1 ...
Using these three areas as a case study, the team confirmed that continental rifting caused slow-moving mantle waves to roll toward the heart of the continent.
Continental rifting forms new ocean basins. Eventually the continental rift forms a mid-ocean ridge and the locus of extension moves away from the continent-ocean boundary. The transition between the continental and oceanic lithosphere that was originally formed by rifting is known as a passive margin.
The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. [1] It was formerly considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor.