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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.
A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about 2,600 meters (8,500 ft) and rises about 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a divergent plate boundary. The rate of seafloor spreading ...
The igneous oceanic crust was formed by seafloor spreading at the divergent plate boundary between the North American and African plates, as a result of the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea; in the Canary Islands region, this occurred in the Jurassic. North America and Northwest Africa separated while the Atlantic Ocean grew between them.
Divergent boundary. Divergent boundaries (constructive boundaries or extensional boundaries). These are where two plates slide apart from each other. At zones of ocean-to-ocean rifting, divergent boundaries form by seafloor spreading, allowing for the formation of new ocean basin, e.g. the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and East Pacific Rise. As the ocean ...
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North American from the Eurasian plate and the African plate, north and south of the Azores triple junction.
The most active divergent boundaries lie under the sea. In the ocean, if magma or molten rock ascent from the mantle and fill the gap created by two diverging plates, a mid-ocean ridge is formed. Transform boundary: also called transform fault, occurs when the movement between the plates is horizontal, so no crust is created or destroyed. It ...
In contrast, if formed by past above-water volcanism, they are known as a seamount chain. The largest and best known undersea mountain range is a mid-ocean ridge, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. [1] It has been observed that, "similar to those on land, the undersea mountain ranges are the loci of frequent volcanic and earthquake activity". [2]
Iceland lies on the divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. It also lies above a hotspot , the Iceland plume . The plume is believed to have caused the formation of Iceland itself, the island first appearing over the ocean surface about 16 to 18 million years ago.