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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.
When two plates are moving away from each other, we call this a divergent plate boundary. Along these boundaries, magma rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form new crust on the lithosphere.
Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
Most divergent plate boundaries are underwater (Iceland is an exception), and form submarine mountain ranges called oceanic spreading ridges. While the process is volcanic, volcanoes and earthquakes along oceanic spreading ridges are not as violent as they are at convergent plate boundaries.
Between the Mariana Trench and the island volcanoes, huge mud volcanoes provide a window into the boundary between two tectonic plates that have been colliding for over 50 million years and harbor unique communities of organisms that thrive in the most extreme fluid composition recorded in the oceans.
The Northeast Caribbean – Plate Tectonics in Action. by Jason D. Chaytor, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey. Figure 1: Map of the North American – Caribbean tectonic plate boundary. Colors denote depth below sea level and elevation on land.
Mid-ocean ridges are geologically important because they occur along the kind of plate boundary where new ocean floor is created as the plates spread apart. Thus the mid-ocean ridge is also known as a "spreading center" or a "divergent plate boundary."
The “Ring of Fire” is a string of underwater volcanoes and earthquake sites around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. This underwater volcanic eruption at the Brimstone vent on NW Rota-1, seen in 2006, was the first eruption ever witnessed in action.
divergent tectonic plate boundaries (Earth Science) Students will be able to compare and contrast volcanoes at convergent and divergent plate boundaries; identify three geologic features that are associated with most volcanoes on Earth; and explain why some volcanoes erupt explosively while others do not.
Other types of plate boundaries include convergent boundaries, which are formed when tectonic plates collide more or less head-on; and divergent boundaries, which occur where plates are moving apart. View animations of different types of plate boundaries at: http://www.seed.slb.com/ .