Two types of Divergent Plate Boundaries
Oct 23, 2023
Divergent plate boundaries occur when two tectonic plates move away from one another.
Divergent plate boundaries are considered constructive boundaries.
If you look at a map of the major tectonic plates you can see several divergent plate boundaries.
There are two major types of divergent boundaries.
Continental and continental lithosphere and oceanic and oceanic lithosphere.
An example of an oceanic and oceanic divergent boundary is the mid-ocean ridge.
The mid-ocean ridge runs around the world including going right through Ice land.
A famous example of a continental and continental divergent boundary is the African rift valley.
Welcome to MooMooMath and Science and Divergent Plate Boundaries.
Divergent plate boundaries occur where huge tectonic plates move away from one another.
This occurs above rising convection currents. The rising magma pushes up on the bottom of the
lithosphere and flows laterally beneath it. This lateral flow causes the plates to move
in the direction of the flow. At the plate boundary the two plates move in opposite directions.
Divergent boundaries are constructive boundaries because new crust is formed.
As the plates move apart molten magma fills in the gap and creates new crust.
If you look at the map of the major tectonic plates you can see several divergent plate
boundaries. There are two major types of divergent boundaries. Continental and
continental lithosphere and oceanic and oceanic lithosphere. Oceanic and oceanic divergent
boundaries occur where two oceanic plates move away from one another. This is where
seafloor spreading takes place. The most common example is the mid-ocean ridge
which stretches around the world. The mid-ocean ridge can be seen here in red.
Divergent boundaries are constructive boundaries because the rising magma
creates new oceanic crust and lithosphere. The mid-ocean ridge runs right through Iceland.
Here is what it looks like on land. Imagine this same formation underwater.
Continental and continental divergent boundaries occur when two plates of
continental lithosphere move away from one another. As the magma rises new lithosphere
is created. The East African Rift Valley was created when continental and continental
divergent boundaries moved away from each other. The Red Sea is another example. The Red Sea was
formed by the divergence between the African plate and the Arabian plate. The rift transitioned
eventually from a continental and continental to a continental and oceanic plate boundary.
I hope that helps with divergent boundaries. Thanks for watching and MooMooMath uploads
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