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.

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.

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.

The junction of two tectonic plates that are mov-ing apart is called a divergent plate boundary. Magma rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form new crust on the lithosphere. Most divergent plate boundaries are underwater (Iceland is an exception), and form submarine mountain ranges called oceanic spreading ridges.

Where tectonic plates are moving apart, they form a divergent plate boundary. At these boundaries, magma (molten rock) rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form new crust on the litho-sphere. Most divergent plate boundaries are under-water (Iceland is an exception), and form subma-rine mountain ranges called “oceanic spreading

weaker earthquakes at divergent boundaries; strong earthquakes and rare volcanoes at transform boundaries. You may want to use materials from “This Dynamic Earth” and/or “This Dynamic Planet” (see Resources section), but do not give away the answers to the predictive exercise on the Pacific Basin Tectonic Plates.

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.

How do tectonic plates move, what are some con-sequences of this motion, and how do magnetic anomalies document the motion at spreading cen-ters? LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will be able to describe the motion of tec-tonic plates, and differentiate between three typical boundary types that occur between tectonic plates.

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.

Where tectonic plates are moving apart, they form a divergent plate boundary. At divergent plate boundaries, magma rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form new crust on the lithosphere. Most divergent plate boundaries are underwater (Iceland is an exception), and form submarine mountain ranges called oceanic spreading ridges.