What causes the divergent plate to move?

What causes the divergent plate to move?

Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centers where plates are moving apart and new crust is created by magma pushing up from the mantle. Picture two giant conveyor belts, facing each other but slowly moving in opposite directions as they transport newly formed oceanic crust away from the ridge crest.

What is a divergent movement?

Divergent (Spreading):This is where two plates move away from each other. Molten rock from the mantle erupts along the opening, forming new crust. The earthquakes that occur along these zones, called spreading centers, are relatively small.

What do divergent faults do?

Divergent boundaries can create massive fault zones in the oceanic ridge system. Spreading is generally not uniform, so where spreading rates of adjacent ridge blocks are different, massive transform faults occur. These are the fracture zones, many bearing names, that are a major source of submarine earthquakes.

Do divergent plates move towards each other?

Divergent boundaries are areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid-ocean ridges or rift valleys. These are also known as constructive boundaries. Convergent boundaries are areas where plates move toward each other and collide.

How does the convergent boundary move?

If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary. Usually, one of the converging plates will move beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The new magma (molten rock) rises and may erupt violently to form volcanoes, often building arcs of islands along the convergent boundary.

What is the motion of the plates at divergent boundaries?

At divergent boundaries, plates move away from each other. At convergent boundaries, plates move towards each other. At transform boundaries, plates move alongside each other.

Which is an example of a divergent fault?

Normal faults What is an example of a divergent plate? The mid-Atlantic ridge is an example of a divergent boundary, where the Eurasian Plate that covers all of Europe separates from the North American Plate. This underwater mountain range is constantly growing as new crust is formed.

How are plates moving away from one another in a divergent boundary?

Divergent Plate Boundaries. Divergent plate boundaries are locations where plates are moving away from one another. This occurs above rising convection currents. The rising current pushes up on the bottom of the lithosphere, lifting it and flowing laterally beneath it. This lateral flow causes the plate material above to be dragged along in

When does an eruption occur at the divergent boundary?

Divergent boundary. Each eruption occurs in only a part of the plate boundary at any one time, but when it does occur, it fills in the opening gap as the two opposing plates move away from each other.

How is the Earth’s mantle affected by the divergent boundary?

Divergent boundary. Current research indicates that complex convection within the Earth ‘s mantle allows material to rise to the base of the lithosphere beneath each divergent plate boundary. This supplies the area with vast amounts of heat and a reduction in pressure that melts rock from the asthenosphere (or upper mantle)…