| Divergent Boundary |
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| plate tectonics | |
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It is thought that Convection currents in the Earth 's Mantle rise to the base of the Lithosphere where the divergent plate boundary exists. This supplies the area with vast amounts of heat and pressure that melts Rock from the Asthenosphere (or upper mantle) that then travels to the rift area forming large Flood Basalt flows. 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. The average rate of movement is comparable to how fast human Fingernail s grow, about 2 cm a year. Over millions of years the plates have moved many hundreds of kilometers away from both sides of the divergent plate boundary. Because of this, rock closest to the boundary is younger than rock further away on the same plate. Continental Crust is often split along divergent plate boundaries. DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES
OTHER PLATE BOUNDARY TYPES SEE ALSO |
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