1. Formation of New Ocean Floor: As tectonic plates move apart at divergent plate boundaries, magma rises from the mantle and fills the gap. This magma cools and solidifies, forming new oceanic crust. This process of seafloor spreading occurs continuously, pushing the seafloor away from the spreading center.

2. Passive Continental Margins: When continental crust is located near the spreading center, the seafloor spreading process gradually widens the ocean basin. This creates passive continental margins, which are characterized by gentle slopes and relatively shallow water. The separated continental masses move away from each other as new ocean floor forms in between.

3. Rift Valleys and Continental Breakup: As seafloor spreading continues, the distance between the separated continental margins increases. Eventually, the continental crust can stretch and weaken enough to form rift valleys, which are deep depressions on the Earth's surface. With further divergence, the rift valley may evolve into an ocean basin, causing continental breakup and the separation of once-connected continental masses.

4. Convergent Plate Boundaries: Oceanic plates that move away from the spreading center eventually encounter convergent plate boundaries, where they interact with other tectonic plates. When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, the denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate at a subduction zone. This process contributes to the formation of mountain belts and volcanoes on the continental margins, such as the Andes Mountains in South America.

The concept of continental drift, proposed by Alfred Wegener, was initially controversial but gained significant support with the evidence provided by seafloor spreading. Seafloor spreading not only explains the separation and movement of continents but also forms the basis of plate tectonic theory, which describes the large-scale movements and interactions of Earth's tectonic plates.