Here's a breakdown:
* Tectonic Plates: The Earth's outer layer is broken into large, moving pieces called tectonic plates.
* Divergent Plate Boundary: These are areas where the plates are moving apart. As they pull away from each other, magma from the Earth's mantle rises up to fill the gap, cools, and solidifies, creating new oceanic crust.
Key Points:
* Seafloor spreading is the process by which new oceanic crust is formed at divergent plate boundaries.
* As the plates move apart, magma rises from the mantle, creating a mid-ocean ridge, which is a mountain range that runs along the center of many ocean basins.
* The process of seafloor spreading is responsible for the formation of new oceanic crust and the expansion of the ocean floor.
Examples of Divergent Plate Boundaries:
* Mid-Atlantic Ridge: A major undersea mountain range where the North American and Eurasian plates are moving apart.
* East African Rift Valley: A series of valleys in eastern Africa where the African plate is splitting apart.
