1. Divergent Plate Boundaries: At mid-ocean ridges, tectonic plates move apart (diverge).
2. Magma Rises: The separation creates space, allowing molten rock (magma) from the Earth's mantle to rise to the surface.
3. New Crust Formation: The magma cools and solidifies, creating new oceanic crust. This process is called seafloor spreading.
4. Ridge Formation: As new crust forms, it pushes older crust away from the ridge, creating the characteristic elevated feature known as the mid-ocean ridge.
Essentially, the mid-ocean ridges act like giant conveyor belts, constantly creating new oceanic crust as the plates move apart.
