Divergent plates. Image by Cornel.
ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Plate Tectonics: Convergence Plates
- In a divergence zone plates move away from one another thus the name “divergence.”
- Magma up-wells from the mantle to fill the gap left by the diverging plates.
- The magma provides new material to form new oceanic crust (the lithosphere)
- Forming mid-ocean ridges with volcanoes.
- For example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was formed by the diverging Americas and Eurasian and African plates.
- The East Pacific Rise was formed by the Nazca and Pacific plates moving apart.
- When continental plates diverge volcanic mountains are formed.
- Divergent zones are marked by volcanoes,
- A very young lithosphere,
- a topographic ridge
- And shallow earthquakes.
To access more notes go to the Geography Notes page.
