The Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of divergent boundaries where new plate material is made.

One area of plate divergence is seen at the mid-oceanic ridges. This is referred to as sea-floor spreading. As the plates drift apart, molten rock from the mantle rises to fill the gap, cools and solidifies to form new oceanic crust in the form of a ridge. The ridges are a continuous chain of submarine mountains.

Image courtesy of the US Geological Survey, from its publication This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics.