Divergent boundary

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/divergent-boundary

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the boundary type?Extensional, characterized by plates moving apart
2. What is the primary geological features?Mid-ocean ridges, continental rift valleys, and associated volcanism
3. What happens at a divergent boundary?The Earth's crust pulls apart, creating new land and sometimes new oceans.
4. How does new oceanic crust form at mid‑ocean ridges?Hot magma rises, erupts, cools, and builds new ocean floor, pushing older crust away.

Lithosphere: The rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Asthenosphere: The highly viscous, mechanically weak region of the upper mantle beneath the lithosphere.
Seafloor Spreading: The process by which new oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges and moves away.
Decompression Melting: Melting of rock that occurs as pressure decreases, typically due to upwelling.