Divergent

Our final stop on our Tectonic Tour leads us to the Divergent plates. Divergent plates are when the Tectonic Plates move away from each other. This creates a crack in the Earth and when this happens in the middle of an ocean, the mantle that was underground melts at a lower temperature and releases magma into the surface. The crack is called a ridge and the peak of the ridge is called a rift valley. Here is an image:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/grocha/plates/images/divergent.jpg

On May 30th, 2014, I traveled to the famous Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Scientists prove the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was caused because of the divergent Eurasion Plate and North American Plate.
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/grocha/plates/images/divergent.jpg

I started in Iceland where I could walk through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, part of the longest mountain range in the world:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Iceland_mid_atlantic_ridge.JPG/220px-Iceland_mid_atlantic_ridge.JPG

I learned that when there are divergent tectonic plates, it causes ridges, riffs, earthquake and volcanic activity.