Divergent plate boundaries are characterized by which of the following?

• A. Two plates pull apart, crust is produced
• B. Two plates slide past each other horizontally
• C. One plate is forced beneath another
• D. A single plate fractures and remains stationary

Answer: (A)

Divergent boundaries are where tectonic plates move apart. As they pull away, magma from the mantle rises to fill the gap and solidifies, creating new crust. This upwelling and solidification is crust production, a hallmark of these boundaries. You see this at mid-ocean ridges where new ocean floor forms, and at continental rift zones where continents split apart.

The other scenarios describe different boundary interactions: sliding past each other horizontally happens at transform boundaries with mainly horizontal motion and little new crust formed; one plate being forced beneath another describes subduction at convergent boundaries; a single plate fracturing and remaining stationary doesn’t reflect a boundary interaction between moving plates.