Transform faults are found along the short offsets associated with slight bends in the ridge system.ĭivergent boundaries can also develop within a continent, resulting in a continental rift valley such as the Great East African Rift Valley that extends from Ethiopia southward through Mozambique. This gradual process moves the older material farther away from the spreading center as it is replaced by newer material from below. Seafloor spreading involves the rise of magma from within Earth and the lateral movement of new ocean floor away from the zone of upwelling. Image Explanation:- Mid-ocean ridge spreading center. Divergent boundaries are “constructive” because material is being added to the crustal surface at such locations. Such spreading centers are associated with shallow-focus earthquakes (meaning that the ruptures that generate the earthquakes are within about 70 kilometers of the surface), volcanic activity, and hydrothermal metamorphism-as well as the presence of remarkable marine life-forms thriving in the hostile environment of hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.

Most of the mid-ocean ridges of the world are either active or extinct spreading ridges. Mid-ocean ridgeĪ divergent boundary is usually represented by a mid-ocean ridge. This upward flow of molten material produces a line of volcanic vents that spill out basaltic lava onto the ocean floor, with the plutonic rock gabbro solidifying deeper below. Divergent BoundariesĪt a divergent boundary, magma from the asthenosphere wells up in the opening between plates. The edges of lithospheric plates slide past each other along transform boundaries such as the San Andreas Fault system in California (a) move apart at divergent boundaries such as continental rift valleys and midocean ridges (b) and come together at convergent boundaries such as oceanic-oceanic plate subduction zones (c), oceanic continental plate subduction zones (d), and continental collision zones. Image Explanation:- Three kinds of plate boundaries. Slide laterally past one another (transform boundary).Converge toward one another (convergent boundary), or.Two plates may diverge from one another (divergent boundary),.Mid-ocean ridges are also commonly offset by so-called transform faults however, because of their association with tensional spreading centers and the different nature of oceanic crust, earthquakes generated there are typically shallow and therefore weaker. The San Andreas Fault (western US), the North Anatolian Fault (Turkey) or the Dolores-Guayaquil Megafault in the northern Andes are some examples of huge strike-slip faults transecting continental crust. These may result in some of the most damaging earthquakes on continental crust. When strike-slip movement halts due to increased friction at some location, stresses can build up that are released in sudden slips. These structures are so-called strike-slip faults.

Because rocks are cut and displaced by movement in opposite direction, rocks facing each other on two sides of the fault are typically of different type and age. The third type of plate boundary is the transform fault, where plates slide past one another without the production or destruction of crust.

Transform boundary