Dive into the AICE Marine Science Challenge 2025 – Make Waves with Your Knowledge!

The creation of new oceanic crust occurs at divergent plate boundaries. At these boundaries, tectonic plates move away from each other, allowing magma from the mantle to rise up and solidify, forming new oceanic crust. This process is often associated with mid-ocean ridges, where the seafloor is actively formed and expanded as tectonic activity occurs. As the plates separate, volcanic activity can result, further contributing to the formation of new crust.

In contrast, convergent plate boundaries involve tectonic plates moving towards each other, which typically leads to subduction or mountain formation rather than the creation of new crust. Transform boundaries involve plates sliding past one another and do not facilitate the formation of new crust either, as there is no material being created or destroyed. The term "subductive" also refers to the process of one plate being forced beneath another, leading to the destruction of crust rather than its formation. Hence, the mechanism of crust creation is distinctly associated with divergent boundaries.