Divergent Boundaries
Iceland offers scientists a natural laboratory for studying - on land - the processes that occur along submerged parts of a divergent boundary. Iceland is splitting along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge - a divergent boundary between the North American and Eurasian Plates. As North America moves westward and Eurasia eastward, new crust is created on both sides of the diverging boundary. While the creation of new crust adds mass to Iceland on both sides of the boundary, it also creates a rift along the boundary. Iceland will inevitably break apart into two separate land masses at some point in the future, as the Atlantic waters eventually rush in to fill the widening and deepening space between.
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Divergent Boundaries: At divergent boundaries new crust is created as two or more plates pull away from each other. Oceans are born and grow wider where plates diverge or pull apart. As seen below, when a diverging boundary occurs on land a 'rift', or separation will arise and over time that mass of land will break apart into distinct land masses and the surrounding water will fill the space between them.
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