At a divergent plate boundary, tectonic plates move:

Explanation

A divergent plate boundary is a spreading boundary: the plates pull away from each other, not towards each other or sideways past each other. As they separate, magma rises from below and creates new crust. That is why option C fits both the movement and the process linked with it. The USGS description of plate motions states that divergent boundaries are places where new crust is generated as plates pull away, and it further explains that plates move apart at spreading centres while magma pushes up from the mantle. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East African Rift Valley are standard examples of this type of boundary.

Why the other options are wrong

• (A) Subduction is the process in which one plate dives beneath another, which belongs to convergent boundaries, not divergent boundaries.
• (B) Plates moving towards each other define a convergent boundary, whereas a divergent boundary involves plates separating.
• (D) Horizontal sliding past each other is the movement of a transform boundary, where crust is neither produced nor destroyed, not a divergent boundary.

Concept

This tests the basic classification of plate boundaries by direction of plate movement. It recurs in RAS geography because divergent, convergent and transform boundaries explain crust formation, subduction, rifting and ridge systems.

Source

• U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth: Understanding plate motions

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