Question #f58b1
1 Answer
Nov 22, 2016
Primarily it's the composition of the lithosphere and where the plutons exit the mantle.
Explanation:
The mid-ocean ridges, like a divergent continental rift valley, separate effusively erupted rock in opposite direction, creating new tectonic plates in the process. The seafloor (aptly named due to the location of the rift) spreading is done by separating newly effused basalt, where the divergent continental rift is separating rock that is of granitic composition. That is to say that the ocean plates are primarily basalt, and the continental plates are primarily granite.
