I showed up to the interview dressed to the nines, post double shot latte, and mentally prepped only to be ushered to a hallway lined with chairs and a dozen other potential applicants already waiting their turn. I knew I needed something to make me stand out if I had any chance of securing the job.
Answer 1: At plate boundaries where sea-floor spreading occurs, magma wells up to fill the space created by the plates that are moving apart. Check out this United States Geologic Survey (USGS) educational animation to see visually how it works:
Plate tectonics and the ocean floor The shape of the ocean floor, its bathymetry, is largely a result of a process called plate tectonics. The outer rocky layer of the Earth includes about a dozen large sections called tectonic plates that are arranged like a spherical jig-saw puzzle floating on top of the Earth's hot flowing mantle.