where is new oceanic crust being created on earth
Oceanic crust Oceanic crust is continuously being created at mid-ocean ridges. As plates diverge at these ridges, magma rises into the upper mantle and crust. As it moves away from the ridge, the lithosphere becomes cooler and denser, and sediment gradually builds on top of it. The youngest oceanic lithosphere is at the oceanic ridges, and it gets progressively older away from the ridges.[16]
Mid-ocean ridge A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is an underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonics.[1] It consists of various mountains linked in chains, typically having a valley known as a rift running along its spine. This type of oceanic mountain ridge is characteristic of what is known as an 'oceanic spreading center', which is responsible for seafloor spreading.[2] The production of new seafloor results from mantle upwelling in response to plate spreading; this isentropic upwelling solid mantle material eventually exceeds the solidus and melts. The buoyant melt rises as magma at a linear weakness in the oceanic crust, and emerges as lava, creating new crust upon cooling. A mid-ocean ridge demarcates the boundary between two tectonic plates, and consequently is termed a divergent plate boundary.