Which landform forms at divergent plate boundaries?

• A. Ocean ridges
• B. Fold mountains
• C. Island arcs
• D. Deep ocean trenches

Answer: (A)

Divergent plate boundaries involve plates moving apart, which lets hot mantle material rise into the gap and create new crust as it cools. This process builds a continuous underwater mountain system along the boundary known as ocean ridges (mid-ocean ridges). As the crust forms and is pushed outward, a central rift valley often develops where the plates are pulling apart. That combination—rising magma and spreading crust—defines the landform associated with divergent boundaries: ocean ridges.

The other features come from different boundary interactions. Fold mountains form from compressive collision of plates, island arcs arise when one plate subducts beneath another and volcanic islands build up, and deep ocean trenches mark subduction zones where one plate dives beneath another.