The evolution of a divergent plate boundary has three recognizable stages. The birth of a divergent boundary requires that an existing plate begin to divide. This is happening today in east Africa, in an area known as the East African Rift zone . The African continent is slowly splitting in two. As the continental crust divides, magma from the asthenosphere fills in the gap.
Several volcanoes are present in the rift zone.
Locations of divergent plate boundaries and sense of plate motion indicated by arrows. Map courtesy of NOAA National Geophysical Data Center . The Red Sea separates Saudi Arabia from Africa. View to the south along the Gulf of California between Baja peninsula and the mainland of Mexico. The Gulf represents a young oceanic ridge.