Question

How do mineral deposits form at divergent ocean plate boundaries?(1 point)
Responses

Deep underground minerals are lifted up by land movement and exposed by weathering and erosion.

Underground heated water pulls minerals through cracks in the crust, forming veins of minerals.

Heat and pressure change the chemical composition of rocks to form minerals.

Metals dissolve in superheated water, forming minerals when the water cools.

Answer 1

At divergent ocean plate boundaries, mineral deposits primarily form through the process where **metals dissolve in superheated water, forming minerals when the water cools.** This process is associated with hydrothermal vents, where seawater is heated by magma beneath the ocean floor, causing metals and minerals to dissolve and, as the water cools, these minerals precipitate out and form deposits.