Mineral deposits at divergent ocean plate boundaries primarily form through the process where metals dissolve in superheated water, forming minerals when the water cools. This occurs in hydrothermal vent systems, where seawater seeps into the ocean floor, is heated by underlying magma, and then rises back to the surface, transporting dissolved minerals. When this superheated water interacts with the colder ocean water, the minerals precipitate out and can form deposits around the vents.
How do mineral deposits form
at divergent ocean plate
boundaries? (1 point)
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.
Deep underground
minerals are lifted up
by land movement and
exposed by weathering
and erosion.
Metals dissolve in
superheated water,
forming minerals when
the water cools.
1 answer