What happens at divergent plate boundaries?

At divergent plate boundaries, the Earth's crust is being pulled apart by mantel convection cells. This process leads to two consequences: new sea floor forms in oceans and continents are torn apart on land. In the oceans, divergent boundaries such as the Atlantic Ocean, bring fresh magma to the surface creating new seafloor material usually in the form of basalt. On the other hand, divergent boundaries on land, like the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, bring up basaltic magma and break the continents apart. Therefore, divergent plate boundaries are sites where the Earth's crust is actively transforming and can lead to both the creation of new crust and the destruction of existing crust.