Question

1. use the diagram above to explain how lithospheric plates can move apart.
2. use the diagram above to explain how lithospheric plates move together.

Explanation:

1. For plates moving apart: Mantle convection currents rise at the mid-ocean ridge. As the hot mantle material reaches the surface, it cools and spreads outward, pushing the overlying oceanic lithospheric plates away from the ridge. New crust forms in the gap created by the separating plates.
2. For plates moving together: Denser oceanic lithosphere is pulled downward by mantle convection currents at a subduction zone. This oceanic plate sinks beneath the less dense continental plate, pulling the rest of the oceanic plate toward the subduction zone, causing the two plates to move together. The downward motion of the sinking plate drives this convergence, and the friction/melting leads to volcanic activity at the surface.

Answer:

1. Lithospheric plates move apart as hot mantle convection currents rise at the mid-ocean ridge, cool, and spread outward, pushing the overlying oceanic plates away from each other while new crust forms in the resulting gap.
2. Lithospheric plates move together when dense oceanic lithosphere is pulled downward by mantle convection currents at a subduction zone, sinking beneath a less dense continental plate and pulling the rest of the oceanic plate toward the zone, driving the convergence of the two plates.