Why was the South American and African plate moved apart gradually?

The South American and African plates moved apart as a divergent boundary formed between them and an ocean basin formed and spread. Students figure out: The Mesosaurus fossils moved apart gradually over tens of millions of years. Earth's plates travel at a rate too slow to be experienced by humans.

Explanation:

The South American and African plates moved apart as a divergent boundary formed between them and an ocean basin formed and spread. Earth's plates move on top of a soft, solid layer of rock called the mantle

The Mid Atlantic Ridge, like other ocean ridge systems, has developed as a consequence of the divergent motion between the Eurasian and North American, and African and South American Plates. ... In this way, as the plates move further apart new ocean lithosphere is formed at the ridge and the ocean basin gets wider

The plates can be thought of like pieces of a cracked shell that rest on the hot, molten rock of Earth's mantle and fit snugly against one another. The heat from radioactive processes within the planet's interior causes the plates to move, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other

Explanation:

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