Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction .
Convergent boundaries are areas where plates move toward each other and collide. These are also known as compressional or destructive boundaries. Obduction zones occurs when the continental plate is pushed under the oceanic plate, but this is unusual as the relative densities of the tectonic plates favours subduction of the oceanic plate. This ...
Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of plate boundary (or fault): convergent, divergent, or transform. The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero to 10 cm annually. [5] Faults tend to be geologically active, experiencing earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation.
Map showing Earth's principal tectonic plates and their boundaries in detail. These plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the Pacific Ocean.For purposes of this list, a major plate is any plate with an area greater than 20 million km 2 (7.7 million sq mi)
Each boundary type is associated with different geological marine features. Divergent plates are the cause for mid-ocean ridge systems while convergent plates are responsible for subduction zones and the creation of deep ocean trenches. Transform boundaries cause earthquakes, displacement of rock, and crustal deformation. [8] [27] [26] [28]
Cartoon of a tectonic collision between two continents. In geology, continental collision is a phenomenon of plate tectonics that occurs at convergent boundaries.Continental collision is a variation on the fundamental process of subduction, whereby the subduction zone is destroyed, mountains produced, and two continents sutured together.
Subduction is the driving force behind plate tectonics, and without it, plate tectonics could not occur. [12] Oceanic subduction zones are located along 55,000 km (34,000 mi) of convergent plate margins, [13] almost equal to the cumulative plate formation rate 60,000 km (37,000 mi) of mid-ocean ridges. [14]
The denser oceanic crust of one plate subducts below the less dense continental crust of another plate. Convergent active margins are the most common type of active margin. Transform active margins are more rare, and occur when an oceanic plate and a continental plate are moving parallel to each other in opposite directions.