What are the different types of plate tectonic boundaries?
At convergent plate boundaries where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, oceanic crust is forced down into the Earth’s mantle and begins to melt. The melted rock rises into and through the overlying plate as magma, often forming a chain of volcanoes parallel to the plate boundary.
What features form at plate tectonic boundaries? - NOAA Ocean …
When two tectonic plates meet, we get a “plate boundary.” There are three major types of plate boundaries , each associated with the formation of a variety of geologic features. If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary.
The Geology of the Mariana Convergent Plate Region - NOAA …
Between the Mariana Trench and the island volcanoes, huge mud volcanoes provide a window into the boundary between two tectonic plates that have been colliding for over 50 million years and harbor unique communities of organisms that thrive in the most extreme fluid composition recorded in the oceans.
The Northeast Caribbean – Plate Tectonics in Action: Background ...
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands to its east, and eastern Hispaniola to its west, are located on an active plate boundary zone between the North American Plate and the northeast corner of the Caribbean Plate (Figure 1).
What is a mid-ocean ridge? - NOAA Ocean Exploration
Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
What is the Ring of Fire? - NOAA Ocean Exploration
The Ring of Fire is the result of plate tectonics. Much of the volcanic activity occurs along subduction zones, which are convergent plate boundaries where two tectonic plates come together. The heavier plate is shoved (or subducted) under the other plate.
INSPIRE: Chile Margin 2012 - NOAA Ocean Exploration
Chile, and the other countries of South America, lie on top of the South American tectonic plate. To the west of Chile, the Nazca Plate extends beneath the Pacific Ocean and meets the Pacific Plate along a divergent plate boundary called the East Pacific Rise.
Earthquakes and Plates - NOAA Ocean Exploration
No, there are no plate boundaries near the central and eastern United States. Even though the vast majority of earthquakes strike near the edge of a plate, some do hit the middle of plates.
Chile Margin and Triple Junction Geology - NOAA Ocean Exploration
Extending the entire length of South America, the margin is punctuated by the deep Peru-Chile trench where the Cocos, Nazca, and Antarctic plates are converging with and sinking beneath the South American plate.
NOAA Ocean Explorer: GalAPAGoS: Where Ridge Meets Hotspot
Thus the mid-ocean ridge is also known as a "spreading center" or a "divergent plate boundary." The plates spread apart at rates of 1 cm to 20 cm per year. As oceanic plates move apart, rock melts and wells up from tens of kilometers deep.