Plate Movements: Collide
Plates Subduct
When an ocean plate collides with another ocean plate or with a
plate carrying continents, one plate will bend and slide under
the other. This process is called subduction. A deep ocean trench
forms at this subduction boundary. As the subducting plate plunges
deep into the mantle, it gets so hot it melts the surrounding
rock. The molten rock rises through the crust and erupts at the
surface of the overriding plate. The result is either a volcanic
mountain range such as the Cascades and Andes, or chains of islands
called island arcs such as Japan and the Aleutian Islands. |
