gcsescience.com                                             63                                             gcsescience.com

Waves

Plate Tectonics - Plates colliding.

As the oceanic plate collides with the continental plate,
the enormous forces cause rocks to melt and new magma is formed.
This magma under pressure may burst out of a volcano
as much as 100 km inland from the plate boundary.

Fold Mountains and an Oceanic Trench

The continental plate is crumpled and folded,
giving rise to mountain ranges called fold mountains.
The Andes mountain range is formed in this way,
on the west coast of South America where the Nazca Plate (oceanic)
collides with the South American Plate (continental).

An oceanic trench is formed offshore
where the oceanic plate is forced downwards at the subduction zone.

Subduction Zone

Two continental plates may also collide, building mountains.
An example is the Himalayas,
where the Indo-Australian Plate is colliding with the Eurasian Plate.

back    Headings    Waves    Plate Tectonics    Search    Questions    next

gcsescience.com              Contents             Index              Quizzes             gcsescience.com

Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.