Editing List of tectonic plate interactions

{{Short description|Movements of Earth's lithosphere}}
{{Broader|plate tectonics}}
{{One source|date=January 2016}}

[[File:Tectonic plate boundaries.png|thumb|right|Three types of plate boundary]]
[[File:Continental-continental destructive plate boundary.svg|thumb|Convergent boundary]]
[[File:Continental-continental constructive plate boundary.svg|thumb|Divergent boundary]]
[[File:Continental-continental conservative plate boundary opposite directions.svg|thumb|Transform boundary]]

[[Plate tectonics|Tectonic plate]] interactions are classified into three basic types:<ref>{{cite web |title=Tectonic Plates and Plate Boundaries |url=http://www.gns.cri.nz/Home/Learning/Science-Topics/Earthquakes/Earthquakes-at-a-Plate-Boundary/Tectonic-Plates-and-Plate-Boundaries |website=[[GNS Science]] |access-date=2014-09-12}}</ref>

* '''[[Convergent boundary|Convergent boundaries]]''' are areas where plates move toward each other and collide. These are also known as compressional or destructive boundaries.
** '''[[Obduction|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 causes the oceanic plate to buckle and usually results in a new mid-ocean ridge forming and turning the obduction into subduction.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}
** '''[[Orogeny|Orogenic belts]]''' occur where two [[continental collision|continental plates collide]] and push upwards to form large [[mountain range]]s. These are also known as ''collision boundaries''.
** '''[[Subduction|Subduction zones]]''' occur where an ''oceanic'' plate meets a ''continental'' plate and is pushed underneath it. Subduction zones are marked by [[oceanic trench]]es.  The descending end of the oceanic plate melts and creates pressure in the [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]], causing [[volcano]]es to form.
***'''[[Back-arc basin]]s''' can form from extension in the overriding plate, in response to the displacement of the subducting slab at some [[oceanic trench]]es. This paradoxically results in divergence which was only incorporated in the theory of plate tectonics in 1970, but still results in net destruction when summed over major plate boundaries.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Karig | first1 = Daniel E | year = 1970 | title = Ridges and basins of the Tonga-Kermadec island arc system | journal = Journal of Geophysical Research | volume = 75 | issue = 2| pages = 239–254 | doi = 10.1029/JB075i002p00239 | bibcode = 1970JGR....75..239K }}</ref> 
* '''[[Divergent boundary|Divergent boundaries]]''' are areas where plates move away from each other, forming either [[mid-ocean ridge]]s or [[rift valley]]s. These are also known as constructive boundaries.
* '''[[Transform fault|Transform boundaries]]''' occur when two plates grind past each other with only limited convergent or divergent activity.

==Convergent boundaries (subduction zones)==
{{Main|Convergent boundary}}
{{Further|Subduction}}
{{See also|Obduction}}

* The oceanic [[Nazca plate]] [[subduction|subducts]] beneath the continental [[South American plate]] at the [[Peru–Chile Trench]].
* Just north of the Nazca plate, the oceanic [[Cocos plate]] subducts under the [[Caribbean plate]] and forms the [[Middle America Trench]].
* Oceanic crust of the [[South American plate]] subducts under the [[Caribbean plate]] in the [[Lesser Antilles subduction zone]].
* The [[Cascadia subduction zone]] is where the oceanic [[Juan de Fuca plate|Juan de Fuca]], [[Gorda plate|Gorda]] and [[Explorer plate|Explorer]] Plates subduct under the continental North American plate.
* The oceanic [[Pacific plate]] subducts under the [[North American plate]] (composed of both continental and oceanic sections) forming the [[Aleutian Trench]].
* The oceanic [[Pacific plate]] subducts beneath the continental [[Okhotsk microplate]] at the [[Japan Trench]].
* The oceanic [[Philippine Sea plate]] subducts beneath the [[Eurasian plate]] at the [[Ryukyu Trench]].
* The oceanic [[Pacific plate]] subducts under the oceanic [[Philippine Sea plate]] forming the [[Mariana Trench]].
* The oceanic [[Philippine Sea plate]] is subducting under the [[Philippine Mobile Belt]] forming the [[Philippine Trench]] and the [[East Luzon Trench]].
* The [[Eurasian plate]] is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the [[Manila Trench]].
* The [[Sunda plate]] is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the [[Negros Trench]] and the [[Cotabato Trench|Cotobato Trench]].
* The oceanic [[Australian plate]] is subducted beneath the continental [[Sunda plate]] along the [[Sunda Trench]].
* The oceanic [[Solomon Sea plate]] is subducting beneath the [[South Bismarck plate]] and the [[New Hebrides plate]] driven by the mutual movements of the Australian and Pacific plates and local spreading centres.
* The oceanic [[Pacific plate]] is subducting under the [[Tonga plate]] at the [[Tonga Trench]] driven by the mutual movements of the Australian and Pacific plates and local spreading centres.
* The oceanic [[Pacific plate]] is subducting under the [[Kermadec plate]] at the [[Kermadec Trench]] north and east of New Zealand but the direction of subduction reverses south of the [[Alpine Fault]] where the [[Australian plate]] starts subducting under the Pacific plate at the [[Puysegur Trench]].
*The [[South American plate]] is subducting under the [[South Sandwich plate]], forming the [[South Sandwich Trench]].
*The oceanic [[Australian plate]] is subducting underneath the [[New Hebrides plate]] forming the [[New Hebrides Trench]].

===Back arc basins===
{{Main|Back arc basin}}
*These are often associated with minor plates and include:
** The [[Tyrrhenian Basin]]
** The [[Mariana Trough]]
** The [[North Fiji Basin]]
** The [[Lau Basin]]

===Orogenic belts===
{{Main|Orogeny}}
{{Further|List of orogenies}}

* The most dramatic orogenic belt on the planet is the one between the [[African plate]] and the [[Indo-Australian plate]] on one side (to the south) and the [[Eurasian plate]] on the other side (to the north). This belt runs from New Zealand in the east-south-east, through [[Indonesia]], along the [[Himalayas]], through the Middle East up to the Mediterranean in the west-north-west. It is also called the "Tethyan" Zone, as it constitutes the zone along which the ancient Tethys Ocean was deformed and disappeared. The following mountain belts can be distinguished:
** The European [[Alps]]
** The [[Carpathians]]
** The [[Pyrenees]]
** The [[Apennines]]
** The [[Dinarides]]
** The North African mountain belts such as the [[Atlas Mountains]]
** The [[Kras Plateau|Karst Plateau]] of the Balkan Peninsula
** The [[Caucasus]]
** The [[Zagros]]
** The [[Himalayas]]
** The [[Geography of Indonesia|Indonesian Archipelago]]
** The [[Southern Alps of New Zealand]]
* The [[Andes]] orogenic belt is the latest of a series of [[orogeny|orogenies]] along the western margin of the [[South American plate]].

==Divergent boundaries==
{{Main|Divergent boundary}}

[[File:Plate tectonics map.gif|thumb|upright=1.4|right|Plate tectonics map]]

* The [[East African Rift]] (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa
* The [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]] system separates the [[North American plate]] and the [[South American plate]] in the west from the [[African plate]] and the [[Eurasian plate]] in the east
* The [[Gakkel Ridge]] is a slow spreading ridge located in the [[Arctic Ocean]]
* The [[East Pacific Rise]], extending from the South Pacific to the [[Gulf of California]]
* The [[Baikal Rift Zone]] in eastern Russia
* The [[Red Sea Rift]]
* The [[Aden Ridge]] along the southern shore of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]
* The [[Carlsberg Ridge]] in the eastern [[Indian Ocean]]
* The [[Woodlark Basin]] undergoing transition from continental rifting to sea floor spreading to the east of [[New Guinea]]
* The [[Gorda Ridge]] off the northwest coast of North America
* The [[Explorer Ridge]] off the northwest coast of North America
* The [[Juan de Fuca Ridge]] off the northwest coast of North America
* The [[Chile Rise]] off the southeast Pacific

==Transform boundaries==
{{Main|Transform fault}}

* The [[San Andreas Fault]] in [[California]] is an active transform boundary. The Pacific plate (carrying the city of [[Los Angeles]]) is moving northwards with respect to the North American plate.
* The [[Queen Charlotte Fault]] on the [[Pacific Northwest]] coast of North America
* The [[Motagua Fault]], which crosses through [[Guatemala]], is a transform boundary between the southern edge of the [[North American plate]] and the northern edge of the [[Caribbean plate]].
* New Zealand's [[Alpine Fault]] is another active transform boundary.
* The [[Dead Sea Transform]] (DST) fault which runs through the [[Jordan River]] Valley in the Middle East.
* The [[Owen fracture zone]] along the southeastern boundary of the [[Arabian plate]].
* The [[East Anatolian Fault|East Anatolian]] and [[North Anatolian Fault|North Anatolian]] faults run across much of [[Turkey]] and cause large and deadly earthquakes such as the [[1999 İzmit earthquake]]

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Triple junction}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Structural geology}}

[[Category:Plate tectonics|*]]