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Adopt-a-plate Boundary

-Angelie Bea M. Dela Cruz -Sharah Angela U. Sarcia

-Kyla Katryn R. Galanggalang

Which Plate Boundary interests us??

Convergent Plate Boundary

An area on Earth where two or

more lithospheric plates collide.

One plate eventually slides

beneath the other causing a

process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by the

plane where many Earthquakes occur, called the Benioff zone.

Convergent boundary occurs between oceanic-oceanic lithosphere,

oceanic-continental lithosphere, and continental-continental

lithosphere.

1. oceanic-oceanic lithosphere
 The features of a subduction zone where an oceanic plate subducts

beneath another oceanic plate are the same as a continent-ocean

subduction zone.

An ocean trench marks the location where the plate is pushed down into

the mantle.

The line of volcanoes that grows on the upper oceanic plate is an island arc

2. oceanic-continental lithosphere

Ocean-continent collisions involve

an oceanic plate and a continental plate.

A volcanic arc is created on the

continent as a result of the collision.

Lithosphere is destroyed as one oceanic slab descends beneath the other.

Example includes Rocky Mountains in North America and the Andes

mountains in South America

3. Continental-Continental lithosphere

Continent-continent collisions involve two

continental plates.

Once the oceanic crust between the two

continents has been entirely subducted and the continental shelves have

nearly joined the process of subduction ceases.

Lithosphere is destroyed as one oceanic slab descends beneath another

Examples of these are Himalayan and Appalachian mountains.

 South America

(Andes Mountains)

Andes Mountain’s Map (South America)

The Andes were formed by tectonic activity whereby Earth is uplifted as

one plate (oceanic crust) subducts under another plate (continental

crust). The Andes were formed by tectonic activity whereby earth is

uplifted as one plate (oceanic crust) subducts under

another plate (continental crust).

The Andes Mountains were formed from the subduction of the

Nazca plate beneath the South American plate.

Andes Mountains

Rate of Motion

The Nazca Plate is moving

eastwards, towards the

South American Plate, at

about 79 mm per year.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 8.2 earthquake off Chile in 2011

Resulted in 5 active volcanoes in the

Andes.
 Subducting along the Peru-Chile Trench to the west of Chile has led up to

uplift of the Andes Mountain range and has produced some of the largest

earthquakes in the world including the 2010 magnitude 8.8 Maule

earthquake in central Chile, and the largest earthquake on the record, the

1960 Magnitude 9.5 earthquake in southern Chile.

Volcano

There are an estimated 150 to 160

active volcanoes along the Andean

Volcanic Belt.

Topography

Topographic relief in South America is dominated by the Andes

Mountains, which extend all along the Pacific Coast. These mountains are

created primarily by the convergence of the Nazca and South American tectonic

plates. The Nazca Plate, which underlies the eastern Pacific Ocean, slides

under western South America resulting in crustal thickening, uplift, and

volcanism. Another zone of plate convergence occurs along the northwestern

coast of South America where the Caribbean Plate also slides under the South

American Plate and forms the northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains.

East of the Andes, much of northern South America drains into the Amazon
River, the world’s largest river in terms of both watershed area and flow

volume.

Seafloor age

Nazca is a relatively young plate both in terms of the age of its rocks and its

existence as an independent plate having been formed from the break-up of

the Farallon Plate about 23 million years ago. The oldest rocks of the plate

are about 50million years old.

We believe that the Andes Mountains are 25 -30 million years old or at

least that is their start date, based on a variety of dating techniques. They

took a long time to rise. But for a while, they were believed to be much

younger, perhaps 7-8 million years old.

How these data are related to each other??

The earthquake generated from the

movement of tectonic plates in this region has lasted

millions of years which resulted in the longest and

highest mountains of the Andes after Tibet. However, the earthquake in Nepal

in April 2015 has led to the Himalayan heights to be reduced. Likewise, the

earthquake of the Andes Mountains which is the location vulnerable to

earthquake, the earthquake could cause a decline in mountain heights. The

process of landslide was caused by the earthquake such as the earthquake in

Chile in 2011.The Chile earthquake in 2011 has resulted in 5 active volcanoes

in the Andes.

Resources

https://wikepedia.org

https://britanica.com

https://wikepedia.com