Destructive Plate Margins
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Destructive Plate Margins
How a destructive margin works
At a destructive (convergent) margin, plates move towards one another. Where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the denser oceanic plate is forced beneath the less dense continental plate. This process is called subduction. Water released from the descending plate helps mantle rock above it melt; magma can rise and erupt through the crust. Friction and pressure build as the plates move, then may be released suddenly as an earthquake. Sediment and squeezed crust can also be folded and uplifted into mountains. Not every earthquake or volcano is equally powerful, and hazards are greatest where people and vulnerable buildings are exposed.
Evidence from the Pacific coast
A fictional coastal region lies beside a destructive margin. Its monitoring team records these observations: (1) shallow earthquakes occur near the trench; (2) deeper earthquakes occur further inland along the descending slab; (3) active volcanoes form a line inland, roughly parallel to the trench; (4) some earthquakes are powerful enough to damage buildings. The region has a densely populated coastal city and several small villages on steep volcanic slopes.
- Two plates move apart and new crust forms between them.
- Two plates move towards each other and one may descend beneath the other.
- Two plates slide past one another without any vertical movement.
- Earthquakes become deeper further inland from the trench.
- A line of volcanoes lies inland and parallel to the trench.
- Rainfall varies between villages.
- The city is densely populated.
3 printable pages
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