Question

WHAT HAPPENDS TO THE PLATES? LANDFORMS CREATED AND EXAMPLE LOCATION OF THE 3 MAJOR EARTH BOUNDERIES

Answer 1

Short answer: tectonic plates either move apart, move together, or slide past each other. Each type of boundary produces characteristic landforms and geological activity.

1) Divergent boundaries (plates move apart)
- What happens: plates pull away from each other; magma rises to fill the gap and forms new crust.
- Landforms/features: mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys, volcanic activity, shallow earthquakes.
- Examples: Mid‑Atlantic Ridge (oceanic); East African Rift (continental rifting — Kenya/ Ethiopia).

2) Convergent boundaries (plates move toward each other / collide)
- What happens: one plate is forced under another (subduction) or two continental plates collide and crumple.
- Landforms/features:
- Oceanic‑oceanic convergence: deep ocean trenches, volcanic island arcs, strong earthquakes (e.g., Mariana Trench and Mariana Islands).
- Oceanic‑continental convergence: volcanic mountain chains on the continent and trenches offshore (e.g., the Andes along western South America).
- Continental‑continental convergence: very high, folded mountain ranges with major uplift (e.g., the Himalayas from India‑Asia collision).
- Typical activity: powerful earthquakes, volcanism at subduction zones (except in continental‑continental where volcanism is limited).

3) Transform boundaries (plates slide past one another)
- What happens: plates grind horizontally past each other; crust is generally neither created nor destroyed.
- Landforms/features: strike‑slip faults, linear valleys and offset streams, frequent shallow, sometimes large earthquakes.
- Examples: San Andreas Fault (California), North Anatolian Fault (Turkey), Alpine Fault (New Zealand).

If you want, I can make a one‑page summary or diagram for study use, or give more examples for each type.