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Cartoon of a tectonic collision between two continents. In geology, continental collision is a phenomenon of plate tectonics that occurs at convergent boundaries.Continental collision is a variation on the fundamental process of subduction, whereby the subduction zone is destroyed, mountains produced, and two continents sutured together.
Orogenic belts occur where two continental plates collide and push upwards to form large mountain ranges. These are also known as collision boundaries. Subduction zones occur where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate and is pushed underneath it. Subduction zones are marked by oceanic trenches.
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') [1] is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago.
A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a plane where many earthquakes occur, called the Wadati–Benioff zone. [1]
A collision zone occurs when tectonic plates meet at a convergent boundary both bearing continental lithosphere.As continental lithosphere is usually not subducted due to its relatively low density, the result is a complex area of orogeny involving folding and thrust faulting as the blocks of continental crust pile up above the subduction zone.
Like most breakups, the separation of continents is not a quick and painless process.. Take the supercontinent Gondwana, for example. Some 180 million years ago, the landmass separated from what ...
The Drake Passage, between the southern tip of South America and Antarctic, is infamous as one of the most dangerous journeys on the planet. But why is it so rough – and how can you cross safely?
According to the Pangaea Proxima hypothesis, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans will continue to get wider until new subduction zones bring the continents back together, forming a future Pangaea. Most continents and microcontinents are predicted to collide with Eurasia, just as they did when most continents collided with Laurentia. [5]