The Earth's ocean crust is constantly being created and destroyed. Several tectonic plates, fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle, create the surface of the Earth. Where these plates meet, three different types of boundaries are formed. At a divergent plate boundary, where two plates are moving away from each other, oceanic crust is being formed, and these are appropriately called spreading centers. Regions where plates are simply sliding past one another are called transform faults, for example, the San Andreas Fault in California. Convergent boundaries are regions were oceanic plates are being destroyed. These regions may also be called subduction zones. The figure shows a schematic cartoon of typical a subduction zone. These regions are known for being tectonically (lots of earthquakes) and volcanologically active.
The Earth's ocean crust is constantly being created and destroyed. Several tectonic plates, fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle, create the surface of the Earth. Where these plates meet, three different types of boundaries are formed. At a divergent plate boundary, where two plates are moving away from each other, oceanic crust is being formed, and these are appropriately called spreading centers. Regions where plates are simply sliding past one another are called transform faults, for example, the San Andreas Fault in California. Convergent boundaries are regions were oceanic plates are being destroyed. These regions may also be called subduction zones. The figure shows a schematic cartoon of typical a subduction zone. These regions are known for being tectonically (lots of earthquakes) and volcanologically active.