How is trench formed?
How is trench formed?
Trenches are formed by subduction, a geophysical process in which two or more of Earth’s tectonic plates converge and the older, denser plate is pushed beneath the lighter plate and deep into the mantle, causing the seafloor and outermost crust (the lithosphere) to bend and form a steep, V-shaped depression.
Do divergent boundaries cause trenches?
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. The impact of the colliding plates can cause the edges of one or both plates to buckle up into a mountain ranges or one of the plates may bend down into a deep seafloor trench.
What kind of plate boundary results to the formation of a trench like the Marianas Trench?
As with oceanic-continental convergence, when two oceanic plates converge, one is usually subducted under the other, and in the process a trench is formed. The Marianas Trench (paralleling the Mariana Islands), for example, marks where the fast-moving Pacific Plate converges against the slower moving Philippine Plate.
What does a divergent boundary cause?
When two plates are moving away from each other, we call this a divergent plate boundary. Along these boundaries, magma rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form new crust on the lithosphere. As the plates rub against each other, huge stresses can cause portions of the rock to break, resulting in earthquakes.
Is the Mariana Trench a divergent boundary?
It is separated from the Philippine Sea Plate to the west by a divergent boundary with numerous transform fault offsets. The boundary between the Mariana and the Pacific Plate to the east is a subduction zone with the Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Mariana.
Is Mariana Trench convergent boundary?
The trench lies along the convergent boundary where the Pacific plate, on the east, subducts beneath the relatively tiny Mariana plate, on the west.
What is the Mariana Trench plate boundary?
The Mariana Trench, in the South Pacific Ocean, is formed as the mighty Pacific plate subducts beneath the smaller, less-dense Philippine plate. In a subduction zone, some of the molten material—the former seafloor—can rise through volcanoes located near the trench.
Is the Mariana trench divergent or convergent?
What type of boundary is Mariana Trench?
subduction zone
The boundary between the Mariana and the Pacific Plate to the east is a subduction zone with the Pacific Plate subducting beneath the Mariana….
| Mariana Plate | |
|---|---|
| Type | Minor |
| Approximate area | 360,000 km2 |
| Movement1 | north-west |
| Speed1 | 39-51mm/year |