Region of active deformation between colliding tectonic plates
Simplified diagram of a convergent boundary
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] These collisions happen on scales of millions to tens of millions of years and can lead to volcanism, earthquakes, orogenesis, destruction of lithosphere, and deformation. Convergent boundaries occur between oceanic-oceanic lithosphere, oceanic-continental lithosphere, and continental-continental lithosphere. The geologic features related to convergent boundaries vary depending on crust types.
Plate tectonics is driven by convection cells in the mantle. Convection cells are the result of heat generated by the radioactive decay of elements in the mantle escaping to the surface and the return of cool materials from the surface to the mantle.[2] These convection cells bring hot mantle material to the surface along spreading centers creating new crust. As this new crust is pushed away from the spreading center by the formation of newer crust, it cools, thins, and becomes denser. Subduction begins when this dense crust converges with a less dense crust. The force of gravity helps drive the subducting slab into the mantle.[3] As the relatively cool subducting slab sinks deeper into the mantle, it is heated, causing hydrous minerals to break down. This releases water into the hotter asthenosphere, which leads to partial melting of the asthenosphere and volcanism. Both dehydration and partial melting occur along the 1,000 °C (1,830 °F) isotherm, generally at depths of 65 to 130 km (40 to 81 mi).[4][5]
Some lithospheric plates consist of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. In some instances, initial convergence with another plate will destroy oceanic lithosphere, leading to convergence of two continental plates. Neither continental plate will subduct. It is likely that the plate may break along the boundary of continental and oceanic crust. Seismic tomography reveals pieces of lithosphere that have broken off during convergence.
^Wicander, Reed; Monroe, James S. (2016). Geol (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1133108696. OCLC 795757302.
^Tackley, Paul J. (2000-06-16). "Mantle Convection and Plate Tectonics: Toward an Integrated Physical and Chemical Theory". Science. 288 (5473): 2002–2007. Bibcode:2000Sci...288.2002T. doi:10.1126/science.288.5473.2002. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 10856206.
^Conrad, Clinton P.; Lithgow‐Bertelloni, Carolina (2004-10-01). "The temporal evolution of plate driving forces: Importance of "slab suction" versus "slab pull" during the Cenozoic". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 109 (B10): B10407. Bibcode:2004JGRB..10910407C. doi:10.1029/2004JB002991. hdl:2027.42/95131. ISSN 2156-2202.
^Bourdon, Bernard; Turner, Simon; Dosseto, Anthony (2003-06-01). "Dehydration and partial melting in subduction zones: Constraints from U-series disequilibria". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 108 (B6): 2291. Bibcode:2003JGRB..108.2291B. doi:10.1029/2002JB001839. ISSN 2156-2202. Archived from the original on 2019-12-31. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
^P., Kearey (2009). Global tectonics. Klepeis, Keith A., Vine, F. J. (3rd ed.). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405107778. OCLC 132681514.
and 28 Related for: Convergent boundary information
A convergentboundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides...
refer to: Convergentboundary, a type of plate tectonic boundaryConvergent (continued fraction) Convergent evolution Convergent series Convergent may also...
Ridge West Antarctic Rift System Southeast Indian Ridge Convergentboundary Transform boundary Seafloor spreading – Geological process at mid-ocean ridges...
Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas: Background: The Geology of the Mariana Convergent Plate Region". oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-30.{{cite web}}:...
types: Convergentboundaries are areas where plates move toward each other and collide. These are also known as compressional or destructive boundaries. Obduction...
plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of plate boundary (or fault): convergent, divergent, or transform. The relative movement of the plates...
The plate forms a convergentboundary by subducting under the Philippine Sea Plate creating the Mariana Trench, has a transform boundary with the Caroline...
Earth's distinctive plate tectonics. They mark the locations of convergent plate boundaries, along which lithospheric plates move towards each other at rates...
Plate; the westerly edge is a convergentboundary with the subducting Nazca Plate; and the northerly edge is a boundary with the Caribbean Plate and the...
continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergentboundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with...
edge of the plate, while a small divergent boundary is located on the eastern edge. Another convergentboundary exists with the Banda Sea Plate to the north...
collision results in a convergentboundary, a topic covered in plate tectonics. The approximate alignment of so many convergentboundaries trending east to...
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east was proposed a convergentboundary with the Woodlark Plate, although this is now best modelled after further studies as a boundary with an enlarged...
of Honshu, bordering the Sea of Japan, is a north–south trending convergentboundary between the Amurian and Okhotsk Plates. It has been proposed that...
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Plate, and the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. The western border is a convergentboundary largely responsible for the mountains in western Sulawesi, subduction...
magmas. It has also been suggested that some granites found at convergentboundaries between tectonic plates, where oceanic crust subducts below continental...
plates moving apart, which is a result of divergent plate boundary forces. The convergentboundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Indian Plate formed...
transform boundary forms the northern border with the Pacific Plate. Along the border with the Philippine Sea Plate is a convergentboundary that transitions...
A collision zone occurs when tectonic plates meet at a convergentboundary both bearing continental lithosphere. As continental lithosphere is usually...
arcs at convergent plate boundaries while basaltic magmatism is found at mid-ocean ridges during sea-floor spreading at divergent plate boundaries. On Earth...
This was the first in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergentboundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville...
transform fault boundary, vertical if along a convergentboundary (i.e. subduction or thrust/reverse faulting) or a divergent boundary (i.e. rift zone...
the transform boundary marked by the Alpine Fault. South of New Zealand the boundary becomes a transitional transform-convergentboundary, the Macquarie...
Cambrian rifting and sedimentation. Its southeastern margin was also a convergentboundary, with the accretion of island arcs and microcontinents to the craton...
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