Why does subduction occur in continental oceanic and oceanic oceanic but not in continental continental convergent plates?

Why does subduction occur in continental oceanic and oceanic oceanic but not in continental continental convergent plates?

there is no subduction when continental crust meets continental crust, as is the case with the Indian plate meeting the Eurasian plate. Subduction occurs when sea floor spreading forces a plate underneath the lighter and more buoyant continental crust.

What causes oceanic and continental plates?

These zones represent areas where oceanic plates collide with and plunge underneath continental plates – a process called subduction. As oceanic plates subduct, they melt to form magma. This magma cools over millions of years, producing intrusive igneous rock and new continental crust.

What is formed in the convergence of two oceanic oceanic and continental plates?

When two oceanic plates collide against each other, the older and therefore heavier of the two subducts beneath the other, initiating volcanic activity in a manner similar to that which occurs at an oceanic-continental convergent plate boundary and forming a volcanic island arc.

Why does oceanic plate undergo subduction?

The oceanic plate is denser, so it undergoes subduction. This means that the oceanic plate sinks beneath the continent. Subduction of an oceanic plate beneath a continental plate forms a line of volcanoes known as a continental arc and causes earthquakes.

Why does subduction only occur at a convergent plate boundary?

Subduction occurs when two plates collide at a convergent boundary, and one plate is driven beneath the other, back into the Earth’s interior. Only oceanic plates, which are topped with basalt, are dense enough to sink into the mantle. As a result, only oceanic plates are subducted.

Why is subduction process only occurs in convergent plate boundaries?

They are found at convergent plate boundaries, where the oceanic lithosphere of one plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of another plate. Earth is so far the only planet where subduction is known to occur, and subduction zones are its most important tectonic feature.

What does subduction produce on the surface?

Subduction is one of the two major processes of plate tectonics, the other being seafloor spreading. Trenches, accretionary wedges (prisms) and volcanic or island arcs are key surface features produced by subduction.

What was formed when oceanic plate converges with another oceanic plate?

When two oceanic plates converge, the denser plate will end up sinking below the less dense plate, leading to the formation of an oceanic subduction zone. Whenever a subduction zone is formed, the subducted plate will end up being partially melted by the earth’s internal magma and molten.

What will be formed when oceanic plate converges with the continental plate?

When oceanic crust converges with continental crust, the denser oceanic plate plunges beneath the continental plate. This process, called subduction, occurs at the oceanic trenches. The subducting plate causes melting in the mantle above the plate. The magma rises and erupts, creating volcanoes.

What occurs in oceanic oceanic convergence?

At an ocean-ocean convergent boundary, one of the plates (oceanic crust and lithospheric mantle) is pushed, or subducted, under the other (Figure 4.6. It mixes with the overlying mantle, and the addition of water to the hot mantle lowers the crust’s melting point and leads to the formation of magma (flux melting).

What causes a subduction zone?

Subduction zones happen where plates collide. When two tectonic plates meet it is like the immovable object meeting the unstoppable force. However tectonic plates decide it by mass. The more massive plate, normally a continental will force the other plate, an oceanic plate down beneath it.