Landforms Associated with Plate Movement

Hazards

Slab Pull

• Oceanic crust subducts

• Pulls the plate with it

Ridge Pull

• New crust hot, buoyant and elevated

• Slides away from the mid-ocean ridge

Rift Valleys

• Constructive boundary

• Continental areas

• Plates move apart

• Crust drops between faults

• Upstanding block is called a horst

• E.g. Rift Valley in Eastern Africa

Deep Sea Trenches

• Destructive boundary

• Oceanic and continental plates

• Down warping of the oceanic plate forms a deep part of the ocean

• Subduction zone

• E.g. Marianas Trench (Pacific and Philippines plate)

Island Arcs

• Destructive boundary

• Oceanic and continental plates

• Material rises to the surface forming volcanoes

• After eruption, island arcs form

• E.g. Marianas Islands and Guam

  • Parallel to the Marianas Trench

Young Fold Mountains

• Collision boundary

• 2 continental plates

• Crusts are forced together

• Sediment is forced together up and down

  • Up = young fold mountains

  • Down = deep mountain roots