• Divergent boundaries
  Divergent boundary
  In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts which produce rift valleys...
  
  are areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid-oceanic ridges or rift valley
  Rift valley
  A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifest as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion...
  
  s.
• Convergent boundaries
  Convergent boundary
  In plate tectonics, a convergent boundary, also known as a destructive plate boundary , is an actively deforming region where two tectonic plates or fragments of lithosphere move toward one another and collide...
  
  are areas where plates move toward each other and collide. These are also known as compressional or destructive boundaries.
  • Subduction
    Subduction
    In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge. These 3D regions of mantle downwellings are known as "Subduction Zones"...
    
     zones occur where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate and is pushed underneath it. Subduction zones are marked by oceanic trench
    Oceanic trench
    The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor....
    
    es. The descending end of the oceanic plate melts and creates pressure in the mantle
    Mantle (geology)
    The mantle is a part of a terrestrial planet or other rocky body large enough to have differentiation by density. The interior of the Earth, similar to the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into layers. The mantle is a highly viscous layer between the crust and the outer core....
    
    , causing volcano
    Volcano
    2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
    
    es to form.
  • Obduction
    Obduction
    Obduction is the overthrusting of continental crust by oceanic crust or mantle rocks at a convergent plate boundary. It can occur during an orogeny, or mountain-building episode....
    
    occurs when the continental plate is pushed under the oceanic plate, but this is unusual as the relative densities of the tectonic plates favours subduction of the oceanic plate. This causes the oceanic plate to buckle and usually results in a new mid ocean ridge forming and turning the obduction into subduction
  • Orogenic belts
    Orogeny
    Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...
    
    occur where two continental plates collide and push upwards to form large mountain range
    Mountain range
    A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
    
    s.
• Transform boundaries occur when two plates grind past each other with only limited convergent or divergent activity.

Divergent boundaries

• The East African Rift
  East African Rift
  The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone in eastern Africa that appears to be a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary. It is part of the larger Great Rift Valley. The rift is a narrow zone in which the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two new tectonic plates...
  
   (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
  Mid-Atlantic Ridge
  The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. It separates the Eurasian Plate and North American Plate in the North Atlantic, and the African Plate from the South...
  
   system separates the North American Plate
  North American Plate
  The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
  
   and South American Plate
  South American Plate
  The South American Plate is a continental tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America and also a sizeable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
  
   in the west from the Eurasian Plate
  Eurasian Plate
  The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
  
   and African Plate
  African Plate
  The African Plate is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges.-Boundaries:...
  
   in the east
• The Gakkel Ridge
  Gakkel Ridge
  The Gakkel Ridge is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is located in the Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Siberia, and has a length of about 1,800 kilometers...
  
   is a slow spreading ridge located in the Arctic Ocean
  Arctic Ocean
  The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
  
  
• The East Pacific Rise
  East Pacific Rise
  The East Pacific Rise is a mid-oceanic ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Pacific Plate to the west from the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate...
  
  , extending from the South Pacific to the Gulf of California
  Gulf of California
  The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
  
  
• The Baikal Rift Zone
  Baikal Rift Zone
  The Baikal Rift Zone is a divergent plate boundary centered beneath Lake Baikal in southeastern Russia. To its west is the Eurasian Plate and to its east is the Amur Plate which is moving away from the rift toward Japan at about 4 mm per year....
  
   in eastern Russia
• The Red Sea Rift
  Red Sea Rift
  The Red Sea Rift is a spreading center between two tectonic plates, the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It extends down the length of the Red Sea, stretching from the southern end of the Dead Sea Transform to a triple junction with the Aden Ridge and the East African Rift in the Afar...
  
  
• The Aden Ridge
  Aden Ridge
  The Aden Ridge is a divergent tectonic plate boundary which runs offshore in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean along the southeastern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula. It extends eastward from the Afar Triple Junction to a junction with the Owen Fracture Zone, and separates the Arabian Plate...
  
   along the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula
  Arabian Peninsula
  The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
  
  
• The Carlsberg Ridge
  Carlsberg Ridge
  The Carlsberg Ridge is the northern section of the Central Indian Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary between the African Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate, traversing the western regions of the Indian Ocean....
  
   in the eastern Indian Ocean
  Indian Ocean
  The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
  
  
• The Gorda Ridge
  Gorda Ridge
  The Gorda Ridge is a tectonic spreading center located off the coast of Oregon and northern California north of Cape Mendocino. It runs from a triple junction with the San Andreas Fault and the Mendocino Fracture Zone northward to another transform boundary, the Blanco Fracture Zone...
  
   off the northwest coast of North America
• The Explorer Ridge
  Explorer Ridge
  The Explorer Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary located about west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It lies at the northern extremity of the Pacific spreading axis...
  
   off the northwest coast of North America
• The Juan de Fuca Ridge
  Juan de Fuca Ridge
  The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a tectonic spreading center located off the coasts of the state of Washington in the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It runs northward from a transform boundary, the Blanco Fracture Zone, to a triple junction with the Nootka Fault and the...
  
   off the northwest coast of North America
• The Chile Rise
  Chile Rise
  The Chile Rise or Chile Ridge is an oceanic ridge, a tectonic divergent plate boundary between the Nazca and Antarctic Plates. Its eastern end is the Chile Triple Junction where the Chile Rise is being subducted below the South American Plate in the Peru-Chile Trench...
  
   off the southeast Pacific

Subduction zones

• The oceanic Nazca Plate
  Nazca Plate
  ]The Nazca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction along the Peru-Chile Trench of the Nazca Plate under the South American Plate is largely responsible for the...
  
   is being subducted
  Subduction
  In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge. These 3D regions of mantle downwellings are known as "Subduction Zones"...
  
   under the continental South American Plate
  South American Plate
  The South American Plate is a continental tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America and also a sizeable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
  
   at a rate of 10 cm per year, forming the Peru-Chile Trench
  Peru-Chile Trench
  The Peru-Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 160 kilometres off the coast of Peru and Chile...
  
  .
• Just north of the Nazca Plate, the oceanic Cocos Plate
  Cocos Plate
  The Cocos Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America, named for Cocos Island, which rides upon it.-Geology:...
  
   is being subducted under the Caribbean Plate
  Caribbean Plate
  The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America....
  
   and forms the Middle America Trench
  Middle America Trench
  The Middle America Trench is a major subduction zone, an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the southwestern coast of Middle America, stretching from central Mexico to Costa Rica...
  
  .
• The Pacific Plate
  Pacific Plate
  The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....
  
   is being subducted under the Eurasian
  Eurasian Plate
  The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
  
   and Philippine Sea Plates, the latter subduction zone forming the Mariana Trench
  Mariana Trench
  The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about long but has a mean width of only...
  
  .
• The Pacific Plate is being subducted under the North American Plate
  North American Plate
  The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
  
   forming the Aleutian Trench
  Aleutian Trench
  The Aleutian Trench is a subduction zone and oceanic trench which runs along the southern coastline of Alaska and the adjacent waters of northeastern Siberia off the coast of Kamchatka Peninsula. It is classified as a "marginal trench" in the east as it runs along the margin of the continent, and...
  
  .
• The Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt
  Philippine Mobile Belt
  The Philippine Mobile Belt is a complex portion of the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, comprising most of the country of the Philippines. It includes two subduction zones, the Manila Trench to the west and the Philippine Trench to the east, as well as the...
  
   forming the Philippine Trench
  Philippine Trench
  The Philippine Trench is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. It has a length of approximately 1,320 km and a width of about 30 km from the centre of the Philippine island of Luzon trending southeast to the northern Maluku island of Halmahera in Indonesia...
  
   and the East Luzon Trench.
• The Eurasian Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Manila Trench
  Manila Trench
  The Manila Trench is an ocean trench in the South China Sea, west of the Philippines. It reaches a depth of about 5,400 m, in contrast with the average depth of the South China Sea of about 1,500 m...
  
  .
• The Sunda Plate
  Sunda Plate
  The Sunda Plate is the tectonic plate on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located. It was formerly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate, but GPS measurements have confirmed its independent movement at 10 mm/yr eastward relative to Eurasia...
  
   is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Negros Trench and the Cotobato Trench.
• The Pacific Plate is subducting under the Indo-Australian Plate north and east of New Zealand, but the direction of subduction reverses south of the Alpine Fault
  Alpine Fault
  The Alpine Fault is a geological fault, more specifically known as a right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island. It forms a transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Earthquakes along the fault, and the...
  
   where the Indo-Australian Plate starts subducting under the Pacific Plate.
• The Cascadia subduction zone
  Cascadia subduction zone
  The Cascadia subduction zone is a subduction zone, a type of convergent plate boundary that stretches from northern Vancouver Island to northern California. It is a very long sloping fault that separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates.New ocean floor is being created offshore of...
  
   is where the oceanic Juan de Fuca
  Juan de Fuca Plate
  The Juan de Fuca Plate, named after the explorer of the same name, is a tectonic plate, generated from the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and subducting under the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone...
  
  , Gorda
  Gorda Plate
  The Gorda Plate, located beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of northern California, is one of the northern remnants of the Farallon Plate. It is sometimes referred to as simply the southernmost portion of the neighboring Juan de Fuca Plate, another Farallon remnant.Unlike most tectonic...
  
   and Explorer
  Explorer Plate
  The Explorer Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.The eastern boundary of the Explorer Plate is being slowly subducted under the North American Plate, to which it may eventually accrete owing to the slow rate of subduction...
  
   Plates are being subducted under the continental North American plate.
• The South American Plate
  South American Plate
  The South American Plate is a continental tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America and also a sizeable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
  
   is subducting under the South Sandwich Plate
  South Sandwich Plate
  The South Sandwich Plate or microplate is a tectonic plate bounded by the subducting South American Plate to the east, the Antarctic Plate to the south and the Scotia plate to the west.The South Sandwich Islands are located on this small plate.- References :...
  
  , forming the South Sandwich Trench
  South Sandwich Trench
  The South Sandwich Trench is a deep arcuate trench in the South Atlantic Ocean lying 100 km to the east of the South Sandwich Islands. The trench is produced by the subduction of the southernmost portion of the South American Plate beneath the small South Sandwich Plate. The South Sandwich...
  
  .

Orogenic belts

• The most dramatic orogenic belt on the planet is the one between the Indo-Australian Plate
  Indo-Australian Plate
  The Indo-Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean, and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters...
  
   and African Plate
  African Plate
  The African Plate is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges.-Boundaries:...
  
   on one hand (to the South) and the Eurasian Plate
  Eurasian Plate
  The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
  
   on the other (to the North). This belt runs from New Zealand in the East-SouthEast, through Indonesia
  Indonesia
  Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
  
  , along the Himalayas
  Himalayas
  The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
  
  , through the Middle East up to the Mediterranean in the West-Northwest. It is also called the "Tethyan" Zone, as it constitutes the zone along which the ancient Tethys Ocean was deformed and disappeared. The following mountain belts can be distinguished:
  • The European Alps
    Alps
    The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
    
    
  • The Carpathians
  • The Pyrenees
    Pyrenees
    The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
    
    
  • The Apennines
  • The Dinarides
  • The North African mountain belts such as the Atlas Mountains
    Atlas Mountains
    The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...
    
    
  • The Karst Plateau
    Kras
    Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
    
     of the Balkan Peninsula
  • The Caucasus
    Caucasus
    The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
    
    
  • The Zagros
  • The Himalayas
    Himalayas
    The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
    
    
  • The Indonesian Archipelago
    Geography of Indonesia
    Indonesia is an archipelagic island country in Southeast Asia, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean. The country's variations in culture have been shaped—although not...
    
    
  • The Southern Alps
    Southern Alps
    The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...
    
     of New Zealand

• The Andes
  Andes
  The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
  
   orogenic belt is the latest of a series of pre-Andean orogenies
  Orogeny
  Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...
  
   along the western margin of the South American Plate
  South American Plate
  The South American Plate is a continental tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America and also a sizeable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge....
  
  .

Transform boundaries

• The San Andreas Fault
  San Andreas Fault
  The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...
  
   in California
  California
  California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
  
   is an active transform boundary. The Pacific Plate (carrying the city of Los Angeles
  Los Angeles, California
  Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
  
  ) is moving northwards with respect to the North American Plate.
• The Queen Charlotte Fault
  Queen Charlotte Fault
  The Queen Charlotte Fault is an active transform fault, located between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, Canada's equivalent of the San Andreas Fault. The Queen Charlotte Fault forms a triple junction on its south with the Cascadia subduction zone and the Explorer Ridge...
  
   on the Pacific Northwest
  Pacific Northwest
  The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
  
   coast of North America
• The Motagua Fault
  Motagua Fault
  The Motagua Fault is a major, active left lateral-moving transform fault which cuts across Guatemala. It forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate...
  
  , which crosses through Guatemala
  Guatemala
  Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
  
  , is a transform boundary between the southern edge of the North American Plate
  North American Plate
  The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
  
   and the northern edge of the Caribbean Plate
  Caribbean Plate
  The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America....
  
  .
• New Zealand's Alpine Fault
  Alpine Fault
  The Alpine Fault is a geological fault, more specifically known as a right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island. It forms a transform boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. Earthquakes along the fault, and the...
  
   is another active transform boundary.
• The Dead Sea Transform
  Dead Sea Transform
  The Dead Sea Transform fault system, also sometimes referred to as the Dead Sea Rift, is a geologic fault which runs from the Maras Triple Junction to the northern end of the Red Sea Rift...
  
   (DST) fault which runs through the Jordan River Valley in the Middle East.