Figure 7 – Types of plate boundaries

4.3.1. Divergent Boundaries

Where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. The sites where the plates move away from each other are called spreading sites. The best-known example of divergent boundaries is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At this, the American Plate(s) is/are separated from the Eurasian and African Plates at rate of around 2 cm per year.

4.3.2. Convergent Boundaries

Where the crust is destroyed as one plate dived under another at an angle of approximately

450. The location, where sinking of a plate occurs, is called a subduction zone. There are three ways in which convergence can occur. These are: (i) between an oceanic and continental plate;

(ii) between two oceanic plates; and (iii) between two continental plates.