Landform in the Philippine Island
Landform in the Philippine Island
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Types of Plate Boundaries
Types of Plate Boundaries
Plate boundaries are edges where two plates meet. Most geologic events, including volcanoes, earthquakes, and formation of mountains, take place at plate boundaries. There are three main types of plate boundaries, classified based on how tectonic plates move relative to each other.
Divergent boundaries occur when plates move apart. Magma rises from the mantle, cools, and forms new crust, often creating mid-ocean ridges such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Convergent boundaries occur when plates move toward each other. One plate may subduct beneath another, forming trenches, volcanoes, and mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas.
Transform boundaries occur when plates slide past one another horizontally. This movement does not create or destroy crust but often causes earthquakes, such as along the San Andreas Fault.
https://geologyscience.com/geology/plate-tectonics/
The Philippine Plate and its Topography
The Philippine Plate and its Topography
Eastern Philippines: The Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) subducts northwestward beneath the Philippine Mobile Belt (PMB) along the East Luzon Trough (ELT) and the Philippine Trench (PT). These trenches mark the deepest parts of the eastern seas, and volcanic activity in this region, such as Mayon and Kanlaon volcanoes, aligns along the trench-related volcanic arcs formed by subduction.
Western Philippines: The Sundaland Plate (SP) subducts southeastward beneath the PMB along the Manila Trench (MT) and Negros Trench (NT). These trenches create deep oceanic regions west of the islands, while volcanic arcs develop parallel to the subduction zones. However, subduction here is interrupted by the Palawan-Mindoro Continental Block (PCB), which collides with the PMB along the Palawan-Mindoro Collision Zone (PCZ), causing uplift, complex faulting, and localized mountain formation.
Southern Philippines: Subduction of the SP also occurs along the Sulu Trench (ST) and Cotabato Trench (CT), producing deep-sea trenches and associated volcanic arcs. The area is tectonically active, with earthquakes and volcanic activity linked to the movement of the plates and faults.
Throughout the Philippines: The Philippine Fault Zone (PFZ) traverses the entire length of the PMB, accommodating lateral movements between plates and linking subduction zones in the east, west, and south. This strike-slip fault system contributes to the overall deformation of the archipelago and influences the distribution of earthquakes and volcanic activity across the islands.
Powerful geological forces are unleashed when tectonic plates collide, causing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain formation. These processes are crucial for humans, as dry land exists because continents are built and kept above sea level through volcanism and mountain-building in subduction zones. In addition, subduction and convergent plate boundaries generate valuable natural resources, including oil, natural gas, fertile soils, and minerals such as gold, silver, uranium, and diamonds.
Types of Convergent Boundary
Types of Convergent Boundary
Earth’s tectonic plates
Tectonic plates are large pieces of Earth’s crust that move over the mantle. Their interactions at convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries create most geological features, including mountains, volcanoes, trenches, and earthquakes.
https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeology2ed/wp-content/uploads/sites/298/2019/08/plate-motions.png
A convergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move toward each other. Examples of these includes the interactions between the Eurasian Plate and Indian Plate, Caribbean Plate and Cocos Plate, Pacific Plate and North American Plate, Pacific Plate and Australian Plate, Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate, and the Philippine Plate and Eurasian Plate. Often, the denser plate is forced beneath the other through a process called subduction, forming deep ocean trenches. This collision releases strong energy that causes earthquakes, and the melting of the subducted plate can produce magma that rises to the surface to form volcanoes.
Types of Convergent Boundary
Types of Convergent Boundary
1. Oceanic crust and oceanic crust collision
The collision between two oceanic plates leads to subduction, the formation of volcanic island arcs, intense seismic activity, and the potential formation of back-arc basins and oceanic plateaus. These processes play a crucial role in the geological evolution of oceanic regions and contribute to the Earth's dynamic tectonic activity
https://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/b8f413db-8bdd-44b8-a0c2-9cc209028ede-56c559863df78c763fa33ff9.png
Many of the Philippines’ thousands of islands are classified as island arcs, formed by subduction following the collision of three major plates: the Eurasian Plate, the Philippine Sea Plate, and the Indo-Australian Plate. The first island arcs are believed to have developed millions of years ago on the southern portion of the Philippine Sea Plate. Later, these original arcs collided with Sundaland, leading to the formation of additional islands and creating the complex archipelago seen today.
@Marianas Trench MNM: Tectonic Evolution (noaa.gov)
2. Oceanic crust and continental crust collision
A collision between oceanic crust and continental crust happens at a convergent plate boundary, where two tectonic plates move toward each other. Because oceanic crust is denser and thinner than continental crust, the oceanic plate is forced to sink beneath the continental plate in a process called subduction. The collision between oceanic and continental crusts is a dynamic geological process that results in subduction zones, volcanic arcs, mountain ranges, earthquakes, and tsunamis.
https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-earth-science-flexbook-2.0/section/5.13/primary/lesson/ocean-continent-convergent-plate-boundaries-ms-es/
The Philippine archipelago is located between two major oceanic plates. However, the tectonic setting of the Philippines is more complex than a single boundary type. In the western part of the country, a continental fragment called the Palawan-Mindoro Continental Block collides with the Philippine Mobile Belt, creating a collision zone rather than pure oceanic subduction (Yumul, 2009)
3. The collision between two continental crust
The collision between two continental plates leads to the creation of mountain ranges, the thickening of the crust, and the formation of foreland basins. These characteristics typify the active geological processes that have molded the continents of Earth across numerous years. The Himalayas are an example of the collision of two continental plates where the Indian plate is crashing into the Eurasian plate and is being forced upwards. They are continually growing at an average rate of 1cm per year, this will be 10km in 1 million years.
https://makeagif.com/i/6DlPso
When tectonic plates move toward each other at convergent boundaries, strong pressure causes the Earth’s crust to fold, uplift, and form mountains in a process called mountain building (orogeny).
Major mountain ranges in different parts of the world formed because of plate tectonic forces. The Himalayas in Asia were formed when the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate, pushing the crust upward to create the world’s highest mountains.
The Andes Mountains in South America formed when the Nazca Plate subducted beneath the South American Plate, producing volcanic mountains along the continent’s western side.
Similarly, mountain systems like the Rocky Mountains in North America and the Sierra Madre (Philippines) were formed by long-term tectonic compression, uplift, and faulting caused by plate movements.
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