List of tectonic plate interactions

Further information: plate tectonics

Tectonic plate interactions are of three different basic types:

Divergent boundaries are areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid-oceanic ridges or rift valleys.
Convergent boundaries are areas where plates move toward each other and collide. These are also known as compressional or destructive boundaries.
- Subduction zones occur where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate and is pushed underneath it. Subduction zones are marked by oceanic trenches. The descending end of the oceanic plate melts and creates pressure in the mantle, causing volcanoes to form.
- Obduction 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 occur where two continental plates collide and push upwards to form large mountain ranges.
Transform boundaries occur when two plates grind past each other with only limited convergent or divergent activity.

Divergent boundaries

The East African Rift (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge system separates the North American Plate and South American Plate in the west from the Eurasian Plate and African Plate in the east
The Gakkel Ridge is a slow spreading ridge located in the Arctic Ocean
The East Pacific Rise, extending from the South Pacific to the Gulf of California
The Baikal Rift Zone in eastern Russia
The Red Sea Rift
The Aden Ridge along the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula
The Carlsberg Ridge in the eastern Indian Ocean
The Gorda Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
The Explorer Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
The Juan de Fuca Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
The Chile Rise off the southeast Pacific

The oceanic Nazca Plate is being subducted under the continental South American Plate at a rate of 10 cm per year, forming the Peru-Chile Trench.
Just north of the Nazca Plate, the oceanic Cocos Plate is being subducted under the Caribbean Plate and forms the Middle America Trench.
The Pacific Plate is being subducted under the Eurasian and Philippine Sea Plates, the latter subduction zone forming the Mariana Trench.
The Pacific Plate is being subducted under the North American Plate forming the Aleutian Trench.
The Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt forming the Philippine Trench and the East Luzon Trench.
The Eurasian Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Manila Trench.
The Sunda Plate 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 where the Indo-Australian Plate starts subducting under the Pacific Plate.
The Cascadia subduction zone is where the oceanic Juan de Fuca, Gorda and Explorer Plates are being subducted under the continental North American plate.
The South American Plate is subducting under the South Sandwich Plate, forming the South Sandwich Trench.

The Andes orogenic belt is the latest of a series of pre-Andean orogenies along the western margin of the South American Plate.

The San Andreas Fault in California is an active transform boundary. The Pacific Plate (carrying the city of Los Angeles) is moving northwards with respect to the North American Plate.
The Queen Charlotte Fault on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America
The Motagua Fault, which crosses through Guatemala, is a transform boundary between the southern edge of the North American Plate and the northern edge of the Caribbean Plate.
New Zealand's Alpine Fault is another active transform boundary.
The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault which runs through the Jordan River Valley in the Middle East.