What is Plate boundary?
{{see|Plate tectonics}} [[Image:Tectonic plate boundaries.png|thumb|right|270px|Three types of plate boundary.]] '''Plate boundaries''' refers particularly to places where [[continental plate]]s touch or have touched in the past. The major types of plate boundaries are: # [[Divergent boundary|Spreading]] boundaries. [[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]] and [[Africa]]'s [[Great Rift Valley]] are examples. [[Rift valley]]s, [[mountain]]s (orogeny), [[volcano]]es. # [[Convergent boundary|Collision]] boundaries. These collide, forming a subduction zone (West coast of the [[Americas]]) or a continental collision ([[India]] with [[Asia]]). Mountains ([[orogeny]]), valleys, volcanoes. # Transform or [[Fault (geology)|fault]] boundaries. Here plates grind past each other along [[transform fault]]s. [[Earthquake]]s and volcanoes often occur along the fault. # Conservative boundaries: little or no relative motion. All boundaries except the conservative ones are sites of major geological activity. == Other websites == *[http://element.ess.ucla.edu/publications/2003_PB2002/2003_PB2002.htm Bird, P. (2003) An updated digital model of plate boundaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213022939/http://element.ess.ucla.edu/publications/2003_PB2002/2003_PB2002.htm |date=2007-12-13 }} also available as a large (13 mb) [http://element.ess.ucla.edu/publications/2003_PB2002/2001GC000252.pdf PDF file] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030806055327/http://element.ess.ucla.edu/publications/2003_PB2002/2001GC000252.pdf |date=2003-08-06 }} [[Category:Plate tectonics]]