Plate movements can cause earthquakes and volcanoes; a common boundary type involved is which?

• A. Divergent boundaries
• B. Transform boundaries
• C. All boundary types
• D. Convergent boundaries

Answer: (D)

When plates collide and one dives beneath the other, a convergent boundary forms a subduction zone. The descending slab melts as it heats up, creating magma that can rise to the surface and fuel volcanoes. At the same time, the immense pressures and friction from the colliding plates build up and release as powerful earthquakes along the boundary. This combination—volcanic activity from melting and earthquakes from stress release—is most characteristic of convergent boundaries.

Divergent boundaries involve plates pulling apart; earthquakes occur as crust breaks and magma creates new crust, and volcanoes are common mainly along mid-ocean ridges but are not as consistently tied to divergence as to convergence. Transform boundaries produce earthquakes from sliding motion, but they don’t usually generate volcanoes because there isn’t a lot of magma movement.