Which term describes the process of collision that leads to mountain formation where a denser oceanic plate goes under a continental plate?

Which term describes the process of collision that leads to mountain formation where a denser oceanic plate goes under a continental plate?

• A. Subduction
• B. Erosion
• C. Deposition
• D. Uplift

Answer: (A)

Subduction is the process at a convergent plate boundary where a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath a lighter continental plate. As it subducts, the downward slab causes deformation, melting, and magma formation, which can rise to create volcanic activity and add to mountain-building along the edge of the continent. This collision and crustal uplift build mountain ranges like the Andes over time. Erosion and deposition describe surface wearing down or piling up sediments and don’t explain the plate collision that forms mountains, while uplift alone means rising land without describing the destructive sinking of one plate beneath another. Subduction specifically captures this sinking-and-building process.

Subduction is the process at a convergent plate boundary where a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath a lighter continental plate. As it subducts, the downward slab causes deformation, melting, and magma formation, which can rise to create volcanic activity and add to mountain-building along the edge of the continent. This collision and crustal uplift build mountain ranges like the Andes over time. Erosion and deposition describe surface wearing down or piling up sediments and don’t explain the plate collision that forms mountains, while uplift alone means rising land without describing the destructive sinking of one plate beneath another. Subduction specifically captures this sinking-and-building process.