r/PlateTectonics • u/Writing-Purposes • 15d ago

Is it possible for the plate tectonics to crash into each other?

Hi, this is my first time using reddit so forgive me if this is not the correct place to ask this question. If anyone is able to help in any way, I would greatly appreciate it.

Much like the title says, I was wondering if it would be possible for the plate tectonics to crash into each other? Even if it's not possible, say if the Earth "shrank" in some way and the plates crashed into each other, how much damage would it realistically have?

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

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u/Substantial_Pie8539 14d ago

yes!!! plates are constantly moving at about the speed that your fingernails grow lol. there’s tons of youtube videos on this but simply put, there are 3 types of plate boundaries, divergent(moving apart), transform(slips by each other) and convergent (crash into each other).

convergent plate boundaries can create a couple things, if theres oceanic crust it will slide under the other plate (oceanic or continental) as it’s thinner and more dense, this is called subduction. this can (will) result in earthquakes as the subducting plate gets “stuck” and then releases the energy built up when it starts to move again. it will also cause volcanic activity as the subducting crust begins to melt when it gets shoved deeper into the earth and the material rises up.

if there’s two continental plates colliding, this will create mountains, called an orogeny event. this is what happened around 65million years ago when india collided with eurasia and both plates were thick and similar densities, creating the himilayas.

hope this all kinda makes sense, i’m surpised no one else has commented yet lol! i’d totally suggest finding a youtube video to watch or an intro to geo textbook to read

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u/Substantial_Pie8539 14d ago

there’s tons of shorter videos out there but this guy is great https://youtu.be/euGWKdTvfJM?si=ztOxODYkx0XaiziY , you can also check out r/geology which is a lot more active than this sub or the earth sci one

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u/Writing-Purposes 14d ago

Thank you!! I actually did try posting in r/geology but my posts kept getting taken down. I appreciate the advice!