Subduction

Where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the denser oceanic plate is forced beneath the less dense continental plate. This is subduction. A deep ocean trench forms where the oceanic plate bends downwards.

Volcanoes occur mainly at divergent boundaries and convergent boundaries involving subduction. Hotspots provide another setting for volcanoes, including locations far from a plate boundary.

Where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the denser oceanic plate sinks beneath the less dense continental plate. This process is subduction.