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The Pacific Plate and the North American Plate form a transform plate boundary where they slide past each other horizontally. This boundary is known as the San Andreas Fault system in California.
When tectonic plates move toward each other, it results in a convergent boundary. As the plates collide, one plate may be forced beneath the other in a process called subduction, while another may crumple and form mountain ranges. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, and the creation of ocean trenches or mountain ranges can occur at these convergent boundaries.
The most important factor when determining the types of boundaries that form when two lithospheric plates collide is the relative motion between the plates. Depending on whether the plates are moving towards each other, away from each other, or past each other, different types of boundaries like convergent, divergent, or transform boundaries will form.
Subduction zones form at convergent plate boundaries where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another plate. This process occurs when one plate is denser than the other, causing it to sink into the mantle and creating a subduction zone.
Most volcanoes form at either convergent or divergent plate boundaries. Volcanoes at convergent plate boundaries form when one plate slides under another, taking seawater with it. This causes the rock in the mantle to melt as the melting point drops. This new magma can rise to form volcanoes.At divergent plate boundaries the crust is thing, which lowers pressure on the mantle, causing some material to melt.