Divergent boundaries also form volcanic islands, which occur when the plates move apart to produce gaps that magma rises to fill. Each eruption occurs in only a part of the plate boundary at any one time, but when it does occur, it fills in the opening gap as the two opposing plates move away from each other.

Most divergent plate boundaries are underwater and form submarine mountain ranges called oceanic spreading ridges. While the process of forming these mountain ranges is volcanic, volcanoes and earthquakes along oceanic spreading ridges are not as violent as they are at convergent plate boundaries.

Along this divergent plate boundary are volcanoes such as Mount Nyiragongo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mount Kilimanjaro, in Kenya. At a convergent plate boundary, tectonic plates move toward one another and collide.

A transform fault or transform boundary, sometimes called a strike-slip boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal.

Trenches are geological features formed by convergent boundaries.

A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. Subduction begins when this dense crust converges with less dense crust.

There are 4 basic landforms that you need to know found at plate boundaries. These are fold mountains, mid ocean ridges, ocean trenches and types of volcano.

Transform Boundary

What are the major plate tectonic boundaries?

• Divergent: extensional; the plates move apart. Spreading ridges, basin-range.
• Convergent: compressional; plates move toward each other. Includes: Subduction zones and mountain building.
• Transform: shearing; plates slide past each other. Strike-slip motion.