Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Upwarping
Continental crust
Lithosphere
A.
Rift valley
B.
Linear sea
C.
FIGURE 2.4
Illustration of a divergent boundary (rift valley). (A) The upwarping of the ground surface,
(B) the rift valley development, and (C) flooding to form a linear sea. (
From USGS.
)
●
Earthquakes that are seaward of the trench, caused mainly by the flexing of the down-
going plate, but also by compression of the plate.
In terms of the seismic energy released at subduction zones, it has been determined that
the largest earthquakes and the majority of the total seismic energy released during the past
century have occurred as shallow earthquakes at subduction zone-plate boundaries
(Pacheco and Sykes 1992).
3.
Continent-continent collision zone:
The third type of convergent boundary is the
continent-continent collision zone, which is illustrated in Fig. 2.7. This condition occurs
when two continental plates collide with each other, causing the two masses to squeeze,
fold, deform, and thrust upward. According to Yeats et al. (1997), the Himalaya Mountains
