Week 5 - Converging Plates

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This week I have traveled to Chile. I have always wanted to see Chile because it sits on the Andes mountains which is a large mountain chain on the west coast of South America. The Andes mountains were created by a converging plate boundry. The oceanic plate called the Nazca plate has been converging into the South American plate. Since the Nazca plate is made of a denser basaltic rock, it is being pushed underneath the South American plate through subduction. The South American plate has been pushed up by this subduction and mountains have been formed by the compression forces. Subduction has melted the oceanic plate and volcanos have been formed from the lava.

[Chevron Folds 

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Because of compression, there are reverse faults throughout the mountain range. Evidence of folding can be seen on the mountain faces above.

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