Week 5 - Converging Plates - Coast of Mexico

Off the coast of Mexico, the Cocos Plate slips under the North American Plate and creates what is called subduction. The Middle American Trench is a result of this subduction as well as many volcanos in Mexico. As the Cocos Plates slips beneath the North American Plate it is heated and more tension is put on the rock which creates Magna pockets that rise and create volcanos. There are also quite a few devastating earthquakes that have happened in the area such as the 1985 Mexico City earthquake these earthquakes are a direct result of the subduction occurring underneath the North American Plate.