Week 5 - Convergent-Plate Margin

This week I visited the convergent boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Mariana Plate.
The Mariana Plate and Pacific Plate are both oceanic plates that meet in the Western Pacific
Ocean. The meeting of the Pacific Plate and Mariana Plate has created tensional stress in which
a normal fault has occurred. This stress has been going on for around 50 million years. Around
50 million years ago the Pacific Plate began to collide with the Philipean Plate and created a lot of
strain. This movement caused a small portion of the Philipean Plate to break off and create a
microplate called the Mariana Plate. Today, the Pacific Plate continues to subduct under the
Mariana Plate. This subduction has created two unique geological interests, the Mariana Trench
and the Mariana Islands.

(https://slideplayer.com/slide/4526597/)

Visiting the Mariana Trench was amazing because it measures more than 35,000 feet below sea
level and is considered the deepest trench in the ocean. The reason why the Mariana Trench is
so deep is because of the interaction of the Pacific Plate and the Mariana Plate. Since the Pacific
Plate is moving below the Mariana Plate, a large trench has appeared. As the Pacific Plate
moves further and further under the Mariana Trench, lava is released. This lava solidifies and
then moves away from the rift. As the Lava moves away from the rift, the trench becomes
deeper and deeper. The lava moving not only is making the Mariana Trench deeper but also has
created the Mariana Islands.

A 100 miles away from the Mariana Trench are the Mariana Islands. The Mariana Islands is made up of
volcaniclastic sediments that are on top of igneous rocks. The way this islands was made was through
crustal spreading. Above I explained that lava moves away from the spot it's released to engage in
crustal spreading. 

See the Mariana Trench and Island was an amazing experience in terms of Geology.