Which of the following tectonic plates is characterized by subduction beneath the South American Plate, resulting in the formation of the Peru-Chile Trench and the Andes Cordillera?

💡 Solution & Explanation

The Nazca Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate situated in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin that is actively subducting eastward beneath the continental South American Plate, producing intense seismic activity, volcanism, and orogeny. The Cocos Plate subducts beneath Central America, the North American Plate interacts primarily along transform and convergent zones in the northern hemisphere, and the Philippine Sea Plate lies in the western Pacific. Ocean-continent convergence zones are primary sites of destructive earthquakes and mountain building.