text: plate tectonic question? what are the major geographical features that are noted around the world that are caused by the movement of the plates? you tend to get big pushed up mountain chains where 2 continental plates are converging, subduction zone volcanism where you've got 1 plate being subducted beneath another (the subducting plate causes partial melting in the mantle and this magma pushes up through the plate above), mid-ocean ridge system where oceanic crust is being pulled apart (if you can find a map which shows sea topography as well as land topography you can have a look at the mid-ocean ridge system - it's pretty amazing, shows the outlines of the plates pretty well, too), and you also get continental rifting and volcanoes where continental crust is being pulled apart, like in africa.