Subduction Zones are:

Subduction Zones are:

• A. Places where crust is torn apart
• B. Areas where plates converge but both rise
• C. Places where plates are pushed down into the upper mantle
• D. Regions where plates drift without interaction

Answer: (C)

Subduction zones are areas where one tectonic plate sinks down into the mantle at convergent boundaries. This downward motion happens because the oceanic plate is denser than the mantle (and often denser than the overriding plate), so it dives beneath the other plate, forming deep trenches and typically fueling volcanic activity on the surface above. That sinking describes why this option is the best match: plates are pushed down into the upper mantle. The other ideas describe different boundary behaviors—crust tearing apart happens at rift/divergent zones, both plates rising would imply uplift rather than sinking, and drifting without interaction points to boundaries where plates move past each other or are largely inactive rather than subducting.

Subduction zones are areas where one tectonic plate sinks down into the mantle at convergent boundaries. This downward motion happens because the oceanic plate is denser than the mantle (and often denser than the overriding plate), so it dives beneath the other plate, forming deep trenches and typically fueling volcanic activity on the surface above. That sinking describes why this option is the best match: plates are pushed down into the upper mantle. The other ideas describe different boundary behaviors—crust tearing apart happens at rift/divergent zones, both plates rising would imply uplift rather than sinking, and drifting without interaction points to boundaries where plates move past each other or are largely inactive rather than subducting.