Earth's tectonic plates are constantly in a slow-motion march, with some edges pulling apart and others colliding. ... Subduction zones are major driving forces behind this tectonic conveyor belt, as they pull oceanic crust and upper mantle down to depth, recycling the rocks and dragging continents around in the process.

What happens to the oceanic plate at a subduction zone?

Where two tectonic plates meet at a subduction zone, one bends and slides underneath the other, curving down into the mantle. (The mantle is the hotter layer under the crust.) ... At a subduction zone, the oceanic crust usually sinks into the mantle beneath lighter continental crust.

Are oceanic plates destroyed at subduction zones?

Such destruction (recycling) of crust takes place along convergent boundaries where plates are moving toward each other, and sometimes one plate sinks (is subducted) under another. The location where sinking of a plate occurs is called a subduction zone.