Final answer:
The thinner ocean plate bends and sinks under the thicker continental plate, a process that occurs in a subduction zone. This results in the oceanic plate melting and being recycled deep beneath the Earth's surface.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a thinner ocean plate collides with a thicker continental plate, the thinner plate bends and sinks under the continental plate.
The process where two tectonic plates come together and one is forced beneath another is known as a subduction zone. Thinner oceanic plates, being denser and thinner, are more likely to be subducted underneath the continental plates, which are thicker and less dense. Subduction zones are often marked by ocean trenches, such as the Japan trench along the coast of Asia. As the ocean plate subducts, it encounters high pressure and temperature, eventually melting several hundred kilometers below Earth's surface. This recycled material contributes to a downward-flowing convection current that balances the upwelling material along rift zones, maintaining a cyclic balance of crustal material.
When a thinner ocean plate collides with a thicker continental plate, the thinner plate bends and sinks under the continental plate.
This process is known as subduction. The thinner oceanic plate is forced beneath the thicker continental plate due to the difference in density.
As the oceanic plate sinks into the mantle, it experiences high pressure and temperature, eventually melting and being recycled into the Earth's interior.