Question

plate interactions challenge
your score: 2
time:
case 2: new zealand
what’s happening at the plate boundary where the australian plate and the pacific plate meet?
plates are pushing toward each other.
plates are spreading apart.
plates are sliding past each other.
courtesy nasa goddard space flight center

Explanation:

The boundary between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate near New Zealand is a transform - fault boundary. At transform - fault boundaries, tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally. The option "Plates are sliding past each other" correctly describes the interaction at this plate boundary. The option "Plates are pushing toward each other" describes a convergent boundary, and "Plates are spreading apart" describes a divergent boundary, neither of which is the case here.

Answer:

Plates are sliding past each other.