sustain (sustains 3rd person present) (sustaining present participle) (sustained past tense & past participle) 1 verb If you sustain something, you continue it or maintain it for a period of time. But he has sustained his fierce social conscience from young adulthood through old age... V n. ...a period of sustained economic growth throughout 1995.
If oceanic and continental crust collides the denser one which is the oceanic crust will be subducted, go underneath, the continental crust. The high heat of the mantle causes the oceanic crust to melt into magma. If the crust gets cracked this allows magma to rise and come out of the crust as lava which will form Volcanoes. When two continental crusts collide, the crust is forced to go upwards which forms mountains.
The mantle under the crust is about 1,800 miles deep (2,890 km). It is composed mostly of silicate rocks rich in magnesium and iron. Intense heat causes the rocks to rise. They then cool and sink back down to the core. This convection â like a lava lamp â is believed to be what causes the tectonic plates to move.