1.   Except where subduction zones lie adjacent to mountain belts on continental margins, plate boundaries do not coincide with continental coastlines.

2.   Many continental margins are not separated by subduction zones from the divergent boundaries marked by mid-oceanic ridges.

3.   The resulting orogen would be a modified continental margin type.

4.   The sequence of continental-margin orogen development begins with the subduction of oceanic lithosphere at, or close to, a continental margin.

5.   The initial impact occurs between the outer-arc ridge of the overriding continental margin and promontories on the leading edge of the continent entering the subduction zone.

6.   The configuration of continental margins and the angle at which they converge also affects significantly the nature of the orogenic belt that develops.

7.   The terranes are of several types and include slivers of oceanic crust, fragments of intra-oceanic island arcs and slices detached from unknown continental margins.

8.   These margins exhibit a much lower level of tectonic activity than the active margins located along convergent plate boundaries and are consequently termed passive continental margins.

9.   Many, though certainly not all, passive continental margins are characterized by major escarpments.

10.   It is possible that a similar flexural effect is associated with great escarpments along passive continental margins.