The Andes mountains refer to the distinct long mountain chain that is located on the western edges of South America. These are formed due to the sharing of a convergent plate boundary between the South American and Nazca plates. The Nazca being the heavier oceanic plate subducts below the less dense continental South American plate. As the Nazca plate melts at greater depth it mixes up with the melt and rises upward, giving rise to the formation of Andes mountains in the edges of the over-riding plate.
The Andes mountain is commonly known as the spine/backbone of South America.
