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Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') [1] is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago.
This is a list of tectonic plates on Earth's surface. Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle , together referred to as the lithosphere . The plates are around 100 km (62 mi) thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust (also called sima from silicon and magnesium ) and continental crust ( sial ...
Forming the Atlantic segment of the boundary between the African and Eurasian plates, the AGFZ is largely dominated by compressional forces between these converging (3.8 to 5.6 mm/a (0.15 to 0.22 in/year)) plates, but it is subject to a dynamic tectonic regime that also involves extension and transform faulting.
The Puget Sound faults under the heavily populated Puget Sound region (Puget Lowland) of Washington state form a regional complex of interrelated seismogenic (earthquake-causing) geologic faults. These include (from north to south, see map) the: Devils Mountain Fault; Strawberry Point and Utsalady Point faults; Southern Whidbey Island Fault (SWIF)
Bathymetry of the northeast corner of the Caribbean plate showing the major faults and plate boundaries; view looking south-west. The main bathymetric features of this area include: the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc; the old inactive volcanic arc of the Greater Antilles (Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola); the Muertos Trough; and the Puerto Rico Trench formed at the plate boundary ...
Ring faults, also known as caldera faults, are faults that occur within collapsed volcanic calderas [25] and the sites of bolide strikes, such as the Chesapeake Bay impact crater. Ring faults are the result of a series of overlapping normal faults, forming a circular outline. Fractures created by ring faults may be filled by ring dikes. [25]
What are the fault lines under New York and New Jersey? Fault lines are fractures between blocks of rock in the Earth’s crust, the layer closest to the surface. These lines allow tectonic plates ...
The New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ), sometimes called the New Madrid fault line (or fault zone or fault system), is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes (earthquakes within a tectonic plate) in the Southern and Midwestern United States, stretching to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri.