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plate tectonics, theory dealing with the dynamics of Earth’s outer shell—the lithosphere—that revolutionized Earth sciences by providing a uniform context for understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes as well as the evolution of Earth’s surface and reconstructing its past continents and oceans.
Tectonic plates are able to move because of the relative density of oceanic lithosphere and the relative weakness of the asthenosphere. Dissipation of heat from the mantle is the original source of the energy required to drive plate tectonics through convection or large scale upwelling and doming.
Plates at the surface of the Earth move due to intense heat from the core of the planet. The heat makes the molten rock to move in convection cells pattern, consequently causing the plates to move. The interior part of the Earth consists of both metal and rock.
It's how mountains form, volcanoes erupt and continents drift apart. So, what causes the tectonic plates to move? Discover the origins of the continental drift theory and how scientists explain these geologic phenomena.
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth’s subterranean movements. The theory, which solidified in the 1960s, transformed the earth sciences by explaining many phenomena, including mountain building events, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Plate tectonics is driven by a variety of forces: dynamic movement in the mantle, dense oceanic crust interacting with the ductile asthenosphere, even the rotation of the planet. Geologists studying the Earth use scientific observation and evidence to construct a picture of what the Earth looked like at different periods in the geologic past.
Even though plates move very slowly, their motion, called plate tectonics, has a huge impact on our planet. Plate tectonics form the oceans, continents, and mountains. It also helps us understand why and where events like earthquakes occur and volcanoes erupt.
The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move...
The tectonic plates connect the parts of Earth’s lithosphere, much like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Unlike puzzle pieces, tectonic plates do not rest on a stable surface. Instead, they float on the moving, semi-liquid portion of the mantle, called the asthenosphere.
There are four types of boundaries between tectonic plates that are defined by the movement of the plates: divergent and convergent boundaries, transform fault boundaries, and plate boundary zones. Microplates are smaller fragments of tectonic plates that appear in plate boundary zones.