"Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates which have been slowly moving since about 3.4 billion years ago."
A study of the theory of plate tectonics, including the movement of plates, the formation of mountains and other landforms, and the causes of earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Continental Drift: The theory that suggests the continents were once joined together and have since separated and drifted apart.
Plate Boundaries: The areas where plates meet each other and cause geological activity such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building.
Paleomagnetism: The study of the Earth's magnetic fields recorded in rocks which helps determine the movement of plates over time.
Seafloor Spreading: The process by which new oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges and spreads outwards towards the edges of the plates.
Subduction Zones: The areas where one plate descends into the Earth's mantle beneath another plate, leading to the destruction of the descending plate and the formation of volcanoes.
Hot Spots: The areas on the Earth's surface where magma rises from the mantle, creating a volcanic feature not associated with a plate boundary.
Mantle Convection: The circulation of the Earth's mantle caused by differences in temperature and density, which is thought to drive plate movement.
Plate Tectonics and Climate: The impact of plate tectonics on climate, including the relationship between plate movement and the formation of mountains, which affects weather patterns and can alter global climate.
Plate Collision Zones: The areas where two plates collide, leading to the formation of subduction zones or mountain ranges.
Plate Boundary Types: The different types of plate boundaries including divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries, and their characteristics and effects on the Earth's surface.
Divergent boundary: This is a boundary where two plates are moving away from each other, often creating a rift or a mid-ocean ridge.
Convergent boundary: This is a boundary where two plates are moving towards each other and can either result in a collision, subduction, or a mountain range formation.
Transform boundary: This is a boundary where two plates are sliding past each other horizontally, resulting in a fault zone.
Continental-continental boundary: This is a convergence boundary where two continental plates meet, resulting in a mountain range formation.
Oceanic-oceanic boundary: This is a convergence boundary where two oceanic plates meet, resulting in subduction and volcanic activity.
Oceanic-continental boundary: This is a convergence boundary where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, resulting in subduction and volcanic activity.
"The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century."
"Plate tectonics came to be accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid-to-late 1960s."
"Earth's lithosphere is broken into seven or eight major plates."
"Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of plate boundary: convergent, divergent, or transform."
"Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along these plate boundaries."
"The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero to 10 cm annually."
"Tectonic plates are composed of the oceanic lithosphere and the thicker continental lithosphere, each topped by its own kind of crust."
"Along convergent plate boundaries, the process of subduction, or of one plate moving under another, carries the edge of one plate down under the other plate and into the mantle."
"The lost surface is balanced by the formation of new oceanic crust along divergent margins by seafloor spreading."
"This process of plate tectonics is also referred to as the conveyor belt principle."
"Tectonic plates are able to move because Earth's lithosphere has greater mechanical strength than the underlying asthenosphere."
"Plate movement is driven by a combination of the motion of the seafloor away from spreading ridges due to variations in topography and density changes in the crust."
"At subduction zones, the relatively cold, dense oceanic crust sinks down into the mantle forming the downward convecting limb of a mantle cell. This is the strongest driver of the plates."
"The relative importance of other proposed factors such as active convection, upwelling and flow inside the mantle, and tidal drag of the moon, and their relationship to each other is still the subject of debate."