"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."
How the movement of tectonic plates causes earthquakes and other geological events.
Earth's layers: The study of the internal structure of the Earth, including the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core.
Continental drift: The theory that the continents have moved over time and were once joined as a supercontinent known as Pangaea.
Plate tectonics: The theory that the Earth's lithosphere is broken into plates that move and interact with each other.
Convection currents: The process by which heat is transferred through a fluid, causing it to circulate and move the plates.
Divergent plate boundaries: Plate boundaries where two plates are moving apart from each other, creating new crust.
Transform plate boundaries: Plate boundaries where two plates are sliding past each other, creating earthquakes.
Convergent plate boundaries: Plate boundaries where two plates are moving towards each other, creating subduction zones and mountain ranges.
Subduction zones: Areas where one tectonic plate is being forced underneath another tectonic plate.
Volcanoes: Openings in the Earth's surface that allow magma and ash to escape.
Earthquakes: Shaking or trembling of the Earth's surface caused by the sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust.
Tsunamis: Large waves generated by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
Seismology: The study of earthquakes and seismic waves.
Plate boundaries and natural disasters: A survey of the history of natural disasters at plate boundaries.
Plate movement and climate change: A review of the relationship between plate movement and changes in climate.
Plate tectonics and mineral resources: A look at the relationship between plate tectonics and mineral resources.
Plate tectonics and human society: How plate tectonics influence society and human activities.
Body waves: Waves generated by an earthquake that travel through the Earth's interior.
Surface waves: Waves that travel along the Earth's surface, causing the ground to shake.
Seismic tomography: A method used to create a 3D image of the Earth's internal structure, based on the seismic waves produced by earthquakes.
Earthquake engineering: The study of how buildings and other structures can be designed to withstand earthquake damage.
Paleoseismology: The study of past earthquakes and their effects on the Earth's surface.
Seismic hazard analysis: The process of determining the likelihood and potential impact of earthquakes in a given region.
Seismic reflection: A method used to map the geology beneath the Earth's surface by analyzing the way seismic waves reflect off different types of rock.
Seismic refraction: A method used to determine the properties of the Earth's subsurface by analyzing the way seismic waves are refracted as they pass through different layers of rock.
"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."