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Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') 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.
Mar 7, 2024 · 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. In plate tectonics, Earth’s outermost ...
4 days ago · 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.
Plate Tectonics. The Earth's plates jostle about in fits and starts that are punctuated with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. 4 min read. There are a few handfuls of major...
Earth’s lithosphere, or outermost shell, is broken up into large pieces called tectonic plates. These plates move slowly over the asthenosphere , a layer of softer rock below the lithosphere. On average, tectonic plates move a few centimeters per year.
Plate tectonics is a theory about how Earth's lithosphere is divided into a series of rigid plates; and, how movements of these plates produce earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean trenches, mountain ranges, and more.
plate tectonics, Theory that the Earth’s lithosphere (the crust and upper portion of the mantle) is divided into about 12 large plates and several small ones that float on and travel independently over the asthenosphere.
