Plate tectonics - Wikipedia
Plate tectonics (from Latin tectonicus, from Ancient Greek τεκτονικός (tektonikós) 'pertaining to building') [1] is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago.
Plate tectonics | Definition, Theory, Facts, & Evidence | Britannica
2024年11月20日 · 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: Definition, Theory, Types, Facts, & Evidence
2023年2月17日 · Tectonic plates are large, irregular-shaped slabs of rock making up the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. They are found to float on top of a semi-liquid layer of rock called the asthenosphere. Plate tectonic theory began in 1915 when Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of continental drift.
Plate Tectonics—The Unifying Theory of Geology
2020年2月11日 · Plate tectonics has revolutionized the way we view large features on the surface of the Earth. Earth’s internal processes were previously thought to operate in a vertical fashion, with continents, oceans, and mountain ranges bobbing …
Theory of plate tectonics | Britannica
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.
Plate Tectonics - Education
2024年3月7日 · 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 Information and Facts | National Geographic
The Earth's plates jostle about in fits and starts that are punctuated with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Learn about how plates move and their impact on the Earth's surface. Skip to...
15.1: Plate Tectonics and Continental Drift
2024年5月24日 · Plate tectonics refers to the process of plate formation, movement, and destruction. It finds its foundations in two theories, continental drift and sea-floor spreading. Continental drift describes the movements of continents over the Earth's surface.
Plate Tectonics - National Geographic Society
2024年4月26日 · The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s solid outer crust, the lithosphere, is separated into plates that move over the asthenosphere, the molten upper portion of the mantle. Oceanic and continental plates come together, spread apart, and interact at boundaries all over the planet.
Plate Tectonics Theory, Diagrams, Boundaries - Geology.com
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.