Earth's Tectonic Plates

Earth’s lithosphere is divided into giant moving pieces called tectonic plates that interact with the asthenosphere, a softer layer of rock beneath them.

These plates move due to convection currents in the mantle, reshaping continents and causing natural events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Scientists identified tectonic plates by mapping earthquake epicenters with seismometers, which revealed plate boundaries where most quakes occur.

Plate boundaries are of three main types.

Transform boundaries are found where plates slide past each other horizontally, creating faults like California’s San Andreas Fault, where this movement triggers frequent earthquakes.

Divergent boundaries happen when plates move apart. At mid-ocean ridges, magma rises, creating new crust and slowly pushing continents away.

Convergent boundaries occur when plates collide. If two continental plates crash, they form mountains like the Himalayas. When oceanic plates collide with continental plates, one sinks beneath the other, creating deep trenches and volcanoes.

Crust sinks under heavy glaciers and slowly rises again after the glaciers melt over time.

Tectonic plate movement is a continuous process that shapes Earth’s surface.