What are tectonic plates

Plate tectonics involves the horizontal movement and interaction of large plates on Earth's surface. New research indicates that mobile plate tectonics—thought to be necessary for the creation of a habitable planet—was not occurring on Earth 3.9 billion years ago. Credit: University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw Scientists have taken a journey back in time to unlock the mysteries of Earth's early history, using tiny mineral crystals called zircons to study plate tectonics billions of years ago. The research sheds light on the conditions that existed in early Earth, revealing a complex interplay between Earth's crust, core, and the emergence of life. Plate tectonics allows heat from Earth's interior to escape to the surface, forming continents and other geological features necessary for life to emerge. Accordingly, "there has been the assumption that Tarduno, the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Geophysics, is lead author of a paper published in Nature examining plate tectonics from a time 3.9 billion years ago, when scientists believe the first traces of life appeared on Earth. The researchers found that mobile plate tectonics was not occurring during this time. Instead, they discovered, Earth was releasing heat through what is known as a stagnant lid regime. The results indicate that although plate tectonics is a key factor for sustaining life on Earth, it is not a requirement for life to originate on a terrestrial-like planet. "We found there wasn't plate...

Although this has yet to be proven with certainty, most geologists and geophysicists agree that plate movement is caused by the convection (that is, heat transfer resulting from the movement of a heated fluid) of magma in Earth’s interior. The heat source is thought to be the decay of radioactive elements. How this convection propels the plates is poorly understood. Some geologists argue that upwelling Discover the facts behind the theory of continental drift The theory of plate tectonics is based on a broad synthesis of geologic and geophysical data. It is now almost universally accepted, and its adoption represents a true scientific revolution, For details on the specific effects of plate tectonics, see the articles In essence, plate-tectonic theory is elegantly simple. lithos, meaning “ asthenos, meaning “weak.” Plate movement is possible because the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is a zone of detachment. As the lithospheric plates move across Earth’s surface, driven by forces as yet not fully understood, they interact along their boundaries, diverging, converging, or slipping past each other. While the interiors of the plates are

A volcano is a feature in Earth’s crust where molten rock is squeezed out onto the Earth’s surface. This moltenrock is called magma when it is beneath the surface and lava when it erupts, or flows out, from a volcano. Along with lava, volcanoes also release gases, ash, and solid rock. Volcanoes come in many different shapes and sizes but are most commonly cone-shaped hills or mountains. They are found throughout the world, forming ridges deep below the sea surface and mountains that are thousands of meters high. About 1,900 volcanoes on Earth are considered active, meaning they show some level of occasional activity and are likely to erupt again. Many others are dormant volcanoes, showing no current signs of exploding but likely to become active at some point in the future. Others are considered extinct. Volcanoes are incredibly powerful agents of change. Eruptions can create new landforms, but can also destroy everything in their path. About 350 million people (or about one out of every 20 people in the world) live within the “danger range” of an active volcano. Volcanologists closely monitorvolcanoes so they can better predict impendingeruptions and prepare nearby populations for potential volcanic hazards that could endanger their safety. Plate Tectonics Most volcanoes form at the boundaries of Earth’s tectonic plates. These plates are huge slabs of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle, which fit together like pieces of a puzzle. These plates are not fixed, but are consta...

PLATE DATE: Plate tectonics involves the horizontal movement and interaction of large plates on Earth’s surface. New research indicates that mobile plate tectonics—thought to be necessary for the creation of a habitable planet—was not occurring on Earth 3.9 billion years ago. (University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw) What is plate tectonics? And why do plates move? Plate tectonics is the theory that describes how Earth’s rigid outer layer—called the lithosphere, which is made up of the crust and upper mantle—is composed of a series of plates that move and interact with each another. These plates are like big pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that fit together to form Earth’s surface. The ocean floor is made of plates that form where molten rock from Earth’s mantle—the layer of hot, semi-solid rock beneath the lithosphere—flows upward. Over hundreds of millions of years, these plates cool and thicken so much that they eventually sink back into the Earth’s mantle at subduction zones. The gravitational force of this movement makes the plates shift and move, driving the horizontal motion of plate tectonics. While this movement is very slow—“a rapid plate moves as fast as fingernails grow, about 10 centimeters (approximately four inches) a year,” Tarduno says—over the course of millions of years, this can add up to thousands of kilometers. Scientists have taken a journey back in time to unlock the mysteries of Earth’s early history, using tiny mineral crystals called zir...

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. The theory revolutionized the geological sciences in the 1960s by combining the earlier idea of Related Article Summaries

Recent Examples on the Web Additionally, while it’s currently understood that Venus does not have Earth-like plate tectonics, data provided by Magellan has shown tectonic structure like folds, faults, rift zones and mountains across the planet. — Conor Feehly, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2023 This type of activity doesn’t constitute true plate tectonics, explains Robin George Andrews for the New York Times, because not all of Venus’ surface is covered by jostling plates of crust and those plates don’t appear to slide over or under one another as Earth’s do. — Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 June 2021 If Mars had plate tectonics, those also stopped long ago. — Marissa Grunes, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023 For years, scientists have been revising the notion that our nearest planetary neighbor is geologically dead, as different studies converge on the conclusion that some of its volcanoes are active even without plate tectonics, which fuels most of them here on Earth. — Carolyn Y. Johnson, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Mar. 2023 By using the lasers to squeeze samples of rocks and metals to those deep planetary pressures, researchers can see how the samples behave, discovering their resistance to flow (important for plate tectonics) or their ability to conduct electricity (important for magnetic-field generation). — Adam Frank, The Atlantic, 3 Jan. 2023 One thing that came up when Newitz talked to planetary scientists and geologists was plate tectonics, the movement of large por...