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Definition: plate tectonics from Dictionary of Energy

Earth Science. a modern geological theory according to which the earth’s crust is divided into a limited number of large, rigid plates whose independent movements relative to one another cause intense geologic activity along their margins, such as deformation, volcanism, earthquakes, and mountain building.

plate tectonics

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Theory formulated in the 1960s to explain the phenomena of continental drift and sea-floor spreading, and the formation of the major physical features of the Earth's surface. The Earth's outermost layer, the lithosphere , is seen as a jigsaw puzzle of rigid major and minor plates that move relative to each other, probably under the influence of convection currents in the mantle beneath. At the margins of the plates, where they collide or move apart or slide past one another, major landforms such as mountains , rift valleys , volcanoes , ocean trenches , and mid-ocean ridges are created. The rate of plate movement is on average 2–3 cm/1 in per year and at most 15 cm/6 in per year. The concept of plate tectonics brings together under one unifying theory many phenomena observed in the Earth's crust that were previously thought to be unrelated. The size of the crust plates is variable, as they are constantly changing, but six or seven large plates now cover much of the Earth's surface, the…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From Philip's Encyclopedia
The discovery that the continents shift along on...
Theory or model to explain the distribution, evolution, and causes of the Earth's crustal features. It proposes that the Earth's crust and part of the upper mantle (the lithosphere ) consists of several separate, rigid slabs, termed plates, which move independently forming part of a cycle in the…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
theory that unifies many of the features and characteristics of continental drift and seafloor spreading into a coherent model and has revolutionized geologists' understanding of continents, ocean basins, mountains, and earth history. The beginnings of the theory of plate tectonics date to around…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Theory formulated in the 1960s to explain the phenomena of continental drift and sea-floor spreading, and the formation of the major physical features of the Earth's surface. The Earth's outermost layer, the lithosphere , is seen as a jigsaw puzzle of rigid major and minor plates that move relative…
| 1,139 words
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From Encyclopedia of Evolution
The movement of the crustal plates of the Earth's surface is called plate tectonics. The Earth's surface is fractured into eight major plates and several smaller ones, which move relative to one another. The plates appear to be propelled by flowing magma underneath the surface. The ocean floors are…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From The Macquarie Dictionary
a theory concerning the movements of the earth's lithosphere that explains how tectonic plates ride on the moving asthenosphere; supporting the theory of continental drift and sea-floor spreading. The key principle of plate tectonics is that the rigid crustal plates (tectonic plates) that make up…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From Science Encyclopedia: Encyclopedia of Marine Science
Plate tectonics is the theory of movement of the Earth's crust due to convection currents in the upper mantle, which accounts for the distribution of the continents, mountain building, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Plate tectonics was preceded by the theory of continental drift, much of which was…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From The American Heritage Student Science Dictionary
In geology, a theory that the Earths lithosphere (crust and upper mantle) is divided into a number of large, platelike sections that move as distinct masses. See more at tectonic boundary . See Notes at fault , Gondwana . plate tectonics Have you ever noticed that the Earth’s continents seem to fit…
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Full text Article PLATE TECTONICS

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
English geologist Even those who have more sympathy with man's endeavor than with the affairs of Nature may take an interest in the Science of Tectonics. Knowledge, after all, is of human creation; and, as a rule, the knowledge of the structure of a mountain chain comes as the reward of glorious…
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Full text Article plate tectonics

From Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Diagram of plate boundary types, magmatic arcs...
One of the foundations of modern geology, the theory of plate tectonics has been described as “the glue that holds geology together.” It describes the interactions among several large, and a number of smaller, rigid plates of Earth's lithosphere. The lithosphere is composed of Earth's crust, which…
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Full text Article Plate Tectonics, Theory of

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology
The idea that regions of the Earth have undergone very large motions relative to each other is a scientific finding of the second half of the twentieth century. The first theory to propose this addressed only the motion of continents and so was called continental drift; it was first put forward in…
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