Plate Tectonics
A tectonic plate is a large, rigid slab of solid rock. Plate tectonics refers to how the Earth's surface is built of plates.
The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth's outermost layer is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small plates that are moving relative to one another as they ride atop hotter, more mobile material.
The diagrams here show the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea which figured prominently in the theory of continental drift - the forerunner to the theory of plate tectonics.
Image courtesy of USGS
The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth's outermost layer is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small plates that are moving relative to one another as they ride atop hotter, more mobile material.
The diagrams here show the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea which figured prominently in the theory of continental drift - the forerunner to the theory of plate tectonics.
Image courtesy of USGS