The plate tectonic theory gives a coherant explanation for many of the major global geological events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, faults, folds and cold mountains. It brings together a number of earlier hypotheses, which attempt to explain the distribution of the continents and oceans
The uppermost layer of the Earth is divided into a number of sections, which are constantly in motion relative to each other, carried by moving material beneath:
- the sections are the rigid lithosphere plates
- the moving material is the plastic asthenosphere, which is partially melted and acts as a rheid - a solid that can flow
The plate boundaries or margins between the lithospheric plates are zones of geological activity along with the relative motion is taken up. By comparison, areas within the plates are geologically inactive (aseismic)
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