What are the 12 major tectonic plates?
The current continental and oceanic plates include: the Eurasian plate , Australian-Indian plate, Philippine plate , Pacific plate , Juan de Fuca plate , Nazca plate , Cocos plate , North American plate , Caribbean plate , South American plate , African plate, Arabian plate , the Antarctic plate, and the Scotia plate.
What you should know about plate tectonics?
Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that attempts to explain the movements of the Earth’s lithosphere that have formed the landscape features we see across the globe today. By definition, the word “plate” in geologic terms means a large slab of solid rock.
What are facts about plate tectonics?
10 Facts About Plate Tectonics Definition. Plate tectonics is the theory explaining the movement of the earth’s plates and the processes that occur at their boundaries. Plates. Divergent Plate Boundary. Convergent Plate Boundary. Transform Fault. The Earth’s Core. The Earth’s Mantle. The Earth’s Crust. Convection Cells. Continental Drift.
What are the four pieces of evidence for plate tectonics?
Evidence that supports the theory of plate tectonics includes distribution of rock formation and fossils, shapes of existing continents, ocean floor features, and seismic and volcanic activity.
Are Earth’s tectonic plates constantly moving?
The Earth’s surface is broken up into ‘Tectonic Plates’ which are constantly moving due to convection currents beneath the plates. Tectonic Plates typically move only a few centimetres per year.
What causes plate tectonic movement?
Tectonic plates are the plates beneath us in the mantle that are constantly moving. There are 3 types of tectonic plate boundaries. Divergent, Convergent, and Transform. These plate movements are caused by convection currents in the Mantle.