Physical & World Geography
Plate tectonics
Movement of Earth's lithosphere
Overview
Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid- to late 1960s. The processes that result in plates and shape Earth's crust are called tectonics.
Source: Wikipedia — Plate tectonics (CC BY-SA)
Key concepts
How Plate tectonics connects to the ideas, people and events around it.
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium, the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy.
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC.
A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can be or that has been repeatedly tested and has corroborating evidence in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluation of results.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is made possible by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water.
A lithosphere is the rigid outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite.
Billion is a word for a large number with two distinct definitions:1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or 109, as defined on the short scale.
Continental drift is the movement of Earth's continents relative to each other over geologic time. When initially proposed as a scientific theory in the early 20th century, the idea that continents could move was widely rejected.
Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to planet Earth.
Revise Plate tectonics
Flashcards and a quick quiz, built from this map.
Questions about Plate tectonics
What is Plate tectonics?
Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid- to late 1960s.
What are the key concepts related to Plate tectonics?
The main concepts connected to Plate tectonics include Latin, Ancient Greek, Scientific theory, Earth, Lithosphere, Billion, Continental drift, Earth science. Each is linked on the map above with its own summary.
Which exams cover Plate tectonics?
Plate tectonics is part of Physical & World Geography, which appears in the syllabus of UPSC CSE, UPSC CAPF, NDA, CDS, AFCAT, SSC CGL and 44 more exams.