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plate tectonics
[ pleyt tek-ton-iks ]
noun
- a theory of global tectonics in which the lithosphere is divided into a number of crustal plates, each of which moves on the plastic asthenosphere more or less independently to collide with, slide under, or move past adjacent plates.
plate tectonics
noun
- functioning as singular geology the study of the structure of the earth's crust and mantle with reference to the theory that the earth's lithosphere is divided into large rigid blocks ( plates ) that are floating on semifluid rock and are thus able to interact with each other at their boundaries, and to the associated theories of continental drift and seafloor spreading
plate tectonics
- In geology, a theory that the Earth's lithosphere (the crust and upper mantle) is divided into a number of large, platelike sections that move as distinct masses. The movement of the plates is believed to result from the presence of large convection cells in the Earth's mantle which allow the rigid plates to move over the relatively plastic asthenosphere. The theory of plate tectonics was developed in the 1960s in an effort to explain the jigsawlike pattern of the Earth's continents.
- See Note at faultSee more at tectonic boundary
plate tectonics
- In geology , a theory that explains the distribution of continents , earthquakes , volcanoes ,, mountains and other geologic phenomena in terms of the formation, movement, and destruction of tectonic plates . These plates move in response to forces deep within the Earth . Because continents, such as North America , often ride piggy-back on plates, their movement is referred to as continental drift .
Notes
Other Words From
- plate-tec·ton·ic adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of plate tectonics1
A Closer Look
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Example Sentences
If we assume that one of the main drivers of plate tectonics is subduction — where one plate sinks into the deep mantle below another plate — then we shouldn’t expect any plate to be moving faster than the rate at which its slab sinks.
It “supports the growing consensus in the geological community that plate tectonics established itself at a global scale” sometime around 3 billion years ago, he said.
Those estimates have wildly different implications for how plate tectonics affects everything else on Earth.
Volcanism on a climate-altering scale might not last as long as it does when plate tectonics keeps things churning along, but it theoretically could persist for 1 billion or 2 billion years, Foley says.
South of Silicon Valley, an entire town is being deformed, slowly, by plate tectonics.
Only in the 1960s, with the theory of plate tectonics, did a convincing solution finally emerge.
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