What is Plate Tectonics?

Plate tectonics is the theory where the lithosphere is divided into a number of large and
small plates due to convection currents in the mantle. The plates generally travel 0.66 to
8.50 centimeters each year on their lateral motions.

There are major, minor and micro tectonic plates. There are seven major plates: African,
Antarctic, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, North American, Pacific and South American.
While, minor tectonic plates are Arabian Plate, Caribbean Plate, Cocos Plate, Nazca
Plate, Philippine Plate, Scotia Plate and more. Lastly, these are one of the micro tectonic
plates; Lwandle Plate, Shetland Plate, Futuna Plate, Panama Plate, North Andes Plate,
and Queen Elizabeth Islands Subplate.

History of Plate Tectonics

German meteorologist Alfred Wegener is usually attributable because the 1st to develop a
theory of plate tectonics, within the type of geological phenomenon. transfer along an
large mass of geological and earth science data, Wegener postulated that throughout most
of the geological time there was only 1 continent, that he referred to as Pangaea, greek
word meaning “All the Earth”. He believe that the Pangaea break apart 250 million years
ago, and therefore the breakup of this continent publicized Earth’s current continental
configuration as the continent-sized components began to maneuver off from one another.
(Scientists discovered later that Pangea fragmented early in the Jurassic Period.) Wegener
given the concept of continental drift and a few of the supporting proof in a very lecture
in 1912, followed by his major printed work, The Origin of Continents and Oceans
(1915).
How do plate tectonics work?
The driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in the mantle. Hot material near the
Earth's core rises and colder mantle rock sinks. "It's kind of like a pot boiling on a stove," Van der
Elst said.

There are three ways in which plate boundaries work and meet(, and each one triggers a unique
geological feature) but because all plates form a closed system, all movements can be defined
by dealing with them two at a time.

Convergent boundaries occur where plates collide into one another. Where those plates meet,
Earth's crust crumbles and buckles into mountain ranges.( For example, India and Asia came
together about 55 million years ago to create the Himalaya Mountains. As the mash-up
continues, those mountains grow higher and higher. Geologists have discovered the Swiss Alps
are being lifted faster than they are being lowered through erosion—and are thus growing every
year.) But converging plates don't always collide upward. Sometimes, an ocean plate (which is
made of denser rock than landmasses) collides with a continental plate, in which case it
"subducts" or dives beneath the other plate.

As the name suggests, divergent boundaries are tectonic boundaries where plates "diverge" or
are tugged apart. This motion creates giant troughs on land(, such as the East Africa Rift). In the
ocean, this same process creates mid-ocean ridges. Hot magma from Earth’s mantle wells up at
these ridges, forming new ocean crust and shoving the plates apart. Underwater mountains and
volcanoes can rise along this seam, in some cases forming islands. (For example, the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge runs directly through Iceland. )

The final type of plate boundary, transform boundaries, exist where plates move sideways in
relation to each other. It’s the slip-sliding motion of plate boundaries that triggers many
earthquakes. (California's San Andreas Fault, where the North American and Pacific tectonic
plates grind past each other with a mostly horizontal motion, is one famous example of a
transform boundary. )

Tectonic plates move at a rate of one to 2 inches (3 to 5 centimeters) per year, according to
National Geographic. That's about as fast as your fingernails grow!

https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-tectonics.html

Primary and Secondary Plates

Primary Plates
These plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the Pacific Ocean. For purposes of this list,
a major plate is any plate with an area greater than 20 million km2.

African Plate – A major tectonic plate underlying Africa west of the East African Rift – 61,300,000
km2
Antarctic Plate – Tectonic plate containing Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor –
60,900,000 km2
Eurasian Plate – Tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia – 67,800,000
km2
Indo-Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate formed by the fusion of the Indian and Australian
plates – 58,900,000 km2 often considered two plates:
 Australian Plate – Major tectonic plate, originally a part of the ancient continent of
Gondwana – 47,000,000 km2
 Indian Plate – A minor tectonic plate that got separated from Gondwana – 11,900,000
km2
North American Plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and
part of Siberia. – 75,900,000 km2
Pacific Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean – 103,300,000 km2
South American Plate – Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a large
part of the south Atlantic – 43,600,000 km2

Minor plates
These smaller plates are often not shown on major plate maps, as the majority do not comprise
significant land area. For purposes of this list, a minor plate is any plate with an area less than 20
million km2 but greater than 1 million km2.

Somali Plate – Minor tectonic plate including the east coast of Africa and the adjoining seabed –
16,700,000 km2
Nazca Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin – 15,600,000 km2[note
1]
Indian Plate – A minor tectonic plate that got separated from Gondwana – 11,900,000 km2
Amurian Plate – A minor tectonic plate in eastern Asia
Sunda Plate – A minor tectonic plate including most of Southeast Asia
Philippine Sea Plate – oceanic tectonic plate to the east of the Philippines – 5,500,000 km2
Okhotsk Plate – Minor tectonic plate including the Sea of Okhotsk, the Kamchatka Peninsula,
Sakhalin Island, Tōhoku and Hokkaidō
Arabian Plate – Minor tectonic plate consisting mostly of the Arabian Peninsula, extending
northward to Mesopotamia and the Levant – 5,000,000 km2
Yangtze Plate – Small tectonic plate carrying the bulk of southern China
Caribbean Plate – A mostly oceanic tectonic plate including part of Central America and the
Caribbean Sea – 3,300,000 km2
Cocos Plate – young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of
Central America – 2,900,000 km2
Caroline Plate – Minor oceanic tectonic plate north of New Guinea – 1,700,000 km2
Scotia Plate – Minor oceanic tectonic plate between the South American and Antarctic Plates –
1,600,000 km2
Burma Plate – Minor tectonic plate in Southeast Asia – 1,100,000 km2
New Hebrides Plate – Minor tectonic plate in the Pacific Ocean near Vanuatu – 1,100,000 km2
What is Continental Drift
 Large-scale horizontal motions of continents relative to one another and to ocean basins
during one or more geologic periods are known as continental drift. This idea was a
crucial antecedent to the creation of plate tectonics theory, which integrates it.
 Continental drift one of the first theories on how continents moved over time, according
to geologists. This map depicts Gondwana, an early "supercontinent" that eventually
gave rise to the continents we know today. The breakthrough hypothesis of continental
drift was bolstered by the discovery of identical creatures across vastly different
continents.

History emz

Alfred Wegener is most closely associated with the theory of continental drift. Wegener
published a paper in the early twentieth century explaining his theory that continental
landmasses were "drifting" across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into
each other. This movement was called "continental drift" by him.
Wegener believed that all of the continents were once connected in a "Urkontinent"
before breaking up and drifting to their current positions. However, geologists slammed
Wegener's theory of continental drift after he published the details in a 1915 book called
"The Origin of Continents and Oceans." Part of the opposition stemmed from Wegener's
lack of a good model to explain how the continents moved apart. Although Wegener's
"continental drift" theory was rejected, it did introduce the concept of continents moving
to geoscience. Scientists would later confirm some of Wegener's ideas, such as the
existence of a supercontinent that linked all of the world's landmasses as one.
 Alfred Wegener and DuToit, in the initial thirty years of this century, during the
1920s and 1930s accumulated proof that the continents had moved. They based
continental drift theory on a few lines of proof: geologic features, fossil evidence and
paleomagnetism.

 There are various geomorphologic and geological similarities along the coasts of South
America-Africa and Europe-North America to be found. For example igneous rock
around Rio de Janeiro  are almost identical to rocks found in South AfricaIdentical rocks,
of the same type and age, are found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Wegener said
the rocks had formed side-by-side and that the land had since moved apart.
 Mountain ranges with the same rock types, structures, and ages are now on opposite
sides of the Atlantic Ocean. (Ex. The Appalachians of the eastern United States and
Canada.)They are just like mountain ranges in eastern Greenland, Ireland, Great Britain,
and Norway. Wegener concluded that they are formed as a single mountain range that
was separated as the continents drifted.
 One type of evidence that strongly supported the Theory of Continental Drift is
the fossil record. Fossils of similar types of plants and animals in rocks of a similar age
have been found on the shores of different continents, suggesting that the continents
were once joined. For example, fossils of Mesosaurus, a freshwater reptile, have been
found both in Brazil and western Africa. Also, fossils of the land
reptile Lystrosaurus have been found in rocks of the same age in Africa, India and
Antarctica.
 Paleomagnetists in 1950’s to 1960’s found that the magnetism recorded in old rocks
usually did not coincide with the present direction of the Earth's magnetic field. Rocks of
a given age from one continent all contain magnetizations that point in a common
direction (normally not toward the present north pole). The apparent position of the
pole is progressively farther from the present north pole as recorded by older and older
rocks.