TECTONIC PLATES

• Geologists say that the landmasses were all grouped together as one huge supercontinent billions of years ago.
• Then, after being pushed and pulled all the time, this supercontinent broke apart into continents, seas, and other features. This is known as plate tectonics.
• Plate tectonics is a very important part of how the Earth and its life have changed and grown over time.
• The lithosphere, Earth's upper shell, is made up of about 15 moving blocks of rock. The seas and countries rest on them.

Tectonic Plates

• "Tectonics" comes from the Greek word "tektonikos," which means "to build.
• “Plate” refers to a large rock formation in geology. These words together show that the Earth's surface is made up of big rocks.
• These plates don't stay in place; instead, they move on top of the mantle, which is a layer of solid and liquid rock. These plates move apart (divergence), hit each other (convergence), or slide next to each other (transform).
• They also fall under each other from time to time, which is known as subduction.
• There are two kinds of tectonic plates: coastal crust and continental crust.
• The marine crust is 5–10 km below the ocean floor and is mostly made up of basalt rocks.
• The continental crust, on the other hand, is mostly made up of granitic, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

 IMAGE SOURCE (THUMBNAIL)