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Mars had its own version of plate tectonics

Plate tectonics is not something most people would associate with Mars. In fact, the planet's dead core is one of the primary reasons for its famous lack of a magnetic field. And since active planetary cores are one of the ...

Earth's billion-year balancing act

Branding seems like it's everywhere today. And it's not just the swoosh on your Nikes or the bitten apple icon on your laptop anymore. Social media influencers craft their personal brands. But is there even branding in science? ...

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Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics (from the Greek τέκτων; tektōn, meaning "builder" or "mason") describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift, developed during the first decades of the 20th century by Alfred Wegener, and seafloor spreading, understood during the 1960s.

The lithosphere is broken up into what are called tectonic plates. In the case of Earth, there are currently eight major and many minor plates (see list below). The lithospheric plates ride on the asthenosphere. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent, or collisional boundaries; divergent boundaries, also called spreading centers; and transform boundaries. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates is typically at speeds of 50–100 mm annually.

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