what do plate tectonics refer to?

Answer 1

The study of tectonic plates under the surface of the earth that create earthquakes when they collide.

Answer 2

Literally, plate tectonics refers to the movement of geological plates of land. If you look at a map of the world, you will see that some of it looks as though it must have fit together at one time. Plate tectonics explains how the bits of land move around. Earthquakes are found in places where the plates are trying to rub over or under each other. The plates are big, the time is long, until you get an earthquake.

Answer 3

Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων, tektōn "builder" or "mason") is a theory of geology developed to explain the observed evidence for large scale motions within the Earth's crust. The theory encompassed and superseded the older theory of continental drift from the first half of the 20th century and the concept of sea floor spreading developed during the 1960s.

The outermost part of the Earth's interior is made up of two layers: the lithosphere comprising the crust and the solidified uppermost part of the mantle. Below the lithosphere lies the asthenosphere which comprises the inner viscous part of the mantle. The mantle behaves like a superheated and extremely viscous liquid.

The lithosphere essentially floats on the asthenosphere. The lithosphere has broken up into what are called tectonic plates - in the case of Earth, there are ten major and many minor plates. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and transform. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries.

Plate tectonic theory is currently the theory accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in the geosciences. It arose out of and was preceeded by early hypotheses associated with continental drift and following the development of the mechanism of seafloor spreading (for which the detection of magnetic anomalies distributed by a clear pattern of parallel stripes on the seafloor served as impressive evidence) plate tectonics quickly became a theory on the brink of scientific revolution. Simultaneous advances in early seismic imaging techniques in and around wadati-benioff zones collectively with numerous other geologic observations soon solidified plate tectonics as a theory with extraordinary explanatory and predictive power in subsequent decades (and continuing). Plate tectonics was developed during the late 1960s and has since been essentially universally accepted by scientists as predominant throughout all geoscientific disciplines.

Answer 4

Tectonic Plates refer to the land mass under water that move
from time to time. This movement causes earthquakes and
tidal waves.

Answer 5

Geologically speaking, plate tectonics refers to how the earth's is made up of all these plates that, when they move, cause earthquakes.

Answer 6

The plates are land masses that float on the Earth's surface.
Unfortunately, they are not flat and even but are bumping up against each other and riding up over each other's edges.
Plate tectonics is the study of this phenomenon.
The following site www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics
will explain it all and show you some movies!

Answer 7

The movements of the plates of the Earth "floating" around on the mantle beneath them.

Molten hot rock rises up along some plate boundaries and pushes the plates along. At other plate boundaries, one plate is forced down beneath the other, back into the mantle.

The movement of the plates causes earthquakes.

Here is a good site for you to look at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html

Answer 8

The rock that the continents rest on. When these plates move, it causes earthquakes and tsunamis. For more information, Google it.

Answer 9

The next earthquake!

Answer 10

movement of the crust on the surface of the mantle. the way that continents drift, subduction zones, mountains, trenches, etc.