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During the 2020s, new proposals have come forward that divide the Earth's crust into many smaller plates, called terranes, which reflects the fact that Plate reconstructions show that the larger plates have been internally deformed and oceanic and continental plates have been fragmented over time.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust.
1 paź 2024 · plate tectonics, theory dealing with the dynamics of Earth’s outer shell—the lithosphere—that revolutionized Earth sciences by providing a uniform context for understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes as well as the evolution of Earth’s surface and reconstructing its past continents and oceans.
10 lut 2024 · At the heart of these processes are tectonic plates, which are massive slabs of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle that float on the hotter, more fluid layer below. Understanding tectonic plates is crucial for grasping how mountains rise, why earthquakes shake the ground, and what powers volcanic eruptions.
The Earth’s crust is broken up into a series of massive sections called plates. These tectonic plates rest upon the convecting mantle, which causes them to move. The movements of these plates can account for noticeable geologic events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and more subtle yet sublime events, like the building of mountains.
The Earth is in a constant state of change. Earth’s crust, called the lithosphere, consists of 15 to 20 moving tectonic plates. The plates can be thought of like pieces of a cracked shell that rest on the hot, molten rock of Earth’s mantle and fit snugly against one another.
As the young Earth cooled, layers formed and the most dense materials (primarily iron) sank to the middle (the core) of the Earth. Around the core formed the less dense layer called the mantle, topped by a thin layer called the crust.
