Plate Tectonics

Theory suggesting that the Earth’s surface is composed of a number of oceanic and continental plates. Driven by convection currents in the mantle, these plates have the ability to slowly move across the Earth’s plastic asthenosphere. This theory is very important to geology and geomorphology because it helps to explain the occurrence and formation of mountains, folds, faults, volcanoes, earthquakes, ocean trenches, and the mid-oceanic ridges.